The Sith Empress
by AJ Marks
Part 18
Jessica made her way down the hallways of the ship towards the room where she had the Jedi prisoner. She walked into the room watching as the Jedi glanced over to look at her as Jessica spent some time looking her over.
“Well, you are a pretty one,” Jessica said to her, continuing to look at the Jedi.
Now looking at her face Jessica realized the girl’s eyes were green, like she had suspected. The question in her mind was how had she known? She had never met the woman before until now, or at least close enough to really know the woman.
The other problem, was looking into her green eyes Jessica felt an unmistakable pull towards the blonde Jedi. It was that pull which confused her tremendously and made her lose some of her carefully built control of fear and anger around her, that which made her Sith.
“What were you doing on the planet’s surface Jedi?” Jessica asked as she circled the table hoping the Jedi might say something. She watched the Jedi think about what she might say to her. The range of emotions on her face were interesting to watch and she almost got lost in the eyes again but managed to catch the answer.
“I don’t know,” the Jedi replied.
Jessica’s temper flared a bit at the answer. She felt sure the answer was a lie, but something deeper in her believed the Jedi, a conflict occurring in her own thoughts. She wasn’t used to having herself question her actions. However, the hesitation caused her to not hit the Jedi for the statement.
“Let’s try this again, what were you doing on that planet,” Jessica said. “I know Jedi don’t go somewhere without knowing something about what they are doing.”
She watched the Jedi’s breathing hitch a bit at the question and had a feeling she knew a bit more than she was saying. Of course Jessica didn’t believe that a Jedi wondered around without some mission, especially so far from Yavin IV and on such a remote planet from the Republic. If she was on vacation, there were better worlds to go to.
“Well, if you are the best the Jedi can send then you are weak and pathetic,” Jessica said with a bit of a laugh. She noticed the Jedi’s eyes flinch at the words and knew she had struck a nerve. Something she could exploit in the future. “Perhaps you will join me.”
“I doubt that,” the Jedi finally said, not really surprising Jessica that much.
“We shall see,” Jessica said. Her mind had grand plans forming, an Empire under her rule. However, there was another part, deep inside her which was struggling to get out. One which wanted nothing more than to lay down beside this blonde Jedi, and for some unknown reason this allure was very strong. “Well, this has been fun, but I have a planet to conquer.”
“The Republic will stop you,” the Jedi said causing Jessica to stop.
“The Republic is weak, and so are the remains of the Empire. They will fall to me,” Jessica said to her before walking out of the room knowing she had not gotten the answer to her question. But it was fun to taunt the Jedi even without the answers.
The only real problem was the attraction she was feeling. That would have be defeated, or perhaps, she smiled as another vision formed. With this she made her way to the bridge.
She had a small fleet of warships, and a growing group of Sith warriors trained in the ancient ways ready for her next move. She knew the next move was still days away, but her forces were growing and it would not be long until she could afford open warfare against the Republic.
Reaching the bridge she noticed Katie was already there. She narrowed her eyes at the tall blonde knowing she had ambitions and probably would become the first one to challenge her for power. What Katie didn’t know was Jessica had held back her power while in front of others, hiding her true power.
She watched from her position on the bridge as Katie made her way over to her and wondered what the woman wanted this time.
“My lord, I was waiting for you,” Katie said making her way to her.
“You’ve found me, what is it you want?” Jessica said in a bored tone glancing at the blonde while waiting and hoping it wasn’t something to test her patience.
“I wanted to inform you that several trainees have completed the special training you required,’ she said to her.
“Good, I’ll be there shortly to check up on their progress,” Jessica replied to her, watching as she walked off the bridge.
Turing around Jessica looked around the bridge once more amazed at how quickly things had grown. It was better than she had expected and as the word in the underground spread people flocked to join her army. She had a planet, a fleet and army and soon would conquer another planet to add to her growing empire.
Things were looking up for her and she knew it was only a matter of time before she attacked either the Empire or Republic directly. She knew her empire would continue to grow
*****
Gaia remained tied up as she sat there waiting for her capture to come back into the room. She had no idea how long it had been, and even as she pondered hat her stomach growled at its displeasure of being empty.
She also wondered about where she might be. All she knew as she was on a ship but that meant she could be anywhere in the galaxy. So far all she had was the brief interactions between her and the tall, dark-haired woman who scared her yet had excited her at the same time. Of course, she also realized the woman had blue eyes, something she seemed to already know.
A sudden strange feeling overcame her as she pondered what to do next. She felt the darkness surrounding her and looked over before the door opened to allow the same tall, dark-haired woman in and she realized she didn’t know her name.
“Thought you had a planet to conquer?” Gaia stated instead recalling what she had said last time they talked.
“I do, but then I realized something and I didn’t want you to think my skills as a hostess were lacking,” the woman said with a smile.
Gaia felt it hard to look away from the smile as it seemed to draw her in. Every instinct in her screamed this woman was trouble, filled with the Dark Side, and yet, there was something there which intrigued her and she found irresistible. The aroma of food filled the room as a plate was sat down.
“Now, a simple question. What is your name?” the woman asked patiently. “You may call me Darth Rizon.”
“Gaia, and I take it you are a Sith lord,” Gaia replied back to her as the woman moved out of her sight. She braced herself for something and instead found a hand stroking the top of her head.
“You have lovely hair, why do you put it up like this?” Rizon said to her caressing her hair.
Gaia tensed a bit but said nothing under the touch. It was an odd mix to feel such a sensation as she wanted more. Her hair braids were undone allowing her hair to flow freely even as Rizon didn’t stop her caresses.
What did startle her was when Rizon moved from her hair to her ear, then her neck and continuing on down her body. She had to shut her eyes as the woman continued her touch on down from her neck to her shoulders and then down her arm before continuing onto her leg as the woman slowly walked around the table.
The sensations were almost overwhelming as the touches continued and suddenly it was gone leaving Gaia trying to regain control of her sense.
“Here, eat now,” Rizon said motioning to the plate and with that she was out of the room. It took a few seconds before Gaia realized she was no longer strapped down. Taking a look at the food and then the door her stomach rumbled.
She sat up, looking for a few minutes and regaining her composure after what happened. It wasn’t what she had expected, and fully prepared for some sort of physical assault but what Rizon had done, she almost had no defense against it.
Slipping off the tale she stretched a bit before sitting down at the table and sniffing the food cautiously. She could smell nothing but the food and decided to give it a try and took a small bite and wasn’t able to detect any drugs in it. She realized, looking around, that if they really wanted to drug her they could just fill the room with it and she would not be able to escape.
It took only a few seconds before she realized she had eaten it all, and that it had actually been quite good. So if it was drugged, it at least tasted good. She knew she could have eaten more, a common tease at the academy was how much she could eat and still stay in shape.
She spent some time looking around the room in more detail. There was nothing to allow her to escape, and she sat down waiting for whatever would happen next. Deciding to meditate she sat down and focused on the Force, hoping she might gain some information from it.
*****
Jessica walked back to the bridge where the captain was waiting for her. She noticed he spotted her and made her way over him hoping he had some good news.
“Captain,” she said to him, wondering what he wanted and hoped it was good news, otherwise in the mood she was in he probably would be dead.
“My lord, I have good news,” he said to her. “Admiral Pietete states recruiting is up beyond expectations on the last batch and they should have an additional ship ready shortly. I also have news the planet Haolos has surrendered to us.”
This news allowed Jessica to smile considering she only sent one ship to that planet as a test of their defenses but they had managed to capture the planet. Of course the next sept would be setting up a government which supported her on Halos.
“Set our course to Halos, I have an appointment with their government, and have the rest of the fleet convene here,” she said pointing to a spot on the map. She watched as the captain looked it over before speaking.
“It will be done my lord,” he said turning to the rest of the bridge crew to carry out his orders.
Jessicia watched him go and felt that he was relieved to be away from her. She didn’t seem to get tired of the feeling she got from people on board, especially those who knew better than to cross her. She also knew that many were waiting to see who she appointed as her second in command, her apprentice. At the moment she had none and went over the list of possible candidates and felt slightly surprised when one person came to her mind. She allowed a slow smile to come to her lips as she considered it for a few seconds.
For now she would wait until they arrived at Halos and watched as the crew made the preparations to jump to light speed. Halos would be where she proclaimed to the universe she was here to stay. It had been another step in her eventual conquest of the universe.
She knew the Republic had the largest fleet in the universe at the moment, and she still had to grow her fleet, and gain resources for it to fight, and repair, and expand even further. The Sith battleships were a good place to start, but she still needed more and better ships if she was to really challenge the Republic.
The Jedi were countered by her growing Sith warriors. She felt no fear from the Jedi as they would feel her power soon enough. She welcomed the time when the Jedi had finally been eliminated once and for all.
End part 18