Chapter 36: Everybody Loves Vex

POV: Rana Arkiss, Duchess of the Tandankin system, Owner of the Imperial Tandankin shipyards

The holo display flickered with the stark, sterile light of the Imperial News Network, casting an artificial sheen across the cavernous throne room of my castle. Perched like a predatory bird on the edge of my ornate, high-backed chair, I sat. I watched the galaxy's woes unfold with detached interest until one particular headline seized me with the strength of the Empress herself.

"Breaking news: Darth Relic claims responsibility for the destruction of Artus Prime in a recent holovid uploaded to…." The anchor made a confused face. "Space 4chan?"

My breath hitched, and I leaned forward, the elaborate fabric of my robes whispering across the cold obsidian floor. My eyes flashed with an intensity. It was like the universe had conspired to drop the perfect opportunity right into my lap.

On my holo display was a man in a dark helmet and robes watching over two purple Twi'leks fight. He seemed positively giddy, judging by his gleeful posture. "No doubt about it, that's the Kesysk's alright." I laughed as I watched the dirty Lek heads fight to the death on the holo display. Behind them, turbo lasers were blasting their planet to ash.

"Darth Relic... "The name resonated within me, igniting a fire that had been little more than embers for far too long. A palpable excitement surged through my veins, each heartbeat a drumroll heralding the rise of an empire under my command. This was it. This was the catalyst that could change everything. No longer would I have to accept mediocrity at the highest levels. "A worthy partner." I muttered.

A ruthless Sith Lord who didn't hesitate to wipe out an entire planet. I could feel the power of the idea alone. It was intoxicating, a heady mix of adrenaline and ambition that threatened to overwhelm my senses. Suddenly, the air in the room felt charged, heavy with the scent of possibility and the echoing whispers of a future where I reigned supreme over the galaxy.

This was someone who could stand beside me, who could help me wield the might of the Tandankin fleet against the Empress herself. I'd spent countless cycles searching through the dregs of the galaxy, through Sith Lords and Ladies as unremarkable as the dust on Coruscant's lower levels. But Darth Relic...

I smiled, a slow, predatory curl of my lips that matched the sudden gleam in my green eyes. He would be mine through alliance, conquest, or blood, it mattered not. Together, we would be unstoppable, and the galaxy would tremble before us.

With a surge of energy, I pushed myself up from my suddenly lonely throne. The servants, dawdling like lost banthas in my peripheral vision, were startled at my abruptness. I clapped my hands sharply, the sharp sound ricocheting off the high walls of the opulent room. "Move!" The word cut through the languid air, a command that brooked no hesitation.

They scattered, their feet shuffling and robes whispering against the cold marble as they hustled to clear a path. My heart thundered in my chest, each beat another moment without my new beloved. My tool of destruction. My ticket to a galaxy in my image. My stride was purposeful, my green eyes fixed on the towering doors that led to my office.

"Lyris!" Her name was a whip-crack, demanding her immediate presence. My number two appeared from the shadows, as she always did, reliable as the ceaseless turn of the galaxy itself.

"Find everything on Darth Relic," I ordered, my voice barely containing the feverish anticipation that danced like lightning through my veins. "I want it yesterday."

"Understood, Master." Lyris bowed her head slightly, not allowing herself to be distracted by the storm brewing in my gaze. She knew better than to question my urgency or inquire about the madness that drove it. With a brisk nod, she vanished to do my bidding.

I remained standing, my fingers drumming against the smooth surface of my desk. Time was slipping past, precious and irreplaceable, yet I could hardly contain the chaotic whirlwind of thoughts that screamed within me. Darth Relic.

"Patience," I muttered to myself, though the word tasted bitter on my tongue. Patience was for those who waited for fate to find them. I was not one of those passive souls. I would seize fate by its throat, bend it to my will. And with Darth Relic at my side, the galaxy would not just bend, it would break.

*****

The glow of my holo display bathes the room in a pale blue light, flickering across reams of data like ghostly whispers of secrets yet to be unveiled. Files upon files stack up before me, their contents splayed out like a sabacc dealer's hand. Some were bought with credits that would make a Hutt blush, others pilfered from the encrypted corners of the holonet where even Jedi fear to tread.

"Come on," I murmur under my breath, my fingers dancing over the controls, scrolling through the intel I've amassed on Darth Relic. "There's got to be something here."

I lean in closer, my heart thrums a desperate rhythm, impatience gnawing at my insides like a caged rancor. It's not just about finding him. It's about unraveling the enigma that is Darth Relic and binding his chaos to my cause.

"Why is this relic guy always on the same planet as Zenna Eras? Perhaps he's stalking her? No, no she doesn't seem connected to the Kesyk's outside of her recent win though."

A file I should not have caught my eye. A nugget of information nestled among the mundane.

"Oh, it seems that the Duke of Kesyk was making moves against the Eras family. Hmmm."

I freeze as I look through the Eras family. "Vex Eras? Wholly unremarkable until he became top of his class in Korriban upper academy." Something else catches my eye. Holo pics of one of the training teachers. "Oh, I remember now. This is the kid that liquified the gross gym teacher on his first day." As a fifth and final year student enrolled in upper Korriban, I remembered hearing about this incident.

A smirk curls my lips, and a dark glee bubbles up from the depths of my chest.

"Vex Eras," I whisper again, tasting the name, letting it roll off my tongue like a forbidden incantation. "Darth Relic himself…. Kinda hiding in plain sight, huh?" My brow furrows as I wonder how else none of the other major families have figured this out yet.

'I guess Duke Kesyk being madly in love with his Hele Eras isnt exactly publicly known but it's not like that info cost too much.' I pondered.

Laughter spills out, uncontrollable, rich with malice and triumph. It echoes around the stone confines of my castle, a harbinger of the storm that's about to break.

"Wait, what the frick!" I nearly screamed when I saw he was already betrothed to the heiress of the Duke of Korriban.

"I guess I'll have to pressure both families to call it off. I wonder what leverage I can call in." I start examining my data pad further on the files of the families.

"Baron Syko Eras and Baroness Hela Eras. I see I have no direct source of leverage, however looking over Vex's mother's it seems she yearns for power much like me. Albeit she's much older." I add that last part to make sure I realize I won't end up like this hag. "Perhaps if I offer her and her son a fair partnership with me She'll jump at the opportunity to have him wed me instead."

I keep scrolling through the data pad this time searching through Duke Corde's files. I have quite the file on him as he is one the single most influential Dukes near Dromund Kaas.

"It seems he's overextended on a line of credit, but because he is who he is, the creditors are letting it slide." I twist my fingers on my chin with a smile. "Lyris!" I yelled.

"Yes, master?"

"Create a shell corporation and buy out all the loans the Duke of Korriban took out to create his precious little school." My lips grow into a twisted smile. "By the end of the week, I want you to call in the debts and make him default. Then when he cannot pay, offer to waive 50% of it if he calls off the betrothal for his daughter. Do not be afraid to waive the whole thing in the negotiation with him if that's what it takes to secure the wedding's dismissal, okay? Just do not come off as desperate. I don't want them to see my cards until after we play them."

"Yes, understood, master." Lyris receded back into the shadows as fast as she came from them.

"Good, our first moves are on the board. Now I just make Vex fall in love with me." I laugh "How hard could that even be." I think for a moment of all my past relationships. They all ended with my partner dead at my hand.

"I will have Lyris spy on him full-time to learn about what he likes after she finishes her other tasks," I mutter nervously into the open air. "I will just become whatever it is he prefers." My evil laugh returns stronger than before.

*****

POV: Vexas Shif, Jedi Master. Vex's estranged mother.

The soft hum of the holo display filled the cozy quarters, casting a ghostly blue glow across the living room. My eyes, usually composed with the experience of a Jedi Master, now widened in horror as the Republic Network News broadcast the unthinkable.

"Breaking news: Darth Relic claims responsibility for the destruction of Artus Prime in a recent holovid uploaded to a war-neutral holonet site apparently called Space 4chan?" The anchor's confusion mirrored my own as I watched the footage unfold. The anchor then smiled, and his co-host spoke up. "Ultimately, it was a strong blow to a major part of the sith supply chain. Artus Prime was one of their main exporters of crystals and slaves. Perhaps this Darth Relic guy is on our side." The anchor laughed as if billions of lives were not snuffed out on Life Day.

'Darth Relic.' I thought of the horror that name made me feel.

There, on the flickering display, stood a figure cloaked in dark robes and a menacing helmet. Two purple Twi'leks fought brutally before him, their struggle a sickening display of Relic's twisted amusement. In the background, turbo lasers and ion cannons rained destruction upon the planet's surface.

My heart broke, a wave of anguish washing over me like a tidal wave. I knew, with a certainty that shook me to the core, that beneath that mask of cruelty and malevolence was the face of my estranged son, Vex Eras.

"No," I whispered, my voice trembling with a mixture of disbelief and despair. "It can't be..."

But even as the words left my lips, I knew the truth. The Force swirled around me, heavy with the weight of my son's actions and the countless lives lost in his wake. Tears welled in my eyes, blurring the gruesome images that continued to play out on the holo screen.

"A Jedi should not cry, but this… Is this because I have been too afraid to go back?" I bemoaned in agony.

My daughter and Padawan, Xevas Shif, entered the room, her youthful face etched with concern. She could sense the unusual sorrow emanating from me, a stark contrast to the calm and composure I am known for.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Xevas asked softly, her voice laced with unease as she approached me.

I turned to face her, tears streaming down my cheeks. At that moment, the weight of my past mistakes bore down upon me, threatening to crush me beneath their immense burden.

"Xevas," I began, my voice raw with emotion, "there's something I need to tell you. Something I should have done long ago."

Xevas sat beside me, her presence a comforting anchor amidst the storm of my grief. I took a shuddering breath, gathering the strength to confront the ghosts that had haunted me for so long.

"My dear, you have a little brother. His name is Vex."

The words hung heavy in the air, a confession that shattered the silence like a thunderclap. Xevas' eyes widened, a myriad of emotions crossing her face as she processed this startling revelation about our family.

"Where is Vex." she countered with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

I breathed out deeply, readying myself to answer. "Your brother was stolen by the Sith when he was born. His father and I…. His father was a Sith defector who kidnapped me and took me back to his home planet. When I was rescued, the team the Jedi sent were unable to locate the baby due to an incredibly strong Twi'lek Sith warrior that was watching over him." I relay the depressing story to my daughter.

"Why didn't you tell me before? Why tell me now?" Her eyes showed she felt betrayed, which is fair, but she should at least try to hide it better. However, now is not the time to scold. I motion to the holo display.

"We have an undercover operative on Korriban. They currently are in class with Vex." As I talked Xevas's eyes lit up with excitement. "This part is classified but it's important you know." I pause to muster up the courage to speak more. "Your brother is Darth Relic."

Xevas leaped to her feet, her eyes wild with shock and disbelief. "Darth Relic is my brother?" she cried, her voice cracking with emotion. "The Sith Lord who just destroyed an entire planet? That...that monster is Vex?"

Tears streamed down her face as she paced back and forth, her hands clenched into fists. The Force swirled around her in chaotic currents, reflecting the turmoil raging within her young mind.

"How could this happen?" Xevas wailed, turning to face me with anguish etched on her features. "How could the Sith twist my own brother into such a...a creature of darkness and cruelty?"

I stood and reached out to her, my own heart breaking at the sight of my daughter's pain. "Xevas, please try to calm yourself," I urged gently, projecting waves of soothing energy through our bond. "I know this is a terrible shock, but giving in to despair will only lead you down a dangerous path."

Xevas shook her head vehemently, tears still flowing. "But Vex... he's killed so many innocent people! He's become a monster, Mother! How can we possibly hope to save him from the dark side now?"

I placed my hands on her shoulders, meeting her gaze with a fierce determination burning in my eyes. "Listen to me carefully, Xevas. What Vex has done is unforgivable. The brother you never knew is gone, consumed by Darth Relic's malevolence."

Xevas's breath hitched as the horrible realization sank in. I continued, my voice hardening with resolve.

"As Jedi, it is our sacred duty to protect the galaxy from the Sith's evil. And now, that evil has a face. The face of my own son." I closed my eyes briefly, steeling myself against the agonizing truth of my next words.

"I will put an end to Darth Relic, one way or another. I must correct the mistake I made all those years ago when I failed to save Vex from his kidnappers. It's the only way to bring balance to the Force. The Second I see him I will take him by surprise and end him where he stands."

"No!" Xevas cried out, gripping my arms tightly. "Mother, you can't mean that! Killing Vex on sight would be an act of vengeance, not justice. It would lead you straight to the dark side!"

Her words cut through the haze of my pain, and I saw the wisdom in them. Xevas, so young, yet already understanding the dangers of giving in to my baser instincts.

I sighed deeply, the weight of my responsibilities as a Jedi Master settling heavily upon my shoulders once more. "You are right, of course," I admitted softly. "Revenge is not the Jedi way. But neither can we allow such an existence to live. I believe the council will still want to convert him. The republic is already trying to pressure the council to just let him do as he pleases. The republic leaders believe that after this stunt, he might in-fight his way throughout the entirety of the Sith Empire. Our Republic leaders do not see the threat he is to the innocents within the Sith Empire itself." My words rang hollow as I admitted to not believing in the people running this endless war.

"I have to kill him, Xevas." My heart broke in pain as I hugged my daughter.

"Then let me help you master." She spoke this time not as my daughter but as my Padawan.

"Perhaps." I frowned as the words escaped me.