On an uncharted station in deep space, Cipher Nine contemplates the war. It's been somewhat quiet of late, but Darth Arho has finally picked up the hints, and launched an invasion of the ice planet Ilum. The schematics she sent should allow the Sith to find a foothold fairly easily, but the Jedi will come running to its defense. It is one of their so-called sacred sites, after all. With a little bit of prodding, this battle could be just what she needs to get them to kill each other.
"Let's!"
To the Council chamber! Revan is older than all of them, so he will not look the slightest bit guilty about already having started packing to leave for the assignment they're clearly going to ask of them. He was just being efficient. And really, why wouldn't they send them, it's Ilum. What, are they going to do anything less than get the Sith off the planet as soon as possible before they disturb the attunement of the crystals there? Not likely. They're going to send the really powerful Jedi (and Revan) to squash this quickly.
That is in fact what the Council is doing. Revan and Ana and a handful of other Jedi are to pile into the fastest ship they have available and head for Ilum. The Council is conferring with Republic High Command to see what reinforcements might be allocated, but they will likely be short-handed for a while.
He supposes it was a bit much to hope for their own ship. Oh well. He finishes packing, then swings by Ana's room to see if she needs help packing, or if she would just like to take a little while to indulge in cuddles before they're shoved onto a ship with a bunch of Jedi that would Disapprove at them.
He'll go to the strategic position, the crystal caves seem like the kind of juvenile nose-rubbing the Sith tend to get caught up in. It's upsetting, the crystal caves may or may not be psychically tainted by their presence forever, but ultimately he wants to make this into a rout as quickly as possible and get them off the planet. Fussing over not letting them touch some crystals is not the way to do that. If the Sith want to essentially waste resources on crystal caves instead of actions that will actually hold the planet long-term, that's their prerogative. It's not like they don't have already access to lightsaber crystals, the resources in play here ultimately don't matter to the conflict at hand. The Sith are just throwing a hissy fit and breaking things, like they always do.
He checks to make sure that taking a landspeeder will not mess up the overall strategy (it will not), fusses with coordination and the aforementioned overall strategy for a little while to ensure that several strategic locations are hit at the same time he's causing mayhem, and then leaves to go cause the aforementioned mayhem. Ana can come too. Mayhem's a good bonding activity, and they make a good team.
They'll be travelling along the ridge to maximize the surprise that they have. And be shot at less on the way there. Revan might be tempted to try something fancy if they were more than two people, but they are two people, so it's not really worth the trouble.
Can they successfully sneak up on the Sith defenses?
Those troops aren't a real threat at close range, they don't look well equipped for handling Force users. The Sith Empire likes to keep the Sith on top. These are meant to slow down and distract the Jedi coming at the base, and probably die. He bets they know it, too, but what choice do they have? They either do what the Sith say and probably die, or disobey and definitely die.
Terrible way to ensure loyalty, really.
"Want to make a show of this?" he wonders to Ana, quietly.
"I'm thinking that every soldier down there has been dragged to an empty snowball of a planet to die against Jedi because the Sith told them to, and they don't want to be here. If we give them an out that lets them go home to their families, I think a lot of them would take it. Trouble is, surrendering to the Republic doesn't do that, the Empire doesn't exactly reward traitors. But what about if they surrendered to a Sith Lord?"
He nods, leans over to kiss her on the cheek, and then carefully sneaks away from her so that when he makes his grand entrance they won't be looking in her direction.
It's been a long time (and some brain rearrangement) since he was a full Sith Lord, but it's the kind of thing that's hard to forget. Like a dance he learned by heart years ago, he can still remember the steps. The walk, the presence, the aura, they're all still within his reach. He can just close his eyes and - step - forward -
- and yes, he does remember this.
Darth Revan opens his eyes, and he takes another step forward. He recalls all of the things he'd be thinking if he were the himself of long ago. He looks at the shrine's defenders, at the soldiers on their fixed guns.
Their masters were cowards that were afraid of their own men, so they cowed them into hesitation instead of promoting discipline. They won't shoot. He walks purposefully forward, igniting his crimson lightsaber to announce himself to the soldiers. A Jedi wouldn't carry a lightsaber with a blade of that color. The men on guard will notice him first, so they can watch and understand the reaction of the Sith.
If they're Sith at all, they'll stand and face me, or kneel at my feet. He lets the shield hiding his Force presence fall away. It's no longer the time to hide; quite the opposite, in fact. They will know that he's here, they will see the legend that they're facing, and whatever delusions they've trapped themselves in will fall away. They will understand that they're outmatched.
Idiots, wasting perfectly good men on a petty grudge. Under my command we'll be something better.
He steps forward, every inch a Sith Lord, and it's easy. Perhaps too easy, but it's been a long time since he claimed to be a Jedi.
The troopers snap to attention as he approaches.
The Sith plant themselves in his path, their own sabers drawn. "Identify yourself." Pride mixed with anger swirls about them, who is this fool and why has he come here like he intends to challenge them? And an undercurrent of fear- he is strong, and confident in his strength. Who is he?
Yeah, that's not a smart move when they're up against someone who dwarfs them in power. Being in the air means they're ever so easy to push around. Revan holds out his free hand and demonstrates this tactical mistake to them before he engages the two that were smart enough to stay on the ground.
This is going to be very one-sided.
He resists the urge to roll his eyes. Ugh.
"All right then. Hand me your comlink? I'll confirm with your command that you've been given new orders to pull back and fortify Base Camp."
He can't actually swing 'get them home' (yet) but they'd almost certainly prefer being out of the main conflict. The Sith are the backbone of this operation, if they get rid of enough of them, the Imperial Military will be free to pull their men out of this stupid, stupid conflict.
"Thank you." He takes the comlink, checking to make sure it's tuned to Imperial Military command, not something crazy like 'all frequencies.' Some Sith might get it into their heads to injure these men for 'defying orders,' even though they've been strong-armed into obeying any and all Sith their entire lives. Because that makes sense.
"This is Darth Revan. I'm sending a squad of men to fortify Base Camp -" he glances at the insignia on the armor, and names the corresponding squad, "- please direct any Sith that have a problem with this order to Way Station Phi." That would be the shrine he just took. "Thank you, that is all."
He tosses the comlink back.
"That's about the best I can do. Hope you get off this snowball."
"If all the Sith show up to duel me, they're not busy rubbing their noses in crystal caves like cranky children. And if we kill enough of them the Sith in charge will get the message and bugger off. Granted, I will probably have to go break more things for them to care, I don't think this is enough to make anyone that isn't already paying close attention take notice. They weren't expecting to hold this spot."
There are more skirmishes over the next few weeks, mostly inconclusive. The Sith are proving troublesome to dislodge. Proper Republic reinforcements arrive at about the same time as Imperial ones, so the overall balance doesn't change much. Trenches are dug, supply depots contructed, artillery emplacements erected.
And from above, the Cipher watches it all.
There's one small wrench in her plans. Apparently, someone on the invasion team was really good friends with someone in the Imperial Science Bureau, because they got sent a sample of Adegan crystal. And that scientist used the sample to construct a functional cloaking engine prototype. So now Ilum is more than a pissy Sith's pet project, it's a strategic resource and will be getting full military support. This is, to put it mildly, not good. Cloaking technology will completely change the face of the war, and not in a direction she wants to pursue. She needs to lock this down.
...It may be time to push Darth Malgus over the edge. He's a war hero, led the attack on Coruscant. Impatient with the political infighting and anti-alien prejudice he sees as weakening the Empire. Private correspondence indicates he has slowly pieced together a faction that would support him in a coup against the Dark Council. If she gives him the opportunity to seize the cloaking tech, he'd likely capitalize on the tactical advantage to enact his rebellion. With the cloak, he'd be as much of a threat to the Republic, and both sides will turn on him. Lots of opportunity in the ensuing chaos to make sure of the factory that the Imperials are currently building is destroyed, the scientists involved are assassinated, and the plans are erased.
Yeah. That'll work.
"Yep."
Off he goes. Once he's out of the meeting room, he retrieves his comlink.
"Hey, HK. How's the west side holding?"
  "Answer: Oh, it's going wonderfully! The meatbags keep putting their fragile, liquid-filled head modules right where I can see them!"
Revan snorts. That'll mean that HK-47's still busy, and while the Republic has snipers, they don't have any other droid snipers. He is uniquely equipped to help, by way of thinking from a different direction and being something the enemy (and the enemy Force users) don't expect. So that's a no, for taking HK along with him on his adventure. He's better off where he is.
"Glad to hear it. Keep up the good work."
  "Acknowledgement: Thank you, I am pleased my talents are appreciated."
"I'll be away for a while, please make sure the defenses don't fall to pieces while I'm gone. Call in before you go on a proper assassination mission, but feel free to look for good openings. And of course if any Sith's fragile, liquid-filled head module happens to be where you can see it..."
  "Acknowledgement: I look forward to the chance with giddy anticipation!"
"That's the spirit. Revan out."
He puts his comlink away, and goes to get changed into more Sithy attire, then see about transportation.
"Definitely not," he agrees, loftily.
In he goes.
All right, he'd like to sabotage this place so that it stops working in a way that doesn't look like it's been sabotaged, preferably that it stops working in such a way that it requires the personal attention of a lot of very smart people to fix. Is there an obvious mechanism by which he can make that happen from what he can feel of the layout, or does he need to investigate a bit further to find something that'll do?
Excellent.
He may not be able to open a door without a lightsaber, but it doesn't take very much skill to get an SIS operative access. Just take the transmitter, plug it into an available slot, and wait patiently. Oh, and watch for anyone that might happen across this process, but he has the Force, that part's easy.
It had been weird to hear Sith praise and revere Darth Revan when he'd gone to Korriban, before he'd been captured by the Emperor. They talked about him like he was the pinnacle of the Sith, while the once-Sith Lord stood in front of them, disguising his bemusement. They hadn't recognized him, of course; when he'd been a Sith Lord he'd taken care to always wear his mask in public, all too aware of how much easier it is to remember a mask than a face. All too careful to lose the precious resource of anonymity in a pinch.
He might have expected this to be weirder, but it isn't, really. Weird that Malgus speaks of something that happened centuries ago when it feels like just a couple of years, but not all that weird. It feels like it was several lifetimes ago, like he had been a different man many times over. The Sith Lord to the amnesiac to the hero to the victim to whatever he is now. Such a long, long time ago, remnants from a galaxy so impossibly far away. But the directed praise itself doesn't feel strange - however much this man has lied to himself about who Darth Revan was, at least he recognizes him. At least he's depositing his misapprehensions on the correct altar. Hasn't he dealt with so many misapprehensions, in the past? What's one more set?
"Thank you," he says. He tilts his head slightly, in lieu of a question. And why haven't you started up the alarm? What do you want?
"I speak to you now because the galaxy is once again weak. The Empire is failing; the Sith unchained by the Emperor's demise and divided against themselves by petty grudges. The Republic is weak, ruled by spineless bureaucrats acting only in their own interest. What the Jedi have in unity, they lack in will to action. I would forge for us a new path, free of the shackles of ignorance that have too long held us back."
Oh, here we go. Another doomed galactic conquest Sith. Buddy, Revan has been there, and you're not going to like how it turns out.
No use scoffing at him, though. Malgus isn't betting his entire conquest on Revan's involvement; he'd opened with how he thought the reports had been mistaken. He'll do whatever he's doing with or without Revan. Getting the assistance of a famous centuries old Sith Lord would do a lot to legitimize him, but it's icing on the cake, not the cake itself. Much better to pretend to be interested.
"I have noticed that the galaxy is a bit of a mess," he acknowledges. "What's your plan for it?"
"It could have gone worse," he says thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet up on the desk. "I got a call from Darth Malgus, offering to recruit me. Had this whole pitch about how the Empire and the Republic are weak and he will make something better. He looked ready to make a move. Do we have intel on what forces are loyal to him?"
"No. I basically said, 'if you're such hot stuff, prove it,' and told him to call me. Since his timing was so perfect. I didn't want to get involved in the ground floor of what's going to be an even bigger shit show than the rest of Ilum. Ruins the mystery of 'centuries old ex-Sith Lord,' and I didn't want to push too much and make him suspect anything. He said 'in the coming weeks,' so he's going to move soon."
He has a look on his face that Legate might recognize. It's the 'I want to give you tactical advice but recognize that I'm not in charge of anything' face.
"We need to figure out who Malgus's supporters are, fast. At least the really obvious ones, anyway. Then we need to leave them alone. The Sith getting into a pissing match over who's supposed to be Emperor is only going to help us. I don't want to accidentally sabotage Malgus's supporters when they're going to be doing our work for us. We sit back with popcorn, keep Ilum from falling apart into pieces while they fight, and we mop up. I can even accept Malgus's kind offer to join him, and help it disintegrate just a little bit faster."
"Thanks. Uh, fair warning, if I 'accept' Malgus's offer, I am absolutely going to take credit for the Republic leaving his people alone, so maybe try to make that look plausible to Malgus. Without letting on to the rest of the Empire that something's up. You know, super confusing convoluted spy stuff. I hear that's your jurisdiction."
Things are moving according to plan. The Republic thinks they have enough warning to exploit the coming schism; the defection of some of their own should set them back enough to properly ignite the conflict. Malgus's supporters are among the first batch of ships the Imperials are retrofitting with the cloaking technology. He'll make his move once those are completed. Revan is a complicating factor. If he goes over too soon, he's likely to do more damage than desirable. She'll have to mitigate that somehow.
Almost two weeks after Revan's meeting with Malgus, holocomms across the Empire light up simultaneously, echoing in private homes and public spaces. Malgus addresses the galaxy.
"Fellow Sith. Citizens of the Empire. Too long the strength of the Empire has been beholden to the in-fighting of the Dark Council and the disappearance of an apathetic Emperor. Sith, children of Sith, and warriors everywhere, I declare a new Empire, open to all who long for conquest, freedom from inhibition, and the right to follow their passions. The Dark Council is dissolved. Those who would join Darth Serevin in supporting me, cast aside your titles and let me lead you to victory. Those who will not, prepare to face our stealth armada. The Emperor is gone. His station and power are mine. We will conquer the galaxy while he sleeps."
Another nod, and then: to work. It'll be tricky figuring out who's defected and from where, since no doubt everyone will be lying about everything, but she can probably manage vague numbers and percentages if she tries very hard and believes in herself, checks various ship logs, and sorts through some boring numbers. If the Sith hierarchy were less of a flaming disaster she wouldn't be able to do this, but it is kind of a flaming disaster, so she can. This is what happens when you dissolve Imperial Intelligence, you idiots. Sith Lords will figure out how to gather data they maybe shouldn't be able to.
She assembles estimations, some more broad than others. The only concrete numbers she'll have are for their jurisdiction. Unfortunately, the number there is not 'zero.' One of Occlus's squads defected, which is more of an annoyance than an actual blow to anything in particular. Damn, and they were so close to having a perfect record.
It's ready by the time they need to depart for inevitable pest control. Well, ready as it can be, without anyone letting her see the actual concrete numbers.
Darth Marr awaits them in a conference room, surrounded by nervous technicians and officers that buzz around the Dark Councilor like moths around a lamp. They flit away when the two Sith enter, conveniently finding something else to do.
"Occlus," says Marr, in lieu of a proper greeting. His mask makes gauging his expression impossible, and his voice gives nothing away. He looks at Callida. "And your apprentice. Good."
Callida is ever so careful to keep her screaming behind her wall of calm. To her credit, her expression doesn't flicker past the surprised blink, and neither does her nerve.
Would you like me to change the numbers for our defectors in some way? she asks, while she retrieves the appropriate document on her datapad.
"We must crush this insurrection," he spits the word like it's a curse, "before it has the time to amass strength. It is paramount that we retake the cloaking factory. We have no time for petty grievances or further disloyalty."
In lieu of a formal request or an outright demand, he leaves that sentence hanging in the air. Perhaps he doesn't think he needs either.
Occlus taps her datapad.
"We have proper access to unit deployment data now. Compile a list of what awaits us on Ilum. I will see to our own forces' preparations. If you wish to have your ship available, inform your crew that they will be part of the commandos' convoy. We will be traveling together."
She nods. "Yes, my lord."
Callida doesn't especially want her ship and its crew available in a war zone. Her ship's doctor might end up useful, but it's not worth the risk of putting him in the middle of a warzone. There are likely other doctors on Ilum. Everyone else on her ship wouldn't be of much use. Her pilot could conceivably help, but either would need to learn the ins and outs of a new ship in a warzone, or Callida would have to either boot everyone that was living on her ship off of it, or also bring them into the warzone. She'd rather not.
The inevitable lecture (that she has definitely earned, sigh) can come later, right now she has work to do.
"True. I will consider wordings. A possibly related matter- this so-called Sith claiming the name of Darth Revan. An old name, and obscure to Sith. I am unsure why it has returned now, in this context. He is almost certainly working with the Jedi. I sense that he will be important to the prospect of a truce, either as an obstacle or an ally."
"Grand Moff. I am here to end the insurrection of Malgus the Betrayer. Know that the Dark Council considers this to be of the highest priority. You are to cease any ongoing campaign against the Republic in as expeditious a manner as possible and redirect your forces until such time as this threat is ended."
Callida's at a tactics screen that's displaying personnel listings. Luckily she doesn't actually have to command the battle personally. She's not a bad tactician, but she's not a genius. Instead she's, frankly, cleaning up the command structure itself. A large number of forces defecting, including many major commanders, makes for a bit of a mess. Add Sith who think they're in charge now into the mix, and - well, that makes what Callida's currently dealing with. Augh. She'll get a list together of people she needs Occlus to be personally terrifying at, but for now, she can handle the major cleanup.
"My lord?" she says, looking up.
Callida nods, then gets to making a list of Sith That Occlus Needs To Intimidate. It doesn't take very long; it wouldn't do for Occlus to deign to personally scare too many people. It'd be a waste of her time, for one, and it'd imply insecurity, for another. Better to instead have an exquisitely targeted small reign of carefully modulated terror. The list is short.
When she's done, she sends it to Occlus, along with corroborating explanations of why precisely each and every Sith Lord needs a Dark Councilor to show up and be terrifying at them. There's a secondary list for 'Terrifying them might help but things will not catch on fire if Occlus doesn't,' in case Occlus thinks more terror is necessary than Callida recommends.
Once the Sith-specific diplomacy's handled, they should be all set to go negotiate a ceasefire.
As they approach, Occlus lets her control relax slightly, the tangible weight of her presence in the Force asserting itself in the area. Not the threatening posture she used with the recalcitrant Sith, simply a declaration of the level of person the Jedi are dealing with.
Revan doesn't. He looks at Occlus levelly, and he relaxes his own control.
That... is not the aura of some random Jedi off of the street that decided to pretend to be a Sith Lord for giggles. That is not the aura of a Sith Lord that flinched and went to go become a Jedi because they flinched and felt bad. It's not really clear what he is, but he's strong enough to have a seat on the Dark Council, if he wanted it.
"Hi," he says, unintimidated.
"Really," says Callida, retrieving her datapad and looking at some figures. "So Malgus's assistance from the 451st company, the 94th engineering division, and your 822 and 921st airborne divisions, along with help from esteemed commanders Major Kando, Colonel Ardmore, and Captain Chi'thiac were... what?" She blinks and smiles politely. "Sanctioned republic assistance for the new Empire? I didn't know you were so supportive. Your men even switched uniforms. Was there a sale on fabric?"
"At the very least, I definitely unnerve her," agrees Callida, sounding faintly smug.
She hasn't even done anything! This is a fear from a powerful Jedi that she's earned through charisma alone! This is the sort of thing that makes normal Sith want to cackle maniacally. She resists this urge, because it is beneath her.
"Her presence at the conference implies a degree of responsibility and trust. Revan's trust at the least, if no one else's. If a joint operation is planned, it is likely that you will be put in a position where working with her is required. Do you think that will be a problem?"
Callida considers.
"... No. Revan asked her to stay her hand before, and she listened. Clearly he trusts her enough to bring her along, so I don't think she's stopped. She might not be comfortable around me, but I don't think she's the type to suddenly turn on me because I scare her a little. Not when she knows her ally wouldn't appreciate it. And if she's not actively trying to kill me, everything else is relatively simple."
"No. Strange indeed." She hums, thoughtfully. "... This is conjecture, so I might be wrong, but I think part of the reason I frighten her is that I'm not... easy to sort. If I loomed and spouted out monologues and broke things, I think she wouldn't find me quite as scary. She'd know what to do with me. Instead, I don't fit into her idea of the galaxy, and that's terrifying. Because I'm comparatively unpredictable, and because what if that means she was wrong?"
"She must have been very assured of her self to successfully battle the Emperor. He could dominate lesser minds as easily as breathing. Perhaps she used such an inflexible worldview as a grounding, a deeply-rooted post to cling to in the face of the gale wind. To have it challenged after such a success... It may be we are fortunate you and she did not meet earlier."
A ceasefire, then. Not unexpected. The promised retreat afterwards, however. That is less in line with her plans. She's not confident she can undo that, not with Occlus there to chivy everyone into line, not when she has Marr's favor. Killing Occlus is... probably an overreaction. If Malgus steps up his defenses, her desired casualty rating could still be achieved. She'll have to make sure he does that, before pointing them at him. She can sell out his scientists to buy a bit of time. They're offsite, so the Empire will hire mercenaries, and she can call in a favor to make sure they land on the "kill" side of "kill-or-capture".
He hums and pets Ana's hair, thoughtfully.
"The things she did upon meeting us were: catching us off guard by opening the door instead of waiting for us, trying to figure out what we'd do if she told us no, trying to protect the crew of her ship from us, and then giving us an exit that also got someone else away from the Empire. That shows us some of her likely priorities. She paid enough attention to her surroundings to be able to name a ship with a pilot that wanted out of the Empire. I don't think she could have figured that out fast enough for us specifically, so I think she knew beforehand. I can think of some reasons why she'd pay attention, but I try to avoid too much baseless conjecture, so I'll skip it. She wanted to understand us, especially when it came to how we'd react to her. I think she was probing us on our philosophy a bit, trying to see what we were like, and by extension, what the Jedi were like. I'm not entirely sure. She definitely wanted to keep her people safe. When pushed, she didn't bend at all, even when it might have been smart - so maybe more than a little prideful. Ultimately, we walked off of her ship and she lost nothing but a cereal bowl, when we were planning to terrify or kill her and fly off on her ship.
"Occlus brought her along, when she didn't have to. A show of power, sure, but I think a different kind of power than we're used to. You or I could beat Callida in a fight, easily. Maybe she could have bought Occlus enough time to deal with the both of us, but there are better Sith for that. Callida turned out to be a good show of power, too - she showed competence and ripped our poor commander a new one when he tried to lie to them. So she does her homework. So we have a quick thinker that watches her environment and uses it to her advantage, does her homework, who prioritizes understanding her potential enemies, safekeeping her resources and people, solving conflict in atypical ways that will suit her goals, and resists compromising valuable resources, even under heavy external pressure. We're dealing with a smart Sith.
"So. What's a smart Sith doing still attached to the Empire? It's a shitshow that's slowly sliding apart, and everybody knows it. Not many people even like living in it, and why would they? It sucks. Everybody that's not a Sith is trying to avoid their attention, everyone that is a Sith is in a never ending fight for their lives. She'd mentioned she was inured to torture before the age of sixteen. That's dark, and it's got to do some things to someone, to grow up in a world like that. To me, it didn't sound like she was grateful for the chance to grow stronger through pain. There was pride there, but also anger, bitterness - and you saw the way she looked at you at the meeting. This woman can absolutely hold a grudge. I bet the Empire's pissed her off. So why does she stick around?
"There's the logistical problems of escaping, of course - she's the only apprentice of a Dark Councilor. If she ran, every Sith in the galaxy would be out for her head to prove their might and power. But I don't think that's entirely it. It feels too simple. She's had years. Plenty of time to fake her own death and arrange transport to wherever she'd like. Hell, she had us in her ship asking for a ride, she could have left right then and been safe. We would have owed her one. It feels like there's something else going on here. I just - don't know what that is." He pauses, thoughtfully, searching for words.
"... You know what the weirdest part for me was? How she acted around Occlus. Usually Sith apprentices are never really comfortable around their masters. Like - not precisely nervous, but - they watch for openings. They watch for chances to prove themselves. They want their master's approval, but they're terrified of the next blow, and they're prepared to fight for every inch of themselves against everyone that would dare to take it away from them. They're prepared to kill the person they're closest to, because that's what they need to do to survive. And I - I just didn't get that impression from either of them. I'm not precisely sure of what's going on between them, but I don't think it's like other Sith master-apprentice relationships. I don't know what it is, but. It seemed almost healthy."
He smiles a little, at the compliment.
"Aw," says Revan, gently planting a kiss on Ana's hair. "I think she's complicated and has introduced an element of moral grey to our black and white battle of good and evil. Which makes everything a bit more complicated, but this could be a good opportunity. Maybe we can get her to ditch the Empire once and for all, if we figure out what's keeping her attached."
"I know. I'm sorry the galaxy's a bit of a complicated mess sometimes." Pet, pet. "Look at it this way; helping her out of the mess she's in is, hm - an extra bonus prize. If we can't, it's sad, but Sith hurt people and if we need to kill her to finally stop them, then, well. That's unfortunate, but the Sith need to be stopped. I'll try to take point for her, if it helps."