Savage-Time Chapter 24 (Patreon)

Savage Opress

“They’ve landed and have dealt with the first objective without any sign of damage.” I didn’t know why Maul wasn’t pleased about that but the way his mind works is too different from mine “I’ve also relayed your plans to our slimy friend, and he approves”

Maul and I shared a sinister smile before I spoke “What about-“

“It offends me that you would even try to ask,” Maul interrupts me before I finish the question “I’m getting to know how all of this works and even some secrets of the job, while very smart our slimy friend doesn’t surround himself with particularly strong minds.”

“But don’t think I’ve forgotten about what you promised me” Maul’s eyes blazed with power and I’m sure that if he was in front of me he would have attacked me just to make a point.

“I understand brother, but I believe that after my mission to Umbara the Jedi won’t be able to stay away, and just to make sure everything works as planned my spies already have prepared a fake leak for the Jedi to follow. Kenobi will be there and if he isn’t we will drag him out of the ruins of their temple”

“Good” Maul always seemed to have the last word whenever we talked and this time wasn’t an exception as he quickly cut off communications with me after that word.

“That single-minded obsession of his could be a problem for you,” Nox spoke from my shoulder his figure hidden inside the floating pyramid.

“Maul has his faults, but he is loyal and fearless as a brother I couldn’t ask for more”

The old Sith didn’t say anything for a few seconds, the ghostly form of my master manifested itself and carefully examined my face “You are serious!”

“What did that old witch do to you both? Your brother was also surprisingly loyal to you when I met him. Had I known that they could do something like this then the fall of the old empire could have been avoided!”

“Is it really that impressive?” Merrin looked very confused “I heard legends that spoke of the great sorcery of the Sith, that your people could extinguish the stars themselves”

“It’s impressive because of the nature of the Dark Side,” I answered “Sith are supremely individualistic to the point of self-destruction in some cases”

“You’re right about the self-destruction thing, many names come to my head when I hear that” Nox sighed “Sith value power little Merrin, they follow power and obey the powerful but as they follow the strong they covet their position, they want their knowledge and as Sith don’t share their knowledge so easily then the only alternative is taking it by force, making Sith orders a self-sabotaging mess”

“The Nightsisters are unique among Darksiders as they don’t often fight amongst themselves, the ritual that Mother Talzin used to help my brother connected us in a strange way,” I said to both Merrin and Nox.

“Your mother becomes more enticing as time passes” I glared at the old ghost but refused to fall into his game, Merrin looked as if she wanted to ask something but stopped herself. I was curious enough to know what she wanted to ask so I entered her mind.

Then I had to bite my tongue as Merrin’s mind was wondering how a spirit could procreate and if a relationship where one of the beings lacked reproductive organs was worth it at all.

Nox didn’t say anything as he entered the Holocron, the red pyramid moved itself to my waist where it hung around.

I patted Merrin’s head and she looked happy enough at the gesture so for the rest of the way to Umbara I continued doing so.

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Merrin

Merrin didn’t really understand how the Sith worked, both the order and the individuals remained very confusing. How was getting rid of a star easier than fostering loyalty and why was her mate so strange?

They certainly were more powerful than what any of her sisters had told her…if she became more powerful would she also start doing confusing things? Mother Talzin was very mysterious and Old Daka was certainly confusing, because of the echo in her voice Merrin could hardly understand the old woman.

Nodding to herself Merrin decided that being confusing was a privilege of the powerful. Savage was also odd Merrin thought as she enjoyed the way he played with her hair but the way he changed from worried partner to Master was confusing, how was she supposed to know when she was to act as the apprentice and when to act as a mate?

Merrin thought about it and concluded that based on their past interactions that when they were alone she was his mate and when other beings were around she was the apprentice, she would call him master at all times though as she couldn’t know when someone could be listening.

“Master, we are being hailed by the fleet in orbit” the beeping console was not enough to get Savage’s attention and Merrin didn’t want to know what would happen if they didn’t answer the comm.

“That was quick”

The face of the admiral that looked very intimidating appeared again and after a quick ceremonial bow to Savage, he spoke. “The forces of the Republic know of your arrival but thanks to our intelligence services they believe you to be a diplomat, to continue the ruse I have stopped the battle in space”

“Perfect! Any news from the surface?” Savage asked as a map materialized beside the admiral’s figure.

“As you can see on the map, the clones are moving from a communication tower that they captured and have modified into a proper base of operations,” the male made a strange noise with his mandibles “as you can see on the map the Republic effectively separated our ability to command certain sectors and they have slowly choked out any remaining Umbaran forces in them”

The admiral made that strange noise again before continuing “The clone commander of the ground forces is there along with some Republic officers; I believe that dropping you with some of my best droids while I mobilize all remaining forces would ensure victory on the ground, to cause a maximum amount of chaos I shall also resume the fight in space to ensure that no support reaches the clones fighting on the ground”

“Excellent work!” the admiral bowed again but Merrin could note that he was very content with the praise as his mandibles made more noise.

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Merrin wasn’t as excited as Savage with this plan now, not with the way the ground continued to get closer and she certainly didn’t feel that strapping herself to a ship and then crashing it into a tower was much of a plan but both her mate and the admiral were certain that this was a great tactic, one that the admiral assured her was a favorite of the Jedi who almost always crashed their ships or at least the more impressive ones did.

“Brace for impact” Savage was smiling and if she was honest it looked weird, his happy tone at their imminent landing wasn’t helping either. Merrin closed her eyes and hoped for the best.

The ship shook and her body suffered under the effects of gravity as the momentum of their vehicle came to a sudden halt, Merrin felt as if her chest would crumble from the way the belts were constricting it but the moment passed and when she felt herself breathe again she opened her eyes.

Savage ripped the belts with the force and with little effort blasted the glass in front of him away, Merrin felt the Dark currents of the force start gathering in the Sith.

Then he moved.

One moment he was standing next to her the next a blur tinged with orange had crossed the room leaving a trail of devastation as it passed. Merrin could barely comprehend what was happening but now she understood why across the galaxy Sith were the ones made into legends.

Not wanting to be left behind Merrin also ripped the belts off and ran after her master, Savage had moved to the other room. The sound of blaster fire and the screams of dying men could be heard clearly by the time Merrin reached the door that would lead her further into the tower Savage had already killed well over ten people.

The dismembered clones lying around shook her but the tantalizing taste of power that was reaching her because of all the dead was a nice distraction. Merrin reached out with her senses and took as much power as she could green mist covered her hands and with a scream, she unleashed the spell.

The wave of green passed through the circuits and down into the lower levels of the tower, soon darkness covered the place only broken by a dim red light coming from some corners.

“I have deactivated the technology!” Merrin almost cheered at the feat but feared that she had overreached with her attack, those fear were put to rest when the hand of Savage gently patted her head just like the sisters used to do when she was little.

“Perfect, the elevators are the only way to move in the tower according to the schematics and while the clones could scale down the tower the officers won’t be able to do it. The loyalty of the clones will force them to stay” Savage removed his hand from her head and advanced further inside where a hastily made barricade awaited them.

Blue bolts of energy raced at them and Merrin prepared to duck but Savage took out his double-bladed lightsaber and ignited it. his hands moved with such speed that the lightsaber was creating a shield. Not wanting to disappoint Merrin sent out a wave of corrosive energy at the base of the barricade, her efforts were soon rewarded by it coming down.

“For the republic!” a group of clones charged at them while the rest started making a fighting retreat.

Savage stopped his lightsaber and raised his hands as he did the clones were hoisted into the air and when he twisted his hands so too did the clones’ necks. He put down his double-bladed lightsaber and once more wielded the orange one.

“That was very easy” Merrin complained, she had imagined the battle would be more difficult.

“Force users rarely have to make an effort against those who lack the gift of the Force, unless there is an overwhelming advantage in numbers. Space is also a great equalizer, not many Jedi or Sith can claim to be able to survive the harsh conditions of space”

Merrin made a mental note of that, if she was going to follow her mate around and it looked like she would, then she would be in ships a lot so having an escape route in case it blew up seemed prudent. As for the other thing, if Merrin made the mistake of getting into a battle against a superior enemy force without reinforcements instead of retreating then she probably deserved to die.

Merrin’s wrist beeped so checked the device in it, it was a message from the droids.

“Master the droids have taken the lower level but according to their data they won’t be able to advance further, the clones have mounted one of the guns from an Umbaran tank on the second floor”

“As long as they don’t let anyone escape then it’s fine after we get to the top we can calmly kill our way down”

They reached the central elevator, and without moving a finger the doors crumpled and Savage entered with Merrin following closely. Once inside Savage raised his hands and forced the platform to go up.

Merrin would have to practice her telekinesis too. It looked amazing when Savage moved things without any gestures and when he did make them they didn’t look weird like when one of her sisters tried to move something.

The mission wouldn’t take a lot of time, not with the way Savage kept killing everything so easily. Clearly her predecessor had an eye for talent as her mate was an excellent specimen, Merrin wondered if Savage liked Asajj. Why else would he keep her weapons if not for some kind of affection? A flash of possessiveness passed through her mind at the thought, Nightsisters didn’t share mates and Merrin wouldn’t stand for her mate having some dead woman in his mind.

Savage looked curiously at her from the side, but Merrin said nothing.

“Stay behind me,” he said before once more gathering an amount of power that seemed unreal, with a movement of his head the doors were launched forward, and the clones that were about to ambush them in the hallway went along with them. In Savage’s fists, two twin balls of compressed power were waiting to be unleashed, the air around his hands was moving wildly as he walked forward.

Merrin took care of the surviving clones before Savage did, she wanted to be useful, and killing the clones was an easy thing to do. They reached a reinforced door that wasn’t there in the schematics given to them by the Umbarans but clearly Savage had expected it.

Savage slowly moved his hands to his left side and pressed the power in his hands until it fused into a single ball of telekinetic energy before unleashing it, the reinforced door whined as the steel moved aside leaving an opening big enough for Merrin to pass.

Without warning, the ghostly figure of Savage’s master appeared “I don’t think you can pass through there” the air became heavy as her master’s anger grew at the ghost’s words.

“Why don’t you let her do this? It is customary for Sith to have trials to weed out the weak and you have been overly protective of the girl”

“I’m not weak!” Merrin was sure that the old Sith enjoyed making people angry and she was sure that it was because of that twisted personality trait that he was killed.

“See, she wants to do this alone. Now let’s ride along through her mind and watch as she works and if she dies then she wasn’t worthy of being Sith”

Merrin growled but she advanced to the opening that her master had created, as soon as her head poked inside the room a hail of blaster fire came her way, she threw herself to the side but collided with a trooper that was about to flank her. She was angry, she wasn’t usually this clumsy and there were expectations placed on her that she couldn’t let down.

With all of her will, Merrin reached out to the Dark side she fed it her anger, the embarrassment, all of her frustration, and all the fear that clung to the room and when she opened her eyes again they shone with a sickly yellow color.

Merrin pulled down the panels of the roof making shards of metal rain down onto the clones, green mist gathered in her hands and she sent it to the nearest troopers who soon started shooting against their fellow clones. Merrin wanted more, more death, more pain, and more power.

With a wave of her hands, a wave of magick launched itself at the trooper with who she had collided with the energy corroded his armor letting her see the face of the man she was about to murder, her spell started eating away at the clone and Merrin embraced the feeling of fear that the trooper was exuding.

The clone started screaming as the magick worked its way down letting her see the bone and sinew of his chest, his skin peeling away. Merrin was enjoying herself too much and failed to react as a pair of clones shot at her from different sides.

The blaster bolts passed through her legs and the pain she felt made her pay attention to her surroundings again. Merrin fell and the world became blurry for a moment before she composed herself.

“You!” with a wave of her hands and fueled by anger and pain Merrin snapped off the leg of one of the clones and used it to beat the other one’s head with it.

Merrin didn’t want to be a failure, she didn’t want to disappoint her mate or Mother Talzin but she already had, she had been hurt by beings that couldn’t even feel the force. She closed her teary eyes as power gathered in her throat, then she screamed out her rage.

Merrin felt Savage and the ghost in her mind, she couldn’t feel them before but as soon as she screamed Merrin felt them pay attention, she opened her eyes and found a scene of devastation. Empowered by the Force her scream killed everyone in the room.

“Very impressive” she heard Savage say and she smiled, her master walked into the room followed by his floating pyramid “I didn’t think you could even get hurt by clones” Merrin wilted at the words as if she had been struck.

“Harsh but true, well girl at least you learned the most important thing a Sith can learn” the pyramid turned to her and the ghost materialized without his mask, he knelt beside her and grabbed her head as he made sure Merrin looked at him in the eyes he spoke again “The struggle for dominance against the darker impulses never ends and if you fall into it then you may be lost forever, let this serve as a warning. Today you almost became nothing more than the lowest of the Sith”

“I will ensure it doesn’t happen again” Merrin promised her master and herself that she wouldn’t lose control ever again.

“Good, I will finish this quickly and then join the rest of the army as it advances, you will wait for me with the feel in orbit” Savage then left her behind as the floating Holocron trailed behind him.

Merrin realized then that Savage wouldn’t help her to get there.