The Journal of Darth Siniss

Musings on Power, Pain, Deception, and the Dark Side

This is a livejournal blog, with posts every couple of days.

http://anubitz.livejournal.com/

Below is the transcript of the latest journal entry.

Note that the date is recorded in Imperial Reckoning, not Galactic Standard. Imperial Reckoning dates from the date of the achievement of immortality of the Emperor.

Journal Entry 4

 

IR 1256, day 20

 

The Games We Play

 

Our glorious society is so very different from the mewling pathetic democracy of the Republic. We have a society based upon merit, ruthlessness, strength, and power. Many would label the Empire as evil, but viewed with an impartial lens, it allows every one of us to seek our own freedom. Freedom to achieve greatness, or die trying. Freedom to follow your lusts, or fall prey to the lusts of others. Freedom must be earned, not given.

 

Those republic fools that think freedom is a birthright will be crushed beneath the heel of those that are superior to them in every way. It is as inevitable as a sunrise.

 

From an early age we are taught the rules of the perilous games of the empire.

 

Here is a common younglings game all across the empire. It is called Pop goes the Traitor.

 

The rules are simple; you need two or more younglings and a droid to play. The droid runs the game. One of the younglings is randomly determined to be the enforcement officer, and one of the younglings is randomly determined to be the traitor. Those roles could be the same individual.

 

The children hide. The droid signals the enforcer by comlink to begin the game (and tell the enforcer their role); who then seeks out the other children and brings them before the droid. The enforcer demands to know if the youngling is the traitor. If there is no response from the youngling, or an incorrect response is given, then droid shocks the youngling. The shocks become progressively more powerful, and finally... Pop Goes the Traitor.

 

While this is happening, other younglings can group together to overpower the enforcer and end the game. This often happens, and can be very painful for the enforcer.

 

And the traitor can end the game by using their comlink within 1 meter of the droid, “deactivating” it.

 

Of course, no one is told who the traitor is…

 

When I observed younglings playing this game (as a slave, I had no time to play), one of the craftier strategies I saw was pre-game sabotage of the droid. The game also teaches about shifting alliances, acceptance of pain as a part of life, and the inevitability of betrayal. All in all, the game is very instructive about life in the Empire.

 

This is enough for today.

Journal Entry 3 - Politics and History

IR 1256, day 17

Political maneuvers disgust me profoundly, and yet I find myself enmeshed in innumerable schemes, plots, rivalries and hidden agendas. I hate being a piece maneuvered on a dejarik board by hands unknown or known, and I swear that I will master the game.

Even as they use me, I study those placed above and below me in the hierarchy, noting their strengths, weaknesses, and exploitable vulnerabilities. I keep these precious treasures locked up safely, brought out to mentally examine only when I am certain of my isolation and security; fitting each piece carefully within the immense jigsaw that is the Grand Plan. I am patient, and there are uncountable pieces to the Plan, but events are in motion. I will succeed, and I will discover all the pieces necessary for events to fall the way I have foreseen.

While on Korriban, my instructors called my fascination with the ancient Sith relics useless and weak. I did not correct their delusions. The past has much to teach us. The lessons learned and imparted by ancient Sith Lords can guide us to victory in the present, just as their animosities can instruct us in current machinations.

For instance, did you know that the ancient Lord of the Sith Zorid Maro (who directly preceded Marka Ragnos) was known as both a great scholar and a great warrior? During his younger years he devoted himself exclusively to martial prowess, becoming the deadliest warrior in the entire empire, and coming to rule by force of arms and strength of personality. He realized that he could not rule by main strength alone, and dedicated the rest of his life to ferreting out the secrets of his forefathers. It is believed that he had more than a dozen secret libraries scattered throughout the empire, and only nine have been discovered, two on Ziost, two on Korriban, one on Krayiss Two, one on Athiss, one on Rhelg, one on Begeren, and one on Korriz.

Many of these were looted by Sith Lords over the years seeking to increase their own power. But some were located and looted or destroyed by the hated Jedi during the aftermath of the Great Hyperspace War, which we would have won had the Sith been united by a single powerful leader. Instead, playing petty games of personal power instead of uniting against an external threat, Ludo Kressh destroyed the unity needed by the Sith in a time of crisis and demolished his rival Naga Sadow’s defenses and fleet, practically giving the Jedi and their precious republic the victory. The fact that we Sith had never encountered the Republic in strength before does not matter. All that matters, eventually, is victory or defeat. The Sith of that time were defeated, ignominiously running away, scattering in all directions, including he who would one day become our emperor. The inescapable conclusion is that Ludo Kressh is to blame, may his name live in Infamy.

The idea that the Sith didn’t have contact with the republic before the Daragon siblings is foolish and weakly minded scholarship. There were tramps and lost ships that wandered into the Stygian Caldera relatively frequently. However, as far as the Sith knew, there were no consistently navigable paths through the Caldera, so a journey in or out was a one way ticket for the ship. Those who came in became slaves. No one left.

The Daragon’s arrival was immensely important because they forged a new stable hyperspace path into the caldera, freeing the Sith from their isolation. The resultant internecine squabbles and the Great Hyperspace War were the inevitable consequences of this discovery.

Through my research into ancient Sith Lords, I have uncovered their political machinations, their victories and successes. This is what I have learned:

• To succeed I must be absolutely merciless.
  
• This is a high stakes battle, as bloody as close quarters combat with vibroknives.
  
• I must be devious, resourceful, and bold.
  
• My judgment must be swift and sure.
  
• I must command information that my allies and enemies do not possess, and go to any and all lengths to gain the information.
  
• I cannot rely on natural talent or strength in the force, but must build a power base ― economic, military, bureaucratic, criminal, or all of the above.
  
• I am safest when all of my enemies are dead, but then I must fear unknown enemies.
  

My new master is calling me now, I must respond. I shall take this up again later.

Journal Entry 2

IR 1256, Day 16

My name was Rexia, as a slave. I despise that name; now it screams to me weakness, vulnerability, and pathetic disgusting, cowardice. When my life began anew, I chose to be known as Siniss. Rexia was weak, born to slaves, living a mewling pedestrian existence and likely to come to some grisly end. But Siniss is strong, determiner of her own fate, and fully capable of embracing passion and power. Rexia is no more, and that name shall no longer pass my lips. There is only Siniss, now.

Before I go further, I shall inscribe the code here like it is inscribed into my very being.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

Through passion, I gain strength.

Through strength, I gain power.

Through power, I gain victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

This is a code for my life. Passion, Strength, Power, Victory. I can embrace these things. There is no room for weakness, fear, pity, mercy, or love. I shall seize my birthright, I command the strength of the force, and everything I want shall be mine.

This is correct and proper, for the strong prosper, and the weak perish. I shall defeat my enemies, but a poisoned blade in the dark is just so much more my style.

Journal Entry 1

IR 1256. Day 14

This is the journal of the rise to power of Siniss, soon to be Dark Lord of the Sith. I shall chronicle my rise to power and those that I crush on my path to inevitable victory. I shall also enter into this journal those insects whose eventual torture, humiliation, and agonizing death merits my special attention. My mastery of the Dark Side of the Force shall not be questioned. I will have the power that is my birthright.

I began as a slave in the household of Lord Horkuth Vain, raised from birth to become someone’s pleasure toy. This ended, of course, in my 10th year upon the start of my practical training. Lord Vain traded my highly valued virginity for numerous political favors to a corrupt official. It didn’t work out the way anyone expected. When my ****** tried to – well, he sings beautifully now, and didn’t really need those dangly bits anyway. Surprisingly for me, my fear and anger rose up in a great wave, and gave me enormous strength to slam the bastard back against the wall and rip off his bits. It was my first taste of the Dark Side, and my first taste of power. It would not be the last.

As a punishment, I was sent to the Cortosis mines. I struggled for four years. Four long, hate filled years, waiting for revenge, honing my anger, slowly being poisoned. There are many stories I could tell about how I killed this slave or that overseer, but they bore me right now. The end of my slavery came when Lady Foss came to look at a cash of artifacts uncovered when we disturbed an ancient tomb with our mining. As she passed by me on the way out, she suddenly stopped and looked me in the eye. I looked straight back, unbowed by my grinding labor or her superior status.

“Who are you, to stand tall in my presence and glow so brightly with the force?” she asked.

“Siniss, Lady. I am just Siniss.” I responded.

“Bow before your betters, Siniss.” She demanded.

“When I see one, I will do so.”

She laughed, and then told me to follow her out of this hellhole, she had another place for me to serve the empire. And that was the beginning of my time at the academy.

Imperial Intelligence Intercept J-72345-2687W-AEL84-234K-1110P-2320932-UE-09007636514189

## INCOMING TRANSMISSION

## RELAY INITIALIZED

## OPEN CHANNEL

## SOURCE REPUBLIC HOLONET SUBBAND 442

## PRIORITY RED

## DECRYPTING TEXT MESSAGE . . .

## MESSAGE FOLLOWS

Admiral Dravin,

 

You requested information about the Ryll sickness affecting the fifteenth fleet a few years back, and I finally have some answers for you. Your suspicions about the relationship between the fleet sabotage and the incident at Foundry are correct, sir. I smuggled this file out of SIS in a bio-matrix implanted in my body to get through the scanners, and am sending it to you now. The file details the individual that SIS believes to be the architect behind those two incidents, plus one more I believe you will find interesting. She is almost certainly behind many more atrocities, but nothing can be definitely attributed at this time.

 

I remain, as always, your dutiful son,

 

Lt. Col Jevers Dravin,

Senate Strategic Information Service

 

Begin File BG-5879-RA-547V-Ω65847625147-¥55489991

 

INTELLIGENCE FILE CLASSIFICATION BETA GAMMA AND HIGHER

DO NOT DUPLICATE, DO NOT REMOVE FROM SECURE NETWORK

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

 

SIS Analysis of Darth Siniss

By Dr. Azira Prisk'fey, Grade 2 Sith Analyst, Senate Strategic Information Services

 

{Note: Like nearly all republic intelligence documents dealing with pre-treaty events, this monograph measures pre-treaty dates From the Founding. Dates after the Treaty of Coruscant are measured in accordance with that chronology. The other system’s measurement is shown in square brackets.}

 

The Strategic Information Service has been able to ferret out surprisingly little information about the earliest life of the Sith known as Siniss, but what is known projects a disturbing holo indeed. SIS Psychological profiles maintain that Siniss is a sociopathic individual capable of any action that she sees as advancing her power, prestige, or position in the imperial hierarchy. Furthermore, SIS Psych division reports that Siniss believes the Sith struggle for position and power is a distraction, just a clever game devised by the emperor to keep his rivals off balance. We are unable to determine exactly what her long term plans are, but her actions thus far have been malevolent in the extreme.

 

Early Life

 

That the being known now as Siniss is Rattataki is certain. Her world of origin, however, cannot be determined with any reliability. SIS surmises that her ancestry can be traced to the expedition of Sith Lord Darth Vich in 21373 FF [-27 TC]. SIS believes she was born between 21373 FF and 21375 FF [-27 to -25 TC]. There is scant information on her as a child. We believe that she was one of a number of slave girls raised in the household of Sith Lord Horkuth Vain, a minor follower of Darth Vich.

 

As a side note, there was a power play between Lord Horkuth and Darth Vich during this time. Sometime during 21375 FF [-23 TC] Darth Vich attempted to use his Rattataki army (including quite a few apprentices) to kill Darth Thanus, a member of the Dark Council (and, incidentally, the master of Darth Vich. During this attempt, Lord Horkuth betrayed Darth Vich to advance his own position. As his reward, Lord Vain was given rich estates on Dromund Kaas, and allowed to keep his Rattataki, the only Sith Lord able to do so. He was also granted the title of Darth Vain, Overseer of the Rattataki.

 

Rise to Power

 

The first reported instance of the use of the name Siniss in Imperial records occurs in 21399 FF or 1 TC, according to the new system of timekeeping. She is reported to be an acolyte on Korriban. Within a matter of months, she apprentices to Lord Mordin, about whom we have very little information ((Mordin is a priority alpha gamma intelligence subject. No Imperial datafiles on Mordin exist. Mordin appears to be a cipher. Refer to file AG-8345-US-34R0-Ω34985349587-¥22439834)).

 

Lord Mordin’s instruction of Siniss seemed to be unconventional. SIS believes that no face to face interaction occurred; messages were delivered through intermediaries only, perhaps hacked droids, although we are uncertain about this last point.

 

We do know that Siniss absolutely destroyed several key operations {equipment, personnel, total data loss} that SIS was running on a number of different planets, ranging from Muunilist to Eriadu (Full listing includes: Abregado-rae, Balmorra, Boonta, Carida, Eriadu, Esseles, Fondor, Muunilist, Nal Hutta, Nar Shaddaa, and Ralltir). These losses are believed to be at the direction of Lord Mordin.

 

Siniss possesses a ship, identified as the Serenity; that is quite capable of destroying any space fighter thrown against it. The Serenity has also destroyed four frigates sent against her, SIS is issuing an BOLO for this ship along with an alert indicating that it is to be considered heavily armed and extremely dangerous.

 

SIS believes that Siniss confronted and defeated Darth Mordin to claim the title of Darth Siniss for herself at his behest. We have absolutely no confirmation of this, and only a single, unreliable source for this information, Darth Siniss herself. Darth Mordin has not been active since the supposed confrontation in 4 TC.

 

Attributed Incidents

 

Since her ascension, Darth Siniss has become hard to track, having few alliances and leaving few records. She prefers to work in secret, and organizes strikes against vulnerable republic targets using brilliant but unorthodox methods that cannot be traced to the Empire. We believe that the following attacks can now be attributed to Darth Siniss:

 

The Neimoidian Incident

 

In 5 TC, the crews of dozens of Republic ships were found to be acting extremely erratically, nearly crippling the fleets protecting the Quellor Run, the Trellent Run, and the Commenor Run. During the time the fleets were down, we believe that insurgents were placed on Foundry, and something happened on Commenor, but SIS has no idea what actually occurred at this point. The cause of the sickness has been traced back to air filters produced on Cato Neimoidia under contract to the Republic, that had been laced with minute amounts of Ryll. The spice built up in the Spacer’s bodies over a period of weeks, and then the factory stopped shipping the spiced filters and began shipping plain filters once again. The sailors’ sickness was simply withdrawal symptoms.

 

The full incident report is contained in file CL-4473-NG-G95F-₴14658713548-¥54862115

 

The Disaster at Foundry

 

During the colony fleet sickness (Neimoidian incident), a few dozen mercenaries were surreptitiously inserted onto Foundry, a planet where War Materials are produced in quantity for the Republic using automated factories. These mercenaries (later identified as disgraced members of Republic Special forces, court-martialed for war crimes and sentenced to death) carried enormous amounts of explosives with them, as well as the security access codes for the planetary defense grid. Using the security codes, they disarmed many of the factories, and set off their explosives, causing trillions of credits in damages, and damaging the Republic’s ability to make war effectively. However, their ship exploded when leaving the atmosphere, leaving no survivors to hunt down and question.

 

The full incident report is contained in file CL-4473-NG-G95F-₴14658713548-¥54862116

 

The Massacre on the Lady Celeste

 

The Lady Celeste was an Alderaanian Princess class Pleasure Liner carrying passengers along the Hydian way between Corsin and Denon. In 8 TC, as the ship entered the outskirts of the Exodeen system, they responded to the distress beacon of an XS light freighter, the Last Chance, out of Skako. It was slowly tumbling and venting gas, and apparently had no power. The Lady Celeste responded to the beacon by tractoring the ship into a landing bay, in accordance with the spacefaring regulations. Unfortunately, it was a trap. Darth Siniss was aboard the Last Chance and she killed the crew and activating the beacon. Her target was the Lady Celeste and her prize was a republic diplomat – Ansara Beladonna, whom she planned to turn into a pet. Beladonna, however, had a Jedi and his Padawan as a bodyguard.

 

The first thing that Darth Siniss did when she boarded the Lady Celeste was disable communications and main power in the engine room. She also vents the engineering compartments and bridge to space. By this point, everyone on board knows something is wrong, so she announces that she is in control, and if they want to live that they will remain in their cabins until she is finished with her mission. Siniss then proceeds to Beladonna’s cabin.

 

Lage Fen-ron and his Trianii Padawan Tiikaa proved no match for Darth Siniss. All of this was captured on security holorecording. Her cruel visage as she stunned Fen-ron and then played with his padawan, eventually shocking her to death is unsurprising. What is surprising is her extreme care in vivisecting the human Jedi with a vibroscalpel, carefully peeling away his skin and viscera layer by layer, and keeping him alive, awake, and in enormous pain until she removed his brain after two hours of torture.

 

After this, Darth Siniss brutally puts down an attempt to retake the ship by the crew and some of the passengers. To punish the survivors, she either amputates all of their limbs or exposes them to the vacuum of space for one second for her own amusement. Knowing that her time is short, she forces the remaining 239 people aboard the ship in order of height and kills everyone under 132 cm with lightning. This is 43 individuals, many of them younglings. At this point, 14 members of the crowd rush her, and she decapitates all of them in less than a second.

 

Finally, Darth Siniss leaves for the Last Chance. Upon leaving the bay, the blaster cannons on the Last Chance blow open the dome over the central area in which everyone left behind was trapped.

 

At this point the Last Chance moves out of recording range.

 

This is one of the very few holorecordings we have of Darth Siniss. It is sickening to view. However, to be complete, refer to file BV-5764-KY-20PM-₳98264735761-₦66482411

 

Refer to file AG-8345-US-34R0-Ω34985349587-¥22439834

 

Current Intelligence

 

The current location of Siniss is currently classed as officially unknown, because sigint (signal intelligence) and sapint (sapient intelligence [spies]) place her at various locations across the galaxy.

## CLOSING CHANNEL

## CLOSING RELAY

## END TRANSMISSION

Journal Entry 6

## HOLORECORDER ACTIVATED

## BIOMETRIC SCANNER ENGAGED

## IDENTITY CONFIRMED

## SCANNING FOR QUANTUM SCREENING

## QUANTUM LOCK CONFIRMED

## OPENING FILE ΩSIN-999Ω

## INITIALIZING RECORDER

## DATE 1256 IR, DAY 25

## TRANSCRIPTION FOLLOWS

[Darth Siniss appears as a slight female, no more than 1.2m, garbed in unornamented dark red and purple robes. Her hood partially obscures her facial features, but a glint of silvery light crosses her cheeks. Her eyes flash red. All of this is cast in a shade of green from the holo, and flickers constantly, with the customary up and down movement seen in projections.]

SINISS: This is Journal Entry Six, made on day 25 of year 1256 of our Emperor's glorious reign of terror. Moridin first contacted me while I was being trained on Korriban. I was studying an ancient scroll from the time of Naga Sadow written by a Lord Jakim when a library droid approached me, carrying a scroll case. This was not unusual, since I had two or three droids searching for ancient documents at any given time. This droid, however, interrupted my studies, which the droids I used were instructed to never do; they were instead instructed to place their burdens on the table and resume their search with the next item on the list.

[Darth Siniss pauses for a moment, reflecting.]

SINISS: I remember that I was irritated at the interruption. I felt that the document before me would lead me to the rediscovery of the ancient Sith techniques of causing stars to become supernovas. Incidentally, it never did, but that is irrelevant now. The droid that interrupted me said something like, “Mistress, please read this scroll in pursuance of your quest for knowledge.”

I immediately knew something was awry. My three droids; yes, now I remember, it was three, Bee-two-cee-ex, Ell-four-em-nine, and Gee-five-vee-seven. Anyway, my three droids were programmed not to speak to me unless absolutely necessary, and then, in extremis, to beep twice and wait for an acknowledgement. This droid was not one of mine, and could be a trap, sent by one of my rivals. I harbored a healthy paranoia in those days. I was a child then, and completely naïve, foolish, and entirely too trusting, but those were good times. I regret not crushing that evil little get Harkun while I had the chance.

SINISS: I was speaking of the droid. I quickly reduced the droid to scrap using the force, and determined that there was no hidden bomb, poison, or other immediate danger. I then used the force to determine that the scroll case the droid carried did indeed carry a scroll. I opened the case 10 meters away from me, and both the scroll and a tiny comm-unit fell out.

I examined the scroll, and it was authored by none other than Naga Sadow himself. The material covered was the theory of using the force to cause solar objects to nova. Of course, it was incomplete, and hinted that certain Sith artifacts of enormous power must be used in conjunction with a ritual that was not laid out in the scroll, but it was a beginning.

[siniss shifts on her chair, seemingly to get more comfortable. She rubs her hands together, dry washing them a few times.]

SINISS: I turned my attention to the communicator. It had the look of a miniaturized, single frequency, double encrypted comm-unit and bore the unmistakable manufacturing symbol of Imperial Intelligence. I recognized it because of the training we had received just the week before in equipment and procedures of Intelligence. The unit was smaller than my thumbnail and wafer thin. I suspected that it was bio-encrypted, single use, and destruct on command as well. The comm-unit was a piece of expensive and very high tech spy gear.

I brought the unit to me using the force, and pressed my thumb firmly onto the top side. A high pitched whine quickly filled my ears and shot out of auditory range almost faster than I could sense. At the same time, a red scan light emitted from the unit and very quickly strobed the room.

SINISS: Immediately after the light finished, the device projected a six inch holo of … nothing much. To say the figure was indistinct would be incorrect, because indistinct infers that there would be something to distinguish without the presence of some interfering object. This holoimage was simply a blank humanoid form, flat grey in color, varying from 1m to 2m in height over the course of the conversation, with a modulated voice.

Then he said “Siniss, I have observed your actions with increasing pleasure for quite a while, and have now chosen to make contact and an offer of tutelage. I believe that you will be quite suitable as an apprentice. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Darth Moridin.”

[Darth Siniss looks offscreen, and then looks back at the recorder.]

SINISS: Recorder off.

## END RECORDING

## CLOSING FILE

## HOLORECORDER DEACTIVATED