Way of the Sith

Chapter 6 - The Separatists

Danger ripples sharply through the Force, and Vader is awake in a flash, jolting upright in bed as he instantly scans the darkness of the bedroom. A droid is buzzing only inches above his head, ready to – He doesn't wait to find out, reaching out and crushing it with the Force, letting it fall in sparking pieces to the floor.

Angelus is already sitting up reaching for her lightsaber next to their bed.

He knew an assassination attempt was coming, but how they managed to get into the palace without being discovered is a different story.

The Force is still humming with danger, though, and he can feel... the Dark Side. The disturbance he's been noticing since the previous night, except that it's –

The sound of activating lightsabers fills the room, and a dark robed figure leaps out of the shadows, twin red blades aiming for his head.

The droid was never intended to kill him, was it? Only meant to throw off his senses, thinking that that was the danger.

He lashes out with the Force, throwing the figure back off the bed and igniting his own blade.

There's only three known Sith here, Athair had said. Sidious, Dooku, and his assassin. And he highly doubts either of the Sith lords came here, and even through the darkness, he can see enough of the figure to be fairly certain she's female.

His blade hums to life in his hand as the assassin leaps at him again. Their blades clash and he shoves her back. She lets out a snarl of rage, slashing furiously at him again. Her hood falls back, to reveal a gray-skinned, female Zabrak. Ventress.

Angelus flips over the bed, landing on Ventress' other side, swinging for her.

Evidently, though unsurprisingly, they've caught Sidious' and Dooku's attention. He's not even surprised about that. They're the leaders of the rest of the galaxy, after all, and the Republic had an Alliance with Jabba. But for Sidious to go so far as sending someone to assassinate them... Well, it's a good thing they're almost ready to go to Coruscant and deal with him in person.

Ventress parries his and Angelus' blows, backing away a few steps

They're more than a match for her, he realizes quickly, as he presses his attack. She's quickly forced onto the defensive.

Vader twists one of Ventress' lightsabers from her hand, sending it flying. She tries to spin her other blade around to meet his next blow, and Angelus' blade slashes across her other arm, though not deeply.

Ventress falters for the briefest moment and Vader lashes out with the Force, throwing her against the wall. Her hilt falls from her hand as she lands, and she hastily tries to push herself back up, except he already has a blade leveled at her neck.

The door to the room abruptly swings open, Luke and Leia appearing in the doorway, darting inside as soon as they see the scene in front of them. "You're Asajj Ventress, aren't you?" Angelus demands.

She only scoffs, staring defiantly back at them.

"Dooku sent you, didn't he?" Vader asks, almost rhetorically. They already know as much, and they know what she was here for. It's only a question of what now. They could kill her, but it would serve little purpose. She was merely following her master's instructions; she doesn't know them; it's not as if she could have something against them on her own. Whether she's dead or not, the other Sith likely will send someone else after them.

No, if they're going to solve this, they need to go straight to the Sith themselves. They aren't ready for Sidious, but Vader could speak with Dooku. They'll have to handle him eventually either way, whether as an ally or enemy. From what Athair said, the apprentice is always ready to betray their master, so presumably the same is true for Dooku. Especially since he's the head of the Separatists, Dooku would be more useful as an ally if they could get him to turn on Sidious, and... for that matter, so could Ventress. She has skill, even if she's far from an actual Sith Lady.