Star Wars_ The Old Republic_ Revan - Drew Karpyshyn [42]
Scourge’s thoughts jumped back to the slaughter at the separatist warehouse; he remembered the energy and exhilaration he’d felt. He could sense his power was growing. His connection to the dark side had never been stronger. But butchering poorly prepared soldiers was not the same as facing highly trained Sith. “Xedrix won’t come alone. He’ll have me outnumbered.”
“Xedrix surrounds himself with acolytes of the dark side. Your talent will let you feed on their power and turn it against them. The greater your opponent’s connection to the Force, the stronger you become.”
“Strong enough to kill a member of the Dark Council?”
“Against me, you would stand no chance,” Nyriss replied. “But Xedrix is old and infirm. And he is human—they are a lesser species. Over the decades, the dark side has exacted too great a toll on his body. He is a hollow shell of what he once was. He holds on to his current position only because of his cunning. His followers obey him without question, too frightened of his reputation to see how age has ravaged his flesh and left him weak.”
Nyriss paused, waiting for Scourge’s response. He wasn’t eager to offer one without carefully considering everything he had learned.
He believed what Nyriss had told him about his own abilities: He had felt the truth of it in his most recent battles. But he wasn’t ready to trust her. If Xedrix was really as weak as she claimed, she wouldn’t need Scourge’s help to eliminate him.
The truth was, Scourge wanted to kill Xedrix. It wasn’t just his loyalty to the Emperor, though he firmly believed the only fit punishment for treason was death. He wanted to test himself against a member of the Dark Council; he wanted to prove to himself and to Nyriss that he was worthy of this task. If Darth Xedrix fell to his hand, his name would be hailed and feared throughout the Empire. Nyriss would be indebted to him for eliminating her rival, and the Emperor would reward him for executing a traitor.
It was unlikely he would be chosen to replace Xedrix on the Dark Council. Scourge was still too young, too unknown. He hadn’t forged the necessary political alliances or built up a cadre of servants and followers. Yet this would be a bold first step; it would make his name known in the halls of power. And when another vacancy opened on the Council down the road—in five years, or maybe ten—he would be the leading candidate.
“Tell Sechel to set up the meeting,” he said.
Nyriss smiled again, but this time Scourge didn’t find it so unnerving. Instead, he found himself wondering if it would be her he replaced when he finally ascended to his rightful position.
CHAPTER NINE
REVAN STARED AT the flickering topographic map of Rekkiad on the Ebon Hawk’s navigation screens. The glacier-covered world had never been settled; no cities or villages dotted his screen. The scans revealed nothing but a frozen wasteland of ice and snow, stretching off for hundreds of kilometers in every direction.
According to Canderous, the Mandalorians had set up a temporary landing field somewhere on the planet’s surface. The clans that had gathered on Rekkiad worked together to maintain and protect the vessels there; it was effectively neutral ground. Outside the landing field, however, each clan laid claim to its own territory—a claim they were willing to fight to defend.
Neither Revan nor Canderous thought it was wise to take the Ebon Hawk to the communal landing strip. Outsiders weren’t welcome among the Mandalorians. Canderous figured they’d have better luck dealing directly with Clan Ordo, his own people.
The original plan was to land within walking distance of Clan Ordo’s base camp and approach on foot. Using spaceports was rarely a preferred option for the kind of smugglers and miscreants who had owned the Ebon Hawk throughout its history, and many had installed customized upgrades to allow the ship to land in less-than-ideal conditions. But Revan doubted they had ever intended to visit a world as inhospitable as Rekkiad, and he was starting to have second