Necrotic Bolero

Weak Leader

I am visited by a Bothan Sith soldier. His fear of me is intoxicating. A fourteen year old Jedi Padawan girl loved my palace... and this grown man can't stand the sight of my great halls. What the deuce has my worthless son Madir told the Sith about me? Not one of them has stood in my presence since before my sons were born. And in the time since I went to become apprentice to Darth Gorthur, only Darth Lumina and my older brothers have been in my presence. So I suppose the update is somewhat understandable... I wasn't that strong back then.

I wonder, if I'd been a Jedi, would I have been stronger? My emotional control surpasses most Jedi. Obviously my power comes from my bottomless well of hatred, but if I'd been born into the Jedi Order... could I have achieved passionless harmony to rival that hatred? It doesn't matter. The parasites mesh well with hatred, but not the emotionless serenity the Jedi strive for. So my power could not have been that great.

I probe this weakling's mind... seeing that he is indeed going off of the information Darth Kraven exaggerated about me... actually... it looks like his information might still fall short of my real power. My son probably tried to exaggerate, but couldn't quite embellish it enough to put me in danger.

I don't allow him into my throne room. I meet him through two of my mind-slaves, Aggy Goldgrer's twins; a boy and a girl. I removed the parasites from Aggy and she continued to worship me as her master. This was good news, that the brainwashing worked and I can apply it towards the ritual of sacrifice. I think if I let these two go, even without my control, they'd still be powerful enough to defeat this frightened cur.

I demand, through the twins in unison, "What is the meaning of this?"

He swallows, "I'm sorry, my Lord, but the Leader has denied your request to move to Felucia. He... said it makes no tactical sense to waste your potential on a savage world in our own territory that the Republic has no desire to take and we have no desire to defend if they do try... he is willing to supply you with ships and soldiers to help take this world. He even said that per your usual preferences, there would be no droids, and you could... do what you wanted with the ship crew and infantry."

I have never laughed so hard in my life, I project my voice across all the halls of the palace, "HeeghHeeghHeeghHeeghHAAGHHAAGHHAAGHHAAAAGH, AAAHH HAAAA..... AAAAAAHHH HHAAA HAA HAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.........!!!!!

"........ .... .... .... ..... ....last assignment they made me bring a droid on my 4 man light starfighter.... now they're giving me a fleet and an army and letting me run it as I see fit. This confirms something I've suspected for a long time. The Leader knows he can't reign me in, so he's trying to be diplomatic to avoid losing me completely. Or perhaps he's worried that just as I view Felucia as an upgrade over Ryloth, I may eventually set my sights on whole sectors in my Glorious Necrotic Kingdom...." 

"My Lord... you can't possibly mean... what you're saying is treason..."

I've been walking up ever since he told me about the Leader's appeasement plan. I step through the doorway, all 6 wings and all 6 tentacles spread wide. The yellow-orange bioluminescent plants shining on me in the almost total darkness of the atrium. I know what I look like. There's only so many times people's first thought of you can be "monster" before you embrace it.

I descend upon him slowly as he backs up. He nearly jumps when he backs into an acklay mind-slave, through which I smile down on him with all its pointed teeth. I say, "There was a time when I cared enough to keep that information to myself... but that time has past. You will accompany me to Korriban. I will allow you to live. You will not join the ranks of my palace there.

He tries to feign confusion, but he knows what I'm implying, "Your palace there?"

I tilt my head to give the impression that I'm smiling... and since I'm already so deep in his mind, I think I'll mess with his vision to make him see a blazing golden orange smile, and I explain what he already understands, "I've decided not to build a palace on Felucia just yet. I'm going to build one on Korriban. If the Leader has a problem, he can walk across the valley of the dark Lords, cross the desert of the punished traitors, and walk up my steps to make that complaint himself."

The Praetorian Guards step forward in the gold and platinum plated armor, saber pikes active, "You are not permitted to enter the Leader's Palace at this time!! Turn back now or... AGGGGHHH!!!!!" With the force, I twist their bones and muscles, giving them the feeling of being flayed alive in an blazing furnace, then drop them to let them reflect on their mistake.

Inside, 4 more Praetorian Guards descend down. These are some powerful Sith. I sense each of them to be equal in power to Darth Re'wine, who was Gorthur's strongest apprentice before I joined his ranks. However, against me now, they'd be quite worthless.

The Leader shoots the Bothan a glaring look, who interprets it as a call to take arms against me like the Praetorian guards. He draws his sword. It's solid metal, not a vibrosword, and if I'm not mistaken, Durasteel, with a cortosis edge. It has a good curve and is about 95 cm in length. I invade his mind again to make him see the golden smile again. He stops himself from attacking me from behind.

The Leader calls his Guards to halt, but remain ready. I pull the Bothan forward and to the side with a tentacle. The leader says, "What is this? Why do you invade this palace, Darth Necros?"

I explain, "I won't be moving into my Felucia palace just yet... I've decided to move into a palace here. Not too close to the valley of the Dark Lords, as I wouldn't want to intrude on your territory... just across the desert of the punished traitors."

Everyone present knows that this is a very aggressive intrusion into his territory. What is known to only me and him is that I don't want his empire. If this were any other Sith... a play like this would signal an attempt at the throne... but only a handful of people know that I don't want the throne. So he either has to let my play go without explanation and look weak.... or explain that the reason he allowed it is because I'm not a threat since I consider the Sith beneath me... and look slightly less weak, but increase the desire for reform among his dissenters. 

Sonil rushes in. That armor... I turn around... Darth Faeora and Darth Slyfer are not far behind him... and if they're coming from that wing... it means the Council was in session. I laugh, "Ha, brother, you never said you were given a position on the council. Can you sense it? He's weak! He's barely stronger than I was when I was sent to kill Darth Gorthur! As an Acolyte I had the power to RIVAL THE LEADER!!!! And now I stand before him, as the most powerful being who has ever lived, and issue an ultimatum he cannot refuse!"

The Leader stands, a deep purple cape flowing down from his Aurodium plated pauldrons. With a booming voice he yells, "I will not be disrespected in my own throne room! Guards!"

The six Praetorian guards force leap towards me with their lightsabers in hand. It was smart of them to swap their saber pikes to saber forme, but it won't matter. In the agonizingly long .0165 seconds it takes for them to get into range, I look through Sonil's mind. Nothing of interest, just that he knows he isn't as powerful as me and wishes I was on the council with him so he wouldn't feel like his station was undeserved... like the station of everyone is undeserved. 

Next, I check the Leader. He has 2 platinum plated saberstaffs, each with black lightsaber crystals. Vanity is his greatest failing... but at least he had the sense to keep me at a distance before now. I would have done this long ago if I'd known he was this weak. Next I check the Bothan. He's going to trip over himself and fall on his backside. Gravity works too slow though, so the Praetorians will be dead long before that. This fight truly was over before it began. The .0165 seconds pass, and I summon the Bothan's sword, slash through all 6 Praetorians, and send the blade back to its sheath all in under a millisecond. It had such short time of contact, and given the properties of the metal, the blood did not have time to stick to the sword, so I skipped over cleaning it.

The bodies land around me. It takes people a second to realize what happened. Only Darth Sonil and the Leader were keen enough to witness it... though, as Sonil says, "I could barely even follow that attack.... it was almost instantaneous.....!!"  I sense the Leader recognized something that makes him even more uncomfortable... he knows I used under a quarter of my detectable power.

I turn around and walk out. I am not followed.