With Open Eyes

[Rugs]

The Kaasi evenings offered little reprieve from the oppressive heat and humidity that seemed to choke the jungle world. Aurelius didn’t mind it these days — heat or cold rarely bothered him except in the extreme. Things weren’t so easy for some of the quartet of Sith trainees arrayed in the small training courtyard below him.

A lithe Echani girl, maybe 25 or 26, was obviously exhausted and battling the heat to keep going. Her training partner, a Kiffar with azure tattoos arrayed in curling lines across his bronze face, seemed less phased by the weather than his foe’s relentless Ataru assault.

That won’t last if you can’t handle the climate, Nalda, Aurelius thought idly, drumming his fingers on the metal railing in front of him. She was a new transfer to Dromund Kaas from Korriban. She’d have to adjust quickly — a temporary peace with the Republic did not mean the Order could afford to turn out softer Sith.

In Aurelius’ eyes, the peace was a chance to redouble the Order’s efforts to better its members.

On the far side of the courtyard, a Human dueled a Zabrak. Aurelius was aware that something of a rivalry existed between the two and had paired them intentionally. They fought fiercely, but one seemed more winded than the other. Would the Zabrak finally get payback for his last embarrassing defeat? Not with that footwork. Sloppy.

Aurelius inhaled deeply, turning an eye from the Knights below to glance at the evening sky. This was his last private lesson group of the day, and then he had a few reports to file for the Empress, and then he’d be done. Or as done as a Dark Lord of the Sith could ever be.

A door slid open behind him. An acolyte hurried out, averting her gaze and bowing deeply as she reached him. “My Lord, I have been informed to tell you that Knight Depsera’s returned to the Temple and seeks an audience with you.”

Aurelius raised a brow. “Has he, now?” He reached out with the Force, searching for that familiar presence. Yes, there it was. It had been some time. Years. He’d occasionally wondered if the Zeltron had gotten himself killed out in his wanderings.

“Send him,” he said, turning back to the sparring down below. If they needed to meet in private, Aurelius would lead Zexva elsewhere.

The door closed as the acolyte hurried off. And what brings you here after so long away? Aurelius wondered. It seemed those papers would have to wait.

[Deleted]

After speaking to the man guarding the place Zexva killed the next few minutes watching the trainees spar with one another. He remembered the many hard lessons his Master had put him through, and a smile curved on his lips. When the guard came back telling him that he could enter he nodded. Perhaps he would get a chance to spar some of these newbies. He remembered when his Master pit him, and another initiate against a Dark Lord. They had stood no chance against the much older, and stronger sith, but they had fought with all the strength they could muster. It just hadn't been enough at the time. Now through all his travels, and training Zexva felt that he would be able to put up a much better fight against that man...Perhaps he would seek him out at some point.

Walking up to Master Aurelius's office he lowered the hood that he normally wore to obscure his features, and he bowed politely to his master for a brief second. Despite being a Knight he still had to show respect to this man, even if he didn't do it to any others. The last time he had seen his Master, his skin had been a dull red bordering a pink color. Now it was more akin to a bone white. The large scar on the right side of his face, from his battle with his first Master. His snow white hair had also been a dark brown the last time as well.

"I see you are putting those recruits through their paces, are they strong?" he asked curiously his golden eyes darting around the room. "I am glad you are not dead Master Aurelius, despite my travels taking me far, and wide I did not slouch in what you taught me. It proved mot useful in many scenarios." he said with a semblance of a smile. "But I have brought something useful, it could help train newer recruits at least...It's some ancient meditation techniques that were created by a Darth from a long time ago. I've been practicing them, and have found the results to be rather invigorating." he gingerly pulled the Sith Holocron from behind his cloak, and placed it on the desk.

He waited to see the reaction before he broached the other subjects that he had on his mind. There were many things that needed to be discussed. Lady Novus not being dead, though something told him that his Master already knew about that. He was to strong to not have some inkling of an idea on that. The Lancer that he had ran into, and of course the Data Cylinder that he had failed to recover, though he had another way to get that information if he needed to.

[Rugs]

Aurelius turned from the students in the training yard below and slipped inside as he waited for the acolyte to return with his student in tow. Zexva had been away from some time, and Aurelius decided it might be best to talk away from the prying ears of others.

A quick message to the acolyte would have her come to the correct location. It was a small, simple room with a broad window that overlooked the training yards. A small desk occupied the room’s center with some unremarkable chairs around it. It wasn’t his office, but it was one he often used to take care of the Order’s business while keeping an eye on the students below.

Aurelius felt Zexva’s arrival before the door opened with a quiet hiss. He stood, back to the door with his hands clasped behind his back, watching the students. He turned a golden eye to acknowledge the Knight’s arrival and returned to his observations.

How long had it been? Most of seven years, now.

“They’re strong enough,” he answered casually. “They’ll be stronger when I’m done with them. You should know that yourself.”

Aurelius turned from the window, motioning for Zexva to sit across from the table. He remained where he was, though, eyeing the Knight as he spoke. The years had changed Zexva. He was pale now. Scarred. But older, possibly wiser, and presumably stronger.

For his own sake, Aurelius hoped those things were true.

“A holocron?” A raised brow of blue and black at that particular nugget of information. Holocrons were relatively rare things. Meditation techniques from some nameless Darth from long ago...

“Interesting.” Aurelius plucked the holocron from the table, holding it with his thumb and forefinger as he studied it. Meditation didn’t set his blood to flowing, but if it worked for Zexva, that was fine.

“How’d you get your hands on this?” he asked, setting the artifact back on the table. “And where have you been, these long years?” Long for someone else, perhaps. Nieraan looked about of age with Zexva these days, despite being nearly twice as old. He’d changed little in the intervening span.

“Last I remember, you were off to get revenge on your old master.” Nieraan motioned for Zexva to tell the tale, if there was one. “Did you?”

[Deleted]

Zexva listened to his Master speak, and there was a sense of nostalgia to seeing him again. He remembered trying to get the older man to be his teacher, and how horribly that had gone. Zexva learned an important lesson that day, and it was that his master didn't like feeling fear. Useful information. However Aurelius, and trained him given him the ability to defend himself for when he left Korriban to seek his vengeance. Aurelius had made him strong, and he took that strength, and he kept multiplying it so that one day he could stand as an equal to this man before him.

"That is true...If anyone can turn pups into wolves, it is you...Perhaps one day I will spar against them just as you had me spar against that other Darth...To know absolute defeat allows us to grow." he mused about all the times he had lost to his Master during their bouts. Then came the next two questions, which he expected, and he smiled his molten gold eyes shining as he thought about the journey he had embarked on.

"Well...I got an invitation to some Auction where that Holocron was, but that wasn't my original goal...There were many enemies there, and I couldn't get my true prize. A Data Cylinder containing information on some high ranking Republic Officer was what I was originally after. But then the entire Palace began to fall apart, so I took that as a consolation prize. The good news is however...I know the name of the man who gave me an invitation to said Auction, and I know the one who took the Cylinder." a smile crept across his rosy pink lips. "I could exert some pressure and get more intel at my leisure with even just that little bit of information. Though the one who took the Cylinder was a Jedi girl...She will be difficult, but she is no real threat to me..." he said the words simply.

The second question would take a while to answer if he chose to go about it longform, however he figured he could condense it to the highlights.

"As for my seven year journey...I actually found my old master much quicker than expected...I killed him within a year of leaving, though the fight was a bit anticlimatic. He prepared some strange acid mixture that severely hampered my force abilities, while simultaneously dissolving me...It was almost like he knew I was coming for him, but in the end it didn't help him. I tipped a second cauldron of it on him, and watched him become a puddle. Then I fell unconcious, sure I was about to die, but somehow I was found by some woman. She placed me in some kind of medical tank, and I was there for a whole month, communicating with her telepathically while I was restored." he spoke almost fondly of the woman.

"After that when I emerged from that healing pod, or whatever my body had healed, but due to the acid I presume I now had this new color...A small price to pay for watching him drown in his own creation..." a cold smirk appeared on his lips as he remembered the screams that Xiszek gave as he died. "It was then that I realized I had much to learn, so I wished to learn more to develop my abilities further on my own...So I did, taking the assassination techniques that you passed on to me I made my way through the galaxy taking jobs, hunting others down, and killing them. Got the scar on my face from one such encounter...He was a skilled, but like many others his will was weak, despite his arm being strong." He folded his arms as he thought for a few more moments.

"But aside from that, I fought an ex Sith Lancer named Darmid, that was interesting I must becoming stronger if I am to go head to head with him next time. I attended that Auction, found out Lady Novus isn't dead, got the Holocron, and came here." He tilted his head towards his master. "Since I am going to assume you, and the Empress both know that Lady Novus isn't dead...I won't bother asking why. She seemed happy until I pissed her off...Part of me wanted to challenge her, and her entire entourage, but I am not stupid enough to pick a fight that will blatantly get me killed." he chuckled a bit, and waited.

He was either about to be bisected for knowing what he knew, or not.

[Rugs]

Aurelius’ attention turned on the sparring grounds below as Zexva, or Despera — it was strange, still, to think of him by his Sith name — spoke. This Auction he spoke of seemed curious, but he’d never heard of it. Good that he’d found an in to take advantage of in the future, though.

“So you killed your old master?” Nieraan glanced at Despera. So that explained the color change. Acid couldn’t have been pleasant, but it was a learning experience for the boy. At least he’d survived it. “Good. Don’t get any funny ideas with me though, boy, or I’ll put you in the ground.”

He felt a moment of envy toward his student. Kamirille yet lived. And rather than kill her in the years since the war’s end, he’d gone slinking to her for help--begging for training after Cassius stole his child.

“I knew you’d come.”

The words were seared into his memory. Taunting in their simplicity. Maddening in their truth. But she had not lied. She said she’d make him stronger, and she had. But at what cost?

Despera’s mention of Lancer brought s subtle smirk to Aurelius’ face. The words that followed erased it. A long silence hung in the air after the Knight finished speaking. He sighed, seeming annoyed that he had to deal with his student’s sudden knowledge. On the one hand, he felt grateful that Despera trusted him enough to reveal that he knew what might be the Empire’s most closely-guarded secret.

On the other, he wished the Knight had kept that bit of information to himself. As much as he’d like to ignore the student’s words — to pretend they were never uttered — he could not. Not as one of the Inner Sanctum.

“So you ran into Lancer, huh?” Aurelius asked, voice sounding distant as he stared out the window at the sparring students below. “I fought him once. Beat him. He’s not bad but,” sparks arced momentarily across his fingertips, “a metal spear can be a just as much a weapon for you as him, if you use your head.”

Now Aurelius turned around. His face was more grim, his demeanor serious, as he assumed the role of Darth Aurelius. He walked to stand behind the desk, studying Despera for a long moment. Scyllos, who’d settled to lay in a corner at the back of the room, raised his head.

“You were wise not to challenge her further,” he said simply. “I have seen others, stronger than you, think they can push Novus. It’s never ended well. That you’re alive and here to speak to me tells me she likely had higher priorities than you. Count yourself lucky. You may think yourself a wolf but you’re not nearly the hunter she is.”

Aurelius pulled the chair back from behind the desk and sat behind it, steepling his fingers. “As for what you know... when you we are done talking here, I will arrange for you to meet with the Empress. You will receive a summons. Do not ignore it. Do not speak of what you know to anyone else. If you do, I will kill you. You are to remain on Dromund Kaas until you’ve met with her. Do we understand?”

Aurelius smiled slightly, showing the tips of his sharp canines. “Sorry kid,” he said. “Nothin’ personal. But I do have a new assignment for you, while you’re here.”