"Head to Korrè's room, we'll meet you there." I jet after Hunter, calling after him. "Hunter, calm yourself! It's going to be fine!"



I nod to Becca. "She's right." I knock on the door to the room. "Korrè, can we come in? There's no danger, just an old student of your son's former life."

"You want to let him in!? That isn't anywhere close to a good idea!"



I raise a hand to Xan. "No... It's okay. Let him in." I go to where Valkorion sleeps and stand close by, ready to receive the visitor.



Xan opens the door, and I step inside. My eyes immediately go to the far side of the room, where Korrè stands. I mean no ill will, yet the sight of this girl does something to me that I was not expecting; it intimidates me. Timidly, I bow by head to her. "My lady. May I approach?" When she gives me her permission in the form of a nod, I slowly walk towards the little bassinet that she guards.



I land on the open windowsill of Korrè's room. I am ready for a fight, but instead, I find everything deathly quiet, and an unspoken tension hovers over the place. When I see Greshh, I look towards Zar'kun and the Twilights and hiss, "What's he doing?!"



"It's okay, Hunter. He just wants a look."

I rest a hand on Hunter's shoulder. "The crimes of the past have come and gone, Hunter. The man who your father told you about is gone."



I follow behind him and watch as he observes Valkorion, watching the young child rest. "We've been giving a chance, Salazar. A chance to help him become better than he was as Vitiate."

I wonder which Jerus is referring to. My father spoke of both Vitiate and Greshh, and now both men stand before me in some form. It completely slips my mind that Jerus just revealed he knows who I really am.



I look down at the sleeping boy with extreme curiosity. I can sense the power of the Emperor, yet it couldn't possibly be the same person. Then, perhaps sensing my presence, the boy opens his eyes, and I can see his bright yellow irises. A slight smile comes to my face. "Ah. There you are." The boy looks up at me, and though it is impossible to tell on his newborn face, I feel as though there is recognition. That might just be me projecting, of course. Carefully, I reach out my hands towards the boy, looking up at Korre as I do to make sure she doesn't object. She says nothing, so I pick the child up and hold him.



I lean over and whisper to the others. "This is kinda messed up, if you think about it."

Having moved back, I shrug. "Perhaps, my former student, but at the same time, it's fitting. Vitiate did as much damage to Salazar as he did to Ryder. But only one of them chose to move past. Redeeming the Sith Emperor. That'll be a hell of a story."

I frown. My father died trying to destroy that child, yet Greshh was embracing it? Ryder Twilight, a Jedi Master, couldn't get past his fear of the Emperor's return, yet Salzar Greshh, a Sith Lord, is willing to accept possible redemption for the most evil being in history? As if things weren't already confusing enough.



I rush into the room, panting hard. "Damn it! Do you know how many flights of stairs...?!" I stop when I see Sal holding the baby. "Whoa. Is that...?"



I turn to show Vette the cooing boy. "He is a child, Vette. Nothing more." I allow myself a genuine smile.



I move closer, a bit in awe. Despite being a big, mean looking Sith, one whom I have seen murder hundreds of people over several years, it still amazed me how gentle he could be. Even now, he seemed a natural at cradling the infant in his arms. He looked so... fatherly. "This is a rare sight. Haven't seen anything like this since..."



"Cosen... and Gavin." My smile begins to fade. "My children... I tried to hurt them, didn't I? I attacked Cosen, and..." My eyes widen with realization. "Gavin..."

"We have reason to believe that Trayus had something to do with what happened to Gavin. But Cosen...I haven't seen her in a couple of days myself."

“She left. I don’t know where she went after she...” I pause, looking nervously at the others. “Okay, this is going to sound bad, but she was upset and blamed Satele for not trying to save Gavin...”



I put the unspoken pieces together and realize what’s happened. “Oh no. Vette... don’t tell me it was Cosen.”



“I... I don’t know! It happened so fast and there wasn’t a body, but... it looked like she did, yeah.”

"If there was no body, then Satele knew what would happen when she faced Cosen. She chose to pass." I glance at Salazar. "And give another their life back in exchange."

I look over my shoulder at the Jedi robe tied there. “Then this was hers.” I carefully hand Val back to his mother before continuing. “I will honor Satele’s legacy then, and see that she did not give her life for nothing.”



“She kept saying there was a reason you needed to be brought back. I’m interested to see what that purpose might be.



“As am I. Something to do with helping stop Trayus for good, I imagine... and making up for at least some of my many mistakes.” I give Becca concerned look. “Is Hayden... When they betrayed me on Boz Pity, did she escape?”



“She is alive, though she is far from here. When Sucal took flight from Coruscant, she went after him and they both disappeared into a wall of flame. I did not sense her passing, so she has likely gone wherever Sucal has fled to.”



“I will help you find her. She was the best apprentice I have ever trained, and her powers are exactly what Trayus needs to make his goals a reality.” I put an arm around Vette. “I have already lost one of my children, perhaps both. I would do everything in my power to spare you that pain. We WILL get her back.”



“But we don’t even know where she is. Until we can learn more, there is nothing we can do. We should focus first on stopping Sucal. He will in turn lead us to her.”

"That's not entirely true. We know that both Trayus and Kreia were fixated on securing Rakatan artifacts. In fact, we recently secured an incredibly powerful one from the Maw, the Tempest Eye. It's...more than I think any of us realized at first."

“Oh yeah. In all the chaos that’s been going on here lately, I completely spaced asking you and Luci about your little adventure in the Maw. What happened out there?”



“And what exactly is the Tempest Eye?”

"Simply put, we can either drain or funnel a very LARGE amount of Force energy into someone, or even a planet. The Rakata built it to try and regain their connection to the Force, but even that wasn't enough." I chuckle. "So in a way, it's most definitely a 'celestial manipulation' machine."

“Fascinating. When I was chasing after the Eye, I assumed it was some type of weapon, or a factory like the Star Forge. This is... far worse than I could have imagined.”



“It can remove the Force from people and locations? That sounds a lot like what Hayden can do, only on a much grander scale.”



“Imagine if they were to be used in tandem; if Hayden were to to use the Tempest Eye, it would amplify the machine’s effects a trillion fold. Please tell me you destroyed it, Zar’kun.”

"Sadly, I don't think any of us have the means to destroy it, so instead we hid it. Trayus doesn't even know we found it, but I told Becca where we kept it. Luci, Caalin and I were unsure of what to do with the power it already has stored up."

“Good question. That might be an adventure for another time, though.”



“So what now? We have the Tempest Eye and Sucal doesn’t. That’s got to count for something, right.”



“Perhaps, though I doubt our enemy is so easily thwarted. Even without the Tempest Eye, Trayus will not give up. There will always be a new way for him to succeed unless we can find him and end him.”

"Ending him will be difficult. He has several Sith ghosts bound to him, most powerful being the late Darth Traya, or Kreia as she was known while traveling with Meetra Surik."

“Ghosts? I have heard of this power before...” I sneer with disgust. “Nox, you damn fool.”



“Kreia killed Nox, then transferred all his ghosts and herself to Sucal. That is how he became so powerful so quickly. Whatever tiny spark of Force sensitivity he had was awakened by their union.”



“He shouldn’t be able to contain so much power. Kreia was powerful enough, but I remember Nox having at least 5 other ghosts. That’s six!”

"I theorize Kreia's helping him maintain his strength and control, if not in control. Jerus told me in the Presidential Palace, Kreia took control with ease. Also, I feel you deserve to know that Imperious is alive. And leading a new Sith Empire."

"Imperious? Of the Pyramid of Ancient Knowledge? Damn." I shake my head.



I find a chair and sit down. "So, there is another Sith Lord running around?" I look from Salazar to Xan. "I thought three was enough."



"Darth Imperious is not like other Sith. She came from nothing; a slave to a cruel master named Reniko Greshh."



"A relative of yours?" I say with a slight smile.



I glance in her direction. "My uncle. After my father was killed, I went to stay with him until my early academy training was complete. He beat me almost as much as he did his slaves, so I never had any love for him. But that's a story for another time." I pace away. "When the Empire discovered Jyana was Force sensitive, they forced Renkio to free her, then shipped her off to Korriban to be trained. I doubt they expected her to become anything more than a glorified servant to some influential Sith. But she suprised everyone with not only her strength in the Force, but her cunning and a ambition. She rose quickly through the ranks, outsmarting rivals at every turn with barely any effort at all. Eventually, she landed herself a place on the Dark Council, head of Ancient Knowledge. That not only gave her access to an immense supply of resources, but gave allowed her to spread her influence as one of the top twelve Sith in the Empire. Charismatic and ruthless. Her peers either loved her or feared her."



I have remained mostly quiet up until this point, but I do speak up now. "Which one were you? Did you love her or fear her?"



I think about it for a moment. "Perhaps a bit of both. When I met her as a Darth, I didn't know she was the same girl from Ziost. The one my uncle would unleash his drunken fury upon, and who my deranged cousin would torment. I just knew she was someone worthy of their title. She wasn't handed anything, and fought for every scrap of power she achieved. So, in that regard, I admired her greatly. But, as the Wrath, I always kept her in mind as a potential usurper for the Imperial Throne." I sign. "If she lives, than she has the power and leadership skills to bring about a new Golden Age of the Sith. If any others still live from the old war, they will flock to her banner. And, if she is smart, she will also be on the look out for young, impressionable Force Sensitives that she can convert to her side." I look at Becca. "No question. There will be another war soon enough."



"And whose side will you be on when war does break out?"



I raise an eyebrow at her. "Whose side will YOU be on?"