Chapter Thirty-Four

“HK, translate,” Taylor said as she rejoined her droid companion.

She suspected that she had made something of a mistake with Asajj. That was entirely on her. She had recognized that someone was following her. That little tingle on the back of her neck had been one sign, but she also had bugs on every person and droid within her range--Antar Five apparently had a bit of a fruit-fly problem. Technically they weren’t fruit flies, or flies, but they were close enough that Taylor couldn’t help but make the comparison.

In the end it had been HK-47 who had convinced her that they were being followed with a simple, “Observation: A meatbag is following us.”

Taylor should have realized it was Asajj, she shouldn’t have looped around to corner the woman on her own, and she probably shouldn’t have been so threatening. Taylor wasn’t an idiot, she knew how she appeared sometimes.

That effect, where a person saw or heard themselves and couldn’t help but cringe back at their own mannerisms was hard to avoid when they had control of a million eyes staring back at themselves all the time.

So, she had come out as more threatening than she should have, and now she might have ruined her chances of making a good first impression with someone who might as well have been a co-worker.

Asajj was walking a dozen paces behind Taylor, just outside of her range. The pale-skinned woman--Taylor couldn’t tell if she was human or near-human and wasn’t sure how to ask now--kept glancing at her with obvious, unmasked caution.

“Query: Do you intend to give me something to translate, or do you plan on wasting both of our time? Statement: I am aware that meatbrains require an inordinately long time to process things, but you have always seemed quick on your feet, for a meatbag.”

“Don’t call me a meatbag,” Taylor said.

“Query: Did you wish for me to translate that?”

Taylor shot HK47 a look that might have cowed... well, someone who wasn’t him. “Don’t be smart with me, we’re working right now. You can be cute when we’re not about to risk life and limb.”

“Excited Query: Are you planning to lose more limbs, master?”

“I didn’t say I was about to lose my life or what limbs I have,” Taylor said. “Be less bloodthirsty for a minute, I need to convince Asajj here to help us.”

“Correction: Such a thing is literally impossible unless you were to alter my core programming, though I do understand the meaning you were trying to convey.”

Taylor rolled the eyes of one of her bugs since it would have looked unprofessional to roll her own. It was a cute little thing she’d found tucked in a crate full of some fragrant fruit, with long stalks that gave it an expressive face. She imagined that dealing with invasive species must have been a nightmare in a spaceport, but for now she’d use that to her advantage.

“Asajj Ventress,” she said. “Can I call you just Asajj?”

“I don’t see why not,” Asajj said. Taylor was able to parse that entire sentence without help. She was growing pretty good at speaking Basic. Learning how to read it would have to come next.

“Names are important. They tell you which meatbag is dangerous,” Taylor said. “But if you don’t mind me calling you Asajj, then that’s good.” Taylor gestured around her to the bare cement walls of the spaceport. Some effort had been made to make the place look decent. The architecture features some twisting columns and a few large windows that overlooked the world beyond, but there was no hiding a place designed for utility first. “This place is nice, but where is the... HK, how do I say terrorist in Basic?”

“Translation: The word you’re looking for is: Terrorist,” HK47 said.

“Those,” Taylor replied.

“Do you mean mercenaries to work with you, or the Roshu Sune?” Asajj asked.

Taylor nodded. “Them. The Roshu Sune. They’re the ones that did the bombings on Antar Four, right?”

“They’ve certainly taken credit for the bombings,” Asajj said. “Will you be helping them?”

“What? No, they’re terrorists,” Taylor said. “That makes them the bad guys, and we’re the good meatbags.”

“I don’t follow,” Asajj said.

Taylor rubbed at her chin. “HK47, I’ll need you to translate this one, I can’t say all of this in Basic without making a mess of it.”

“Acknowledgement: Understood. I am ready to translate.”

Taylor cleared her throat. “You were sent here by Count Dooku. He sent me this way too. Surprisingly, he didn’t specify what he wanted me to do here. I presume that he wants both of us to fix the problems that have arisen for the Separatists in this system. Dooku is pushing that political agenda after all.” She looked to Asajj. “What would you do?”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Translation: Is this some test?” Asajj asked through HK47’s translation.

Taylor frowned. “Maybe? I don’t know a lot about you. Count Dooku said that I would meet you here. He is very competent, from what little I’ve seen. I imagine he wouldn’t send someone that couldn’t complete the mission he set out. So, what would you do to help the Gotal Assembly for Seperation?”

Asajj listened to both her speaking in English and HK47’s repetition in Basic.

“I imagine you’re aware that jedi are coming? The Roshu Sune are targeting the rangers and some Republic facilities. I’d find their leadership, then guide them to be more effective. I know how to kill a jedi. What would you do?” Asajj asked right back.

Taylor grinned. “I would start off the same. Find the terrorist leadership. Then, with the help of the Gotal Assembly for Separation and the local police force, I’d arrest the Roshu Sune leadership. Hopefully before the Jedi can intervene.”

“Why?” Asajj asked. Her eyes were narrowed. Taylor imagined that she didn’t quite understand her reasoning.

“Because we don’t want the Roshu Sune to win. They’re terrorists. A problem for the normal citizens of the system, even if they’re acting to help. Instead we remove them while promoting the Gotal Assembly.”

“That won’t help them much, would it?” Asajj asked.

Taylor shrugged. “We can plant fake information that the Roshu Sune were working with the Republic, that they were being helped by the party working against the Separatists. We can get the media that’s on the Seperatist’s side to talk about how the Republic did nothing, and how it was the proud gotal that solved their own problems. There are a lot of ways to win a city over, a world, a system. The best way, I think, is to make it so that the people want you to win.”

“That doesn’t feel like the sith way,” Asajj said.

“What is the sith way?” Taylor asked. It was an honest question.

“Peace is a lie. There is only passion,” Asajj began. “Through passion, you gain strength. Through strength, you gain power. Through power, you gain victory. And through victory you are freed.”

Taylor couldn’t follow what she said in Basic, but the words certainly had a rhyme and cadence to them that sounded almost poetic.

“Addendum: Master, the words this grey-skinned, over-zealous Sith-wanna be spoke are a retelling of the sith code. Before you enquire, the code is a long-winded motto that some sith decided to live by. I have my own optimised version of such a code myself. It is comforting to have a reliable moral system to fall back upon.”

Taylor felt something like cold dread in the pit of her stomach for a moment, but she had to ask. “What’s your code, HK?”

“Recitation: Peace is nonoptimal. There is only slaughter. Through slaughter I gain knowledge. Through knowledge I become more efficient. Through greater efficiency, I become a greater tool for violence. Through violence, my purpose is fulfilled. There is no joy but overkill.”

Taylor’s gut feeling was right. She shook her head. “Well, that’s all quite terrifying and interesting. But Asajj, to answer your... sort of question, I care more about being capable than being a good sith. Your code says that victory is important? Then why only rely on one kind of power to obtain that victory.”

Asajj considered that for a long moment. “I suppose it’s one way of looking at things. It feels wrong not to pursue true, power.”

“You mean power with the force?” Taylor asked. “Your abilities?”

Asajj nodded once.

“Do you think I’m weak, Asajj?” Taylor asked.

“No, I don’t,” Asajj said.

“It would be very easy to kill me though. We have spaceship here. Just shoot at me from space and there’s nothing I could do to survive. Fling asteroids at the planet, or blow up my ship while I’m on it. And no amount of power will save me. But that’s only with personal power. If I’m loved enough, if my enemies are worried about what those that care about me will do to them after they’ve killed me? Then maybe I’ll win without ever having to fight. I think that’s a great kind of power to have.”

“You are a very strange sith,” Asajj said.

Taylor shrugged. “I’m Taylor long before I’m Darth Khepri.”

For some reason, that seemed to unnerve Asajj. But she didn’t have time to dig into that, they had work to get to.

***