Terenta-Tech 3 (Patreon)

“I have to ask,” Satele hesitantly began during breakfast two days after she’d learned about the Sith perspective on the Great Hyperspace War. “How is it that a chiss ends up a Sith Apprentice?”

Darth Terent’s apprentice, Semaki, looked up from the dataslate she was working on as she answered, “I’m not chiss in any way except biologically. You don’t need to know how, but I was adopted by a Sith Lord when I was a toddler and raised as one of their family. My being Force-Sensitive was an unexpected, albeit pleasant, surprise. Of course, being chosen by a master wasn’t the easiest, I’m just fortunate that my graduation coincided with Uncle Arben being elevated to Darth.”

Satele blinked in surprise, “‘Uncle’?”

Darth Terent sat down at the table, placing trays down in front of both women as his own floated down in front of him, “Semaki’s not just my apprentice, she’s also my niece.”

The conversation after that was primarily between Darth Terent and his apprentice, as he quizzed her on various questions and topics. To Satele’s eyes, it was almost like her early days under Master Darach, printing surprise exams to make sure she’d been keeping up on her studies. Thinking of her deceased master brought a pang to Satele’s heart, along with thoughts wondering how he’d react to her being held prisoner by the very foes that led to his death.

The burning along her eyes and nose from the fumes of Darth Terent’s breakfast prompted another question from Satele, “How do you stand that much spice? I can feel the heat from it across the table.”

“Oh it’s quite simple,” Darth Terent said after swallowing a bite of his lightsaber red food. “Unlike humans and most near humans, cascapin doesn’t cause the heat receptors in our mouths to activate. So we get the flavor without the illusion of burning.”

“Lucky bastards,” Semaki muttered. “Imagine growing up in a household where everyone else’s favorite foods made you feel like your mouth was full of lava.”

Any response was interrupted by a chime from Darth Terent’s wrist, still encased in his armor’s gauntlet. The Sith Lord in question looked at it, before bringing his wrist up to his mouth and speaking, his voice echoing over the ship’s intercom, “This is Darth Terent speaking, we will be dropping out of hyperspace in five minutes. Prepare for Code Kresh-White.”

Immediately, the entirety of the mess hall started scrambling to their feet, janitorial staff coming in and bussing the tables even as soldiers were standing from the benches. Even Darth Terent and Semaki stood, the apprentice dragging her to her feet as well.

“What is Code Kresh-White?” Satele asked as Semaki led her to the quarters she’d been staying in.

“Possible combat against unknown enemies, Master likes to be prepared,” Semaki stated with a brusk tone. “Until further notice you’re confined to your quarters. Should circumstances require it, food will be brought to you.”

[hr][/hr]

“Cipher Twelve, you’ve had ten hours, give me something,” Darth Terent growled to the figure on the other end of the holo.

“My Lord, I can confirm that we are indeed in the Geonosis system. I have been unable to find a historical database to determine how long we were in hyperspace, but from the contextual clues of the various conversations, I have determined that either the Empire went into hiding again or no longer exists.

“Several representatives of various factions have recently arrived, discussing an alliance to separate from the Republic, headed by one Count Dooku, that plan to use a droid army to force the Republic to surrender. Additionally, a jedi was recently captured, a knight by the name of Obi Wan Kenobi.”

Darth Terent gave a considering humm, rubbing at the chin plate of his helmet as he considered. A faction that was planning on using an army to attack the Republic, even without the Sith Empire to fall back on, this had potential.

“You have done well; if possible, bring a model of the droids they plan to use back to the Seeker of Knowledge. I wish to see how great a threat they may prove to be,” he ordered, prompting a salute from the Cipher Agent.

An hour later, Darth Terent stood in the primary hanger bay as the Cipher’s ship gently touched down. Approaching the small shuttle, he gave a nod to the skilled spy and levitated the lightly sparking droid frame to him.

“Is this is?” he asked, a note of disappointment in his voice as he used the Force to peer into its inner workings.

“Indeed, My Lord. I suspect that such droids would only prove a threat in large numbers, however if my suspicions are correct they are cheap and easy to both produce and transport en mass. Combine that with the easier logistics of supplying a droid-based army and there are some advantages in open warfare,” Cipher Twelve pointed out, prompting an agreeing nod from Darth Terent as he examined the circuitry more closely.

“Plus the level of miniaturization…” the tech-focused Sith quietly mused. “If I were to build a droid that could hold a blaster and coordinate, I’d need a much larger frame. Have it sent to Engineering Lab 2, let the techs tear it apart and see if they can reverse engineer anything useful from it.”

“Yes, My Lord. Is there anything else?”

“Not for the mome… actually, yes. Once you’ve done that, see if you can gather more information about the captured jedi, standard stealth mission parameters, minus suicide pills. I need all the resources I can manage, and we should be out of context enough that if you are captured they will fail to ask the proper questions. In the meantime, I believe I need to arrange a… meeting with this Count Dooku. It’s been a while since I’ve had to perform a diplomatic mission.”

Left unsaid was that the last time that Darth Terent had led a diplomatic mission it involved him parking ten Harrower-class star destroyers in orbit over the capital city of the other party. He could hardly do the same this time, after all he only had the one Harrower that they were on.