A planetary power generator. One power generator for the whole planet. Just one.
SCREW THAT, THAT’S DUMB
Also the dress is the one in all her art so far, a Braided Chestguard and Decorated Pummeler’s Greaves. (her action outfit is the Carbon-scored Pummeler’s Chestguard and Greaves, with the Battle-scarred Pummeler’s Boots. And her ‘lordly’ outfit (not equipped in this story probably) is the Visionary Pummeler’s Chestguard and Greaves)
Chapter 4: Honour
“Look,” she said, pointing upwards. “Even the weather acknowledges the superiority of the Empire.”
“I don’t follow, my lady.” He wiped the snow off his rank insignia for the umpteenth time.
“Trillions of tiny Imperial crests, falling from the sky. Alderaan will be ours. It’s only a matter of time.” How whimsical. …Whimsical was not a word that should be applied to Sith.
They were standing on a hill outside House Alde’s fortifications, FimmRess and his fellow acolytes waiting a little further back. Vette was off on a mission of her own; she had expressed distaste for dealing with ‘stuffy nobles’.
Akuliina, on the other hand, seemed to be in her element. She had certainly put Duke Kendoh in his place quite neatly, and it was right and proper too – the man had been dismissive of Darth Baras, and had done absolutely nothing to prepare for their mission. For once, he appreciated the sardonic threat in her voice when she asked “Is breathing one of your personal ambitions?”
“I wonder how we should approach this,” Akuliina mused in the present, still staring at the fortress. “I suppose I could simply murder everyone, but that might be a bit boring.”
He stared at her. “Boring, my lady?” Lady Akuliina the blood-stained conqueror?
She flicked a glare at him. “It’s beginning to get boring, yes. There’s no challenge in it anymore. On the other hand, they are Republic. I don’t suppose it matters. The more of them I kill the better.”
Oh good. So now he not only had to come up with a strategy for accessing Lady Renata, but one that kept her entertained while he was at it. “Well, perhaps we could forgo a frontal assault today. Send FimmRess and his men to cause a distraction while we move in from another entrance.”
“Very well.”
Would she be able to restrain herself from killing everyone anyway? It would be interesting to see what she did.
“I hear you’ve decided not to let FimmRess bring Lady Renata to me,” Duke Kendoh said as Akuliina and Quinn entered his office. “I must confess to being rather disappointed.”
“Don’t cry too hard,” Akuliina retorted. “You’ll get over it.”
“Will I? My lord, you didn’t have to do anything. All you had to do was allow FimmRess to capture her. Where’s my incentive to assist you?”
Akuliina’s gaze sharpened to a laser-beam glare, and she glided swiftly towards Duke Kendoh and tapped her unlit lightsaber against his chest. “This is your incentive, Duke. You’re not in my good graces yet. You seem to forget that so easily.” She turned away, one hand shrugging elegantly. “Besides, she gave me the information I needed in exchange for her freedom, and I decided to honour it. Personally, I’m very pleased with FimmRess and I shall certainly put in good words for him with Darth Baras.”
Duke Kendoh pouted. “I… understand. I shall redouble my efforts to please you, Lord Akuliina.”
“Good. Now. I’m told General Geselle Organa knows of the whereabouts of Willsaam’s family. Where do I find her?”
The Republic general was well guarded, it seemed, but within a day Duke Kendoh had discovered which power generator her base’s shields were being supplied from. “It’s one of the most heavily guarded facilities on the planet, of course, though there are others. You’ll have to fight your way in, set your charges, then fight your way back out before the explosion. It won’t be easy.” He gestured, and FimmRess passed Quinn a datapad with the tactical information he needed.
“I’ll try not to yawn too much,” Akuliina said as she headed for the door.
She was terrifying as she marched into the shield-less Republic base. She’d slipped around the turret fire like a bird on the wing and slashed the offending machines to pieces, to begin with, and now within the base, she simply strode forward while the Republic troops ran for cover. And then he’d blink and she’d make an impossibly long leap forward, lightsabers blazing scarlet, and slay five before they could react, and fling another two against the wall with the crunch of bones. Then she continued her march, inexorable and magnificent.
This was no way to wage war for normal people. He was far less dignified, hurrying forward when there was a lull in the blaster fire, hugging the walls for cover, shooting stray heads that popped out before they could aim at her. Or at him. When she jumped forward he felt horribly exposed, although the enemy hardly looked at him. These soldiers were not the Republic’s best. Which was why she was having such an easy time of it.
One stray shot could bring her down. It was impossible how she knew when to move, when to block, wasn’t it? Maybe he should record her, analyze her fighting, so he could increase his own efficiency. They were slowly becoming a fighting team, and sometimes it was like she read his mind, but he was certain he could do better for her. It had to be like he could read her mind, as well.
By the time they reached the command centre, she’d come through it all completely unscathed, though he’d been grazed a few times – nothing major, only a couple of slight burns on his arm, an inconvenience at most and he’d have to patch or replace the uniform. She was alight, a fire raging in her that he could almost feel from across the chamber. She seemed invincible, and she probably believed she was. Confronted by a locked door, she stabbed her lightsaber into the lock and melted it to slag.
“It’s a Sith! Why is a Sith attacking?”
“Why should a Sith not attack?” Akuliina asked, flinging the soldiers inside the door to the ground and walking over them like they weren’t there. She deactivated her lightsabers, sheathing the one in her left hand, but the one in her right hand hung silently loose and ready. “I’m here for information on Jaesa Willsaam’s family.” And she was somewhat in a bad mood, despite the battle on the levels above.
“Intruder!” yelled one of the officers, drawing a pistol. Instead of flinging him around too, Akuliina made a gesture and the pistol yanked itself out of his hands and flew towards her; she smacked it towards a console screen with enough force that the thing smashed with a spray of sparks. The Republicans jumped, which amused her.
“Geselle, get behind me!” cried another officer, a younger man, throwing himself in front of her.
The woman in Republic armour did not let him shield her. “Don’t panic, all of you. Let me handle this. Sith, did I hear you right? You’ve destroyed my shield generator, invaded my base, and killed half my forces in search of my former handmaiden?”
It did seem a bit ludicrous when she put it that way… but she didn’t know how important this girl was. At least she didn’t try to pretend she didn’t know what Akuliina was talking about. Perhaps this would be simple. Akuliina raised an eyebrow. “I doubt you would have taken my call.”
The general shrugged. “I might have. I’m a practical woman. Now, the men you killed were supposed to be reinforcing part of my front. You seek information only I have, and my front needs bolstering. Perhaps we can help each other.”
Akuliina snorted. “You must be joking. Ask a Sith to help the Republic? I think I’ll just kill your entourage slowly and painfully until you give me what I want.” She’d aided the Republic before, with Rathari, but it had been on her own terms. She also hadn’t had hardly as many options as she did here. You don’t negotiate with the Empire.
General Organa shrugged again. “I’m not an overly sentimental leader. The big picture is more important. Though I’d suggest it would be a waste of effort to kill them. You’ll get nothing from me unless you agree to defend my front from Ulgo. Look, Sith, you don’t even have to fight your own side. From what I’ve seen, it wouldn’t be too difficult for you.” The woman sounded sincerely unconcerned, looked sincerely unconcerned, but her sense was worried. Someone here was important to her, and it wasn’t too difficult to figure out who.
“Would it?” Akuliina asked conversationally, looking the officers over speculatively. They stared back, trying to look tough. “I think I’ll start with… this one.” She flung out her arm and the youngest man suddenly choked, retching, eyes widening, clawing at his throat.
“That’s… not going to work, Sith,” the general said, but her eyes betrayed what her voice did not. Akuliina sneered and slowly tightened her grip on the air, her grip on his throat. “I’m not so easily… broken…” The man pawed at the air desperately before falling to his knees, teeth clenched, eyes squeezed shut, clearly on the verge of passing out.
“I’ll crush his windpipe in a moment, then he’ll never breathe again,” Akuliina said. “Are you sure about this?”
“No! Stop! Please!” Geselle flung herself down beside the dying man. “Blenks is my lover. I’ll tell you everything, just please don’t kill him!”
Akuliina’s lips tightened remorselessly. “Start talking, then.”
“Jaesa Willsaam’s parents are servants in Castle Organa. They live and work in the central tower. I- here, here’s a passkey that will get you in, just please stop choking Tavin!”
Akuliina released the man and he gasped deep rasping breaths on all fours. Organa put her arms about him. “That will do, thank you. I’ll grant your wish. Tavin Blenks will live. But I did come all this way here…” Her lightsaber hummed, once, twice, three times, and Geselle Organa and the two other officers screamed and fell dead, slashed through the chest.
Blenks cried out in horror. “You- you killed them all… My beloved Geselle… Why?” He turned his face up to her, tears already beginning to stream down. “She gave you what you wanted. You didn’t have to.” He cradled the woman’s broken body in his arms, his movements that of someone transfixed by disbelief.
“I gave her what she wanted, too.” Akuliina watched the man with cranky fascination. “You live. But you are unimportant. You cannot bring armies against the Empire.” Fighting her way into such a heavily guarded base and not kill a Republic general? He was deluded.
“I am misery,” sobbed the man. “If it gives you such pleasure to cause such anguish, get an eyeful and leave. You have what you came for.”
“Take care,” she said ironically, and left.
Jaesa Willsaam’s parents were dead. The Jedi who was supposed to be guarding them was dead. She was on her way back to House Thul on a shuttle from the closest Imperial outpost when she got a call on her comm. “Hello?”
“I am seeking an update,” Darth Baras’s voice sputtered from the comm. He sounded annoyed. “How is the search for Jaesa Willsaam’s family?” Quinn leaned forward with interest.
“She no longer has a family,” Akuliina assured him. “All is under control.”
“Ah, that is good, very good. That makes my susceptibility to Duke Kendoh’s gossip all the more foolish.”
Her gaze sharpened. “What did that maggot say about me?”
“He claimed that you destroyed a major power generator, and subsequently several nobles of House Thul were assassinated.”
Akuliina snorted. “I destroyed a power generator, yes, but I attacked the Republic immediately afterwards. I can only assume he took advantage of the situation to clean up some of his own rivals. He’d been whining about them plenty.”
“I believe it. But Kendoh also said you had the general of Organa’s military forces at your mercy and spared her, suggesting you’re a traitor.”
Hot fierce rage blossomed in her heart. “That is a base lie. I killed the general. I am no traitor!”
“Then I am ashamed to have believed these lies so easily. It seems Duke Kendoh wishes to remove you from my favour.”
“He certainly doesn’t appreciate me being here… and I don’t like him either,” Akuliina said.
“I have no further use for him. Punish him however you please.” Baras’s voice grew amused. “If it were me, he’d pay severely.”
She smiled grimly. “You don’t have to tell me twice, Master.”
The commlink went silent.
She considered. Baras had been testing her, she was sure. To believe some Alderaanian noble, who showed little obedience to Baras, over her own loyalty… And he had a vaunted spy network; Kendoh couldn’t be his only contact on this planet. Baras knew the truth and was tugging on her leash.
This was not the time for her to claim her independence. She’d play along for now. First, to kill Kendoh.
She spent the rest of the ride back to House Thul with a sinister smile on her face, and Quinn almost pitied Duke Kendoh. Almost.
“Welcome back!” Duke Kendoh greeted them with open arms. “I hear you were successful in infiltrating Castle Organa. I trust your mission has been accomplished?”
“You seem awfully chipper,” Akuliina commented, all poise and grace. “What’s this I hear about certain members of House Thul being assassinated? You have my sincere condolences. They were probably friends of yours.”
“Er… thank you. They will be missed.”
“Quite strange that it should have happened so soon after a certain power generator was destroyed. Almost as if someone were waiting for such an opportunity.” She toyed with a decoration on a side table while Kendoh and FimmRess watched her carefully.
“Yes, er… Oh. Oh, I see. You know.”
“Yes, what’s this about me being a traitor?” She swung around, golden eyes snapping with anger. “You claim I murder your rivals, spare a general of the Republic, slander me to the highest degree, and expect to get away with such things?”
“You’ve spoken with Baras. I can explain. It’s true I said those things, but I didn’t mean them. You see, there were other nobles present when I was speaking with your master, and-”
“That is a lie,” FimmRess spoke up. “You were alone but for me when you spoke with Darth Baras.”
Akuliina’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve sometimes been accused of having all the subtlety of a turbolaser cannon, and I wouldn’t disagree. But I’m hardly stupid, though it seems you are. Poor little man, so used to local, provincial power-gaming… You don’t know what power-gaming is like among the Sith.” She reached over and drew her lightsaber and it hissed to life threateningly.
Kendoh threw up his hands. “Wait! Wait! I am still of use to Darth Baras! FimmRess, defend me! You must defend me!”
“I will not go against Darth Baras or his Apprentice Akuliina,” FimmRess said stoically.
Akuliina bared her teeth. “If you wanted Darth Baras to save you, perhaps you should have been a more loyal vassal before you tried to throw his best apprentice under the speeder. Goodbye, Duke. You won’t be missed.” She stabbed forward.
“Thank you,” FimmRess said as Kendoh’s body collapsed. “Serving him was intolerable.”
“Then you should have done something about it,” Akuliina said. “You’re an excellent and loyal henchman, but are you Sith or aren’t you?”
“I would have killed him a thousand times over,” FimmRess said, his eyes burning. “But I am not yet strong enough to kill my master.”
“Oh, all right,” Akuliina said, mollified and losing interest. “I’m done here. The Force be with you.”
“I am done as well. I shall return to my master. The Force be with you.”
They stayed another night in House Thul to rest before they moved on, meeting up with Vette at the hotel, and the next morning after he had packed all of their sparse belongings, Akuliina was nowhere to be seen. He told Vette to go prep the Fury and went looking.
He found her on the roof of the castle, overlooking the long snowy slopes of the mountains. She was wearing a long grey dress she’d obtained on Alderaan; it was quite lovely on her. Not that he should be thinking that. “My lady, all is ready.”
“Good,” she said, but didn’t move. “It’s quite a view, isn’t it?”
“It is,” he answered, leaving the bags by the roof access and taking her unspoken invitation to stand next to her. “Alderaan is well-known for its beauty.”
“It reminds me of home,” she said softly, so softly he almost didn’t hear her. “One of our – my parents’ estates is in a region much like this,” she went on more strongly. “The mountains are not as tall, however, and the area is more developed. It’s a good thing, and necessary on Kuat, but I must admit it’s not quite as pretty to look at.” She turned away deliberately. “Not that I should be concerned with mere aesthetics.”
“Perhaps between missions you may return home sometime,” he offered.
She bristled like a maalraas that had seen a rival, shoulders tense, fists clenched, blazing eyes and snarling teeth. “I can never go home.”
All right. He’d never bring that up again.
She seemed to realize she had reacted unduly strongly, and calmed herself, though her eyes were still filled with irritation. “It’s… that time of the month.”
Oh. Oh. No wonder she’d been even more easily angered than usual. Wait. Didn’t he have… “I may have something that will help. One moment.”
She snorted disbelievingly. “If it’s painkillers, don’t bother. The stims the med-droid on the ship gives me don’t fully alleviate the pain until the third day.”
“No, it’s nothing quite so useful, my lady… but I’ve heard it helps.” He fished around in his kit until he found the little sack he was looking for.
Would this be acceptable? How badly would she tease him? Also, they were rather expensive…
Didn’t matter. Having his superior not liable to fly into murderous rages on the drop of a hat was worth it.
She accepted it from him, hefted it in her hand. “What’s this?”
Little chocolate-covered candies. Not produced extensively, which was a crime, in his humble opinion. But Alderaan was one place they could be obtained. “They’re called peppernotes. They’re quite good.”
“In your estimation,” she grumbled softly, but removed one from the sack and slipped it into her mouth. He couldn’t help watching her, watched it pass between her lips, and was rewarded by seeing her eyes widen slightly and a smile spread on her face, a real smile. It was perhaps the first truly genuine smile he’d seen on her and it made her stunningly beautiful. “Your estimation is accurate. Peppernotes, is it? These will do for a distraction.” Her gaze turned teasing. “Your attention is much appreciated. It seems you’re learning to live a little. Perhaps later I can help you relieve some stress?”
And what exactly did she mean by that? What did she think she meant by that? “I-” He’d expected this, and he still didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry, my lady. My work demands my full attention, and I – well, I’m not used to… juggling business with… pleasure.”
She raised an eyebrow, still slightly cranky. “No lame excuses or explanations. If you’re not interested, just say so.” She paused, waiting.
He couldn’t. He couldn’t say it. It would be a lie.
Her lips curved into a smile and she walked away towards the roof access.