Private Change on the Horizon

[Nitya Xeraic]

The young woman felt like her entire family had abandoned her and what few friends she had. Her father had died, and her mother disappeared to grieve...leaving her alone until she had been assigned her Master. This man was her mother's boyfriend, who had also forgotten her. Her other family, a sister and uncle, had also either disappeared or abandoned her. Her uncle had done just that.

He had greeted her on his homeworld and then dropped her off in the woods. He told her she would be in the woods for about a month, and he would return to claim her. Her survival skills were limited, but Nitya quickly learned more and new ones. The month passed, and her uncle never returned. Not knowing how much time had passed, the Padawan eventually escaped Veradune.

By the time she arrived at Zeltros, she was pretty hungry. With her senses on high alert, she ventured into a cantina close to the spaceport. Something she was unaware of was the party scene here. A drink was handed to her as she walked in, and then she was guided to a stool at a bar. Finger foods were placed in front of her and vanished into her mouth as fast as they were put there.

After what seemed to be a few minutes, she felt like the room was spinning and wanted to get outside for some fresh air. The hands that had guided her in then helped her out. Her thirst quenched and hunger tamed, she leaned against the side of the cantina to catch her breath.

Getting approached by several people, the Jedi distanced herself from this area. Gathering up her wits, she walked on. Closing her eyes, she focused on quieting her mind. Something in the air tugged her, and listening to her intuition, she followed where it guided her in her steps.

In a way, she was a lot like her mother and craved nature. Having lived in it for so long, she suddenly missed it. Hearing the sound of water rushing, she went with the flow and found herself outside a dirty but busy building. Pushing open the door, she was pulled inside and sat on a couch. Strangers surrounded her but made her feel welcome.

Food and drink were set out, and she helped herself to a plate and glass. Even though she didn't know anybody present, she was soon chatting with an attractive woman sitting nearby.

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

"Remember why the Sith are more powerful than the Jedi, Sidious: because we are not afraid to feel. We embrace the spectrum of emotions, from the heights of transcendent joy to the depths of hatred and despair. Fearless, we welcome whatever paths the dark side sets us on, and whatever destiny it lays out for us."
-- Darth Plagueis to Darth Sidious.

Tags: Nitya Xeraic

From Veradune to Zeltros the investigation had proven to be extensive, longer than expected and expensive. But credits did not matter to the Sith. They were only a means to an end if that end could be accomplished through their acquisition and subsequent use in matters unrelated to the Force. Since being freed from her incarceration on Coruscant Darth Ayra had been on the move. Rebuilding her network. Acquiring new associates, contacts and followers to serve her. Obtaining wealth, influence and power across a multitude of territories. But what Ayra craved above all was the apprentice.

In her efforts to find one she had stumbled upon a very twisted form of fate. Although she did not entirely understand the link it had been revealed to Ayra that a Jedi Padawan was a relative to an enemy of hers called Vulpesen . It was because of him that the Alliance had finally got their woman. Defeated on Alderaan Ayra had slept in a cryochamber until the hand of Solipsis' reached out to free her and the other prisoners being held captive in the Core.

Naturally, Ayra had tracked down the Padawan and now, inexplicably the pair of them now shared a couch. Pulling out a packet of cigarettes from her pocket Ayra raised one of them to her lips, took it into her mouth and lit it up. As she put away the lighter and pack Ayra took a toke on the cigarette which now hung from her lips, and exhaled as she spoke: "My name is Alicia Drey. I don't want to scare you but I know who you are and I have travelled a very long way to find you. I am here to offer you a job and I would like the chance to convince you to take it."

 

[Nitya Xeraic]

The young woman listened to what Alicia had to say and couldn't help but let out a scoffing noise when she said she knew who she was. Other than that, Nitya didn't say or do anything until she had finished. After what she had been through, she didn't think anything would scare her. Let alone the almost fragile woman sitting next to her. Listening to what she had to say, she allowed her to finish.

"I find it hard to believe anybody knows who I am. Everybody seems to have forgotten me. It is nice to meet you, Ms. Alicia Drey."

Maybe the drink loosened her tongue or the pheromones around her. Either way, her words were out, and they couldn't be taken back—not that the Jedi would have changed anything.

"What job are you offering to a total stranger?"

Lifting her glass to her mouth, she drank while Alicia drew a drag from the cigarette. There was a heavy silence between them, but it wasn't stressful. A sense of calmness surrounded the girl, which might be considered natural.

Alicia said she wanted to convince her to take it, but it wouldn't take much to sway her into accepting the offer.

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Nitya Xeraic

Alicia turned her gaze from Nitya to exhale smoke away from the girls face. As she watched the smoke rise and disperse in the air she wondered to herself how she was going to convince her to join her. How much did she reveal, if anything at all? Did Alicia try to impress her, or would it scare her away? Would she just come out and explain that she was a Sith Lord? That the work that she wanted to pursue with the woman was so secret that Alicia's real identity would need to be kept hidden? Or would she say that one of the reasons why she wanted Nitya to join her was because of Vulpesen ?

Then there was, of course, the consideration of candidacy for apprenticeship. There could only be two; no more, no less. The rule, alongside the ramifications, and certain convoluted logic behind it, was clear. Through mere luck Alicia was sitting here on this couch. There were many times that she could have been killed. Alderaan, certainly. Dxun was a close shave. If it had not been for Operation: Absolution she would still be held in the cryochamber beneath Coruscant waiting for her life to expire. The point of taking an apprentice wasn't just because they would serve her but so that the lineage would continue should her life expire at their hands, or someone else's. If not for sheer luck then the Rule of Two would have ended with her a long time ago.

There could be no more mistakes, nor the reliance of luck. It was time to take control of their destiny.

This is was why Alicia had to take on an apprentice. But was Nitya Xeraic a candidate for apprenticeship? Was her seminal ties to the Jedi Order strong enough to dissuade her from following the path of the dark side? And then, of course, if she decided to start walking down that path would she be a true believer in Bane's ideology as Alicia was?

"I am building a network," Alicia explained while turning her gaze back to Nitya. "A hidden organisation made up of spies, informants, politicians, business, commerce, intelligence... the list can go on, and on. I would like you to join."

Taking another toke of the cigarette Alicia exhaled away from Nitya a second time before looking back at her. "Although we have never met each other before now I know that you are alone. I know that you have no-where to go. I know that you feel abandoned, and lonely. I know that your training in the ways of the Force is incomplete. If you decide to take my offer all these things can be fixed."

 

[Nitya Xeraic]

If anybody had asked Nitya what she expected her first encounter with a Sith, it certainly would not have been this. Then again, nobody had ever asked her that question. Nobody had really educated her, and this left her very much open to Alicia's machinations. The young woman listened silently, and her heartbeat sped up slightly with excitement and anticipation. This stranger was offering her a new beginning to a life that had been going nowhere, opening a door Nitya didn't know was there.

"Sounds like something my mother would be interested in."

She said she knew who Nitya was, if that were true then she would know who her mother was. Jairdain wasn't mentioned to cause fear to Alicia, but then again, she did not state her name. There was no need to mention her father. That man was long dead, and she had no substantial connection with him. He had died when she was pretty young, and her mother had disappeared soon after, leaving Nitya on her own. Everything had brought her to this point, and she was sitting on the couch next to Alicia.

Watching as she took another drag from her cigarette, the girl sat quietly in thought. The Padawan couldn't help but nod when the other woman spoke again. Pretty much everything stated was true. Lifting an eyebrow at the Force comment, she kept her mouth closed and waited for her to finish her statement.

"What would you have me do?"

It was just a few simple words but a very loaded question. Waiting for the answer, Nitya took a bite of her food.

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Nitya Xeraic

Alicia leaned forward in her seat and stubbed out the cigarette. Did she dare reveal herself to this Jedi Padawan? What would the ramifications be if this girl learned just enough to undo everything that she had been working towards? Alicia knew that when it came to the dichotomy between Master and Apprentice there could be no such thing as trust. In order for such a relationship to work one had to make it in the best interests of the latter to maintain the secrecy between them. Benefits that were just enough to keep them loyal. But never outright trust for such a relationship could easily be broken.

"I would have you traverse the Galaxy with me as my new companion. I am in need of a partner: someone who I can work with to achieve my goals. In time I will bring you into a scheme that I am building and when that time comes we will accomplish something that will change the Galaxy. To begin you will begin a new life, with one of purpose, and fulfilment. Your time as a Jedi will be over and you will enter into a new paradigm where your knowledge in the Force will take on a new understanding."

Although they were in a loud room all the noise around them seemed to dim and become distant as Alicia spoke. Every next syllable was filled with the power of the dark side designed to ensnare and entice the mind with her words.

"I am a follower of the dark side of the Force. I know things that the Jedi do not want you to know. I know things that the major powers in the Galaxy do not want you to know. I operate in secrecy, and my public life is entirely a lie: it is a superior disguise. There is so much that I can teach you and all it requires is a leap of faith. Your family abandoned you but in your heart you will find a new warmth that will embrace you. Join me and together we will lead a wonderful life free dogma and the fear of the Jedi."

"Join me, Nitya Xeraic."

 

[Nitya Xeraic]

Sitting and listening to Alicia, the young woman's interest was certainly piqued. She heard what was said and did not pull away or reject what she was told. Even though she had grown up Jedi and been raised with her parents' ideals, they were far from them, and Nitya didn't feel like following them any longer. While she was not yet converted, she had a foot in the door.

Lifting her eyebrow, she was surprised by how open Alicia was in telling her she followed the Dark Side. Then again, her mother had once been down that path. However, Jairdain had returned from it, and yet she had never warned her daughter not to go down it. Silently, she wondered what either of her parents would think of the steps she was starting.

Taking a deep breath, the girl clung to some of what she had been taught growing up. However, she could not resist the Power Alicia put into her words. Not that she entirely wanted to. She silently mouthed the words almost as they were spoken.

"A leap of faith..."

An almost bubble of silence surrounded them, and she whispered those four words. There was latent power within Nitya, something that neither her parents nor Jedi had discovered. The Padawan wasn't as strong as her mother, but she had many of the same skills. If trained properly, she would become a force to be reckoned with.

"I'll take that leap and see where you take me, Ms. Alicia Drey."

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Nitya Xeraic

"Good, Nitya. Very good."

The silence passed and almost like a tap turning back on the water sound flowed back into their conversation by the party happening around them. Taking one last drag on her cigarette Alicia exhaled and stubbed it in a nearby ashtray. Reclining back in the chair she took the moment to fold one leg over the other, and appraised Nitya with a pair of judging eyes. Did this former Jedi have what it took to learn the ways of the dark side, as she had? Through careful coercion, manipulation and direction Alicia would be judge, jury, and if necessary- executioner- in this girls life from this moment on wards.

In her time since escaping the Coruscant prison, Alicia had traversed the Galaxy and met with many candidates for apprenticeship. There was Uriel Rykard , a former Imperial turned Sith, who showed promise. Then there was Maldor Mecetti , whose status as heir-in-exile to House Mecetti of Obulette and it's Mecetti Nationalized Industries were of use to the Grand Scheme, and who had showed himself to possess a cunning mind that could be cultivated to form a formidable Sith Lord. Now there was a third candidate in Nitya Xeraic , whose ties to Vulpesen were of great personal interest to Alicia, but whose connections to the Jedi were of great use if the girl could be properly cultivated.

She would test all of them. Through corruption, and temptation of power, Alicia would drip feed them insight, knowledge- the very glimpses to the power of the dark side- all in an effort to ensnare them until they either proved themselves worthy of her teachings, or were proven to be mere tools in the pursuit of her own work.

Then there was Darth Malum of House Marr and the Tsis'Kaar. Alicia planned to make her move on the man and his organisation on Felucia. As the Staff Director of the New Imperial Security Bureau Alicia would require an intermediary in her dealings with Malum. There would be times when she would not be able to leave Lianna or other affairs across the Galaxy would require her attention. In Nitya there was someone who could fulfil that role, and of course, if the Tsis'Kaar ever laid a trap for her then it would be better for Alicia if this new candidate was the one who walked into it than her.

"When it comes to matters such as these it is often best not to leave it in the hands of trust," Alicia explained to Nitya. "Trust is a fools game. Such relationships can be broken easily by the other, or a third party looking to intervene and break the trust. You have to establish leverage over the other, and present the idea of betrayal being so damaging to them that if it were to ever cross their mind it would invite catastrophe that they are eager to avoid."

"Take me for example. I live two lives that are separate from one another. My public life contributes to the other, but those who I interact and deal with in public are unaware of the darker half that I live simultaneously. When it comes too us, Nitya, I will teach you how to live a double-life as I do. We must never reveal the full extent of our hand to those that do not know who we really are. In time where the Sith, Dark Jedi and other Force-strong- each with their own rationale, or belief in the dark side- this comes across as paradoxical, and yet is completely necessary if the two of us are to work together."

"The organisation that I am building contains informants and spies all across the Galaxy. In my pocket are politicians, Moffs and military men in high positions in a number of institutions. For us to work in these dark times we must operate clandestine, secretly and those we interact must be compartmentalized. Neither of the people involved will know of each other, or know just enough to keep them involved without being aware of the full picture."

"In order for you to embrace this life you must prove that you will walk the path of the dark side. To traverse the Galaxy you must be ready to invite catastrophe into your life as all true followers of the dark side do. Death is not something to be feared but is to be coveted and treated as a friend. Our goal is not to enforce or create subjugation but to entice and spread contagion across the stars for the dark side is not like a fire which can easily be stoked or smouldered but it is much like a venom whose potency we can deliver and administrate through cunning, careful planning and execution."

Alicia fell silent and waited for her words to take into the man of the fledgling Padawan learner sitting beside her. Yes, like a contagion- if they took rout, and were understood as conveyed- then much like it had been for her on that fateful day, when the Jedi Temple had fallen to the sudden and decisive strike of the One Sith, the beast within them would raise it's snout at the prospect of the hunt and the monster that is the dark side of the Force would root itself in place where Nitya held her soul.

 

[Nitya Xeraic]

Turning her head to look around the room, the sound started to return. Catching a man with a tray walking past, she took whatever was offered to her—both food and drink. Here on Zeltros, the party never ended, and Nitya wanted to make the most of the situation before she needed to focus on training. There was no way for the girl to anticipate what form the training would take.

Listening to the older woman, she nodded in agreement about trust.

"Do you mean to make a person trust me or threaten to betray them?"

It seemed a little counterproductive, but Alicia probably had much more life experience and would know what she was talking about. So, the young woman listened to the rest of the information given to her. Her life was certainly not going to be a conventional one, but then again, it never really had been. Growing up with her parents, being taught to use the Force, and then losing her father, followed by her mother disappearing—no, it was not conventional.

"Catastrophe has already entered my life, Ms. Drey. If I die, I will join my father in the Netherworld.

While Nitya certainly did not welcome or want to die, she knew it was a part of life and accepted that. Maybe she was more like her mother than she thought or even realized. Looking back at Alicia, one of her eyebrows rose in curiosity.

"What proof do you need?"

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Nitya Xeraic Darth Malum of House Marr

Alicia pouted her lips at the prospect of the Netherworld. It was a Jedi myth. She knew that when her time came- whether at the hands of this woman, or by another, unforeseen foe- there was nothing after this life. In her time Alicia would create a legacy that would spread down through the generations of Sith Lords that would follow her in the Rule of Two. As she had woven herself back into the tapestry of the Sith'ari they too would be woven into hers. In this way she would still live on in name, and memory. Ideas of immortality, or warding off death through the power of the dark side were the whims of the cowards that now diluted the very power of the Force. Alicia knew her time would come, and everything between then and now were simply acts to prepare for that time.

"There is a dangerous man that I am also looking to recruit into my organisation," Alicia replied while choosing not to comment on the catastrophe Nitya spoke of. That would come later. "He is a nobleman who oversights a large, and vast organisation different to the one I am creating. They are called the Tsis'Kaar and they are Sith. Together we will recruit the man so that he may begin working for us. Through him the other members of his organisation will come into our service as well. But it will take time, and clever planning for us to bring him into the fold."

"Until we make our move you will travel with me. I will teach you how to build and live a double-life. We will use this time to explore our relationship, and build it up from the ground. I am self-aware: we have only just met. At this moment in time I am a mere stranger, who came to you out of no-where to recruit you for a job that is yours if you want it."

Alicia fell quiet momentarily as Nitya enquired about what proof she needed. It took a lot of self-restraint not to break into a satisfied smile.

She had her.

"There is work in the Empire of the Lost that requires our attention and discretion. If you are interested in joining me then I will be at the Mendru Spaceport at terminal A678. There you will find my ship. I will be waiting there for a day. We will part ways for now. Use this time to think about my job offer, and to enjoy Zeltros for the last time because if you join me you will beginning a new life as a follower of the dark side. There will be no trappings of comfort, or safety where we will go."

"If you come with me we will always be walking a fine line between catastrophe or ruin. One day, Nitya."

Unfolding her leg Alicia stood up and drew upon the cowl of her white robe. Concealing her facial features between the hood Alicia took the ashtray that had her cigarette and walked out of the bar leaving Nitya to decide on her fate.

 

[Nitya Xeraic]

The invitation was given along with a time frame. Nitya had a day to decide if she would be joining Alicia and a day to party like she had never had before. Watching the other woman leave the building, it seemed like she just faded away. She did exactly what a visitor does on Zeltros for the rest of the day.

She was waiting at the spaceport and the correct terminal at the expected meeting time. Her only belongings were the clothes she was wearing. Even as a half-Zorren, she still had sharp claws and teeth. Not that she expected to be hurt or attacked at this time.

A small part of the young woman rebelled at her choice, but Nitya pushed it down and buried it. Her mother had made her choices, and now Nitya was making hers. Good or bad, she stepped through the door Alicia opened for her and did not look back.

Alicia Drey