The Sith Empress
by AJ Marks
Part 24
Luke made his way back to his quarters after a long day and little had been achieved if at all. He had more questions now than when started the day. Of course his mind went back to a mysterious visit he had as well. The very fact someone could get into the academy without them seeing was not a comforting thought to him, nor was it to Kyle or Fie-Tel. They would have to step up security a bit. He also knew that some groups had special skills and it seemed this group was one of them.
His mind wondered to another disturbing event, the fact that it appeared a new Sith Lord had appeared. This one seemed to be different than previous Sith Lords as he sense a real power behind this one, more like the Emperor than a fallen Jedi.
“Master Skyalker?” a young Jedi padawan said startling him out of his thoughts and he looked back and recognized the Jedi.
“Yes Tries?” Luke asked wondering what he had to say.
“I am to inform you that the Republic has accepting in meeting with a new group calling themselves the Rizonians, and the President has asked for one of us to be there as well,” he said to Luke.
Luke considered the request, Leia was still in training and had abilities but wasn’t a Jedi. She had concentrated on her job instead of training like he had. It was a tough decision as he wanted the Jedi to operate independent of the Republic yet they had to remain aware of what was going on and keep a working relationship between the two groups.
He knew that despite everything he wanted someone to go. They needed to know what was going on out there as well, especially considering everything which was going on.
“Tell the President that we will send someone to attend these meetings, but only as an observer and nothing more, then tell Fie-Tel to pack and head to Coruscant to observe the meeting,” Luke said making a decision.
“Yes Master Skywalker,” Treis said and quickly left to carry out the orders.
Luke turned to continue on to his quarters for some sleep. He felt unsure if this was the right path to take considering everything which had gone on. Perhaps it was time to reinstate the Jedi Council to help govern the Jedi and make decision instead of one person. He would have to consider it for the future.
*****
Gaia couldn’t believe how long she had been left alone this time. There wasn’t much for her to do except medicate considering she hadn’t seen Rizon lately. Gaia wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or happy about that part as the dark-haired woman confused her. Part of her wished to see her again while the other part never wanted to see her again, a conflicting contradiction.
The door opened allowing the tall woman to walk into the room causing Gaia’s heart to pound. Why did she have such a reaction to the woman and it wasn’t from fear either.
“Well, your precious Republic has agreed to meet with me, of course they don’t know it me,” she said with a smile at Gaia. “Do you want to hear more of all of this?”
“Doesn’t matter, you’ll tell me anyways,” Gaia replied.
“I’ll tell them I’ve been attacked by some outside, unknown force further out in the universe. The New Republic fools will fall over themselves thinking it’s the same group and by the time they realize who is really attacking them, I will have an unstoppable force of Sith warriors,” Jessica said to her.
“The Jedi will stop you,” Gaia said.
“The Jedi are weak, their numbers have been hurt by recent attacks against them, both external and internal,” Rizon said to her. “Those forces are nothing compared to my forces, they are true Sith warriors. These new Jedi are nothing like the Jedi back then.”
“Then what? You’ll have the universe to yourself?” Gaia asked.
“With you as my queen,” Rizon said, surprising Gaia a bit.
“I don’t want to be queen,” Gaia replied back to her.
“But you will be.”
Doubtful,” Gaia said as Rizon walked over to stand beside her and caressed her cheek.
How long the touch lasted Gaia wasn’t sure, but the intercom chimed interrupting what they were doing. Rizon turned to answer waiting impatiently.
“Lord Rizon, we’re approaching the meeting point with the Republic,” the voice said.
“Very good, I’ll be right there,” Rizon said ending the conversation and turning to Gaia. “Well little one, our time is at an end for now, but I’ll be back.”
Gaia watched the tall woman walk out of the room before wondering what was going on. Part of her really liked the woman beyond all reason. She needed to think about this some more and figure out what she could do.
*****
Fie-Tel waited as the meeting between the two parties was about to begin. He looked over at Leia, who was Luke’s sister and wondered how. He had blond hair and she had black hair, an odd occurrence for them. He knew she could be a powerful Jedi if she had put her mind to doing so like Luke. Fie-Tel could feel the Force coming from her even if she didn’t feel it. It made him wonder if she carried a lightsaber as well. The rumor was she had constructed one.
It was probably like the Emperor, he had one but rarely used it. In fact, there were only a few instances of him actually ever using it. The man had been a master manipulator who used other means to get his way. The news that the Rizonian delegation had arrived and they were waiting for the person to come to the room.
The door opened allowing a tall, dark-haired woman to enter the room. There was something about her presence and eyes which made Fie-Tel uneasy in her presence. There were a few others who entered as well, but the tall woman seemed to be the one with power. He made a mental note to ask Luke about her presence later on.
“Hello, I’m Chancellor Rizon,” the woman said to them.
“Welcome chancellor, I’m President Leia Solo of the New Republic,” Leia replied greeting the woman in front of her.
“I want to thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” Rizon said with a smile.
“The Republic tries to keep up with what is going on around it so we’re not surprised by the unexpected,” Leia replied.
“Yes, its always good to know what is going on,” Rizon said. “We’ve been keeping an eye on an aggressive group which recently appeared on our border as well.”
“I’ve been hearing reports of a new aggressive group,” Leia said. “Intel states there have been several attacks on non-Republic worlds close to us.”
“Then they are bothering you as well?” Rizon said to her.
“Not directly, what information do you have on them?” Leia asked as Fie-Tel listened in to the discussion. There was something here which he couldn’t place but continued to listen.
“We don’t’ have much, only that they recently appeared and attacked without warning,” Rizon said. “They appear to use old Sith Empire weapons.”
“That is news,” Leia said. “Perhaps it’s a new Sith Lord, we’ve heard about such things.”
“Possible, some lost remnant of the old Sith Empire,” Rizon said.
“An old group from the Army of Darkness which was defeated by Lord Hoth,” Leia said, thinking about the possibilities. For some reason this seemed to get some interest from Rizon.
“I was under the impression they were all killed,” Rizon stated, obviously they had some shared history.
“So the stories go, but the stories and truth are sometimes very different,” Leia replied back to her.
“Indeed,” Rizon said.
“Rizonian, and interesting name, and your name is Rizon,” Leia finally said changing the conversation. “Haven’t heard of that name before.”
“Its custom for the chancellor to take up the name Rizon, so we are all called Rizon,” Rizon said causing Fie-Tel to frown. It sounded to him more like an Empress, or Emperor than a Chancellor.
“I see. Any indication of where these invaders are coming from?” Leia said turning the conversation back to the attackers and looking at a map. “Do you know where this group might be attacking from?”
“No, our empire isn’t too big, and we usually kept to ourselves but this has been disruptive to our society,” Rizon said before pointing to a spot on the map. “There are planets where we know attacks have occurred.”
Fie-Tel noticed the planets indicated where the same ones intelligence had indicated as well.
“Can I ask what type of ships do you use?” Leia asked.
Fie-Tel knew why, the ship in question they had travelled in on was an older type of Sith design.
“Sith Empire inspired designed, our empire discovered a cashe of leftover ships from Darth Raven’s fleet a thousand years ago,” Rizon said to them.
That information shocked Fie-Tel, he had assumed that all those ships had been destroyed a long time ago. Now it appeared both this empire and the unknown empire were using such ships.
“You know how this sounds?” Fie-Tel said speaking up for the first time as several others in the room all thought the same thing. Here was an unknown empire using ships which had been used in the attacks and they were admitting to using such ships.
“I do, that’s why we’ve come forth, in hope of peace between us,” Rizon said. “We are not a powerful empire, and we use our ability to remain hidden to survive.”
The reply was plausible to him when Leia spoke up.
“It also possible they are a splinter group of the Old Republic, after all, much information was lost under the Emperor,” Leia said.
“This group was unknown to use until recently, we were aware of you, and the Empire, but we chose to remain quiet,” Rizon said.
“You could have been a tremendous help to the Rebellion,” Leia said.
“We were not sure which side was going to win, and we wanted to remain our sovereign independence,” Rizon said.
They all nodded.
“Well, this was an interesting first meeting, I do have some other responsibilities to attend to,” Leia said.
“I think our assistants can help out a bit here,” Rizon said.
“I think so,” Leia replied.
With that they left the room after getting the information started. Fie-Tel hoped for a peaceful continuation in the talks, but couldn’t help shake some notion that not everything was as it seemed. Perhaps it was due to the fact they were secretive already, they would hide things from them. He would keep an eye on things but followed Leia out of the room.
*****
Leia made her way to her office with Jedi Master Fie-Tel beside her as they walked down the hallway in silence. She was thinking about everything and wanted to remain quiet until she reached her office before saying anything.
“So, what do you think Master Fie-Tel,” she asked as they entered the room.
“I’m unsure Madam President,” he replied back to her, but she recognized he was thinking about it.
“I thought she was truthful, but it can be so hard with politicians,’ Leia replied realizing her statement. “I guess I should know, I’m one of them.”
“There was something there, but what I cannot say,” Fie-Tel finally stated.
“Ah, its all politics in these first meeting anyways. It takes a while for both sides to understand each other,” Leia said stretching a bit.
“Of course, if you’ll excuse me I have to report in to Master Luke and let him know how it went,’ Fie-Tel said.
“I’m sure he’s waiting for your report, tell him hi for me,” Leia said.
She watched him leave the office before going over the conversation once more. She wondered if somehow their previous clash with the Emperor had tainted their ability to see others in anything more than a cautious way. She was suspicious of the Rizonians without knowing much about them.
They needed more information about this new empire and who they were. It would take some time but she felt sure things would work themselves out.
End part 24