The Dark Academy on Korriban

A late stroll with commlink on. Tightly wrapped in her cloak, Moyr found a quieter spot and waited for the others to appear.

Baesal almost crashed to a wall, not really seeing where she was going with her full attention focused on her pad.

''Almostalmostalmostalmost'' was the thing she muttered to herself

A larger hooded figure appeared, made even more massive by the thermal cloak that was layered over his armour. Taking a last wander on the surface of Korriban before they left seemed like the thing to do. Plus it made for a good opportunity to meet away from the academy.

He moved towards the location they had agreed upon, calling on the force, but finding only the light. Eyebrows were raised at the Togruta's display but he didn't say anything. A hand was raised in greeting.

Day 7. LE Sense: 1eF 1 Light Side

Moyr emerged from shadows, patting Baes on the atm as she środę forth so as to draw her out of her computing reverie.

"I am glad you've come, Aspirant Rath. At a good time to cool heads no less."

"Cool heads is right. It was smart to wait." He moved closer to the pair and nodded to each of them.

"Aspirants Ahaya and Zyn. Thanks for contacting me.". They had not seen much of each other outside of training grounds and the brutal regime of the last three weeks. Of course that regime suited Jo'ren just fine, and he had been doubling down on it by also helping to teach the lightsaber classes for young students. The rest of his time was spent with the book he had found, and nurturing his rage.

"At least some things are in the clear now. Did you enjoy the banquet?"

"Hmm? Oh, it was a Dark Council meeting. Most instructive." Baras needed careful observation, and the feud between Vengean and Marr seemed to be on hold.

"Apparently. The Zash question has made it observable where each of the Darths stands. Were you surprised how the vote went?"

"I am no longer surprised when the Sith choose petty factionalism over doing what is right for the Empire. Darth Marr surprised me though. I would have thought him more pragmatic but it seems he simply voted opposite to Darth Vengean.". He shrugged. "I expect some think that whatever power Zash has found can be theirs."

"I can share a few details on her pursuits if you are interested. When an issue is so politicised it may be hard to see the matter for what it is."

Moyr said calmly.

Jo'ren nodded. "I would appreciate that Moyr. I never did get the full details."

Moyr nodded.

"She has long pursued the mastery of a ritual once developed by Lord Hazzan. It allows her to boost her power and vitality by leeching on the Force of others. She has been using her apprentices to cannibalise on, killing them in the process. There have been quite a few. The latest, Faln, somehow survived but went mad. He's dead now though, and I got my hands on his datapad. This is how all this began for me and Baes. Let me show you something."

She displayed the recording.



After a pause, she continued.

"Now she has full mastery of it. This is how Hin died. She will continue vampirically feeding on other Sith until she will get powerful enough to challenge her enemies among Darths."

He watched it with an icy calm, jaw clenched shut. When it finished he nodded and looked at the two aliens.

"The Darths seem unconcerned in their arrogance. Have you shown this to any of them yet?"

"One or two may have access to it. Whether they have shared it with others I do not know. But I can share it with you so you can do with it as you please. Darth Thanaton may not appreciate Sith like me or Baes, but this is larger than petty squabbles over race."

He considered it for a moment or two then nodded. "Sure. I can pass this along to those who might care to do something about it."

A datapad was produced from his robes. "Does Zash know you have, shall we say, 'reservations' about her?"

Yes, you could say that. I stole her own datapad, got to the bottom of Faln's case, successfully defied her before other aspirants and even discovered that the Lord Hazzan, the maker of her cherished ritual, betrayed the Sith and turned Jedi once he learned where it led. I can safely assume that the fact that she suffers my existence is rather temporary."

Moyr laughed, beginning the upload.

The big sith laughed for some time in response to Moyr. After a time he nodded at her. "Then you know she will come at you, with gives you an opportunity. Do you still have Hazzan's holocron? Maybe he knew a way to reverse the procedure."

"What holocron, Jo'ren? I have not mentioned any."

She smiled coyly, but then frowned.

"The ritual is a road to perdition. The monster she has chosen to become feeds upon itself. Now she needs to devour to sustain herself."

(OOC: I thought Baesal mentioned it on Day 6, but I was wrong, scratch that comment from the record )

"So what is your plan for stopping her? Any info on how to reverse it or prevent the ritual from working?"

"...No."

The made her think though.

"I assumed the best way to do it is to terminate Zash herself."

Jo'ren shrugged. "Don't you think a quick termination is a bit too good for someone like that though? Maybe there is a way to prolong her demise. And take some of her allies with her."

"That would be preferable, though the problem-solver in me tells me that her death without fireworks would be almost as good."

"Almost. Let's call that Plan B." He gave her a mirthless smile. "I'm not exactly a research expert, but if I come across anything that seems useful I will share it. Perhaps an opportunity will present itself on Yavin."

She nodded.

"Thank you. I'll do the same if I find out anything. What do you know about the Yavin deployment?"

"As much as you." They hadn't been told anything much about it, but the rumour mill was rife with speculation. "Could be another archaeological field trip..." He gave them both an appraising look. "How skilled are you with your lightsabers, or in defending yourselves with the force?"