The Knight, Death, and the Devil

Chapter 40: What Rough Beast

With Vathamma's cruiser impounded and her privileges as a Sith Lord in question, the only ship available to her and Torin was the shuttle she had taken from her flagship to Vaiken spacedock. They weren't going to be allowed through to Yavin IV, and that ship certainly wasn't going to break the blockade that the newly-forged Alliance had set up around it. What they needed was one that could—and Torin knew just where to find one.

So they returned to Rishi, a planet still reeling from the orbital battle that had nearly led two fleets to ruin. Torin spent the entirety of the trip there avoiding the Sith within the small confines of the cramped shuttle while he mulled over what he had overheard at Vaiken Memorial Hospital.

He had already resolved himself to not make excuses for her anymore, but at the same time he couldn't ignore what he had seen and heard. Maybe Vathamma's particular brand of 'love' wasn't as selfish as he'd thought it was. Maybe she cared for Nomi as much as someone who grows up among monsters can care for a slave.

The first time he had jetted around the galaxy with her, she was a looming presence, dropping into his room to say or do something to put him on edge before departing just as swiftly. Now, she seemed to be making herself as small a figure as possible, keeping to the shuttle cockpit while Torin slumped back on a bench in the cargo bay.

Maybe she had changed—he certainly had. But it didnt change a thing when it came to their mission. He wasn't so cynical to believe that people never changed, but he wasn't so foolish as to think they could become entirely new people. She was still the same woman who had nearly crippled him when he stood between her and power. It wasn't a choice he would let her make again.

When they reached Rishi, locating Isatryn's wayward ship turned out to be a bit more complicated than simply reclaiming it from the docking bay. Raider Cove's starport was a busy travel hub, and the docking manager was in no mood to let a ship take up a pad for a minute longer than was paid for—especially when that ship could be sold off for a hefty fee. With the owners presumed dead in a battle Rishi's inhabitants still hadn't quite wrapped their head around, it seemed like free credits for the dock manager.

At least until Vathamma showed up with her 'Apprentice' in tow.

"You sold Imperial property?" she shouted at the man in the midst of a busy starport hall, jabbing a finger in his chest while he cowered down, buckling at the knees until he was as short as her. Any person the galaxy over knew to fear—or at least respect—the distinctive red skin and face tendrils of a pureblood Sith. The pirates of Rishi were especially keen to give them a wide berth, after the Imperial Fleet had brought the hammer down on them only a week ago.

As they were able to gather from the man and his stammered excuses, the ship hadn't even left the starport yet. The manager had tried to get into it, failed, then ordered his mechanics to try and break open the rear ramp. When that hadn't worked, he'd simply had it dragged off the pad to a storage space and sold it to an off-world buyer without ever discovering what it was capable of.

The two Sith made their way to the nearby warehouse and ordered it hauled back out while the brow-beaten manager bemoaned his loss. From the sound of it, he'd already lost half his proceeds to Rishi's Pazaak tables and their many card sharps. What he would tell his soon-to-arrive buyer was his problem.

Soon the pair were off-world again, leaving the docking manager a complimentary shuttle in their wake. Not out of any generosity, but from a single-minded focus on getting to where they needed to be—Yavin IV. The detour was a necessary one, and it had paid off. Now, they could slip through the moon's blockade unnoticed. But that didnt stop Torin from hating every second of it.

He wanted this to be over—all of it. Vathamma seemed to share his impatience, but not for the same reason. She was looking forward to the battle. Not in giddy expectation, but in a stoic acceptance of finishing what she had set out to do. Despite the age she had on Torin, she lacked the clinging weariness he couldn't seem to shed. That, he admired about her.