Young Writers Society

Darth Venegence's ships came into orbit around Korriban. He smiled at his fleet. Two of the ships were carriers. From them, small fighting craft would swarm out like bees from a bee box. Before advancing further on the planet, he played the message that had been sent to him by Evgrisa's tracking beacon. Typical of her to have found it and reprogramed it to her liking. That would be how she led him on numerous chases and still ended up far ahead of him and his supporters.
The text sprawled onto the datapad.
'Good Evening, Brother. I regret that I am unable to entertain your company. However, I am sure you will understand why I felt inclined to accept Darth Eclipse's invitation. I apologize for Darth Sario's untimely demise. He was an obstacle. As are you.'
Vengence cleared it, feeling a recurrence of hatred. What was she? His friend or his foe? At the moment, she was a cure. If he captured her alive, he would still be able to live. The cure was in her blood. He wanted her. Once she found herself, she would be left in servitude to repay him for resisting. They would be so powerful that none could withstand them. He would fight his enemies, and she would turn them against each other.
A smile lit his face. Exactly what she was trying right now.
"Contact this Eclipse," He spat at one of the servants. They scrambled to obey as he said, "Send him my message."
Basically, the message was 'let me take care of the thorn in your side' with a mildly threatening undertone. Naturally, not in those words. But he knew firsthand how Evgrisa could be, and he knew how to deal with her. He barked orders at the others. Darth Nekre waited mutely with him for Eclipse to reply.

Before he could answer her, an apprentice came up to Damien holding a comlink.
"Umm...sir...it's for you," he said meekly as he handed Damien the comlink. Playing the message back, Damien sneered. He looked over to Evgrisa as he gave his reply.
"We welcome you to Korriban. ALL of us. But, since I do not trust the competency of your minions to keep her in control, I request a personal retrieval. We eagerly await your arrival. Once again, welcome to Korriban," he said in his best poisoned-honey voice.

Evgrisa laughed. Or tried to. It was cut short by blazing pain and a quick coughing fit. She forced herself to relax, stopping the chest wrenching spasms. "He's going to haggle with you. First, he'll want to speak to me directly. He'll listen for any key words, then will speak to you again. Most likely, trying to set up a "neutral" territory for the exchange to take place in," she said, relieved that her throat had cleared. "If there's something you want me to convey to him, I'll do so for some water. There's only one thing I really want to say, and I want to say it in person, so this isn't a big thing for me to do."
Damien's comlink beeped.
Cocking one eyebrow, she said, "I can always return his call, of course. But I know him well enough that he'll walk away if he can't speak to me. No solid proof I'm here, he goes elsewhere and leaves me to sleep in my grave."
I can translate like this if you want. It's a small matter to let you hear my thoughts, she nudged Damien's mind with these words softly. She was weak enough that he could simpily take them by force very easily, but she didn't want things to come to that.

Damien smiled as he activated his comlink. Vengeance's voice came on the communicator, requesting to talk to Evgrisa to "insure authenticity". Damien opened her cell and tossed the communicator to Evgrisa.
'Make it good' He thought to her.

She caught it.
"Who's it this time?" She asked grumpily into the comlink. For Damien, she "translated" what she'd said... what Vengence would interpret would be vastly different from the literal meaning of her words. My voice tone should tell him that I'm not very happy, she thought to Damien.
"Lord Vengence." The reply came stiffly. She frowned, thinking, He's giving me a formal introduction. He doesn't believe it's me...I'll change his mind soon enough.
"I don't want to speak to you," Evgrisa hissed. Vengence should think of this as "Get me out of here", She sent to Damien. There was a pause on the comlink... She cut off the transmission. Vengence had waited too long to respond. "One of the rules," she muttered to Damien. The comlink beeped again, and she answered.
"Brother, you've forgotten?" She said, but thought, An intimate addressing pulls the heartstrings a little...rest of the message says "Have you forgiven me?"
"My memory fails, Sister. Have you visited the grave of DeSarr?" Vengence said.
Hmm. He's saying, "No, not for everything. But the murder of Sario may be repented." He ACTUALLY thinks I'll "repent"? HA. Why shatter the dream, though, until later? she thought.
"No, I haven't been allowed out much." Evgrisa had to word things carefully. If she was suddenly not caring about what she said making sense in the common tongue, red flags would go up on his end. She thought The only word in this sentence that means anything is "Allowed". Used in context, it means, "I will repent."
"Very well." He said. "I am pleased you will join me." Blah, blah. He's said that before..., Evgrisa thought. Then he added, "Sister." Frowning, she thought A threat, when said alone like that. So... he's telling me that he'll take me back, but this is the last time... Something tells me my days are numbered.
"One by two." She said.
"One by two," He responded in a revered whisper. The transmission was terminated.
Evgrisa closed her eyes, offering Damien the comlink.

As soon as Damien gripped the comlink, he started speaking into it.

"You can pick her up between the base and the nearby colony. On Korriban, that is as nuetral as it's gonna get. We eagerly await your arrival," Damien said, adding a sinister glee to the last part. He looked back to a guard in pure black robes.
"Prepare the Unbreakables for departure," was all he said to the cloaked figure. The guard bowed and walked swiftly away. Damien then turned his attention to Evgrisa. He walked into her cell, not bothering to close the door behind him. As he looked down on her, memories of his past life flashed before his mind. A strong memory of looking at himself in a mirror and wearing jedi robes came to him. He reached into his pocket and extracted the lightsaber she had been carrying. He held it out as if to offer it to her, but as she reached out for it, he threw it straight into the air. With a snap-hiss, he ignited his own blade. As Orith's lightsaber came down, Damien slashed it with his lightsaber, incinerating it with a small explosion. He then reached into another pocket, pulling out a lightsaber with a black hilt. He ignited the blade to reveal it as his violet lightsaber. He deactivated it and handed to Evgrisa....

Gingerly accepting it, she ran her fingers over the black hit, feeling as much as seeing the inlaid gold designs. She blinked, for once at a loss for words, "Why?"

Damien could feel the numbness going away.

"I have seen the destiny that is before you. And I have seen the choice you will have to make one day, between the darkness and the light. Let us hope you make a better choice than it's former master," he said. As he spoke, a strange phenomenon occured. The iris's of his eyes began to darken, and his skin began to regain it's color. Of course, it was only a flash of it, as his complexion returned to its pale self.
Before anyone could speak, Darth Arcanix burst through the door. She was panting hard.
"They killed Darth Carok. I barely escaped alive," she panted.
Damien's scowl returned to his face.
"Let them be. Vengeance is on his way. I want you to go back and tell them to stay put untill I give the signal. We have a dark lord to kill..."

Ashana stood against the wall long after Darth Eclipse had left. Running off like that made no sense, and she kept waiting for him to come back. At last she decided that he had found better things to do, and tried to shake off the nerves. Get a grip, she thought. You have things to do.

The transmission to Master Landu was not getting through. Presumably the Jedi did not know the size of the forces they were dealing with, and it was a fair bet they didn't know about Darth Vengence, either. She needed to find them.

Damien left, following Darth Arcanix out of the cell. He locked it behind him. For once, Evgrisa paid attention to the security. Passworded and locked with a retinal scanner.
"Thanks for keeping my enemies out! Doesn't happen much," she said after him. If he heard her or was just ignoring her, she couldn't tell. Not that she particularly cared at the moment...
Evgrisa set the lightsaber down and tried out her legs. Stiff, but workable. Evgrisa stretched, using the force to heal herself as she went through her excersises. Her mind filtered between subjects when she paid attention to the lightsaber cut on her thigh. Orith had been the only person to have been capable of keeping her against her will. It was said that his greatest fortune was his security system... and Evgrisa believed it.
New, slightly scarred skin was begining to fill the gash. If she hadn't grown up mending Orith, she would not have believed it was possible to heal so quickly. The control panel caught her gaze for a moment. Healing had been her only love; but escaping had been her courtier. The thrill of thwarting someone's perfect plan...of tirelessly getting out of one security, then another...even the punishments were relatively painless after such a time.
Pulling out of her memories, she shivered. There was so much she'd forgotten, so much she'd hidden in the depths of her mind...How had she lived the past year? Rather plain, she realized, with no true happiness nor hatred. But she had needed that vacation from herself.
It was time to come to terms with herself. No more rebeling against her master, salting her brother's wounds, and no more running. It was time to find herself. Time to cast a shadow, rather than be one. She'd been reborn, and it was time to start again.
...but, who would she choose? Master Starweaver, with his peace of mind and gentle ways, or Damien, with whom she shared more with than it may seem? Into the darkness, or into the light? She'd settle it later; now was not the place for it.
When she reached out to the Force again, she felt more confident, more...alive. She felt like she'd been hiding from the force until now, like she'd been looking through a peephole her entire life. Her power was no more or less than it ever had been before, but she had authority over it; whereas before, she had only meekly asked.
Evgrisa spent the time meditating, having healed all that her energy reserves would allow. Her path would come to a moment's decision; that much she knew. But her path did not tilt to one side more than the other.
A sudden thought made her smile, Damien, what were you planning to do with me once I had served my purpose? She kept this to herself, but it brought her out of her meditation.

((sorry I've been gone. Busy with school and such))
Master Starweaver heard the speeder bikes before they arrived near enough to see. Then, he said to Grif Sylver "Grif, I sense a disturbance in the force"
"I feel it too, Master Starweaver" he said
"Be ready," Master Starweaver said. Then, they came, there engines whirring loudly, Sith warriors riding on top of them.
"Looks like we have company" Master Starweaver said, force-leaping onto the back of one of the speeders, igniting his lightsaber. He sliced his lightsaber in a downward circular motion, severing the head off the Sith. He jumped off the speeder before it crashed into the side of a wall, exploding. Master Starweaver then jumped to another speeder bike, and killed its driver in a similar fashion. Grif was doing similar things, thus, by the time the speeders landed on the ground, only two Sith were left...a master, and an apprentice. Master Starweaver engaged what he sensed was the master Sith. The Sith attacked with four forceful blows from his red lightsaber, trying to slice down onto Master Starweaver's head. Vico easily parried all these attacks, finishing the parrying with a downward slice that was parried by the Sith Lord. He smiled evily.
"Hahaha. Stupid Jedi. You can't win. Not with the light side of the force. hahahaha"
"Oh really?" Master Starweaver asked, thrusting with his saber, which was parried by the Sith Lord
"Yes, really. As long as the Jedi still refuse to do what is necessary to combate people like me, they will never win, and the Sith will once again rule the galaxy. mwahahahaha" the Sith Lord said, counter attacking Starweavers' thrust, but was parried again by Master Starweaver.
"What makes you think I won't do what is necessary to destroy filth like you?" Master Starweaver asked, forcethrowing him into a wall, running up to him, and giving the death blow with his lightsaber.
"Goodbye, brother" Master Starweaver said, coldly.

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Vengence waited impatiently for Eclipse to arrive. He had been under the impression that Eclipse would already be here, but he was mildly satisfied to be there first. The satisfaction was almost nonexistent, though. Darth Nekre did not speak to him, knowing fully that his business was purely to answer questions accurately. However, Darth Zysor was brave enough to break the silence.
"Milord, is something amiss?"
Darth Vengence turned irritatedly to his companion, recalling what he knew about Zysor. Zysor had never been outstandingly loyal to him or his cause, but had proven to be obedient and agreeable. He had ascended Vengence's ranks quickly as a result of his resourcefullness and skill with a lightsaber. Zysor only carried one and had no desire for a second. It was his philosophy that the second lightsaber only added weight and served him no purpose. Vengence sensed deep and unwavering fidelity within Zysor, but he knew he wasn't the recipient of it. But Zysor was irreplaceable and had done nothing to make Vengence question the usually silent Falleen.
Because it offered a temporary vent for his sizzling rage, Vengence responded.
"She wants nothing to do with me. The code was an old one. She hasn't been checking for my messages, otherwise she would know...Nekre, how long does she need to be alive to obtain what I need?"
Nekre saw a slight movement of disapproval from Zysor. The Falleen was known to disapprove of showing emotions, but that was about all that was known about Zysor by anyone. Nekre shrugged off his thought and said, "She need not be alive at all; I only need an uncontaminated sample of her blood. However, if things do not go well the first time, it would be wise to have a backup."
"Then take two samples," said Vengence. Suddenly he addressed Zysor, "Take your station at the carrier. I want to keep the Jedi busy."
Zysor bowed and left. Nekre glanced at the remaining dozen followers. They were Vengence's most able men, eager to serve their lord with a frevor to shame a priest. Their selection had been difficult. But Nekre held his silent doubts that Eclipse would prove to be superior if it came to a struggle... Nekre hoped that Eclipse would not care what happened to his hostage after the trade. It would be unwise to attract Eclipse's anger.

Damien escorted Evgrisa onto the loading ramp of the ship. He had once again put on his black battle armor underneath his coat. He had also managed to find a light armor that was small enough for Evgrisa to wear. No one had ever gotten around to using it (probably because it was a whitish-gray). He sat next to her as the ship lifted off towards the rendezvous. An all sides sat the unbreakables, as still as statues. Damien looked over at Evgrisa.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes," Evgrisa said. Her eyes flowed over the unbreakables, undaunted by their discipline. Letting out a long breath, she felt the armor. Despite how light it was, she was unaccustomed to wearing anything heavier than a thick sweater.
As the ship moved, she briefly reflected on her last mission under Orith. That final time, she had been sold to a Hutt. Orith had always left her to fend for herself, except when his interests were at stake. As was procedure at the time, she'd been sent nearly completely nude. Only her small laserstick had survived thorough searches. The clothing provided by the Hutt was very light, but her unsightly scars had served their purpose by keeping her decently clothed. She'd spent two weeks as his slave before her mission was fully carried out; that is, the Hutt died from low-level poisoning. A cook turned her in for the reward of seeing Evgrisa's dead body when it was returned from three days in the elements. Orith had not come to her aid. He approached her while she was strung up to a pole by wire with sharp barbs slicing her arms. Her bare toes were the only thing allowed to touch the scorching sand, and she could practically feel the whiplashes across her back and shoulders. While she was in the blazing sun, alone except for him, he had merely told her, "You shouldn't have to hide behind me."
She had broke free, healing almost at the same time that the barbs sunk into her skin. Something had clicked together in her mind; she was in control of herself, but something else was guiding her when she grabbed Orith's second lightsaber. She had never touched a lightsaber before, but somehow she knew what to do and when. Somehow, she parried and struck. Somehow, she had sent Orith's saber away and sent the purple blade through his chest. When she felt him die, she felt sudden fear. Fear of herself. She'd killed the being with almost god-like powers, who had always won...He was dead by her hand. So was the Hutt, and so many others. She had fled, back to Orith's ship, in the desperate hope that she would awaken to an unchanged abusive world. This strangeness was overwhelming....
After the Hutt had died, she had been sent into gas chambers. When those did not kill her, they tried the sun. When they found Orith and not her, they offically exiled her from Tatooine. Going back would mean lots and lots of bounty hunters...
Evgrisa pulled herself back to the ship, back to the present time. "Why do I feel that another turning point is coming?" She'd actually not intended to say it, but it was vocalized anyway.

"Because the fate of an entire empire will be decided today," Damien replied, almost as if he had rehearsed it. The ship's captain alerted Damien on the com system that he had visual contact with Vengeance's party.