Star Wars: Slave Of Darkness

Olia's gaze panned around the small space of my hideaway, taking note of the various tools I had left out. A month ago, I wouldn't have thought we could be in a confined space like this without trying to stab each other or that I would allow her in here in the first place.

How things had changed.

This space had served its purpose for months, but its usefulness would be limited once I was off world. In the meantime, it would serve as a private place to discuss the near future without tipping off Garsh or Terrak. Anything sensitive had already been moved out to my ship, still hidden in the Valley.

And for what it was worth, Olia and I were allied. For the moment.

As Kreia said, an alliance founded on hatred was a fragile thing at best. I fully expected her to betray me the moment Garsh was dead. Or even before that.

But then, that was my plan too. Which was why Gaarurra was not here with me and was instead getting another part of my plan ready.

Finally, yellow eyes returned to me, "So here we are."

To my knowledge, this was the first time we had ever actually spoken to each other directly. Olia's voice was level and her hands didn't stray far from the lightsaber hilt that was now clipped to her belt. Though her eyes strayed now and again to examine something in the room, she never turned her back to me.

She was cautious enough that she wasn't even bothering to hide it.

Good.

"Here we are." I agreed with a slow nod, "Didn't think it would come to this, did you?"

"Plotting to deal with a Jedi Shadow? Or being forced to work with you?" She asked with a raised immaculate brow.

I wasn't entirely sure how she managed to stay looking like she just walked out of a beauty salon after her weeks long tour of…wherever she had been. She didn't seem too concerned about her robes though as those were still covered in the dust of whatever tomb she had been hiding out in.

I allowed the corners of my mouth to twitch up slightly, ""Forced" is a strong word…and inaccurate. I may have threatened you, but you could have simply told me where to shove my offer."

"True," Olia admitted grudgingly, "But this way, at least I stand to gain something more than just a dead enemy."

Oh, I wonder what you think to gain from this, Olia. To steal knowledge from me? To spy on my capabilities? Or just a chance to stab me in the back?

Likely all of the above. Unfortunately, she was a necessary part of the plan. I wasn't confident in my ability to take on Garsh in a head-on fight. Gaarurra wouldn't be able to help as he would be dealing with the twins.

Olia was younger than me, but she had been trained by the Jedi since she could walk. It might not be enough to overcome him through brute force, but it should hopefully be enough to make it a more even fight and distract him long enough to get a critical strike in.

"I'm surprised that you would meet me without your pet nearby." Olia observed, finally choosing the seat herself on the edge of the ramshackle bed Qiv had left down here.

"You never seem to face daylight without him at your side."

"Who says he's not here?" I asked, carefully keeping my face blank.

"Because I would have felt him breathing down my neck, no matter how well he thinks he can hide himself." She replied blithely, "Now, what plan have you concocted? I'd prefer to spend as little time around you as possible."

"It's simple. Just a trap in an isolated tomb." I explained, "Anything more complicated is at risk of failure. Too many moving parts when dealing with Force Sensitives is a bad idea."

"A trap needs bait. And if the squid is already wary of you, he'll be less likely to take it." Olia frowned. I got a sense of disappointment wafting off her.

"Who said the bait was for him?" I allowed a smile to curl my lips upwards, "We're drawing in Terrak. If he goes, Garsh will follow. He's sentimental like that."

The eyebrow rose again in disbelief, "Really?"

"Apparently so." I shrugged dispassionately, carefully suppressing the surge of anger that threatened to bubble up, "He seems to give a damn about his apprentice. It's why he didn't leave as soon as his cover was blown."

Olia was not nearly as contained. Her expression went from incredulous to thunderous fury in an instant.

"How interesting." She hissed, her tone suddenly cold, "And what bait do you have to bring them to us?"

"Why, Ianna, of course." I leaned back in my seat, clasping my hands in my lap, "She's possessive. Thinks Garsh is an obstacle between her and her brother. I've convinced her that I could be of help dealing with that problem."

"You have been busy, Spider." Olia smiled, though one still tinged with fury. I didn't want to picture what was going through her head right now, "Can she be counted on?"

"Oh hell no. She's suspicious of me and rightly so." I immediately denied, "The moment she thinks her brother is in danger, she'll turn against us."

Ianna made Olia look like a pillar of mental stability. Thankfully, she wasn't a long-term thinker and everything revolved around her brother, which made her predictable.

"Other than her trick with projecting fear into others and her bond with her brother, she'll be useless in this fight. If you get the opportunity, kill her. It'll at least cripple Terrak for a few seconds, if not more. But not until they arrive. We'll need her alive before that."

The former Jedi's face had shifted away from rage to a more thoughtful expression. The anger was obviously still there, but she had reigned it in enough to think rationally.

She nodded slowly, "And where will this ambush take place? Obviously not in the academy. A battle that large will get noticed, no matter how subtle we try to be, and I've no desire to face the Inquisitors."

Levitating a datapad from the workbench behind me, I punched in a few commands. One of the probe droids I'd requisitioned from the Second Platoon activated and rose from the table. It's single "eye" flared to life and projected a map of the Valley of the Dark Lords.

I pointed to one of the tombs along the walls, "Here."

"The tomb of Naga Sadow?" Interesting that she had the placement of the major tombs memorized.

"Traditionally, the final trial takes place in there." I smiled, "Let's just say that I'm feeling a bit sentimental myself. Whatever the result of the ambush, it will all end there anyways."

Olia matched my grin with one of her own, no doubt already making plans of her own. I could practically see the gears whirring in her head.

Naga Sadow's tomb actually made sense to use as a final trial when you stepped back and looked at it. Since he had fled to Yavin IV after faking his death at the end of the Great Hyperspace War, he wasn't actually there. 

It had all the defenses of a regular tomb, but no Sith remains to disturb and, by extension, no spirit of an ancient Dark Lord to piss off.

The image flickered and changed, this time projecting a rough map of the tomb itself. The other droid was actually at the tomb right now, sending back data in real time. Luckily, the tomb guardian droids weren't too intelligent and hadn't registered it as a threat, so it was allowed to float around relatively unimpeded.

I pointed at a room a few corridors away from the entrance, "We'll draw them here. I've got charges set to blow the supports and block off any retreat." My finger traced a line back.

"There's another route out this way, so we won't be sealing ourselves in the tomb. So their only way out will be through us."

I watched Olia's gaze flash over the map, burning it into her mind. It was a reminder that she was old enough to have seen some of the fighting at the end of the war.

More than once, her eyes flicked back up to me. I was careful to keep my thoughts still while under her scrutiny. Just like Ianna, she was going to be suspicious of me no matter what I did. But that was no reason to give the game away just yet.

It was a dangerous game, but one I think I was starting to enjoy.

"If you have any preparations to do, I'd do them now and get some rest." I suggested, "I'll contact Ianna in the morning and then meet you at the tomb."

...

A lone figure on a speeder bike shot across the desert, kicking up a cloud of sand in their wake.

'It's time, Ianna.' He had said.

Though she'd known it was coming, a trill of fear still shot through her. She didn't trust him, but she was too weak to deal with Garsh on her own and her brother wasn't listening.

'What's my part?' She had asgked.

'Just come to these coordinates. Your brother will follow. And with him, Garsh.'

'You won't hurt him? Or me?' The nagging suspicion still prodded at her, but her righteous anger swept it away.

'Of course. That was our deal, no?'

After months on this planet, Ianna hated the sand and the heat and the sun. It made her miss the jungles and rain of Dromund Kaas.

She tried to remember them, like her brother had told them. But she couldn't hear the rain here.

Eventually, the speeder bike pulled up to the entrance to an imposing tomb built into the wall of the valley. The remains of two great statues flanked it, only their feet left after the Republic bombardment centuries ago and the wind of ages tearing at them.

Powering down the bike, Ianna swept her legs off and stood. Even in the warmth of the sun, she could still feel the familiar chill of the Dark Side pervading from the tomb.

Steeling herself, she lit a glow-rod and stepped into the gloom.

She found him standing alone, dressed in his armor and robes. This time, he had a helmet covering his face, obscuring his expression.

At his feet were several tomb guardian droids, all deactivated. Curiously, none of them bore any damage that would indicate how they were deactivated.

"I'm here. Now what?" Was what she was about to ask…before she found herself unable to move.

A crushing grip held her arms and legs in place. Aldrex's hand was raised in a loose fist.

"You…" She tried to speak but found her breathing constricted.

"I don't need you to speak, Ianna." He stated dispassionately, "I do apologize, but your pain and your fear need to be real to draw your brother here."

"You lied…" She should have known.

"Actually, I didn't." Aldrex rebuked her. She got the sense he was amused, "But neither of us said anything about her."

Before Ianna could ask or even think, her world erupted into pain and screams as lightning crackled across her skin.

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The first book of this fanfic has been completed on Patreon, you can look it up in the collection alongside the second book. You can visit Patreon if you want to read in Advance.

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