Deep within the catacombs of the Sith Temple on Korriban, Darth Eclectus, formerly a Comrade Mage of the Department of Directives, chuckled quietly to himself. In the midst of the turmoil caused by Prognie's sudden rebellion, he had tried and failed to overthrow Aequitas and Serratus as the leader of the Mages. Unfortunately, he had been defeated, not by Aequitas and Serratus themselves, who had been off-planet at the time he had attacked the Mage Headquarters, but by Serratus's minions Dorian and Tao, who had been delivering a report of some kind.
Eclectus was now on trial for Insurrection, and like any traitorous Sith, was being held temporarily on Korriban. However, due to the recent capture of a number of Prognie's minions, Eclectus had not been locked in a cell with an ysalamiri but rather one of the old cells in the lower catacombs, his guards had assumed he was too inept in the Force to unlock his cell. Well, they were wrong. He had just undone the lock and disabled the alarm. As he quietly eased the door open, he barely suppressed a giggle. He would escape and then plot his revenge against the Mages. He would grind Dorian into dust, rip Tao into shreds, eviscerate Serratus into a useless pile of flesh and as for Aequitas-
Suddenly, Eclectus was lifted off his feet and launched thirty yards backwards through the air before hitting a wall and cracking his skull open. As blood oozed from his head, the air around him began to chill and the blood froze in his veins. Before he died, Eclectus saw a terrifying image of a Sith Marauder appear before him.
"Who- who are you?"
Eclectus's voice was strangled by the cold and the light finally faded from his eyes. The former Shadow Protector smirked.
"I am Duff."
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Back on Kuat, the High Mage of the Order of Sith Mages, Darth Serratus, was reviewing the most recent plans of Dark Ring Station. He glazed absent-mindedly over his and Aequitas's offices and was starting to drift off to sleep when there was a sudden loud beeping from his comlink. He opened his eyes widely and yawned before looking at the small device. Then he frowned.
Dorian?
He accepted the communication.
"Mage Superior Dorian, you called?"
"Yes, High Mage, I think you're needed."
Serratus frowned. What had the Department of Mysteries encountered that an Agent Grande like Dorian, and probably two, given that Dorian and Tao were rarely seen apart, couldn't handle?
"What seems to be the situation, Darth?"
"Well, we got a call from the Korriban Sith Temple. Apparently, there's a Force spirit causing a ruckus. It killed Darth Eclectus and the entire lower catacombs have had to be evacuated. Me and Tao were just gonna go in there and deal with it, but when we realised who it was, we thought we should call you. It's Darth Duff."
Serratus's eyebrows shot up.
Duff!?
The first Shadow Protector had been killed 20 years ago when some rebels had tried to kill Emperor Shadow on a visit to Korriban. Duff had Force-pushed Shadow out of the path of the bombs and taken the brunt of the blast himself, his body had been completely destroyed. But seemingly his spirit had lingered on, and had fed on the Force energies of the traitorous Sith detained in the Temple. With the recent capture of a number of Prognie's traitors, Duff must finally have consumed enough energies to awaken and take a semi-corporeal form.
"Dorian, I'll be there shortly. You and Tao report back to Bastion but call Odin on your way and tell him to meet me there. I'm gonna need to talk to Aequitas."
Serratus hung up and then rose from his chair, reaching his full, towering height. He walked over to his armoury and quickly picked out his chain-shoto. Then he swept from his office and walked down the corridor to the Grand Mage's office. He knocked on the reinforced blast doors of Aequitas's mini-stronghold.
Lord Aequitas
The days of the holder of the Office of the Grand Mage were filled with tedious meetings and endless reams of paperwork. The sanctioning of budgetary requests and amendments, the writing of monthly reports to the Emperor, confirmation of meetings with government officials across the galaxy, the proof-reading of evaluations of important planets and the review of dealings with paranormal activities were the biggest culprits in the prison of paper that the Sith Lord often found himself entangled with. This, in addition to his other duties as Moff and High Historian, often meant that the Sith went days locked in his office, ensuring their completion and the smooth running of the current that was the ocean of bureaucracy in the Empire.
The recent weeks did not help him either. A Sith by the name of Darth Eclectus, a former Comrade Mage, had attempted to overthrow the Grand and High Mage and seize power of the illustrious Order. Aequitas was very surprised when he had returned from Coruscant to see the offender locked in his secretary’s stationary cupboard. Not only was this the first time that he had seen someone locked inside a cupboard, and this confused him slightly, but it was also the first time he had ever seen this particular Mage. Needless to say, he was quickly stripped of his rank, his titles and his fortunes, expelled from the Order of Sith Mages and sent to the prison in the Sith Temple on Korriban. The Coruscanti native thought he had seen the end of the matter until the previous day where four different reports on the matter found themselves on his desk and he had to read every one of them, each consisting of well over 2,000 pages, and approve them for general release.
Expectedly, Aequitas was breathing a sigh of relief as he signed his name to the final piece of paper on his desk. He had been incarcerated in his office for 39 hours and was physically exhausted. After putting his papers to the side, he looked around slyly before opening a drawer in his desk. He smacked his lips as he pulled out a bottle of Chandrilan Brandy 64ABY – a good year by all accounts. He was just about to pour the drink when he heard thuds on his private door. All guests normally accessed the Grand Mage’s Office via the elevator, and his secretary, but high-ranking members of the Order often visited the Grand Mage via his personal door. It enabled things to move quickly and without public knowledge of who was with the Grand Mage.
Sighing sadly, he put the bottle back in its drawer and, having locked it, cleared his throat and announced clearly “Enter, Serratus.”
High Mage Serratus
Serratus heard the hiss of the pneumatic locks on Aequitas's door release and the door slid open. Serratus gazed approvingly at his surroundings. Aequitas sometimes made very grandiose gestures, such as luxurious personal transport while on official business, buying only the finest Chandrilan brandy and dressing in immaculate and expensive clothing, but it was here in his hub, his fortress within a fortress, that one could see his dedication to his work. The walls of the office were sleek, metallic white and the room was sparsely furnished, three chairs, a desk, a few filing cabinets, a bookshelf and a nice plant. Serratus entered his former master's haven and motioned towards the plant.
"I see your Ithorian rose is blooming, m'lord. A beautiful specimen indeed. But that's obviously not what I came here for, um, there's a situation on Korriban that I thought you'd need to be notified about. There was a disturbance in the lower catacombs of the Sith Temple and Darth Eclectus was killed. I couldn't care less about that swine Eclectus, but it was his assassin that requires your input. It was a Force ghost, m'lord. That of Darth Duff."
Lord Aequitas
With a weak smile, Aequitas acknowledged his deputy’s comment about the flowers on the desk. He never really cared for little details like the flowers, but his secretary ordered him to have them. He often made grand gestures to flaunt his position, but it was always for the advertisement of the Mages, and never for himself. He sometimes missed being in the Church, where he was surrounded by silence and peace. He was glad that Serratus was his deputy because Serratus was able to handle both Order business and the public persona of the Order.
Aequitas cleared his throat and gazed at the High Mage. “Thank you Serratus, I...”, but he paused. He stopped for a second to think and let what the High Mage just said to settle in. “Did you just...did you just say Duff?” Aequitas was very familiar with the story of how Duff met his maker. He was posthumously given every Medal the Empire could offer and the Royal Guards went into mourning, officially creating a black uniform, which was still in use today.
“I have to contact Tarna”, he said quickly, pressing a button on his desk, enabling a screen to pop up. He swiftly pressed the screen and said in a clear voice “Tarna”. The Shadow Protector had introduced the Emergency Contact Frequency for all Order Heads so that if the time came in state of emergency, they could contact each other secretly and privately. Hearing the familiar pop of the acceptance of the call, Aequitas nodded at Serratus.
“Tarna, it’s Aequitas. We have a situation you may want to hear about”.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Shadow Protector Tarna sat in his office across from his media secretary, Miss Dawn. "My lord, do you want the announcement of the new facility here on Kuat, or on Aeron?" Tarna sat with his hands crossed for a moment and then replied, "Let's keep it here. I don't want to impact construction with a big media circus. Let's get some pictures of the construction site and the ones of the proposed artwork to display, though."
A painting on the wall of an Onderonian sunset suddenly transformed into the seal of the Royal Guard. From speakers around the room sounded an automatic voice. "ECF call incoming. Aequitas." Dawn got up quickly and exited, knowing this call would probably be beyond her clearance level. Tarna said, "Connect." The Grand Mage's voice said, "Tarna, it's Aequitas. We have a situation you may want to hear about."
Tarna pressed a button on his desk and a small camera began transmitting his face to the Grand Mage. "What's going on?"
Lord Aequitas
Hearing the Grand Moff’s voice seemed to bring Aequitas, who had entered deep thought, back to reality. “Ah yes, Shadow Protector, thank you for accepting this call”. The Grand Mage thought for a moment about how to tell Dark Lord Tarna that his predecessor was roaming around the temple on Korriban doing some damage as a Force Ghost. He looked up at the High Mage and motioned for him to sit. The sight of the Sith Marauder standing was distracting the Sith Advisor. Looking back at Tarna’s face, Aequitas grimaced.
“Dark Lord, I have some disturbing news. The High Mage here has just entered my office with a report from one of his subordinates. Apparently, there has been a murder on Korriban; a former Mage, by the name of Darth Eclectus”. The Grand Mage cleared his throat once more. “His death is not the problem, fortunately, but it is what killed him that concerns us; that concerns you. He was killed by a Force Ghost”. Aequitas paused.
“The Force Ghost was that of Darth Duff, your predecessor”.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna stared at the screen for several moments. Slowly, he stood up and began walking around his desk. This is impossible. Well, no, it's extremely possible. Duff is dead, that's not the question. But...Duff's Force Ghost murdering a Mage?. He remembered hearing the news of his boss's sacrifice and while he wasn't close enough to his superior to cry, the Sith remembered vividly being extremely distraught. Tarna finally returned his gaze to the video screen. "What was the cause of death found to be?"
High Mage Serratus
Serratus posed the question to Dorian via an instant message, his answer was suprising. Serratus held the communiqué up to Aequitas. It read;
Cause of death; blunt force head trauma coupled with severe frostbite, resulting in asphyxiation and perforation of the venal and arterial membranes. Or; Duff hurled Eclectus against a wall and then froze the blood in his veins, the frozen blood formed crystals which expanded and tore holes in his veins and arteries. Or; Eclectus died from lack of oxygen. Whatever floats your boat there, High Mage.
Lord Aequitas
Aequitas glanced at the communiqué quickly before turning his attention back to the face of the Onderon Ale loving diplomat. "Well, Tarna, his cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head along with asphyxiation due to frostbite and some tearing of membranes. In other words, Duff threw him against a wall, and somehow managed to freeze the blood in his veins thereby causing oxygen to cease circulation", he said clearly.
The Historian grimaced once more. "A force ghost is my Order's jurisdiction. However, if it is the Force Ghost of a former Shadow Protector, I feel it best to involve you". Aequitas glanced at the High Mage and transmitted a message to him via the Force. Serratus, get The Posiedon ready. We'll pick up Odin on the way. We need a Department of Mysteries on the case. As Serratus closed the door on his exit, the Grand Mage turned his attention back to the Grand Moff.
"You were his High Protector. You might be able to talk to him; you might be able to help him move on. If not, I understand, but you know what my ship looks like. It's leaving in an hour". Aequitas sighed. "End Communication".
Turning his seat around, Aequitas got up. His presence was required on the mission; it would have to be covered up and he was the best one for the job. Aequitas was always seen as being a mighty politican, but corruption ran through his family's veins and covering up a controversy came second nature to him.
High Mage Serratus
As soon as Aequitas had spoken, Serratus had aboutfaced and left the room. He took his personal elevator to the ground floor and then taken a taxi to Aequitas's Kuat residence. After a brief argument with the member of Aequitas's personal staff on hand, Serratus had negotiated his way to Aequitas's personal hangar through a combination of ignoring the indignant shouts of the young woman and keeping her at arm's length with the Force.
With the young Twi'lek still shouting obscenities in her native tongue, in which Serratus was completely fluent, Serratus climbed into the Poseidon and took off. A couple of minutes later, he landed behind Mage HQ and awaited Aequitas's arrival.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna stood in the hanger bay of the Guard Headquarters. The recent series of events had his brain whirring. His former boss, who died in arguably the most noble and heart-wrenching moment act by any Sith in centuries, was now haunting...and committing beyond-the-grave supernatural murders. Despite his many years on the job, he had to admit: this was new.
He told the shuttle pilot to head to space, and to look for the Grand Mage's ship to rendezvous with.
Mage Superior Odin
A life has been won, another has been lost,
In a forgotten note of a hymn in Hades choir.
The bone key has been grasped and twisted,
Not knowing what has been awakened from sleep.
The words of the latest curse were roaming inside for some time now. Inherited from the Church, ex-Prophet's - new Mage's bliss were still on his tail. Mage Agents' short report on holo were not very informative but it was well enough to link what he was hearing for more than a week in his mind. Heading towards the rendezvous point, Elric was called two times before he took off with his airspeeder, first one by Dorian and second by High Mage himself, asking to meet at Mage Headquarters port with a hurry. As the speeder had passed through the port shields, he landed next to ship Serratus standing in front of its door, possibly waiting for Grand Mage.
"I hope I am not late at all" Elric apologized informally as he jumped out of his dark red speeder with black tribal stripes on its body creating a rib-cage like appearance on.
High Mage Serratus
The High Mage acknowledged his subordinate.
"Of course not, Darth. Come, have a seat. You, I, Tarna and Aequitas will be taking the Poseidon to Korriban, I trust Dorian has briefed you on the situation?"
Mage Superior Odin
"I got the basic outline, though I have some idea about what's really going on" Elric answered as he was patting on his robe to clear it a little until Grand Mage would have appeared on the scene. "I feel that Lord Aequitas have an idea also..."
High Mage Serratus
Serratus brushed a loose dreadlock out his eye.
"The Force ghost of the former Shadow Protector, Darth Duff has killed on Korriban and we're going to go there, assess the situation and then either talk Duff out of his murderous frenzy or dispose of him using DoM equipment, which I trust Darth Dorian also told you to bring?"
Lord Aequitas
"I have them, High Mage", answered a shadow. With a wince of pain from natural light, which he hadn't seen in almost two days, the Grand Mage stepped out of the building. He nodded at the Mage Superior and at his deputy. And walked briskly past them, stepping into his private ship, his captain following behind him.
With his captain belting himself into his seat on the bridge, Aequitas turned around to see his two Mages standing behind him. "We'll be rendevouing with Lord Tarna in space. We meet in my office then", he said hurridly before throwing the case containg the DoM material into Darth Odin's hands. "Take off now, Captain", Aequitas ordered before stepping into the hallway leading to various rooms, one of them being his office.
High Mage Serratus
Serratus followed directly after Aequitas, with Odin immediately behind him. They made their way to Aequitas's office, which was just as minimalistic as that in the Mage HQ. Once the Grand Mage was once more comfortable seated, Serratus spoke up.
"Plan of action, Grand Mage?"
Sovereign Defender Tarna
The viewport in front of Tarna revealed a dark form becoming larger and larger, eventually revealing the personal ship of Lord Aequitas. The Dark Lord pressed the comm station and said, "Cruiser, this is Dark Lord Tarna Dallow requesting permission to board." Almost instantly, the reply came: "Permission granted, my lord." The shuttle moved towards the docking bay, and Tarna sighed deeply. This is going to be a long day.
Lord Aequitas
Ignoring the High Mage's question until the Shadow Protector arrived, the High Historian of the Eternal Empire, turned away from his subordinates. He stared at a painting on the opposite wall of the room. It was one of Darth Sidious, or more accurately, one of Senator Palpatine. A political genious, Aequitas looked up to him. Moreso than his ancestor Finis Valorum, who was seen as weak.
He sighed before announcing gently to his guests, "Tarna is here. Go greet him, Serratus. Odin, you too. I need not remind you he is a Dark Lord and demands your respect".
Mage Superior Odin
Disregarding the hope to get an answer from Grand Mage, Both Serratus and Odin bowed their heads gently before heading through the royal hangars of main docking bay that was designed specially for VIP members of the Empire with advanced security. As two mages had passed to gate security and genetic ID scanners, the steel doors were opened swiftly with a hydraulic sound. There in the middle of the hangar, the shuttle of Lord Tarna was standing still with several guards in position next to main door of the shuttle, bowing down on their knees as a dark figure was slowly moving out with stone cold personal guards following him. Since Serratus was a higher-ranking officer of Odin, Mage Superior had thought that it would have been better if he leaves the greeting part to Serratus, as they had approached the Dark Lord.
High Mage Serratus
Serratus did indeed take the lead as he approached the golden-haired Dark Lord.
"Welcome to the Poseidon, Dark Lord Tarna. Lord Aequitas is afraid he is unable to greet you in person today. We shall take you to him immediately."
The High Mage and the Shadow Protector had only briefly crossed paths before, in the Sith Temple many years ago, and in the various meetings of the Moff's Council. They did not have the working relationship that Serratus shared with the Supreme Commander, let alone the close friendship of himself and the High Prophet. In fact, Serratus did not generally consort with the Royal Guard at all. Beyond the Shadow Protector himself, outside the Moff's Council, Serratus had only ever met one other Royal Guard, the High Protector, Lord Adenn, and that meeting had been a brief exchange of thinly-veiled insults, whereas he had fought side-by-side with all of Serratus's other fellow second-in-commands. Serratus had never been quite sure what exactly about the Royal Guard had made him cold to the entire Order, but it was something which rarely infringed on his life, so it did not bother him much.
Serratus turned and motioned for Tarna to follow him, while directing Odin to stand at his aside as they led the procession back to Aequitas's office.
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna fell in step with the two Mages as they directed him down the hallways of the ship. The Dark Lord finally asked the question that had been bugging him for a few hours now, "Have either of you heard of anything like this before?"
High Mage Serratus
The High Mage nodded in response to Tarna's questions.
"Yes, Force ghosts amassing power from Force nexes and then rising and causing trouble is fairly common with the DoM. Department of Mysteries, that is. What's odd about the situation is that Darth Duff isn't trying to whip himself up a following or find a suitable host to possess, he's just killing and causing damage. Usually Force ghosts have an agenda, but in this case, Duff is just slaughtering and destroying whatever is in his way. Unfortunately for his victim, Duff was a Marauder and he a Warrior. But a contingent consisting of a Dark Lord, a Sith Lord, a Maurader and a Master should be fully capable of subduing him should the need arise."
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna chucked at the High Mage's comments. "High Mage, did you know the former Shadow Protector well?"
High Mage Serratus
The High Mage shook his head.
"No, he was killed seven years before I turned to the dark side. Why do you ask?"
Sovereign Defender Tarna
"I figured as much, because if you had then you would have known that Darth Duff was a man with power far beyond his rank. He was a furious warrior who beat any foe he sparred against. The only reason he wasn't made a Lord was because he pissed off most of the people on the High Council, because he told them exactly what he thought of them. It was the Emperor's own initiative that granted him the title of the Shadow Protector." Tarna finished with a grin. "So, High Mage, do not underestimate Darth Duff - even in death - or it will be the last mistake you make."
High Mage Serratus
The High Mage returned Tarna's grin.
"A fool of a Jedi once said "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." That foolish Jedi has not anticipated this."
He extracted a number of pieces of machinery from his cloak and assembled them into a gun-like device.
"This is called the Ysataniri. It fires a tiny capsule based on the Church's Ysalamiri Grenade, which detonates via a remote-controlled explosion, also activated from the device itself. When the capsule explodes, it neutralises the Force in the immediate twenty feet of the area, for twenty minutes. For living Force-sensitives caught in the blast, it is debilitating. For Force ghosts, it is destructive. Since they have no body to continue to exist in, they are sent to the Netherworld of the Force. With our compliments."
Serratus disassembled the Ysataniri once more and stowed the pieces back in his cloak.
"Although I doubt Darth Duff could defeat all four of us in Force-combat, even if he could, I fire the Ysataniri, he's gone for good. The only reason that Dorian and Tao didn't do it while they were on Korriban is because it's Duff. First of all, since he's a dark sider, he'll be sent to Chaos, so we do him the common courtesy of keeping him earthbound. Second of all, he was an amazing Sith and he could still have great unknown wisdom to impart. Third of all, he only killed Eclectus, who's on trial for Insurrection, a penalty for which he probably would have gotten executed anyway. Fourth of all, he's only just regained consciousness, he could be confused. If we can calm him down, he could be very beneficial to the Temple, he may even become a mentor to the Korriban Sith. This is why he is not already swirling through the eternal pain of Chaos with Sidious and Bane. Not because he is too powerful, but because he is too valuable."
When they reached the door to Aequitas's office, Serratus opened it and lead the other two in.
"M'lord, the Shadow Protector has arrived."
Lord Aequitas
Hearing the knock on his door, Aequitas had already said enter before Serratus spoke his words. Seeing the Shadow Protector, the Grand Mage of the Eternal Empire stood to acknowledge the higher ranking Sith. “My lord Shadow Protector, welcome to the Poseidon. Please, take a seat”. He glanced at his two subordinates in a way that they knew that the invitation to sit was not extended to them. Watching as the Grand Moff took a seat; Aequitas smiled and took his own behind his desk.
“Now, I don’t doubt the fact that the High Mage has already briefed you on the situation, but allow me to do the same. We have a Force Ghost. Procedure dictates that we send in a few Mages from the Department of Mysteries and let them do their work. However, according to some Sith at the temple on Korriban, where this Ghost is exerting his presence, it is the Ghost of Darth Duff, your predecessor and former Sith Marauder. The only reason we have not sent him to the fiery depths of Chaos is because I intervened. Professional courtesy and the like”, Aequitas stopped and took a breather. “Now, let me make the position clear, Shadow Protector. This is the Mages domain. What we say goes. Now, you’re here to try and persuade him to calm down and depart upon those at the temple his wisdom. If he refuses to comply, the Mages go in and do their work. Nothing you can say or do will change that. Clear?” the Grand Mage finished with a tone of authority. Aequitas acknowledged the fact that the Shadow Protector outranked him, but this was Order related and nothing short of a decree from the Emperor could overrule the Grand Mage.
Aequitas looked back at Darth Tarna. “Do you have any questions, my lord?”
Sovereign Defender Tarna
Tarna placed his hands on the table and stared at the Grand Mage. "I appreciate you contacting me, Grand Mage. Yes, I do understand the idea of jurisdiction and I acknowledge that this is a Mage area. Do not take me for a fool, Grand Mage, nor an inferior. Let me try to end this in such a manner that we can all look back on this mission without regret. If I have to, rest assured I will back down. But do not try to force me to do anything, Lord Aequitas." Tarna stared in to the eyes of the Sith Lord. "Do you have any questions, Grand Mage?"
