Star Wars_ The Old Republic_ Revan - Drew Karpyshyn [59]
“I will answer all your questions,” she said calmly, “but if you harm Sechel again, I will end you.”
Scourge tossed the knife aside and slowly stood up from the bed. His heart was pounding, and he had to fight against the urge to go for his lightsaber. He’d known there were risks in coming after Sechel; now all he could do was hope his actions hadn’t cost him his life.
“I assume this conversation will be in private?” he asked.
She nodded and turned away. Scourge didn’t even look back at Sechel as he followed Nyriss out into the hall.
Darth Nyriss was silent until they reached her private chamber. Scourge was surprised to find that her Twi’lek slave was not present. It seemed that whatever was about to be said could not be trusted even to the Twi’lek’s faithful ears.
“Are you loyal to the Empire?” Nyriss asked him.
“I thought I would get to ask the questions,” Scourge replied.
“Remember your place,” she warned. “Listen to what I have to say. When I am finished, you will have your chance to speak.”
“I am loyal to the Emperor,” Scourge declared.
“Loyal to the Emperor, or to the Empire?” she pressed. “They are two different things.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Emperor is mad. Unchecked, he will destroy us all.”
“For a thousand years the Empire has thrived under his rule,” Scourge countered.
Her words were treason, but there was little he could do about it. If he tried to strike her down, he was fairly sure he would not be able to stand against her. Unlike Darth Xedrix, she was a Sith Council member in the prime of her powers. Now that she had told him her true feelings, she couldn’t let him leave her room alive. Not if she felt he would report her to the Emperor. His only option—his only hope for survival—was to play along.
“The Emperor has expanded our borders,” Nyriss admitted. “He has made us stronger. But he is only doing this for one purpose. He is planning an attack on the Republic. He intends to start another war with the Jedi.”
“No,” Scourge said, shaking his head. “Impossible.”
The Great Hyperspace War had been one of the darkest times in the history of the Sith. Under the leadership of Naga Sadow, they had invaded the newly discovered Republic, seeking to conquer it as they had conquered every other civilization they had encountered. But despite their early victories, they had quickly lost ground. The Republic hadn’t just defeated the Sith fleets; they had annihilated them. And then the Jedi had pursued the fleeing survivors across the galaxy, nearly hunting the Sith to extinction.
The decisive actions of the Emperor had saved them. He had led the remaining Sith into the unexplored regions of the galaxy, a decades-long flight that ended only when they rediscovered and reclaimed Dromund Kaas, their long-lost ancestral home. Fortunately, the Republic and the Jedi had never found them here—a small stroke of luck that had allowed the Empire to survive.
Over the next centuries, the Sith slowly rebuilt what they had lost. They began to expand their Empire again. They conquered newly discovered worlds in sectors on the far fringes of the galaxy, far beyond the borders of Republic-explored space, safely hidden from the ever-vigilant Jedi Order.
Every Sith knew the story; it was taught to them at an early age. And while the official stance was that the Empire was slowly gathering its strength to one day strike back at their enemies, the truth was far different. Scourge and Nyriss both understood the folly of that path; they understood that the Empire could survive only as long as the Jedi remained unaware that the Sith still lived.
If the Emperor was really planning to attack the Republic again, he would be repeating the mistakes of Naga Sadow. He would start a war they couldn’t possibly win, and this time the Jedi would not stop until they had wiped the Sith out completely.
“You’re lying,” Scourge insisted. “Attacking the Republic makes no sense. The Emperor is not a fool.”
“No,” Nyriss admitted. “He is no fool. He is arrogant. He is powerful. And he is mad.” She looked directly at Scourge. “Some of us