Private Into the Fold [The Convocation of Sojourn]

[Alicia Drey]

Chapter I: The Convocation of Sojourn

Into the Fold

Darth Bane, and his apprentice, Darth Zannah.
The progenitors of the Rule of Two.

"Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody the power, the other to crave it."
​

Tags: Maldor Mecetti

The first day of the Convocation of Sojourn had been a success. In the form of an auction held in secret on the Hunter's Moon of Sojourn Darth Ayra had procured a vast sum of credits to use in the Work. More than that she had procured roads into securing the allegiance of five wealthy, powerful individuals that sat at the heads of organisations that would serve Ayra well in her machinations. Over the next coming days she would traverse those roads in a bid to recruit them to her cause. One of those attendees of the convocation was a man that she had been working on for quite sometime long before the convocation had been held. Ever since she had infiltrated the New Imperial Security Bureau Darth Ayra had been keeping tabs on the Son-in-Exile. A former representative of Obulette in the Federal Assembly Maldor Mecetti had been forced into exile by the New Jedi Order after it had been discovered that he was a collector of Sith paraphernalia. Forced to abandon House Mecetti Maldor had been serving in the Empire of the Lost ever since.

In his exile Maldor had been publicly disowned by his father, Casteban Mecetti . But Ayra had learned that the truth was not what it appeared to be. The two had been keeping up communications arranged with the help of the NISB. Credits were being funnelled by the elder Mecetti to his son to help him in his bid to become a powerful, prominent figure in the Empire of the Lost. They had succeeded but not in the way that either of them had planned nor anticipated. The ulterior motives of the Mecetti had been obfuscated and even aided by an unknown figure within the organisation. Instead of doing what it was supposed to do the NISB had aided Maldor in his ascension to the title of Moff. It had maintained the line of communication between the new Moff and his father in spite of the fact that it was clear that a prominent figure of the Galactic Alliance was directly influencing the events of the Empire through the proxy of his exiled son. They had even provided a report which had passed Maldor of their inspection protocols in spite of the mountain of evidence to the contrary, and this had contributed to Maldor's promotion to Moff.

It would be extremely easy for the NISB to have stopped Maldor Mecetti's ascension in the Empire. The conspiracy between himself and Nimian Totan had been more than enough to get both men arrested. Not to mention the discovery that House Mecetti were indirectly seeking to recruit Alicia Drey to serve them, and, of course, the prison escape on Stygeon Prime where Maldor had murdered personnel and aided the escape of a convict that was being held there for execution. If these combined facts were delivered to Velran Kilran then suffice to say that the Mecetti heir would suffer the same fate as the Voland administration of which the 'eggman' had butchered right in front of Maldor during his formal inauguration to the seat of Emperor.

Despite making their own inquiries House Mecetti had not turned up much in the way of answers. Who was it in the New Imperial Security Bureau that was pulling on their strings? Why were they helping them, and more importantly, what were they using them for? Who was Alicia Drey really? Every inquiry into the former business tycoon led to one answer: they were dead. A funeral on Chandrila had been held over fifty years ago celebrating the passing of the founder of Chandrila DataTech. Yet, mysteriously, a woman claiming to be Drey resurfaced on Lianna to meet with Vyllia Santhe and from that moment onwards they had not only joined the NISB but climbed all the way up the rankings to become the Staff Director of the entire organisation.

There was something clearly wrong here.

Whoever Drey was it was increasingly clear that they had something to do with all of this, and now on Sojourn, Maldor found himself a guest of a most ambiguous, odd event that was supposed to be hosted by the Muun Serj Sularis only for it to be revealed that the person behind the event was Alicia herself. Then, before Maldor could bid on any of the Sith Holocrons that had been put up for auction on the first day, the same individual within the NISB had told him to purchase the Creatura Reactor instead of anything else. Confused, angered and coerced into following a directive that he did not fully understand the first day had ended with a revelation by their hostess that she sought to create an organisation with Maldor (and the four other guests) that would rival the likes of the Trade Federation of Planets.

How did all these events seemingly link altogether? Who was it that was black mailing House Mecetti into pursuing acts that they would normally not engage with? Where did Maldor Mecetti fit into all of this? Would they really rival the likes of the Federation if they came together, as Alicia had said they would?

What was really going on?

There was a knock on the door to Maldor's quarters within the Fort. Dusk had passed outside the windows of the ancient building long ago, and it was on the cusp of midnight on the Hunter's Moon. At this hour you could hear the dozens of strange creatures that roamed the nearby forests. Leftover game from Darth Ayra's predecessor abandoned centuries ago just before the Battle of Yavin that had been left unchecked since they too had been betrayed by their apprentice.

After the knock a voice on the other side of the door spoke. "Maldor? May I come in?" Alicia asked on the other side.

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

Maldor had been meditating on the days' events.

Mysteries flitted about him like fireflies.

Who was Alicia's master? It was clear that she was operating outside the bounds of her position at the NISB within the Empire of the Lost.

Had she been bought out by another party?

Was her unknown employer the same person who was manipulating and coercing him?

Was this unknown coercer a figure within the Empire, or a figure from outside looking to control the Empire?

The possibilities were intense and just out of reach. He had to narrow them down. He had to figure out whose neck he needed to wring, and soon.

House Mecetti's spy within the NISB had only revealed one salient point so far: Alicia was embarking on actions that lay far outside of her duties at the NISB. Someone had clearly already bought her. But the identity of that someone was needed before Maldor would know how to make a move.

He might even prefer to switch allegiances to this unknown power, if they were a true contender for the Emperor.

But if they were the ones who'd been coercing and manipulating him, he needed to find some way to even the odds. He would not allow himself and his House to remain under their thumb indefinitely. Some balance had to be found. A knife to their throat to counter the one to his own.

A knock at the door.

Was the Force responding to his Focus?

"Maldor? May I come in?"

He opened his eyes, and rose up to cross to the door. His mind briefly turned to the Lady Santhe. He decided that he would not betray their budding romance, no matter what Alicia might be here to offer him.

When one was walking down dark halls, one had to preserve some simple, core loyalties. If he hoped to wed Lady Santhe in the future, then she had to know he could be counted on and trusted. She had to know this right down to the marrow of her bones.

Women like her would feel a betrayal. She would feel it in its slightest molecule.

So he could allow none.

If she was to be family one day, that bond had to be built on a firm foundation.

Family was everything in House Mecetti.

Everything.

He opened the portal.

"Miss Drey. Please, come in."

---

Vyllia Santhe (mentioned) Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

​

Tags: Maldor Mecetti

Some decades ago now, during the time of the Galactic Republic, Alicia Drey had travelled to Muunilinst to meet with Serj Sularis to discuss a loan from the InterGalactic Banking Clan. This was well known in the business world, particularly on Chandrila. It was with thanks to that loan that Chandrila Group dominated the exports market for foodstuffs during it's 14 years of operations within the Republic while Chandrila DataTech extorted the Chandrilan's fascination with technology.

What wasn't known were the ulterior motives for the meeting. Through inquiries launched with the help of Sularis (who was eager at the time to please his new client) Drey traced the origins of Damask Holdings to the minor planet of Mygeeto. Using the loan as a means to make a contact in the Banking Clan Drey sought to investigate this obscure corporation (that had existed centuries ago) and it's links to the origins of the Rule of Two: an ideology based in the Sith maxim where only two traversed the Galaxy in a dyad; following the dichotomy where one ruled as the Sith Master and the other their Sith Apprentice.

It was through a cult (whose name had been lost to the annuals of history) that transcripts were written during the Four-Hundred Year Darkness which pointed towards a time where two such Sith had been influencing the internal workings of the Muuns several centuries ago. Who their names were or what happened to them was unknown to Darth Ayra. But through her inquiries into these obscure links which connected this former pairing to Damask Holdings and the extinct cult (which had perished during the Gulag Plague) Ayra had traced them all the way from Muunilinst to Mygeeto and then on to Sojourn.

Although damaged during the Four-Hundred Year Darkness the Muuns had still retained some of their records of their time before the Gulag Plague had ravished the Galaxy, and after careful study, Ayra had learned some things about her predecessors. Some years before her death she had moved much the estate and wealth that she had built up on Chandrila and Anaxes to Sojourn to weave herself further into the tapestry of Darth Bane. Now the same work that had been performed here in the formative decades of the Clone Wars was once again being pursued in the same building that the Banites had once housed. But the woman who had brought it back here to the Hunter's Moon would not live to see it come to fruition, as per the maxims taught by Bane, and now the same Muun that had led Ayra back here to this hallowed halls was being prepared for transport as per the business that had been concluded with Trayze Tesar earlier in the day.

Her predecessors had called it the Gathering. Although the records of these meetings were obfuscated (likely by the hands of the very late Sith Lords who had once conducting their own business on Sojourn) Ayra had gained some insight into the event. These Sith Lords- who masqueraded as business men (and one of them likely was a Muun themselves)- would pull together the richest and most powerful figures in the Galaxy to meet on Sojourn annually to discuss business that was done clandestinely in pursuit of their revenge against the Jedi. Before her death Ayra had even held such a meeting over fifty years ago, but it had not amounted to much, and a costly mistake on Dxun had led her to forfeit her life before she had ever the chance to host another one.

Now, curiously, at the beginning of another Star War waged against the Galactic Alliance and the New Jedi Order another traversed the Galaxy in the same footsteps as the Banites, and late Darth Ayra. She wore the same title as her predecessor when she met with the likes of the Dark Side Elite on the Tython moon of Bogan. They had even adopted the alias that Ayra had taken during her public life on Chandrila all those decades ago. With the help of Vyllia Santhe that same person had traced all of the assets that had been lost following the death of the Sith Master and through her work on Lianna they had even worked their way into the upper echelons of the Empire of the Lost.

That same woman now walked through the portal and into the chambers where Maldor Mecetti was set to stay in over the next four days. Alicia paused to survey the room, and then moved over to a nearby table situated near the window overlooking the grounds of the Fort. Opening the window up to look outside Alicia turned her gaze to watch the patrols doing their rounds outside. Security provided by the dying father of the same man whose quarters she now occupied.

Turning back around from the window Alicia met the gaze of Maldor and begun to speak: "I trust you have secured the funds for the Creatura like I asked?"

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

"I trust you have secured the funds for the Creatura like I asked?"

Maldor's jaw fell open, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"It was... you... all along?!"

He shook his head.

"But... that makes no sense. This is your auction."

Yet as he'd surmised, this was no mere auction. This was a puzzle box.

Well, he was certainly puzzled. If the mysterious messenger was her, then it had been her at the prison, as well.

"No. These events do not connect logically if you are at the core. You might be involved, but you are not in command."

He pointed accusingly at her, "If this is you, then you work for some master or purpose outside of the NISB. Nothing here at this palace... nothing at the prison... none of it makes sense if it's you. The NISB could have gotten a prisoner released effortlessly.

Unless you didn't want the Empire to know.

There is an unrevealed person at the heart of this. Some puppeteer in the shadows."

Yet even as he said so, he found himself uncertain.

The shock, surprise, and anger on his face gradually bled away. It was clear that he was asserting control over his emotions. It was like watching the gear of a machine engaged into activity. He had forgotten himself, but no longer.

His hand shifted. It was close to the hilt at his belt. A quick slip under his robes would grasp it.

"If this is you, then it can be ended with a stroke. House Mecetti is security, here.

If you think the whole of my being can be encompassed by the title of 'Senator' or 'Admiral' or even 'Moff,' then you have made a dangerous misjudgment.

Nor am I a mere Saber Rake, or some other brand of spoiled Lordling.

Perhaps in my early youth... but I have grown, since then.

You have erred, Miss Drey."

---

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Maldor Mecetti

Alicia's eyes lowered to the hilt on Maldor's belt. Lips pouting thoughtfully she took her time removing the cigarette packet from her breast pocket, and slipping one of the sticks in between her lips. It was becoming something of a signature presentation with her. She often smoked while her machinations came to fruition, and here on Sojourn it was no different. Smoke often dispersed quickly the moment it permutated a room. You could smell it. Taste it even. But in the end it disappeared quickly, and only your wits kept you aware that it had been here only momentarily. There was no finer representation than that of a true, devout follower of the dark side.

A true Master never revealed themselves until it was too late to stop them.

"The path of the dark side is often convoluted and murky in it's logic, Maldor," Alicia explained as she lit the cigarette up and blew out towards the open window. She was nonchalant despite the fact that the man in front of her was on the cusp of drawing his weapon, and by all rights Alicia had no right to be. Maldor was correct. The moon was full of his men. It would take only a few words into a commlink to send them all descending upon her. Yet Alicia was calm, and sombre in face of these facts.

"There are many who believe that I am in service to them. Take Velran Kilran as an example. A disturbed ego maniac who slaughtered all of Aculia Voland's administration, and coerced the rest into following them. Who did he replace them with? A lowly Operative recently recruited into the Bureau to act on behalf of the Empire's interests on Obulette, and an exiled heir, who shares a common interest in Sith paraphernalia, and knowledge. Your deal with Nimian Totan. Your ascension to the status of a Moff. This auction and your presence here. All of it obfuscated by me and done by mine design."

"The only person I serve is myself."

Alicia flicked the ash at the end of her cigarette and coughed into her hand before readjusting herself on the seat to regain her comfortability. "You say that these things that have been happening as of late do not make any sense. But yet you have benefited from it greatly. If Kaybees had discovered that you really were looking to acquire Sith Holocrons then you would not be a Moff. You would be in a prison cell on Stygeon Prime. A political prisoner that the Bureau would have used to exploit your poor father."

"And let's talk about Stygeon Prime. Murdering a Warden? Killing the other guards in the facility? Helping Cain Sevu escape? Acts that serve as more tools to coerce and black mail you. It's becoming a long list. The same reason that you killed all those people will be the same one why you can't draw that weapon. If you kill me then steps are in place to expose everything. Then you really will have lost everything. No way to get back home to take the place of your dying father. No title or status in the Empire to call your own. The men who serve you, and the forces that you have gathered would abandon you because in your heart, Maldor Mecetti, you are a traitor."

Alicia took another toke on her cigarette and gestured to the vacant seat on the other side of the table while keeping it caught between her lips.

"Put away your weapon, Maldor or I will crush you." With her left hand Alicia took out the curved Lightsaber blade which had been concealed on her left hip and hovered the thumb about the ignition button.

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

Maldor listened to her, his hand poised to seize the hilt of his foil.

So... he had been mistaken about a secret puppeteer. Perhaps she had always wanted it to seem like there was another person above her. Pull attention away from her own moves enough to keep her in the clear. If she seemed like a recruitable asset, and not the ultimate mastermind, then the only target upon her would be a favorable one.

Brilliant.

Until now.

Now the façade fell away, and she had only herself as a shield to defend her own manipulations.

Maldor thought back to his recent encounter with the The Battalion , a demoness to whom he'd sold souls for insight into the unrealized secrets of the Dark Side.

A meeting he'd made in such secrecy that even the head of the NISB would not realize it had occurred.

The Battalion had taught him that the source of his connection to the Dark Side was fear.

Not the most flattering thing to discover about oneself.

But knowing yourself was one of the keys to victory in any battle.

"Velran doesn't give a fig about Sith artifacts or Sith training. That became very clear to me at the meeting where I was made Moff.

So the usefulness of your endorsement is of dubious value. It could be argued that my endorsement of you was of greater value."

His fingertips tickled the metal of his foil hilt.

"My murder of an incompetent administrator of an ill-managed prison facility will trouble no-one, least of all the Emperor.
We've seen how he deals with people. Executing incompetent personnel seems to be a keystone to his administration.

Any files the NISB has on the incident can now be safely dealt with. Revealing that this conspiracy ends with you was a mistake. Now I know there is no further phantom to fear."

A faint smile touched his lips.

"You see, House Mecetti is deeply embedded into the NISB. Originally, we did this to learn more about you. But the salient outcome is that there is no aspect of the NISB that is beyond our reach. Any files you've collected that displease us will disappear.

And when you are gone, there will be no one to whisper a different story."

He took one step closer to her, measuring the distance between them. The length of arms. The likely expanse of plasma that would arc between them.

"You catastrophically misunderstand my loyalties if you think that I am a traitor.

But that is not surprising.

House Mecetti has been at this game for a long time. We are survivors. And while I lament my lost home, my separation from family... everything is going according to plan.

Everything... but you."

His smile grew in size.

"And if you think I am afraid of your dueling saber, your misjudgment of me has reached the final, lethal extreme."

Maldor regarded her for a long moment. His smile faded.

"But this isn't the first time your house of cards has collapsed around you, is it?

I'm sorry it came to this. I like competent people. They are useful. But not if that competence is aimed at me.

Once you are gone, my path forward can resume.

Farewell, Miss Drey."

His saber was suddenly in hand, its blade blazing to fiery life.

He was afraid, of course. But that, too, was something in his favor.

---

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Maldor Mecetti

SNAP-HISS!

The curved Lightsaber in Alicia's hand burst to life and as she stood up the disguise that she had been wearing since the economic conference on board the Meniium faded away to reveal who she truly was: Darth Ayra. As both of them activated their weapons Ayra discarded the lit cigarette through the window and exhaled a plume of smoke as she adopted the opening stance of Soresu.

"Delightful," Ayra said to Maldor as she was seemingly pleased by him drawing his weapon. She drank in the power of the dark side and smiled at what she had done to this man. "I have coerced you. Blackmailed you. Used you. Manipulated yourself, your family and house into acts that they did not want to commit. I made arrangements that only benefitted myself. Good, Maldor. I sense your anger. Only through passion do I gain strength."

Ayra circled away from the window and table she had been sitting it towards the centre of the room. This gave her more room to defend herself, and continue turning Maldor. Every word she spoke now were laced with the power of the dark side. To drive Maldor's impulsivities. Ensnare his mind.

To turn him into her Sith Apprentice.

"The dark side is strong with you, Maldor Mecetti. But in the holocrons, manuscripts or tales that you have collected they pale in comparison to learning at the hand of a living master. Even now, as you are thinking of destroying this phantom menace that has afflicted you, your thoughts betray you. I sense them now. Imagine what we could accomplish together as master and apprentice!"

"Join me and together we will reach a power unseen in millennia. Joint together in the dyad of the apprenticeship we will adopt a dichotomy that will drive the two of us to unprecedented heights. Since the moment I came into your life I have been preparing you for this night. Serve me and everything that you want can be yours! Untold secrets about the dark side of the Force. The inner workings of the Dark Empire and Tsis'Kaar. My work to bring you back to Obulette where you belong!"

A sinister smile crept across the face of Darth Ayra as she continued to tear down Maldor. "Think of your father. So far away from here. At home without his heir to take his place. Replaced by a fake imitation- an automaton- designed and manufactured by a decadent Jedi! It should be you who should replace him! Only through me will you take back what is rightfully yours!"

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

This was something the holocrons didn't do.

He wasn't sure whether this was because of limits in their embedded matrices. Sometimes, it seemed that the entire being of a Sith was encoded within them, down to nuanced psychology and simulated tics. Even the power of the Dark Side itself seemed bound to the technology, capable of enacting mysterious changes upon the world and upon the student.

Other times, the limitations of the medium became clear. However profound the technology, it had limits. It was not truly a person. Merely a programmed gatekeeper and instructor embedded within a complicated data storage device. Just a computer with an advanced interface.

When a holocron groped for your Dark Side triggers, it was often vague and broad, as though it had been programmed for mass appeal. The least common denominator. If it seemed to know you in some personal way, a savvy operator knew that it was feeding upon the connection to siphon emotional feedback. A simple technique that created a profound illusion.

But not now. The Battalion had reached into his true self. And now, Alicia went even further. As much as he'd insisted that she did not know him, he found his truest desires laid bare. As though his heart had been filleted and served back to him on a hot, sizzling plate.

Being known and understood could be a glorious, heady experience if it came in the midst of romance.

Less so when it was an enemy who knew you.

An enemy with a weapon poised to eviscerate you.

Fear sparked to combustion with anger, and he lanced out. Probing, well delivered attacks with the tip of his sword, designed to isolate her stance and style, find weakness, and prepare to exploit them.

It could have been in a textbook, so well was it delivered.

But it was compromised.

Compromised by the truth.

She was right. The desires and concerns she spoke of were at the core of his being.

Part of him wanted to know: Could she really give him his heart's desire?

---

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

​

Tags: Maldor Mecetti

Maldor lashed out and a series of strikes assaulted Darth Ayra. Immediately put onto the defensive Ayra raised her curved Lightsaber in the adopted Soresu technique and met each strike with a deflection upon the tip of the crimson light protruding from her weapon. The technique required the user not to meet the incoming attacks with out right parries, or blocks. Maldor- a taller, stronger man- would overwhelm his smaller, physically weaker opponent if they were to meet like this. So, instead, Ayra used the tip of her weapon to merely deflect the blow one way, or another, doing well to move with the attacks as if they were dancing. Each and every time Maldor came in it was always a narrow miss.

Excruciatingly frustrating to be on the precipice of felling the Phantom Menace that had entered his life since being exiled from the Galactic Alliance Ayra felt Maldor increase the velocity of his strikes as he fed off his anger only to fail each every time to her impenetrable defence. In her practices Ayra followed the ways of the dark side. Turn a light off and the darkness is always there. Indomitable. Ever present. Perfect. Crystalline. In Maldor's quarters on Sojourn he met an opponent that could not be stopped. The more they fought the clearer it became. He was well skilled. Practiced. Trained.

But he was no match for the Sith Master.

As Maldor came in to strike a finishing blow Ayra maneuverer her Lightsaber to deflect the incoming strike and as she danced away while her opponent found his footing she lashed out with her own powers of the dark side. A Force Grip seized Maldor at his midriff- like an invisible hand that was now clenching onto his chest, and back with a hold that would not relent- and with a wave of her palm Ayra sent him towards the ceiling to hold him there with her powers.

Ayra pointed her weapon at Maldor as he hung there and declared: "It's over, Maldor."

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

The Force is Just a Tool.

The talents and training of the individual matter far more than any mastery of the Force.

Maldor had frequently told himself these things. To him, the Force was just a piece of equipment he could carry with him, invisibly, wherever he went.

This was what he'd told himself as he'd stared into the family holocrons. This is what he'd told himself as he'd practiced swordplay in the secret vault of the Mecetti family, performing thrusts and cuts a thousand upon a thousand times, perfecting every movement under the tutelage of a long-dead maestro. This is what he'd told himself while a projected holocron guardian implored him to surrender himself to the Dark Side to attain his every desire.

Keep talking, dead man. You are just a tool in the family kit, with which we'll achieve greatness. Without the Sith. Without the Jedi. Without the useless mysticism you wrap around these techniques.

But now he had twice been defeated- seemingly effortlessly- by a foe who treated the Dark Side as a religion.

First by the Battalion.

Now by Alicia Drey. Darth Arya?

He was an expert swordsman.

He knew he was.

He'd defeated countless opponents in ritualized duels. Stood against a platoon of blaster-wielding pirates who'd filled a corridor with deadly fire, while cutting them down like stalks of wheat. In every measurable way, his form was superb. He was sure of it.

But it hadn't mattered.

He was a puppet on a string, thrown to the ceiling and made ridiculous at the whim of an opponent.

And he was sure he only breathed now because she'd elected not to kill him.

He was furious, and afraid, and... helpless. The humiliation was unbearable.

He looked into her eyes.

I will never forgive you for making me feel this way, he thought.

But what he did was shut off his foil.

What he said was, "I yield."

---

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tag: Maldor Mecetti

Ayra met the gaze of Maldor as he deactivated his foil. A cunning trick to lure her into a false sense of security? Or the realisation that her powers in the dark side dwarfed his? As she peered into his eyes Ayra saw the defeat in them. The tinge of humiliation which stung as the defeat begun to settle in. This opportunity to fell his Phantom Menace came and went by. Maldor had not been prepared for this encounter. Everything that had led to this night on Sojourn had been orchestrated and now the veil of the dark side had been lifted. By the time he had been ready to raise his foil- to destroy Alicia Drey and end her machinations- Maldor had found himself outclassed.

But as Ayra thumbed the ignition button of her curved blade, and dissipated the Force Grip which held Maldor above her, she knew that the next time they fought like this it would be to the death. When that day came Maldor would be stronger. More powerful. His cunning mind would make it so that he had every advantage available to him. He would learn from this. Until then it was down to her to orchestrate that inevitable encounter so that it would benefit the paradigms that had been set before her by the long lineage of Sith Lords that had predated both of them. From Bane to Zannah. Tenebrous to Plagueis. Sidious to Vader. Pandeima to Ayra. All had met their end at the hand of their apprentice: a being that had served them in life, and would continue to do so in death. An individual that would continue the lineage until the promise was complete.

That was what Ayra had to do now.

"You have taken your first steps into a new life, Maldor. . ."

Raising both hands up to her head Ayra claimed the fabric of the hood which hung there and raised it over her head. Face concealed by the cowl of her robe Ayra lowered her aching arms and lowered the silhouette of her face to where Maldor had fallen. Only the long strands of sulphuric blonde hair dangled out from the darkness that now enveloped her, and a pair of golden, bloodshot eyes that were corrupted by her powers in the dark side.

"Pledge yourself to me and my teachings. Accept your place as my Sith apprentice. Together we will traverse the stars in a dichotomy of two. No more, and no less. I as your master: the one to covet power, and you as the other to crave it. Everything that I know about the dark side of the Force will be yours. You kingdom of Obulette will be reclaimed. Everything that you have acquired in your time of exile will be yours to keep. You need only kneel to me and accept your fate . . ."

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

As Maldor descended from the ceiling, he knew that he was falling in more ways than one.

Against his will, her promises of power made their way into the cracks of his being. Seeped into his desires as water seeps into fractured stone.

He instantly understood that his desires were a weakness. A way into his soul.

Perhaps this was why so many Sith insisted that you could not deny the power of the Dark Side. It was insidious. It fed on the voids within you.

Voids devoid of hope. Devoid of light.

Perhaps that was why they called it the 'Dark Side.'

And yet, even understanding that his ruin was at hand, he found himself bowing forward.

Even knowing it was a betrayal to everything he truly cared about.

He spoke to himself a promise that he would stay true to the things that really mattered. That this was merely a ruse. That his core was untouched.

But even as he formed the mental vow, he felt the words ring hollow in his mind.

What he said aloud was startlingly and sharply truer.

"I pledge myself to you... my... Master."

Something broke within him.

Some strength that had endured all of his father's reproaches and doubt. A strength that had survived the myriad machinations of the Tapani Sector. A strength that had overcome the evils of the Ministry of Inquiry, and the cruelties of nobility.

It had even somehow lived on through the machinations of Senatorial power, and his ascension to becoming a Moff in the Empire of the Lost.

Now, that strength shattered.

And yet, even among the painful pieces, he could see something in the ruin.

Something new could be formed from these fragments.

Something new could began to rise.

---

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Darth Ayra, and her apprentice, Maldor Mecetti.
The new Rule of Two.
​

"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.

Tags: Maldor Mecetti

It was only when Maldor kneeled to the ground and pledged himself to her teachings did Darth Ayra allow the clip on the end of her curved hilt to reattach itself to the belt that she wore. As the Lightsaber became concealed beneath her robes Ayra folded both her arms into either sleeves and spoke:

"Rise my Apprentice."

As Maldor stood back up to his feet Ayra said to him: "From this day forward you will no longer know me as Alicia Drey. This false identity is one that I have led in public to obfuscate and hide my seminal efforts in the dark side. My true name is Darth Ayra. For the first time in seventy years there are once again two who follow the true ways of the dark side. Unlike our contemporises- who seek to subjugate the stars to their will by chasing the ideas of Empire- we have shed our armour in favour of cloaks. Our way is that of contagion. We traverse the stars obscured and hidden by our powers in the dark side. An unseen threat that can neither be destroyed nor defeated by our many enemies across the Galaxy."

As Ayra explained the dichotomy that the two now shared in their public and personal lives she begun to circle Maldor. How odd it must be for him to look down at this hooded woman, who was barely tall enough reach the height of his chest, and yet commanded so much strength. "Our efforts in our public lives- you, as Maldor Mecetti- and I, as Alicia Drey- are in service to the Work. Together we will work to build a plan to destroy the Sith. Only through their destruction can we breed creation. As we weave ourselves into the tapestry of the Sith'ari we will follow in the seminal efforts of Darth Bane and all those that followed the Rule of Two before us."

"For centuries the power of the dark side has become diluted by too many. It is only natural that a being afflicted by the tenants and destructive path of the dark side should, in turn, seek their own self-absorbed goals and objectives. Is this not what you have done yourself? Although we have insight into why or how an individual- who follows a similar path to the likes of us will and will, in turn, chase their own desires- our path diverges from the rest of the Sith upon the realisation that as the many take up the teachings of the dark side it's power can never truly be tapped into or utilized to fulfil the promise of the Sith while so many imitate themselves as followers of the dark side."

"Although the two of us are afflicted by the power of the dark side only a weakling would seek to be cured of this affliction. We walk a dangerous path where we flirt with catastrophe on one side, and ruin on the other. The same cannot be said for the Sith who administrate their decadent Empire on Jutrand nor the zealots whom serve their Master on Carlac. Their very existence is an anathema to the ways of the dark side. Sects such as the Kaineites or Eternalists seek to consolidate their diluted, shared power between themselves and who offer each other protection from the New Jedi Order which seeks to destroy them while the remnants of the Brotherhood of Maw- fractured from their pathetic Second Great Hyperspace War- have formed the New Sith Order in complete service to the dogma and ideas of Darth Solipsis: a man who told them all over twenty years ago that he would remake the Galaxy in his image through the destruction of the Jedi and their Galactic Alliance only for him to have been defeated at the end of that Star War."

Ayra stopped circling around Maldor and with her back faced to him the Sith Master continued to speak while gazing through the window sill outside to look upon the ink black skies of Sojourn. Hatred filled her voice as she spoke of the other Sith that littered themselves across the Galaxy, and their decadent Empires that would ultimately accomplish nothing. How blinded they all were by their arrogance and ego.

"Why did Solipsis fail to destroy the Jedi Order? How have the Sith reimagined themselves over the decades in pursuit of the same goal? It is because they are not strong. Only through strength do I gain power. Only through power do I gain victory. Weakness has plagued the Sith since we re-emerged from the Stygian Caldera all those decades ago. Since the end of the Four-Hundred Year Darkness there have been several iterations of the Sith Empire and each were destroyed- not by the Jedi- but through internal infighting, and civil war. Yet at the turn of each and every new era the Sith Order have pursued Empire as new individuals surface to claim their diluted, decadent titles, and places. In their arrogance they believe that they will succeed where their predecessors failed, and guided by their ego Star Wars have been waged only to see the Sith lose time and time again to the same infighting that has plagued the Sith Order since it was founded over twenty millennia ago."

Darth Ayra found herself reminiscing about the past. In the beginning she had been a believer. She still remembered the tales of how the First Sith Empire invaded the Galactic Republic and all the systems that had fallen in their initial invasion. Only to see them turned back by the combined forces of the Republic and Mandalorian's culminating in the invasion of Mon Calamari. When the Empire was fractured by Carnifex's defeat on Dac she had joined Darth Vulcanus and her Master- Circe Savan- to create their own Empire in the Stygian Caldera. Only to see that fall to the invading forces of Mandalorians and Silver Jedi seeking to stop another threat before it became too large.

Then came the One Sith and the victories that they would claim over the Jedi. She still remembered being deluded by the promises of the Sith Lords that she had once served and how she became disillusioned by them the longer it went on. By the time they had turned on each other Ayra was no longer a believer in their ways.

Darth Ayra had found a new one.

"I was there when one of these iterations of the Sith revealed themselves in the Core," Darth Ayra continued as her past resurfaced.

"The One Sith launched a surprise attack on the Old Republic and conquered Coruscant. From there they waged a purge all across the Galaxy which eradicated the Republic and left them as the rulers of the Galaxy. As the Jedi Order became split and fractured by the end of the war they did not turn their power onto the Silver Jedi or the remaining Jedi who survived their Core purge, but turned on themselves and ate each other to consolidate or protect their positions. They owned the stars but only for the briefest of moments before internal fighting destroyed their Empire and the survivors splintered off to create their own fake imitations of the Sith Empire."

"This is why they must be destroyed. When the dark side is diluted among the many they will turn their blades on each other in pursuit of positions that they juxtapose as a semblance of power only to see themselves usurped by their 'allies' later on. Consider an individual, brimming in strength and knowledge in the dark side, becomes a target of a cunning individual who does not possess the same qualities. Therefore the weakling- ever so cunning, to make up for their weakness- recruits others into his circle to destroy the strong. This has been done time and time again for many years. The weak replace the strong, and so the Jedi are spared of our revenge. This must change, my apprentice. Only the strong should be in power, and not these decadent weaklings who have wormed their way into the upper echelons of the bastardized Empires that they own."

"Therefore we must begin the work to consolidate the power of the Force in a dyad between two Sith. Only through the maxim of the Rule of Two can this be accomplished. Instead of thousands of Sith- all self-absorbed by their own limitations, who are banded together to consolidate their diluted power- we will pursue a work that will see the Sith Order reorganized into teachings of Darth Bane. I as the Sith Master- to covet power- and you, as my Sith Apprentice- to pursue my agenda, and learn the ways of the dark side with me, until the day comes that I have nothing left to teach you."

"Together we will build a scheme to destroy the Sith so that the power of the dark side will belong too us as Bane did to the Sith of his time. We will orchestrate the Star Wars that are being waged in the modern day and use them to destroy our rivals. When it is done, and the Sith are no more, the two of us will disappear. Obfuscated by the dark side we will bring forth an era where the Galaxy believe the Sith to have been destroyed, and there we will contaminate the institutions that will survive the wars that we will have manipulated."

"Only through contagion of the modern day institutions- like your place on the Imperial Moff Council- or mine, as Staff Director of the New Imperial Security Bureau- can we orchestrate the wars that will bring the down fall of our enemies. We must pursue this work in complete secrecy. Our associates compartmentalized and their work manipulated in pursuit of this greater goal. Schemes within schemes that are clandestine in nature, and pursued with utmost diligence to avoid detection. This is the true nature of the dark side. Only through this betrayal can we accomplish the promise of the Sith."

"Only when the Sith and Jedi are no-more can there be . . . peace."

As Darth Ayra fell silent the power of the dark side swirled and filled the room as if it were a malevolent entity adulating the scheme that the Sith Lord was now beginning to orchestrate with her new disciple. The very wisdom and truth of her words echoed in the small, enclosed quarters on the Hunter's Moon as she brought Maldor Mecetti into the tapestry painted by Darth Bane before them. As she reached out with her powers in the dark side Ayra felt a sudden warmth spread through her body and it was as if she could hear her predecessors clapping of the union that had taken place here on Sojourn and the re-constitution of the Rule of Two.

As the adulation coursed through here Ayra saw a glimpse into the future, and saw the tattered flag of the Sith Order burning in hellfire. A premonition of their victorious future, or was it the end?

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

"Only when the Sith and Jedi are no-more can there be . . . peace."

Maldor heard a chorus of voices in his mind answer her statement with, "Peace is a Lie."

They were the voices of the instructor guardians of his family's Sith Holocrons, who had schooled him well on Sith Lore and history. The tenets of the Sith order had been tirelessly drilled into him by the long-dead masters to the degree that they became tedious.

The flaws in her reasoning were plain to him.

Stopping Sith infighting by fighting the Sith was nonsensical. She wasn't speaking of stopping the infighting. Not really. She was speaking of winning the infighting. Then containing it in a macabre dance of Master and Apprentice.

She mentioned the failures of the diverse Sith, but neglected the failures of the Sith who followed the rule-of-two. They had also failed in their attempts to eradicate their foes.

When new Force users could arise anywhere in the galaxy, and be taught by ancient spirits or neural-imprinted boxes, was there truly any way to eradicate all potential force-using entities outside a dyad? Maldor didn't think so.

Even if one took the position that such spawning of opposing force-users was unlikely, then one had to acknowledge the terrible danger of reducing the entirety of the Sith to two individuals. A simple speeder accident could eradicate the entire order.

Maldor was convinced that there was a clarity of vision in not being a zealot. He was convinced he could see the truth of things, where her mind was clouded by faith.

Still... there were some things she said that rang true and could not be denied.

The Sith who followed the Rule of Two had- eventually- come closest to winning their war than any who'd come before them.

And Alicia-

No... Darth Ayra, now... she had bested him with such ease as to be embarrassing.

Something about her beliefs and training led to her strength. Not just in use of arms, but also in the strength of her schemes. Her doctrine might be flawed, but it must also be superior to his current understanding.

In short... he still had much to learn.

A power seemed to rise in the room as she spoke, gently moving the air. It was as though the very elements of the world were answering her philosophy. Maldor wondered if the Force- with a will of its own- was truly invoking some sort of response, here. Celebrating her aims.

Or... was she subconsciously creating the effect herself, and then becoming convinced that the Universe was in alignment with her ideals?

He did not know.

He would never speak his cynicisms aloud. He was sure it would result in his swift death and replacement as her apprentice.

Everything from now on was threading a needle. He had to pass the narrow way, and discern her zealotry from the truth so that he could become the best navigator of his fate. There was definitely some truth here, among the zeal.

Her machinations were a marvel, and there was much he could learn from her before he discerned a way to remove her from the board.

Even as he bowed in fear and submission... and greed for what she offered...

He knew the day would come when he would avenge himself upon her.

---

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tags: Maldor Mecetti

The moment passed and the adulation Darth Ayra felt from her predecessors passed. In it's place the flickering of a nearby candle lamp distracted her and made her glance in it's direction. It was then that it all started coming back. The revelations that Maldor had made in their confrontation, and, of course, the work that had brought them here. They were still on Sojourn and the victory that Ayra had spoken of had yet to come and pass them. It probably never would. What little was left of the Order of the Sith Lords and those who practiced the Rule of Two indicated to Ayra that Bane had not lived to see the fulfilment of the promise. Otherwise it would be him stood here, and not her.

It was entirely plausible that the man standing behind her would complete his training and consequentially betray her leading to an usurpation that would see him become the Master. This was the dichotomy that the pair would always share. Ayra conferring teachings, beliefs and the agenda that would see the end of the other Sith. Maldor learning, questioning and plotting his own schemes to inevitable usurp her. As tonight's confrontation had been designed to bring the Son-in-Exile into the fold Ayra would have too, in turn, design their inevitable clash later in life, so that when Maldor challenged him- and if he won- the work would continue in her death. It could take generations of Sith Lords before the work was complete.

Maldor Mecetti. No . . . He was no longer the man that she had been manipulating since Operation Absolution freed her from the clutches of the Galactic Alliance. Just as it had been for her as the little girl on Chandrila all those years ago the dark side had transformed her into someone else. She had ceased to be Alicia the moment she had entered the apprenticeship of Darth Pandeima. She became Ayra and now Mecetti was set to become someone else.

Turning back around to Maldor Ayra eyed him and reached out into the Force for an epiphany.

There she found one.

"From this day forth you shall be known as Darth . . . Trigonus. We must work diligently to ensure that we are not discovered by the Sith or Jedi Orders. If we were discovered by either side we would be hunted for the rest of our lives. But this is line that we now traverse, Trigonus. Catastrophe, and ruin are not to be feared but are to be embraced. Horror, and morale terrors are now your friends. If they are not then they are enemies to be feared. They are truly enemies."

As Ayra paused for a moment to let her words sink into the mind of Trigonus she moved the conversation to the next stage. They were on Sojourn to secure the allegiance of four other prominent figures that were well placed and positioned to help them in their pursuits. But before they could move onto that work there was one flaw that required correction.

"As you tried to kill me you spoke of a spy within the New Imperial Security Bureau. Tell me their name, what they have told you, and what you have told them to do? Who else do they report too? Do the Imperial Moff Council, or Velran Kilran, know who I am?"

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

​

Trigonus...

Why had she chosen that name?

What meaning did it convey?

He did not have long to ruminate on it, however.

Curse him and his foolish mouth. He'd been so full of himself and so certain of his successful retribution. Like a holovid villain, he'd begun to spout off his secrets. Then he'd failed to kill her, leaving his gloating to become a betrayal against him and his family.

His gaze shifted, then returned to her.

There was nothing for it. She'd split him stem to stern, or worse, if he was anything less than forthcoming. While she seemed more reasonable than many historic Sith Masters, that reasonable nature was something he dare not tread upon lest the floor give out from under him.

"I don't have the 'name' of our operative handy... if 'name' is indeed the right term."

He shook his head, "Our spy doesn't know anything that the NISB doesn't know. And you haven't been explaining your strange actions accurately in the NISB database. Nothing there points to you as a Dark-Sider, never mind a Sith Master.

I should explain...

Tampson Consolidated manufactures droids for the Empire, and they are a wholly owned Subsidiary of the House Mecetti Nationalized Industries.

My mother arranged for one of the droids manufactured for the NISB to be given hidden programming to infiltrate the NISB data-web and report details back to her. Initially, this was because House Mecetti wanted to recruit you. Later, we perceived you were someone who might need to be destroyed.

But given what I have now learned, it's clear you were circumspect in your official filings into the databases of the Empire. We only had a fraction of the full picture."

He paused, suddenly concerned that the revelation about his mother's activities and capabilities would seem somehow alluring to his new Master.

He quickly added, "In any event, you should avoid my mother like the plague.

She administers the House Mecetti Ministry of Inquiry, and she's at least as intelligent and cunning as you are... If you don't mind me saying so. The Ministry is the cornerstone of social stability in the Mecetti province. A massive force of operatives in every level of government, making problems disappear before anyone even notices them.

She wields the Ministry like a scalpel.

If she perceives any of... this... then there's no telling what she would do.

Family comes first in House Mecetti. If I was seen as a threat to the Family, then I'm sure she'd remove me like a cancer. And I say this while knowing in my heart that she loves me. No one in the family is more ruthlessly pragmatic than she."

---

Alicia Drey

 

[Alicia Drey]

Tag: Maldor Mecetti

As Trigonus explained how House Mecetti were receiving information about her activities through the New Imperial Security Bureau Ayra smiled. It was ironic that the same organisation had not only been infiltrated by her but by another organisation as well; and what a delightful scheme they had come up with to pull it off? She would not have suspected that the subsidiary to Mecetti Nationalized Industries would be the source of the leak. It brought up ideas as to how Tampson Consolidated would fare in her future endeavours. As the Mecetti scheme was exposed to her by one of her own it could be turned to work for her benefit. There were many names, organisations and places that required infiltration. With a few teaks, and perhaps an invention of her own, these droids could prove most useful.

"I would not dare to touch a hair on your Mother," Ayra lied through her teeth. "It is beneficial to the two of us that House Mecetti continue monitoring the activities of the Bureau. With this information we can redirect them away from our work together and therefore further obfuscate it as they will be looking else where. Misdirection is a powerful tool to the uninitiated."

So Velran Kilran and the rest of the leadership in the Empire of the Lost were still unaware as to who she was? This was good. Everything was going according to plan. As she had expected. Darth Ayra turned to walk past Trigonus and stopped by the doors to his quarters. Looking over her shoulder, Ayra left him with this:

"It is important that the others who came to this gathering believe that the items sold in the auction are in the hands of certain individuals. For the Creatura Reactor I want them to think that it was sold to you. This will obfuscate the purpose of the machine, and it's whereabouts. More importantly, Trigonus, it is far more important that we secure each and every one of them to form the organisation that I proposed earlier in the day. Tomorrow I will announce to all of them that House Mecetti has agreed to form the InterGalactic Spacing Guild with me. As one of them- you- take the first steps towards it's formation the others will, turn, become more interested in joining this endeavour."

Opening the door Ayra stepped through and closed it after herself. The clacking of her feet against the stone floors of the Fort echoed in the darkness before disappearing into the nether leaving Darth Trigonus to reflect on the ramifications of this night.

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

"What you Will, shall become manifest," Maldor promised, despite not knowing how to bring it all about. Some of the invitees seemed disinclined to the notions of his new Master, in his opinion. But he kept the uncertainty about that from his voice.

Only after she left the room did he visibly sag, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd held tensely within himself.

His mother was safe. And that meant the family was safe.

The worst terror of this experience had been the suspicion that his family would be harmed by this new allegiance.

He was a Mecetti, after all.

Whatever else he'd become in this room...

He'd been a Mecetti before he'd become anything else.

Hopefully, despite everything, he'd be able to maintain that portion of his identity unblemished.

As always, time would tell.

---

Alicia Drey