Oracle, Communications Room
Ciaran shook her head after a moment of thought. "Now that I've thought about it there's really no contest. Asajj, I hereby order you to assassinate Sev'rance Tann with the help of Maul and Savage."
In response, Asajj was completely silent, her face going through several different emotions before settling on 'acceptance.' "I understand."
"You're a lot less enthusiastic than I thought you'd be," Ciaran commented. "After everything I figured you'd already have charged out the door, no questions asked."
"...I would be lying if I said I'm not looking forward to it, it's just..." Asajj went silent, trying to find the words to express herself.
"Don't worry about it," Ciaran said. "You've got your own reasons, that's all. As long as Sev'rance is dead and no one knows you're actually alive, I'm fine with that." Ciaran tilted her head in thought for a moment. "Actually, two other things. First: do what you can to pin this on Savage and Maul; it'll make our lives easier if Palpatine and Dooku have a target besides me to focus on. Second:" Ciaran smiled. "This is more of a recommendation honestly, but when Sev'rance sees you, there's something you should absolutely say to her."
Asajj couldn't hide her confusion. "What exactly would I say if she's going to die anyway?"
"Trust me, it's going to be great."
--------
CSS Shadow Hand, In Orbit Over Ieter
Sev'rance Tann was not a happy Chiss.
While she had gotten another Providence-class ship to replace the Invisible Hand after the fiasco at Onderon, it was a mere mass-produced model as opposed to the customized flagship she once had command of. Not to mention that she'd been facing more and more setbacks as the Republic had been able to focus more of its armies on the Southern and Eastern Rim fronts.
She idly paced around the Shadow Hand's bridge as the ship hovered above the frozen planet of Ieter, considering her future plans as the ship received the last of its supply shipment.
"General Tann, the last supply transport has docked," came the robotic voice of a tactical droid over the comms. "We are ready to-"
The voice suddenly went silent to Tann's surprise. "What happened?"
As she finished her question the ship's alarms start to go off.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert," droned a voice over the ship's speakers.
"What!?"
"Displaying intruders onscreen now General Tann," a droid at a console reported as the image of a ship's hangar came up, displaying the image of Maul and Savage charging out of a supply transport, tearing through droids trying in vain to stop them.
"Who are they WHY ARE THERE SITH ON MY SHIP!?" Tann screamed out. "Send everything we have to that hangar NOW!"
On cue, the doors of the hangar bay opened up to disgorge more and more droids to try and stop the rampaging Sith. It quickly proved itself to be a futile effort as Savage charged forward into the oncoming horde, tearing them apart as Maul supported him.
As the two of them fought off the droids a small group of B1s with rocket launchers moved onto a catwalk above the fighting, getting the two rampaging Sith in their sights.
None of them noticed a third figure in a dark cloak calmly exit the ship. Perhaps if they had, they would have had an idea as to why the rockets they fired suddenly reversed course and hit them instead, blasting them apart and destroying the catwalk they were standing on.
On the ship's bridge, Sev'rance froze in place as she saw the figure calmly walk towards one of the doors, seemingly ignoring Savage and Maul as they continued to tear apart battle droids, managing to push them back through a different doorway.
"That presence I felt...no...that's impossible...h-how..."
"General?"
"Lock down that corridor, send in the droidekas, do not allow her to get any closer to the bridge!" Sev'rance said, desperately trying to remain calm.
"Understood."
"And where are the other two going!?"
"Processing...hostiles are moving towards the engine room. General, recommending sending a distress signal to other vessels in range. Current calculations indicate hostiles cannot be contained by our current forces," a tactical droid flatly intoned.
Gritting her teeth, Sev'rance nodded to the droid as she watched the three intruders move through her ship...
--------
As she calmly walked down the corridors of the Shadow Hand, Asajj contacted Maul.
"Sev'rance has sent out a distress signal as expected. I trust you can handle the contingency plan?"
"Of course. My brother and I will do our part."
Nodding to herself, Asajj continued to calmly stride forward, only to stop as she heard the telltale sound of droidekas rolling towards her. As a trio of them rolled into view, she reached out with the Force and grabbed the two on the sides, slamming them together and crushing the center droideka before it even had the chance to deploy. With a grunt of annoyance, she threw the two others against the walls, destroying them.
Is this really all she has? Asajj thought to herself as she casually strode by the sparking remains of the droideka trio. I would have expected Hssiss droids by now. She smiled viciously under her hood as something came to her. Perhaps Dooku simply does not care enough about whether she lives or dies to provide her with those units to protect her...that, or she's keeping them in reserve. Sadly the latter is the far more likely explanation...
She idly noted a small group of battle droids running for her, and with a few gestures she tore plates from the walls and hurled them at the advancing droids, either scattering or outright destroying them. Another set of gestures saw the remaining droids destroyed.
It's strange. Now of all times I realize that Dooku was right when we first me - I was no Sith. Now I am no longer afraid. Now I understand - "Through victory, my chains are broken." Though I doubt that he would appreciate my definition of a 'victory' at this point.
Without breaking stride, Asajj continued her slow walk towards the bridge...
--------
...and she used the Force to push open the door, to see a completely empty bridge. As she walked in slightly and took in the sight, the lights went dark and the blast shields closed over the transparisteel windows, the bridge going dark as synthetic laughter echoed through the the air.
Asajj did not move.
The laughter came closer.
Asajj still did not move.
Then a high-pitched scream echoed through the air as a Hssiss droid leapt up from Asajj's side, a blade aimed at her head-
Only to be sent flying as Asajj punched it right in its center of mass, the droid slamming against a console as it landed causing the room to light up slightly from the sparks. Within seconds more screaming began as two more charged at her from behind, only for her to roll towards them as they came in for a strike. From a crouch she quickly uppercutted the Hssiss droid on her right, sending it sailing into the air as she transitioned into a roundhouse kick on the third droid, knocking it down as its companion just finished hitting the ground. Noticing that the first Hssiss droid she had knocked away was starting to recover, Asajj picked up the droid on her right with the Force and hurled it at the recovering droid, the impact causing enough damage to shut them down. The final droid started to get up but was interrupted by Asajj grabbing it with the Force, slowly crushing the droid until it was a useless pile of metal.
And with that, the lights came back on.
Good, I needed a warm-up. Now then Tann, where are you hiding? Asajj thought to herself as she reached out with the Force, sensing Maul and Savage reaching the ship's computer core, then Sev'rance hiding out at the ship's observation bridge.
There you are.
---------
Sev'rance herself had frozen up in shock having seen the remains of her Hssiss droids scattered around the bridge, the intruder apparently completely nonplussed by their attack.
"I-Impossible..."
"General, intruders have reached the ship's computer core," the tactical droid with her reported. "Warning, unknown device attached. Unknown signal in computer network detected."
"What did they do!?" Sev'rance hissed out.
"Unknown. Warning: Vessels emerging from hyperspace."
Sev'rance looked out to see a pair of Recusant-class destroyers appearing out of hyperspace, approaching the Shadow Hand-
"Enemies detected. Opening fire."
"What!?"
Suddenly the Shadow Hand's turbolaser batteries began to open fire on the incoming ships, the laser fire ripping them apart as they were taken by surprise and unable to raise their shields in time.
"Stop it you defective idiot those are the reinforcements!"
"Negative, vessels cleared as hostile."
Sev'rance could only watch in horror as the ships meant to reinforce her were quickly torn apart by her own vessel's guns, the ships going up in explosions within moments. She was struck speechless for a long moment before her tactical droid spoke again.
"Warning. Intruders moving towards current location."
In response, Sev'rance closed her eyes in thought, only to open them again after a brief moment.
"Set a collision course for the planet."
"General-"
"Do it!"
"Understood."
Suddenly the Shadow Hand's engines kicked to life as the ship began to point itself at the hostile ice planet below, alarms beginning to blare throughout the now doomed vessel.
--------
"It would seem that your target would rather take her chances with the planet than with you, Ventress," Maul said over their comms.
"She is right that the planet would be less likely to kill her," Asajj said casually as she didn't even bother to break her stride as alarms blared around her. "Evacuate this ship while you can. At this point I alone will ensure that Tann dies."
"Very well. Enjoy your vengeance."
"That I will Maul," she said as she ended the comm. Though it is such a pity that you didn't realize what that device I gave you also did...
---------
Sev'rance tore through corridor after corridor, heading for the nearest escape pod she could find. The situation may have looked hopeless for her, but as long as she could get away and regroup-
Suddenly she froze in place as she felt what she could only describe as a wave of pure malice wash over her. She slowly turned around to see the cloaked figure that had been with the two Sith. She was almost certain it was-
"Sev'rance, how long has it been?" Asajj said in a voice of false happiness as she flipped off her hood. "It seems like only yesterday that we last spoke."
"Y-you...I killed you!"
"As it turns out reports of my death were greatly exaggerated," Asajj said, smirking viciously as she ignited her lightsabers. "Do not worry though, I will ensure that you die today."
Sev'rance began to draw her own lightsaber only for the ship to suddenly start shaking violently, indicating that it had entered Ieter's atmosphere. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, Sev'rance began to make a break for the nearest hangar bay, with Asajj in close pursuit. Within a moment Asajj had caught up to the fleeing Chiss and began to slash at her with her lightsabers, Sev'rance barely managing to fend her off as she continued to run towards the hangar.
As she cleared the doorway the ship impacted the surface, sending Asajj flying into a wall and Sev'rance across the hangar along with the various ships and components within it. The Chiss quickly recovered and noticed that the ship had landed in a frozen ocean of some kind with the impact having punched a hole through the ice, allowing water to begin flooding into the hangar. With a grim look of determination on her face Sev'rance sprinted towards the outside as more and more water began to flood into the doomed ship, dragging it further into the depths of the planet's frigid oceans. With a well-timed leap, she just barely managed to clear the hangar as it sunk beneath the ice.
"There. Let's see you survive freezing water, Asajj-" Sev'rance began to say only to reflexively dart out of the way as a burst of Force energy came from beneath the ice, shattering the area where she once stood. Sev'rance began to dodge for her life as more and more blasts came from below her, destroying the ice she was standing on and sending chunks of it flying into the air.
After a few seconds of dodging she noticed that she was close to what looked like a shoreline, managing to make a break for it-
Only for a blast to catch her directly and send her flying, eventually hitting the hard ground. Groaning in pain, Sev'rance managed to stand back up as the snow around her started to intensify into a blizzard, blocking her vision. Quickly reaching for her lightsaber, she ignited the weapon, the blade generating steam from the snow evaporating as it landed on the blade. She constantly looked around, trying to sense Asajj's presence but unable to sense anything-
And then she saw Asajj's lightsabers flying at her, one from her left side and one from her right. As the two blades closed in on her she managed to block them-
Only for Asajj to leap forwards, take hold of her blades, press down on Sev'rance, and with a swift motion sliced apart the hilt of her lightsaber. Sev'rance barely had time to process this before she felt a searing pain in her midsection as Asajj's lightsaber pierced through her. She collapsed to her knees in pain, though managed to at least stay conscious enough to look Asajj in the eyes.
"Y-you think you've won!? You'll die here-"
"Do you really think I would be so foolish as to come here without an exit strategy?" Asajj retorted. "The cold does not affect me in the slightest anyway; I could survive here for days if I needed to."
Sev'rance gritted her teeth. "Dooku will avenge me. H-He'll learn that you survived and he will kill you."
"No he won't," Asajj said. "You remember the virus my companions uploaded? It also had another function: modifying the security records of your ship and removing all trace of my presence there. Dooku will find your crashed ship, see that you were killed by them, and...well he will not be avenging you but he will certainly focus his efforts on them. As far as he will know, I am still dead."
"You traitor! I - gah - I know Ciaran put you up to this."
"Well since there is no one else who could hear this conversation and you're going to die anyway, I can safely say that yes, I did have her help with this. And you know what?" Asajj smiled viciously. "She helped me realize just how insignificant you are in all of this."
"I - I am -"
"Irrelevant." Asajj idly held up a lightsaber, "One last thing: remember when you told me that I would have to kill you in another life? As it turns out, you were more right than you realized."
Without hesitation, Asajj's blade cut through Sev'rance's neck, sending her head tumbling off and onto the ground. And without another word, she deactivated her lightsabers, calmly placed them back on her belt, and began to walk away from Sev'rance's corpse as the blizzard around her slowly began to dissipate. As she walked, she brought out a small device, hit a button on it, and waited patiently. Within a moment she saw the Scimitar shimmer into view, the ship landing in front of her with the ramp lowered.
"So, how was it?"
Asajj blinked as she saw Ciaran stand at the entryway, her face unreadable.
"It was certainly satisfying. Nothing more needs to be said," Asajj said as she walked up the ramp. "Though you did not need to pick me up yourself, the ship's computer was set to pick up my beacon."
"Weeell, I figured you could probably use the company right now," Ciaran replied as the ship prepared to take off.
---------
"Brother, is something wrong?"
"For a moment, I thought I felt an ever so slight disturbance in the Force, a familiar presence...but vanished so suddenly. I am fairly sure it is nothing."
---------
As the Scimitar exited Ieter's atmosphere, Ciaran began to tap her finger as she glanced slightly at Asajj.
"What is it." Asajj said flatly. "What was the real reason you decided to come here?"
Ciaran was silent for a moment, processing what she was about to say. "Because I wanted to keep this between us for the moment: you and I have a Force Bond."
Asajj blinked in confusion. "I...what?"
"It basically means that to an extent our futures, destinies, whatever are more closely bound together, and it has some other effects that I don't know about. The point being is that-" Ciaran fell silent. "That I don't fully know what exactly that means yet."
"Traya told you, didn't she?"
"Yes...well she told me of it, but not exactly what it did aside from some vague generalities. Though even if I did ask she would have probably told me to figure it out for myself anyway," Ciaran said, shrugging helplessly. "Before you ask, I didn't tell you sooner...well...because honestly I didn't know what it really meant. I've done some digging since and I know for sure that it makes it easier for the bound people to sense if the other is in danger, but aside from that...I don't know."
Asajj was silent for a moment, looking over the Scimitar's controls before turning back to face Ciaran. "It doesn't affect things now. Like how you still manage to annoy me at every conceivable opportunity."
"And I think you need to find something more entertaining to do with your spare time. Do you do anything aside from train or meditate all day? Actually before we get into that, did you say the thing about how the reports of your death-"
Asajj sighed. "Yes, I did," she grumbled.
"Worth it, wasn't it."
"Shut up."
"Oh come on, don't lie to me. You really enjoyed saying that, didn't you."
As the two began to have a good-natured argument with each other, one thought stayed in Asajj's mind:
If nothing else, there is more to my life than revenge now. I can live with that.
Results: Sev'rance Tann assassinated and blame fully pinned on Maul and Savage. Asajj gains "Manipulative" trait. Asajj's "Exile's Resoultion" trait fully evolves into "Through Victory My Chains Are Broken" trait.
AN: FRAKING. FINALLY.
Family issues, taxing work, writers block, getting distracted, you name it, damn near everything has kept me from writing this up sooner. But now it is DONE, and I hope you folks can enjoy it after the long, LOOONG wait.
(PS: Ieter doesn't actually exist in any canon, I just needed a convenient ice planet for the fighting.)
Or at least your QM is left-handed.
