Nar Shaddaa

Sylvain's calls to his master had gone unanswered for over 24 standard hours now. He knew his death to be a fabrication, but what contingencies were in place upon Baras' death needed to be sorted out. There was room to make a play here maybe, and as such he reached out to his right hand man.

The Captain answers, "My lord, I heard the news. How can I be of service?"

Sylvain nodded, "I am assuming Baras' left protocols upon event of his death. I would like a rundown on what has been ordered, and a status report on their implementation."

"I have no such orders, I do not believe he foresaw this my lord, I am dealing with the fallout as best as I can," he replies as he taps away at his console.

Sylvain nodded, "Reach out to as many of the cells as we can, inform them that I will be taking temporary control over operations until further notice. All reports on operations should be sent to your office, and forwarded to me until further notice. There are two likely outcomes from this Captain that they need to be aware of. Inform them that it is highly possible that Baras still lives, and that betraying his faith is sure to result in punishment upon his return. The other is that he is dead, and it is likely that I will end up beneath Darth Vengean's command as Baras was before me... things will continue to run much as they have in the past. Fear of Baras' return, or fear of Vengean's wrath should keep many in line."

"I will impress upon them the price of failure, my lord," the Captain replies.

"You believe he still yet lives then? I hope so, he is the salvation of the Sith and the doom of the Republic."

Sylvain nodded, "I believe he is alive, yes."

Sylvain pondered something for a moment, "Do you have any way of tracking Layne's current position?"

"Her ship is on Nar Shaddaa," is the response from the Captain.

"See if you can contact her. We're going to need to talk."

"It looks as if she is out of touch for the moment i will keep trying my lord. Perhaps Baras had a task for her," the Captain responds.

He nods, "Undoubtedly... keep an eye out. I doubt that her absence and Baras' are not linked."

"We shall learn the truth of this soon enough," he responds.

"Indeed." He replied. "Frequent reports. I must make another call. You are dismissed." Sylvain terminated the call.

Pulling up his holopad he found the next number and entered it into his communicator. Vengean was sure to have interest in these developments.

A woman appears in the holo and one he has not seen for sometime. She chuckles lightly and says, “Oh Sylvain, checking in with your new master? He is resting now, it has been a busy day of fire and blood.”

“Come to snatch some scraps for yourself?”

"You always have had such a high opinion of me my Queen." He bowed politely.

"I come to inform Lord Vengean of circumstances on the ground here and seek his guidance."

"What is the situation on the ground, Sylvain?" she asks.

"You know that the lack of trust between us is mutual after all the times you have betrayed me to assist Layne do you not?" He replied.

"Surely you understand that I have no interest in reporting to you until Vengean makes it obvious that is his will." He replied.

"If he is not available, then I will contact him later... or if it is his will he may contact me at his convenience."

“Is that how things will be, Sylvain? You’re going to cling to old slights because it suits you? Vengean respects my word, and if you have something of value perhaps we can see to it,” she replies.

“We both know that Baras has not respected you as he should have.”

"It's not an old slight alone which drives my suspicion. The 'scraps' you refer to are not only available to the likes of me. Your own jockeying is nothing I currently wish to be a part of. And your eager reliance on temptation only fuels my distrust of your intentions. I know you to be an ambitious woman, and information is a valuable resource in times like these. I have valuable information on Baras and his assets, I will not betray my former or current master by divulging that information to someone he personally has not instructed me to." He shook his head.

"And Baras' death has only happened a few hours ago... I find your explanation to be wholly unfulfilling and your promises, as always, to be hollow and deliberately antagonistic to my purposes."

“You say such hurtful things Sylvain, I might think you dislike me,” she says with a wicked grin.

“Fine if you wish to spurn my aid, then so be it.”

"If it be Vengean's will I will report anything to you in the future. There is no 'like' or 'dislike'. I have always only ever been helpful to you when I needed to. I hope in the future dutiful service won't be rewarded with treachery as it has in the past. But I am not the one who will be making those decisions for now."

“Deception is part of the Sith arsenal, is it not? You want to serve others forever, or do you want to use this opportunity for something greater for you and the Empire,” she says curiously.

"All things in their time and season. There is a natural progression for things. I know of my current limitations, and so I strive to make myself worthy of the attention of my superiors for now. I require their knowledge and power to pursue my aims. Not all Sith reward service with lies and deception. The problem with lying all the time is eventually it loses its utility. And until a different referent can be established, we are stuck where we are." He replied.

"Desire to help you goes away when you rely solely on deception in your arsenal. Why don't you give more artifacts and power to my rivals and see how much more I'm willing to aid you?"

“Layne isn’t your rival and she is my kin, you are both on the same side or should be. I have seen more of the Dark Side than any living, maybe the Emperor would exceed my knowledge. Why do you think I have the ear of Vengean,” she says teasingly.

“I have power and I am generous when given leave to do so.”

"Layne used what you fed her to try and kill me... So though I never sought it... you empowered her childish need to lash out blindly like a fool. And to Jadus apprentice you give an artifact of power... when I did and could have done more for you?"

He shook his head, "You have been anything but generous to me. Prove that to be false, and perhaps we may have something to build on."