Interlude: Sweet dreams

Bridge

Imperial cruiser Ravager

High orbit over Hoth

"Why you ask?" I smiled.

"Yes. Why do you serve the Empire? The Sith?" Ashara repeated her question. "Why do you condone this?!" The Jedi Knight waved at all the ships gathered outside.

"As we speak, the Empire your kind loves to loathe, feeds, clothes and protects trillions. There are countless people living upon thousands of worlds who haven't seen one of our soldiers outside a parade or a holo-vid. Day after day, year after year, our people live their lives in stability and security provided by the Empire." I explained.

"You're a Sith." Ashara snorted. "Do you honestly think I would believe such a lie?"

I turned around to face her.

"A lie?" Ah, Jedi. So easy to rile up. The emotions I could sense coming from the Togruta were quite amusing. All that sweet indignation spiced up with a hint of anger… "On a thousand worlds random people run afoul of Sith. They get humiliated, injured, tortured or killed. Perhaps all of the above if it suits someones fancy." I shrugged.

A spark of triumph appeared in Ashara's eyes.

"Then why do you support such evil?!" She glared at me.

"Support it?" I chuckled. "Of course I support it. I've spent decades cleaning up the messes Sith cause."

The Jedi stared at me in confusion.

"You're mad." She shook her pretty head in exasperation.

"I merely view the world from different perspective. For the record, the term's 'differently rational'." I quipped. "The Sith gave me strength. When I was merely a wretched slave, they gave me the opportunity to better my position. To claw my way up into relevance as I earned strength. They gave me the tools to overcome any challenge. I broke my chains, Jedi. I'm free to forge my own path."

"And you chose to waste that freedom!" Ashara glared at me.

"Am I?" I glared back. "I've done more for the people of this galaxy as a part of the Empire than any ten Jedi combined!" I snapped. "How many deranged Sith have you put down, Ashara?" I asked lightly.

The sudden change of topic took her aback.

"Ten, twenty?" I continued.

"Twelve. You'll be lucky number thirteen." The Jedi snarked.

"I lost count while I was a mere acolyte. Let me tell you a dirty little secret, Ashara. The two Empires I described – they both exist. I know that we Sith are flawed creatures. We built this Empire. We're its greatest strength yet the one thing which could tear it apart."

"You're monsters." Ashara's glare didn't abate. "I've seen your handiwork: broken people, families torn apart, whole worlds put to the torch… and why? For vengeance? To satisfy your insane lust for conquest?"

"True enough." I admitted lightly. "What of it?"

"You prove my point." Ashara declared as if she just scored a victory.

"Jedi!" I exclaimed. "Every time I think you've grown up, that you might finally understand, one of your kind proves me wrong." I sighed. "With a gusto."

Ashara huffed. Whatever she expected me to do, this wasn't it.

"Grow up?" She chuckled. "From where I'm standing its you Sith who refuse to grow up and set the galaxy on fire with your temper-tantrums!"

"To tell the truth, I know some Sith who're exactly like that! I've killed my share of the bastards too." I agreed, making her frown. "It doesn't make my point any less valid, Jedi."

"You have a point?" A look of mock confusion appeared on Ashara's face.

"To answer your question, power." I shot back.

"Which question?" This time the confusion on her face was genuine.

"Yes." I smirked. "All of them. Power is what we seek, Ashara! Power so we would never again be weak. Power so we won't be hunted down like rabid animals by you and your wretched Republic! Power enough not to be brought to the edge of extinction again!" I looked her in the eyes. "Power over this whole galaxy. Power over our rivals – you Jedi. Power to be victorious against everyone and everything the universe could throw at us. Power enough to set us free."

"That's it? You started the Great War because you were afraid?!" Ashara scoffed. "That's insane..." She trailed off when I glared balefully at her.

"Is it? What would have your kind done if we didn't strike first? What would your precious Republic have done if the Empire simply revealed itself as a rival? What would have you done when you discovered that the people you tried to exterminate on Korriban all those centuries ago were back?"

Ashara opened her mouth to retort, but paused. Her nose scrunched cutely when she began thinking.

"We're different than you, Jedi. There's power in vengeance. In conflict."

"Is that drivel meant to seduce me to the Dark Side?" Ashara scoffed.

"Not really. We're chatting to pass the time." I looked over Ashara. "I won't mind seducing you thought."

"In your dreams." The Jedi snorted softly.

"You might be… If you wore something more flattering than those fur-covered robes."

"Sir, we've lost contact with the port hangar. No alarms."

"So our guests have finally arrived. Splendid!" I clapped cheerfully.

Ashara narrowed her eyes at me.

"My friends will save me." She declared.

That look of utter conviction suited her.

"Save you?" I inquired. "From what?" I asked curiously.

The Jedi went back to glaring pointedly in my direction.

"You aren't in the brig, Ashara. I see no shackles on you hands or feet. No slave collar around your pretty neck. You're my guest." I cheerfully pointed out.

A look of dawning comprehension and horror appeared on her face.

"Jedi attacking my flagship after I went to all that trouble to retrieve you from those maniacs back on Hoth… Why, that's an act of war, my dear. A war nor Republic neither the Empire want at this time..."

"This was all a trap..." Ashara hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about..." I didn't even try to hide my amusement.

=RK=​

Mother Machine chamber

Belsavis

My eyes snapped open and my dream vanished like a mirage on the wind.

I felt… relaxed. At peace.

I could feel the turmolous currents of the Force, which were passing through me like a bubbling spring tainted by the Dark Side.

"Procedure complete." Ashaa declared in passionless voice. "Original template restored. Power reserves critical. Shunting all available power to self-repair protocols…"

I used my power to open the chamber where I my body was rebuilt and jumped out, landing lightly on my feet. I was weird. The Force felt sharper, clearer now that I was back in my original body – or the closest I could ever get to that state.

"General, all you all right?" One of the doctors waiting for me asked.

"I feel great." I smiled. "Once I get myself in some clothes you can scan away to your heart's content." I added. Damn, the place felt cool.

I glanced back at Ashaa. The Mother Machine had shut down and was busy siphoning energy to repair itself. While it lacked the capability to give me back the enhanced body it made for me all those millennia ago, after a quick repair cycle she was able to restore my original body from a template it kept for all those years. It was a very close thing. I'm pretty sure the Force had her grubby fingers in this outcome, because if it took Ashaa even a few more minutes to restore itself to basic functionality I would have went for plan B.

This was an unsett...

=RK=​

My eyes snapped open and I wheezed, gasping for breath. A wave of dizziness hit me, preventing me from making sense of my surroundings, until someone pressed an injector to my neck and I felt the soothing warmth of stimulants flooding my system.

Ah. Was that a dream? An unusually clear Force Vision? I sighed as my mind began clearing. The first part - I remember that conversation with Ashara. We met for the first time earlier that day. As far as the other part of the dream, well my weakness was good enough proof that my body wasn't fixed.

"Thank you, doctor." I intoned quietly.

"Don't." Freedom's CMO glared at me. "Everything I know about medicine and human biology tells me you should be dead." The elderly woman snapped. Her green eyes glared at me as if I was an affont to science itself.

"I'm a Sith, doctor. We're made of sterner stuff." I chuckled and it hurt.

"Really?" A thin eyebrow went up, then she pocked me in the chest hard enough to make me fall back on the cot where I've been dozing off. "Sterner stuff. Right."

"Your bedside manners suck."

"My patients suck." She countered.

"What's the status of the machine?" I asked after finally sitting up… it took three tries until the stimulants finally kicked in and returned a bit of strength to my ravaged body.

"It's still sucking in all the energy it could. No change otherwise. You're out of time, general."

"I know. Have the prisoner brought down here. It looks like plan B after all..." I sighed. This would complicate things. Still, it beats dying in his hole.