Remi the Grey

Kira stood with Doc, T7, and MX-05 at her side. The ceremony had been delayed while she had recovered at the medical center. During that time, she had several visitors.

Doc and Master Zyel visited. Zyel assured her that despite some protest from certain Council members Doc was considered a stable, honest, and good man who would be able to make an excellent partner for a Jedi. Doc looked so proud of himself she did not have the heart to make fun of the idea that he was stable or honest.

T7 showed up. He brought her Tionese food because he knew she liked it and Doc was too busy being grilled by the Council members about his definition of love and duty and other stupid questions. T7 also reported that he was getting the title of Honorary General, and that the MX-05 droid had shot the restraining bolt off but had destroyed the interface so no one could put a bolt there ever again.

Rusk came by with Dr. Atilan, they invited her to their wedding. The MX droids were going into regular production thanks to her ‘field performance test.’ Rusk told her they were going to save the lives of countless soldiers.
A Jedi named Seth came in briefly. He introduced himself and explained what happened to Remi, he said they made it to the Guard ship but he did not know where it went after that. He also told her that Master Kavil had ordered them to arrest the two Sith aboard an Imperial ship. Over a dozen troopers and two Jedi had been killed in the process.

When Master Kavil came to visit, Kira laid into him accusing him of disrupting their plans without telling anyone and sending Gilles in against the Voice when he knew the Emperor would take over Gilles mind. Kavil protested that he never told Gilles to go to the chamber; he only said that Kira would need his help. He acted very distressed at the idea that his words had gotten Gilles killed.

Several more people involved in the assault came by, so many that Kira lost track, but no Remi.

“Today we gather to celebrate a victory for the Republic.” Grand Master Satele Shan announced. Her holo-projection smiled as she looked at the assembled audience. “The brave heroes have once again saved our galaxy from destruction, Jedi Knight Kira Carsen, Dr. Archiban Kimball, T7-01, and MX-05. Kira,” Master Satele said fondly, “You embody everything a Jedi strives to become, overcoming adversity most of us will never have to face. From this day forward, you will no longer be a Jedi Knight you are a Jedi Master.”

“Thank you, Master.” Kira said smiling. “I will uphold the Jedi code.” Then she leaned forward so only the holo-terminal picked it up. “It’s about time.” Master Satele’s smile was genuine as Kira turned to face the audience.
She scanned the people below, soldiers, senators, and citizens. Then she noticed a sizeable gap in the crowd, at the center stood a small figure, wearing armor, and a helmet. Behind the figure stood the reason for the gap, a giant armored man wearing a hooded robe, his presence alone caused people to shuffle away giving them room. She extended her senses to the figure, but she felt no Force at all. The figure seemed to know she was watching; it held up a hand in a gesture that was half wave and half salute.

“With this victory, we have new hope for peace in the galaxy, may the Force be with us all.” Master Satele concluded. Kira turned to bow to the Grand Master of the Jedi Order as her projection winked out. When she looked back, the figure was gone.

Doc came up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She was happy he could do that whenever they pleased, within limits of course. “Did you see them?” He asked. He had spotted them too.

Kira nodded, leaning against him unable to speak for a moment.

Doc grinned, “So, I guess for now Remi won’t be dark side or light, she’ll just be...”

“Don’t say it, Doc.” Kira replied rolling her eyes.

Lord Ninka surveyed her guests calmly. It was more difficult to be calm these days. They all felt the death of the Emperor but the effects on her in particular were severe. As a gift, the Emperor had granted her something like immortality when he made her the Wrath, she did not age as far as she was able to tell, and she could survive the most grievous wounds, but such things always came with a price. The Emperor took away her ability to feel, see color, to taste. She moved through the world disconnected from mortals, and for a time she searched for a cure, a Sith is nothing without passion. Eventually she came to accept her new way of life, reveling in the feel of being indestructible while feeding on the pain and terror she invoked in her enemies. Unfortunately, when the Emperor fell to the Jedi everything she had lost came back, she nearly killed her Captain for his earlier betrayal. Now, she was back to normal, as normal as a Sith who served a dead Lord could be.

One would think without the Emperor’s presence the Hand would fall to chaos and infighting, but they seemed to be driven to find a new Emperor to serve. One whose power would be so absolute that there would be no question among other Sith and the Dark Council who they should serve. Lord Ninka agreed with their efforts, she had seen the contenders, all of them powerful, but none had any vision of what to do with an Empire once they commanded it. Despite their victories both overt and otherwise, they were all small-minded. They would conquer their Sith brethren, perhaps even the Republic, but they had no notion of how to bring the Empire to a new age. They would soon fall to another Sith, then the infighting would begin again, the Republic would rebuild like rot that could regrow from a single cell, and they would be back where they started.

The thought brought her back to the present. She was transporting a group of Sith who served the Emperor’s Hand. The Five, the men could have been brothers, tall pureblooded Sith, all strong in the Force. They refused to be named, claiming to have no identity other than service. They stood in a line at the holo-terminal waiting for contact from the Hand. They were to take part in a ritual to confirm a new Emperor. They did not know what it would entail only that all the Sith would know of his presence when it was complete.

“My Lord,” Captain Quinn said, interrupting her thoughts. “We have an incoming transmission from the Hand.”

“Put them through, Quinn.” She replied smiling at her Captain. He was still handsome despite being marred by a scar from his left brow to his lip. She had put it there. To remind him, herself, and to warn others that he was not perfect and they should be wary of trusting him.

The other members of the crew gathered in the overcrowded room, her original crew still with her, she had offered promotions and better placement but they all refused to leave unless ordered. The final member of her crew arrived; he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall well behind the others. Quinn frowned though not in his direction, the man was a law unto himself. He was another tall pureblooded Sith, and where the other five could have been brothers, this man could have been their father, though more likely he would be their grandfather many times removed. He was the original Wrath, the first and only to hold the title for three centuries, Lord Scourge. He had joined her crew at the Hand’s invitation and for a little over two years, the two Wraths traveled the galaxy removing anyone who harmed the interests of the Empire, Sith and Jedi alike.

Quinn had resisted the presence of a traitor to the Empire, an irony that was not lost on him. She would have dismissed his objections, but Lieutenant Pierce uncharacteristically agreed with Quinn. “The Captain’s right for once, my lord.” Pierce had said ignoring Quinn’s frown at the use of ‘for once.’ “The man helped to kill the Emperor twice now, who’s to say he won’t do it to the next one?” It was only after Lord Scourge came aboard, and after it became known that the previous Emperor meant to consume the galaxy that they accepted his presence, not that the Sith Lord cared whether they accepted him or not.

They had contacted him once before, Ninka had heard of his immortality and subsequent lack of emotions, she wanted to ask him about what had caused it. He described to her the ritual and the subsequent torment that accompanied immortality, followed by the numbness that his own mind created to protect him. It was plain that whatever the Emperor did three hundred years ago his current methods were far more sophisticated and she had gotten off easy. It helped her to accept her situation and she had thanked him. The meeting had not gone quite so well after that. It was another sore point for the Captain.

The familiar images of Servant One and Servant Two appeared on the holo-terminal.

“The Vessel has arrived.” Servant Two intoned.

“You have done well Wraths.” Servant One nodded his head to the two Sith, “The galaxy is free of many who would oppose our new Emperor. We have found our candidate, a child, but stronger in the Force than any we have seen. We will raise him to be true Sith, and he will lead our Empire to a new era.”

“A child,” Ninka said doubtfully, her protests had been that other Sith lacked vision. What vision could a child have? “How can a child take the Empire to a new Era?” The Five shifted their gaze to her reproachfully, they served the Hand without question.

“A child with visions, born of power and darkness.” Servant Two answered cryptically.

“The child will be raised with the concerns of the Empire in his heart.” Servant One added while acknowledging the truth of his fellow’s statement. “He will learn what it means to truly be Sith, but he will live outside the schemes and machinations of his subjects. Until he is ready, all anyone will know is they have an Emperor, the Hand and the Imperial Guard will take whatever measures necessary to ensure his rule, and the Dark Council will continue to oversee the day to day needs of the Empire. When he is ready, he will rule with a steady hand full of strength and wisdom.”

Lord Ninka worked to hide her doubt.

Lord Scourge watched the meeting from behind the group. He did not like the way The Five stood, it was eerie how connected they seemed. At first, he had attributed it to training, but no amount of training could account for the way that the other four seemed to see what only one of them was looking at.

The Servants were explaining the child, a boy strong in the force they had recently acquired, they would not say from where but Scourge could guess. Lord Ninka was questioning their choice, Scourge let her do most of the speaking, he never cared for Servant One’s attitude nor could he tolerate Servant Two’s babble. The past two years she had made a competent partner, her crew was devoted and mostly serious about their task, a refreshing change from the Jedi’s crew. He thought about the Jedi’s former companions then swiftly banished the thought.

The Five moved, it looked like the listless shifting of bored soldiers, but it brought each of them slightly behind a member of the crew. All attention was focused on the Hand this was not good. Scourge needed the crew to pay attention to their surroundings.

“Your ship will deliver The Five for the ritual.” Servant One was saying.

“What does this ritual entail?” Scourge interrupted. He never spoke during these meetings, everyone turned to look at him in surprise. When they did so, the crew noticed their proximity to The Five, they were all trained fighters, they adjusted their positioning without thinking. The Five frowned.

“The Wrath disrupts.” Servant Two turned to Servant One.

“So I see,” Servant One acknowledged. “The ritual requires a cleansing of the old. There can be none who question the Emperor or the Hand.” He nodded. The Five drew their lightsabers, they all drew their weapons in response. “We have observed how well two Wraths have worked in the field. We created The Five to be your replacements. Die knowing that you have ushered the Empire into a new age.” The transmission went out.


The battle was fierce. Hampered by the close quarters Pierce, Vette, and Quinn were all down. Lord Scourge had already taken two and now the fight was fairly even. Broonmark and Jaesa fought one Sith while he and Lord Ninka fought the others. It seemed that separating The Five made them far weaker, something they only realized after Scourge had taken one of them out. Scourge cornered the Sith he was fighting running him through with his lightsaber. The Sith fell to his knees, but he did not die, he began muttering something under his breath. Lightning shot from his wound knocking Scourge back. Scourge got to his feet quickly, he turned to see the others were still fighting but the lightning was surging back and forth between the two dead members of The Five. They began to stir.

“You cannot defeat us.” Said the Sith with a rapidly closing hold in his chest. The Five, now fully restored regrouped to face the remaining defenders.

Scourge faced the group warily, trying to figure out how to split them up again. The Sith in the middle of the pack raised his weapon, the others followed suit. Perhaps that’s the true leader. Then the whole ship rocked as they were hit, another ship was firing on them.

While everyone was still disoriented, Scourge charged into the line of Sith taking them by surprise. He quickly cut down the one he supposed was the leader and turned to the next. The ship rocked again hit by another volley, the lights flickered as their shields and main power went offline. They continued the fight, neither side knew who was attacking the ship and neither side would have surrendered anyway.

A boarding pod pierced the hull. The two groups maneuvered to take on the new enemy while maintaining their attack on each other. They were all surprised when a dozen flash grenades rolled out of the pod followed by a half dozen gas canisters. The tactic seemed oddly familiar to Scourge before he passed out.

The airlock door opened and the newcomer walked onto the Wrath’s ship. The gas had done its job rendering everyone unconscious and paralyzed. There was a small risk that the combination would kill but with Sith you can never be too careful.

Lord Scourge began to stir. Someone had placed a filtration mask over his head and administered an antidote. He looked around, the poison still hung thick in the air. The Five were all trussed up face down, both wrists and ankles were bound with shackles designed to restrain Force users. The same was done to Lord Ninka and Jaesa. All of their lightsabers had been taken away and he did not see the others. The mask hampered his peripheral vision, the gas made it worse, so he could not see the person who prodded him to his feet with the tip of a rifle and shoved him towards the conference room. His hands were cuffed in front of him and not behind. First mistake he thought as he was pushed further into the room and the door shut behind him. He heard a buzzing sound; the gas that fogged the room evacuated and soon it was clear enough to see.

Seeing his chance, Scourge whirled to face his captor rushing forward. Most force-blind fighters would be no match for him even in his disadvantaged state. The figure calmly pointed a rifle at him. Scourge stopped.

His captor wore armor from head to toe. The narrow waist and wider hips marked the armored figure as a woman. She was short and slightly built, the armor was new and her helmet held several different features, cameras, filters, transmission equipment, but it was the emblem that caught his eye, the Jedi symbol broken and turned.

“Remi?” Scourge asked with disbelief. She motioned for him to sit he complied still in shock. He wanted to reach out his senses to confirm her presence but the shackles prevented it. He pulled off his mask to make sure his eyes were not fooling him.

“Why am I not surprised to find you here?” she asked almost to herself. Then she said, “A child was taken from Tython six days ago. Where did they take him?”

Scourge snorted with disgust, he should have known. “So, the Jedi sends their greatest champion to track down a single child.”

“I’ve downloaded the ships communications; they are preparing him for a ritual, where did they take him?” She repeated.

“He will lead the Sith into a new era, one where the Empire is no longer weak and divided.”

“Sith rituals never do anything good. Where did they take him?” He could feel her anger building. He knew it was dangerous to push her but he also knew if she lost her control she might be easier to manipulate. He had nothing to lose.

“What would he do on Tython? Become a Jedi, work for your Council, your Senators, and your pathetic citizens. Will he serve as an advisor all the while his power rots? Or worse he’ll be a soldier,” he said looking down at her with a sneer, “a mere weapon that they throw at their problems. He could never lead your people; they do not value competence and true strength. Go back to your Republic, let the boy reach his true potential as a Sith.”

“Dammit Scourge,” she shouted. Scourge steeled himself for the inevitable Force-attack but it never came. Instead, she ripped off her helmet as she stalked toward him. Grabbing the front of his armor and slamming him into the back of his chair, she climbed onto him kneeling painfully on one of the wounds in his thigh. She leaned over him lowering herself so she hissed directly into his eyes. “I know you have always served the Empire. I know you hate the Republic. I have always accepted that, accepted you. I even tried to help you clean up the filth to bring order to your beloved Sith. But the ritual will destroy this child, the Hand will twist him into what they want, he will not be free as a Sith should, he will be their pet. You know that.” She said the last shaking him for emphasis.

He looked at her face; he had not seen her in over two years. She had let her hair grow out, the red waves were dark almost black with sweat from her helmet but the locks curled charmingly around her face, her golden eyes were no longer touched by madness, she had a few lines around her mouth, probably laugh lines though she was not laughing now. Her controlled anger impressed him, he could not sense her through his bindings, but he knew she was stronger than she had been when he left her, perhaps stronger than she had ever been.

He answered that strength voicing his own doubt; she deserved that much, “Perhaps.”

Her eyes searched his face for something, but she failed to find it. Her anger disappeared replaced by bewildered anguish. “Then why Scourge?” she asked as tears slipped down her cheeks. “Why would you let them take our son?”