DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc, 20th Century Fox, Timothy Zahn, Barbara Hambly, YKW and the other writers of the expanded Star Wars Universe. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
The faces made up a demonic rainbow. Yellow, green, blue, orange, and grey, all mingled with black. In the center stood one with red markings, his head shorn like the others but studded with a crown of short, thick horns.
"Soon," he said, his voice a cross between a growl and purr. It was not a human voice by many standards, but their race was not a human race by many standards, either. "Soon she will be among us."
Above, Larin watched the display with a kind of horrified fascination. "Aren't they amazing?" Cal said, his voice low and dripping with awe. "You can feel them from all through this chamber. I can't allow anyone in anymore. They're starting to disturb the rituals."
Larin leaned heavily on the rail, his eyes feeling thick. They'd given him some kind of shot before, something Cal had said he needed for space travel, like some kind of vaccine maybe. So far, it had made him feel pretty good, but....strange.
"Who are they?" he managed to ask, his tongue finally obeying his will.
"That's the fun part," Cal said. "All full of history, this universe is. All you have to know is where to look. Back a century ago, when Palpatine was plotting his rise to power, there were seven of these men. One of them was Darth Maul."
Larin frowned, confused. "Palpatine...you mean Vaiya's Palpatine? The one her mother worked for?"
"Exactly." Cal sighed and shook his head. "How difficult it will be to explain all of this to you when you don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about." He shrugged. "Oh, well. You know who Palpatine was...that's enough, I guess. Palpatine was trained by a sith lord. You know what a sith lord is, don't you?"
Larin nodded his head. "I've heard of it."
"Well, Palpatine was trained with the idea of there being only two sith lords at one time. A master, and an apprentice. This prevented them from destroying each other, what with the nature of evil and the sith being to grasp absolute power over everything else. It's really hard to work as a team when everyone is holding a knife to everyone else's back, you know?"
Below, the faces had started to chant. Larin watched their mouths move---their tattooed mouths, making their mosaic faces dance in hypnotic ways. He had to pull his eyes away just to focus on Cal's words.
"---th Maul was one of these guys. A red one, to be exact. Red is the center of their power. Well, he ran off to help Palpatine because Palpatine promised him a bunch of stuff like ruling the galaxy and all that. Unfortunately, Maul got sliced in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who also happened to be Luke Skywalker's first teacher. With his death, they had to find another to take his place, one who wasn't completely obsessed with power."
Larin frowned. "But what are they?" he asked.
"They are...you know, come to think of it, I'm not really sure. I know they're a cult. They are like the sith, but worse, if there can be a worse. They have a belief that their founder, who was killed during the fall of the original sith order, was going to return to them to bring destruction upon the whole of the Jedi. Kind of like a hairbringer of death, the end of the universe and all that."
"How?"
Cal shrugged. "I just know they're useful. They are the ones who did the regeneration ceremony for me." Cal grinned, stepping back. "You haven't even told me how young I look for being over fifty yet, Larin. I've been waiting all day!"
"And what was in it for them?" Larin asked, feeling all fuzzy in the head.
"Oh...nothing much, really. I just promised them I would deliver them the female they've been waiting for. The one who will give birth to their great destroyer. You see, they haven't had much luck. They managed to find some eligible candidates here and there in their early days, but she always refuses, and their prophecy clearly states that she must be willing or else the child will destroy them all. Also, they have to kill the female if she refuses because if they don't, then she will destroy them all." Cal laughed. "It makes for a bit of fun, I'll tell you that."
Larin should have been horrified. Instead, he felt some sort of sick arousal at the thought. As if he were sharing Cal's very thoughts. He felt his mouth begin to grin, and his eyes suddenly grew sharper. "I can image," he heard himself saying. "So what made them believe you if they've always had such rotten luck?"
"Well, it hasn't been easy. Supposedly, their new leader, Darth Seth, hasn't even tried to find a female since he took over. He mutters things about being patient, that he will know her when he finds her and all that rot. But he accepted my offer--or rather, his brothers made him accept it. Also, the fact that they've been banished from every planet in the system makes them very grateful for a place to hide."
"Where are they from, originally?"
"Some planet I can't remember the name of." He shrugged. "I know their species is called Zabrak. But they're not limited to that species when they select their members." He shot Larin a confiding look. "They would even be willing to accept a new leader from another species. I tell you, with their power, there isn't anything I couldn't accomplish." He slapped Larin on the back. "Want to meet Maul's lucky replacement?"
Larin backed away from the rim. He shrugged. "Why not? Nothing better to do."
The one with the red face had bright glowing eyes that made him very hard to look at. Even Cal winced a bit when the gaze was set on him, listening intently.
Larin, however, felt no fear as he studied him. Quite frankly, he found the man to be a bit of a pompus ass, keeping his answers short and low, giving the whole "dark and scary" bit just too much gusto. At least this Vader guy he'd heard so much about had shown some class---and some heart.
His name was Darth Seth, and he had exchanged his purple face for the red one the day Maul had left. He had just experience his first regeneration ceremony, and while he was nearly seventy years old, he barely looked older than Larin himself. Of course, age was hard to discern in youth or otherwise in that fierce mosaic of a face. But the skin, aside from being so brightly colored, looked rather smooth and ageless.
"So this is my new partner," Cal said, giving Larin another slap on the back. "He'll be helping us find the right kind of girl for your cause and---"
"Saphringer," Seth said, his deep growling purr of a voice sending a strange, soothing vibration through Larin's chest, "you continue to make light of our quest. Such insults will not be tolerated without reciprocation for much longer."
Cal held out his hands. "Easy, Darth Seth. You really need to learn to relax. All that brooding intensity can take years off your life." And then Cal's face turned so dark that it even overshadowed Darth Seth's vicious face. The ferocity fell from it, the only dignity being that the red and black tattoo kept it from falling away altogether. "And I will decide," Cal growled in a voice equally malicious, "what needs to be taken lightly and what does not. And don't you ever threaten me again or your little cult will be taken right back to that dust world I rescued you from and fed to that sarlacc pit before you can even say the name Darth Maul. Is that understood?"
Larin watched with astonishment, and something more--perhaps excitement, he wasn't sure. As Seth's face returned to its normal position, with much more hate visible than before, Larin felt a glimmer of admiration for the man who had just stood him down. The power radiated from Cal as if he himself had just been returned to his youth mere seconds ago. Then, lightly, Cal stepped away.
"Good," he said, without waiting for Seth to reply. "Now, as I was saying. I know that your advisor, Darth Knar, told you that I was the one who would bring you the woman your prophesy spoke of. But he hasn't told me anything about the prophesy itself. Perhaps if you could give me some detail, I might be of faster assisstance."
Seth actually grinned. "Our prolonged presence here is only to your advantage, Saphringer," he said. "The sith have survived through patience. I have already waited more than half a century. I can wait one more year."
Larin swore he saw Cal's face fall slightly, wearily. "Perhaps your brothers cannot," he murmured, "but very well, then," and stepped away. "My home is yours."
After they were a good distance away, Larin turned to Cal. "What was all that about? I mean, you said they were so useful to you...why do you want them gone?"
Cal sighed. "Because, stupid...that one, Seth, is not their chosen leader. It was given to him by default. I don't even know if he knows why he was picked. He's been leading them for five decades at least and quite frankly his followers are sick of it. In case you didn't notice, he's a little weak. Sure, he puts on a really good face, and he's got all the powers, but if you meet him toe to toe, he'll back down. They want to replace him with someone new. Particularly, me. And they said that they can't do it until Seth fails one more time."
Larin shook his head. "I don't understand why. I mean, they're evil. They can do what they want."
"Not if they want to survive. It's all more prophecy. Prophecy upon prophecy upon prophecy. They're loaded with it. It makes even me appreciate the new Jedi Order. They don't give much of a hoot for prophecy. "
"So who are you going to feed to them?" Larin asked, almost hungrily.
"I'll tell you...but first I think you need another shot," Cal said, gently guiding Larin back to the med bay.
"Oh...okay. Whatever you want, Cal."