Marr

Chapter Forty-Five

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Marr

~Chapter Forty-Five~

To the riddles, the answers begin.

In the month that followed my departure from Voss, I traveled to the Sullestan homeworld on the Outer Rim to respond to a distress call issued by the newly instated governor, Moff Xerxian.

Within the first three months of Xerxian's term, protests grew into uprisings and eventually into full-scale rebellion.

I discovered upon my arrival that many of our forces had deserted the Empire to fight alongside the Sullistan people—an unusual and unlikely turn of events I hadn't expected.

What would force our men to desert and take up the Sullestan cause?

I would learn the answer after a fortnight of hard battle in Sullest's subterranean districts. Denied food, clean water, and medicine by the new governor, Sullest rebelled. I soon learned that Xerxian's corruption extended beyond depriving the native populace to include the military as well.

The quartermasters confirmed that all supplies issued by the Empire had been rerouted to Xerxian's personal stores. After cherry-picking the inventory, he auctioned the rest to the highest bidders—mostly crime syndicates and Hutts.

Xerxian railed against my interference and I sentenced him to the full might of the darkness at my disposal.

As I suspected, he lasted only minutes after I took my leave. His suicide note credited me with his madness and torment—the details vague enough that they would spin stories into legend.

I abhor such gossip but must acquiesce, these tales were not entirely without benefit. They fed the darkness a steady meal of fear and dread and my power magnified. Only a vestige of the man I once was remained—a thread I buried deep in the light—for that was the one place the darkness would not go.

A nervous lieutenant approached me as I started for my shuttle. "My Lord? What is to be done with the deserters?"

"Execute them all," I barked in passing, so ending my time on Sullust.

*

What seemed like days had unwittingly grown into months—my tour, finally at an end. A sense of foreboding loomed over me and I knew my life would be changed forever.

"Admiral Vilks—set a course for Dromund Kaas."

"Yes, my lord."

*

I retired to my quarters and stood before the brazier but the flames yielded no answers. The intercom chimed, breaking my focus.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"My lord, a message from the Emperor's Fortress," Kayle announced, voice quivering.

"Put it through."

"At once, my lord."

The image of the Emperor's black-cloaked messenger flickered over the holo-console. "Marr. You are to report to our Master at his fortress, immediately upon your return."

"Understood."

The messenger vanished in the midst of my acknowledgment and I knew the time of reckoning had arrived.

The Emperor was undoubtedly aware that I still lived. I had failed to deliver his generals to freedom and now I stood at the corner of the chessboard, every avenue blocked by inevitability.