The Dark Academy on Korriban

Once onboard, the first thing Layne did was find herself a holoterminal; making sure there was no one in the vincinity when she made the call to Baras.

Then she just waited for it to connect; brooding all the while about her various grievances. She wasn't sure yet as to what exactly she would reveal to him. Maybe she just wanted to get a feel for how he'd respond to certain things. Maybe she wanted to share everything. The future was cloudy.

Baras appears and there are moans of agony in the background. He says, “Apprentice, why have you chosen to disturb me, during my work?”

Well, that was a little morbid. But she ignored the urge to consider how work and screams of agony fitted together.

"I know I'm just a sword and all," she said, "but I thought maybe there's various bits of information I have that could be of interest to you. Nothing pressing enough to interrupt any important work, but I didn't have much free time earlier."

Baras turns off screen and raises a hand and lightning shoots forth which elicits more agony from whomever was off screen. He says, “I can multitask, apprentice.”

“Your report.”

"Well, first things first then, I suppose. Lord Zash conducted a ritual to enhance her own power based off information from a holocron found by some of the students. A ritual that turned one of the students into a wound in the force."

“I already knew the former, the latter is interesting. Do you know what this ritual was?” he says calmly.

Layne tried to relay the information that Gerald; or what was left of him; had told her, leaving out none of the details.

"I don't think she knew it turned him into a wound in the force," she said after the explanation. "Or she doesn't care."

“She is a danger but not to me.”

A woman moans in the background outside the vision of the holo image, “Please… just-”

“Silence wretch!” More lightning issues forth to an unseen target with more screams of agony. “Anything else?” Baras says.

"That depends, I don't imagine you have much use for ancient Sith prisons housing ancient sith queens? What about apprentices that let themselves get possessed by such entities?"

“I do not appreciate dramatic pauses, speak,” Darth Baras commands.

"Well, I'm betting Torsin didn't mention how easily he got possessed by an ancient force ghost. That'd make him look weak in front of his master after all. And I'm betting he didn't tell you about the Jedi holocron he found either. He *was* awfully quick to boast to me about how he thinks he's blackmailing you with information that he says would be bad for your plans, however. He can't be trusted."

“And you Layne,” he pauses to shoot lightning and then says, “You can be trusted?”

"I'm just a dumb ex-slave girl. I don't have connections all over the galaxy. I don't have any ambitions beyond living. And being a former slave, I know the value of not asking too many questions. I won't claim to always speak the truth, but I don't come with the kind of complications that he does."

“Yet you expose your naked ambitions reaching out to me in this way,” he replies.

“No one is just a simple anything. Even you, my young Apprentice.”

"Wanting to wipe that stupid smile off his face and making sure he doesn't try anything against me isn't really an ambition though, is it?

“The tension between you two is easily felt, your life is not my concern. Only if he wishes to turn his ambitions towards me,” Baras says calmly.

“If you quarrel do so, but do not jeopardize my plans.”

"Bragging he can blackmail you with information he claims your rivals can use against you is pretty close to turning against you, I'd think."

There was a pause.

"Well, I guess I don't mind that stupid smile of his if he's genuinely useful to you for a while longer. But I do hope that won't be indefinitely."

“I trust no one, Apprentice, no one. You have not given me information to act on, I could easily crush him and I am already aware of his attempts at blackmail. He does not know the depth or the score of the game he is trying to play,” Baras says calmly.

“You should retain this lesson. Sylvain is a symbol, a symbol I can tolerate because it gets me closer to my goals. You will tolerate him because of that.”

“Is that understood?”

Ugh... Propaganda tool after all...

She crossed her arms.

"Yes."

And uncrossed them again.

"Moving on. Any advice for Yavin? Any... requests?"

“Don’t die, I have plans for you,” he says calmly.

“Use your limited judgment, I am sure you may find something that might be to our benefit.”

"...I hope your lessons will be a bit more in-depth once I graduate."

“Are you a child that needs to be guided by the nose or are you Sith?” Baras says focusing on Layne.

Moans of agony continue.

"If telling their apprentices that they shouldn't die was all that Sith masters did, there wouldn't be any apprentices because they'd all realize they could figure that out on their own."

“I expect an education on being a Lord of the Sith will be forthcoming,” Darth Baras replies with something approaching a smile.

"Well, if you think I'm ready for that title, who am I to argue with you giving me lessons on living up to it?"

It was more a defiant kind of 'I'm not going to just roll over' than it was an attempt at humor; even if it was perhaps a little funny, especially given the completely serious tone it was wrapped in.