Darth Zannah: The Art of Deception Chapter 13

Star Wars
Darth Zannah
The Art of Deception

By JAM4077

(Based on the Darth Bane Trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn.)

CHAPTER 13

When Raven came to, the Jedi knight found himself in a hospital bed, surrounded by medical droids, each one was monitoring his blood pressure and his vitals. An IV tube was attached to his arm, pumping in a unit of blood into his body and some type IV solution. The Jedi went straightened himself up but was pushed by down at the hands of a fair-skinned female. He looked up to see Zannah standing over him. Her blue eyes staring right into Raven's dark eyes.

“You should take it easy, Master Jedi,” she advised. “You’ve been unconscious for the past couple of days now.”

“Where am I?” Raven asked, sounding half asleep.

“Daplona hospital,” Zannah said. “We were attacked, remember?”

“Yes,” Raven said after taking a moment to recall the events of the Maladian attack. “Did they catch any of the assassins that fled after I passed out?”

“They did, but none of them had the means to speak. They committed suicide by ingesting poison that was encased inside false molars.”

“So, they were Maladians. That is one of their signature ways of keeping the names of their clients safe.”

“Interesting. You better keep that in mind,” Zannah heard a voice say in her head. She shook her to drive the voice away.

“Are you all right?” Raven asked.

“Bit of a slight headache,” Zannah said, rubbing the temple of her head. “It comes and goes.”

“Perhaps you should see a doctor.”

“I’m fine. You should worry about yourself.”

“I can’t. It’s not within my Jedi nature.”

“Sounds like someone is feeling better,” Raven heard a familiar voice say. Ti’Ana stepped into the room.

“Thanks to you, Master,” Raven said. “I guess it makes for four of out the nine times I’ve saved you.”

“Eight times, actually,” Ti’Ana corrected. “That little indecent on Ord Mantell doesn’t necessarily count. Senator, would you be so kind as to step out? I need to have a word with my former Padawan alone.”

“Oh, boy, I think I’m in trouble,” Raven said.

“Of course, Master Jedi,” Zannah said to Ti’Ana. Raven gave her the “don’t leave me” look, which she ignored.

Once Zannah had left the room, Ti’Ana said, “I spoke with the council about the recent attack on Senator Omak’s life. Or should I say on Zannah’s life.”

“How much did she tell you?” Raven asked.

“She told me everything. The council, including myself for that matter, were very displeased that you didn’t report her affinity with the Force or her real identity.”

“What difference would it have made, master? After the Ruusan Reformation was enacted by the senate, the Order made so that it would not accept being weren’t 6 months old.”

“True enough. But exceptions can be made, Raven. The council wants to test Zannah and her abilities.”

“What? Why?”

"Some of the council members are curious about her. So am I. The way she handled herself against the Maladians and the way she used the Force, I have never seen anything like that from someone who wasn't trained."

“You’re not suggesting that she has ties to some dark side cult?”

“That’s why we need to test her. If she is, maybe we can help see the light.”

“And what is to happen to me?”

“The council wants you to continue protecting the senator as soon as you are well.”

“Who is protecting the senator now?”

“I had a security detail put in place. It was very hard to do given what happened. Someone is going to great lengths to kill Zannah.”

“You think this assassination attempt has something to do with the bombings?”

“It may also have to droid sabotage not too long ago. All the more reason to keep an eye on Zannah.”


Zannah's feet took her an area of the hospital for patients and loved ones would go to seek religious support. She found the room empty. Not even a holy man who governed the room was there.

“We are alone,” Zannah said with a firm voice. “Now, show yourself.”

A burst of wicked, low laughter filled the air. Then, Zannah's body started to jerk and twist uncontrollably. Zannah bit her lip to hold back all the urges to hallow in pain until it became unbearable to her. Zannah gave in to her urge and opened her mouth, but no scream came. Instead, small embers of fire emerged from her mouth. To an onlooker who wasn't attuned to the Force, it looked as though Zannah was having some sort of a fit.

The last of the embers left Zannah’s body. The ordeal caused her to fall to the carpeted floor. She looked up to seem the embers become a raging fire and take on a human-like form. The flames soon became encased in a substance that was a mixture of metal and stone. It turned into a dark armor that Zannah recognized instantly from the day they first met.
Zannah rose to her feet and stared into the flaming, glowing eyes of her former master, Darth Bane.

Bane, or the remaining fragment of his spirit for that matter, stared back at his former apprentice and successor. He wore a mask over his face, which had markings that were based on a skull. Zannah recalled some written down in counters of some Sith spirits in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban that bore similar masks. She found this mask to be fitting for her late master as she had buried what remained of her master in a tomb within the Valley of the Dark Lords what was left unoccupied.

"Hello, my former apprentice," Darth Bane said in a voice that was completely different from what Zannah remembered. Two voices were speaking from the apparition, one was very deep, while the other was slightly higher in pitch. The two voices seem to flux with each other as Bane spoke.

“Darth Bane?" Zannah shook her head quickly. "No. You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Yes, my former apprentice," moaned Bane as he floated around Zannah. “I am dead. A victim of my foolishness. Failing to see that my act of using essence transfer on you when your will was as strong as my own was a fatal mistake. And thus, most of my spirit was sent to void. I remained within you, living off you like a parasite. Waiting to see whether you would continue my legacy with Cognus until your death.

“I was quite pleased with your resolve, even though you soon siphoned some of my power for yourself. That is until the Jedi came.”

“What do you mean?” Zannah asked in confusion.

The specter of Bane brought his masked face within an inch of Zannah’s. His flaming, yellow eyes stared deep into hers. “Don't act so surprised, Zannah. I know all about your feelings for the Jedi Raven Lore, despite how much you may deny it.”

“Me? Care for a Jedi, my sworn enemy? Surely, even in death, you must be joking?”

Bane merely laughed at Zannah’s statement as he floated away. “I know better. These feelings you have for the Jedi are no different from those you had for the Lethan Twi’lek, Kelad’den.”

“He was a means to an end," growled Zannah, slowly losing her composure. "Nothing more."

“And yet, you had romantic feelings for the Twi’lek. Which is why you questioned me about my decision to eliminate him and his separatist front. And let us not forget your cousin, Darovit. We both know what happened when you urged me to let him live.”

Zannah couldn't stand any more of this. This had to stop. “Shut up...” she demanded. "SHUT UP!!!"

Darth Bane let out another mirthless laugh. “Or what? Subdue me with your Force lightning or sorcery? You’ll kill me? You can’t harm or kill a ghost, my former apprentice. There is nothing for you to do, while I wait for you to make the mistake that will jeopardize the Sith so that I can take over.”

“Over my dead body,” Zannah said.

“Oh, it will never come to that,” Bane said before disappearing like a puff of smoke with a laughing maniacally.

Zannah took a seat at one of the benches and contemplated her new situation. She had always suspected the fragment of Bane's soul that was inside her head still held the cunning and methodical mind the former Dark Lord had in life. She had hoped the Sith amulets she had made at the start of her reign would hold the spirit off until the fated duel that would decide whether or not she or Cognus would rule the Sith.

But now, thanks to the Jedi, the amulets were gone, giving the spirit the full range to make the situation she was currently in worse. Worse of all, Bane was right. There was nothing that Zannah could do about it. In all of the study of the Sith, from the Holocrons of Freedon Nadd and Belia Darzu to the written notes that Darth Bane made from his study of Holocron of Darth Revan to the journal of Lord Kaan, Zannah never came across anything that related to ghosts and how to deal with them.

At first, she thought about making a trip to Korriban and getting her hands on written text and manuscripts that the original Brotherhood of Darkness had procured in their 10-year reign. But it was too risky now that the Jedi knew of her Force talents. Even if she did, they wouldn't help as Sith Lords, who wrote most of those texts were from eras long before the reign of Darth Revan.

But there was one group of Sith that reigned between the era of Darth Revan and Sith of the New Sith Wars that Zannah recalled. The Republic had done everything in their power to erase this group of Sith from the galactic history. But it wasn’t easy given the fact that Sith group, known as the True Sith Empire, had conquered half the galaxy in the 20-year conflict known as the Great Galactic War. After the Second Great Galactic War, everything about the True Sith Empire vanished, including the teachings of the Sith. Not even the Jedi Order knew the whereabouts of their teachings.

Zannah wondered if they buried somewhere on Dromund Kaas, the capital of the True Sith Empire, the Jedi wouldn't think to look or never dared to go, such as the Dark Temple or the fortresses that once housed members of the Empire's Dark Council. It wasn't much to go on, but for Zannah, it was a start.

“A credit for your thoughts,” Zannah heard a familiar voice say. She looked up to find Khan standing over her. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

"No, Lord Khan," Zannah said as she rose and bowed her head.

“Are you sure? Judging by the look on your face, it looked important,” Khan said.

“It’s nothing that should concern you. So, what brings you here?”

"I heard about the attempted assassination at your manor. I came to see if your Jedi friend were all right."

"We are fine. However, the attempt on our lives has forced me to reveal myself as a Force user."

“I see. Talk about bad luck.”

“In my experience, there is no such thing as luck.”

“Still, maybe we can use this to our advantage. The closer you are to the Jedi, the more we can know about their plans and how to avoid them.”

“Or turn those plans against them.”

“You speak like the Sith Inquisitors of the True Sith Empire.”

“You know about the True Sith Empire?”

"I have been studying the True Sith Empire since the final battle of Ruusan. Out of all the Sith who came before, they were the ones who nearly conquered the galaxy. If it weren't for the redeemed Jedi Revan's influence on the Emperor's mind, the Sith Empire would've brought the Republic to its knees."

“How exactly have you been studying them,” Zannah pushed.

Kaan smiled and said, "Through the Holocrons of some the most powerful and cunning members of the Sith, Darth Angral, Baras, Malgus, Jadus, and Marr."

"You found their Holocrons?"

“Yes, hidden in vaults on Dromund Kaas that only those attuned to the dark side could unlock.”

“Do the other members of the Brotherhood know about this?”

“No. By doing so, it would introduce rivalry among the ranks. What the Brotherhood needs is unity if we are to defeat our enemies.”

“Then why share this with me?”

“Think of it as a sign of trust between us.”

Liar, Zannah thought. This was Khan’s way of keeping her into his fold by tempting her with knowledge of the Sith arts. But, this suited Zannah just fine.

“You doubt me, Zannah?” Khan said. “Not surprising given what happened recently. Maybe this will clear all doubts in your mind.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Zannah heard Bane’s voice in her head. “Allow me to strike him down like the fool he is.”

Zannah ignored the spirit as Khan removed a small case from the bag that was attached to the belt that was wrapped around his waist. He places the container inside Zannah's hand. When she touched the case, Zannah felt a strong, burning presence of the dark side coming from inside. Bane spirit tried to take over Zannah's arms to get rid of the case, but Zannah's will beat him back. The struggle of wills forced Zannah to crumble to her knees.

“An amazing power, isn’t it?” Khan said, having no comprehension as to the struggle that Zannah had just won.

"Yes," Zannah said, eyeing the case and allowing the dark side energies from the case's contents to flow through her. She opened the case and found a small 4 sided pyramid inside. The red crystal pyramid was encased in a gold frame. Markings on the crystal were different from anything that Zannah had seen on Holocron Freedon Nadd to her old master's Holocron. This didn't surprise Zannah though. Each Holocron had to have its unique marking; otherwise, construction of the Holocron would fail as it did for her master when he began building his first Holocron. "Whose Holocron is this?"

"That is an interesting question," Khan said. "This Holocron was found hidden in the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, one of the 12 Spheres of Influence of the Sith Empire that were run by the Dark Council. Each Darth who took a seat on the Council was required to create a Holocron to store their knowledge shortly after being seated. Many Holocrons that were created by the Dark Council were destroyed following the Eternal Empire's invasion of Korriban over 2500 years ago."

“If you had to hazard a guess, who would you say this belongs to?” Zannah asked.

"Well…if I were to guess, I'd say that this Holocron belongs to the Darth Nox, who head of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge around the time of the Second Great Galactic War after killing the previous head, Darth Thanaton."

“How can you be certain?”

"The markings on the Holocron bare a similar design to a marking that etched on a mask that Nox was known to wear in battle."

“What can you tell about Nox?”

"Not much I'm afraid. Any information such as Nox's species and gender were lost when the Sith Empire finally fell. Although, I did hear tales about Nox that stated the Dark Lord had rare pull among ghosts, allowing them to sense the Dark Lord's presence from a distance and invoke long-hidden emotions. Nox was said to know a ritual the allowed to draw power from these ghosts."

"You think Nox might have put the knowledge of this ritual in this Holocron?" Zannah asked. Zannah's eagerness about this ritual took Khan by surprise.

“It’s possible,” Khan said. “Why are you so interested? Having problems with ghosts?”

Zannah ignored Khan's question. She closed the Nox's Holocron case and took off. Khan watched her leave and started to wonder if he made the mistake of giving her the Holocron. Then, he felt a familiar presence in the room and a smile appeared across his crimson face.

“You’re assassin attempt failed, Doz,” Khan said.

Doz emerged from the shadows, removing her dark hook from the horned head. She stormed towards Khan with fury in her eyes. Khan reaches into his bag and pulls out his curved hilt lightsaber. Doz halted her advancement as the hilts crimson blade came to life.

"And you're allowing your fascination with that woman to cloud your judgment," Doz protested. "First you allowed her into the Brotherhood, even though she displays training that many of us have not received. Now, you give her a Sith Holocron, which will make her even more dangerous."

“My judgment is clouded?” Khan said with a laugh. “You’re one to talk. You never once liked Zannah ever since she showed up with me on the Star Destroyer.”

“She’s a Sith, isn’t she? All other Sith are viewed as rivals and she is no exception.”

"You lie yet again. You don't see her as a rival because she is a Sith. You only see her as a rival for affection over me."

Doz didn't respond to Khan's statement for a moment. "How long have you known?"

“For quite some time, ever since I freed you from Zygerrian slavers.”

“My lord,” she said in a quivering voice.

Khan lowered his saber and extinguishes the blade. “As much as I hate to admit it, Zannah may be a danger to the Brotherhood. However, I cannot kill her right away. We must learn all that we can about her. We must know her strengths and weaknesses. We must know what kind of power base she has if any. And more importantly, we must if she is taking orders from a certain master.”

“A certain master?” Doz said with confusion.

“It’s not of your concern. For now, we must wait. When the time is right, you will have her head.”

“And I have the perfect person to spy on her and those she works closely with.”

Just then a tall figure in the dark hood emerged the shadows. The sight of another being in the room whose presence was hidden in the Force alarmed Khan and he raised his lightsaber. The figure took his place behind Doz with his hands raised. Khan took notice of a lightsaber hanging on the man belt. Doz lowered Khan’s sword hand and said, “Lord Khan, I would like you to meet our newest member of the Brotherhood: Tien Crane.”

The man removed his hood, revealing himself as fair skin, human. He had long dark hair that ran down to his shoulder. He had a long beard that covered up his Adam's apple. There was one unique feature about Tien that caught Khan's eyes. Tien had a third eye right in the middle of his forehead.

"My lord," Tien said while bowing his head, in a deep, commanding voice.


It was very late in the evening when Zannah made quietly made her down from her room into the study. With the Force to guide her, Zannah passed through new security that was put in place without alerting the guards. She reached the study and approached the fireplace. The fire had died down only a couple of hours ago. She stepped inside and used the Force to lower herself down the room where all the Sith teachings were gathered. The three Holocrons that Zannah had inherited were placed pedestals. All written items were placed on shelves that were embedded into the walls.

Zannah lit the illuminators in the room, which gave off a yellowish-orange glow. She placed her new Sith Holocron in the middle of the room and put herself in a meditation position. She concentrated on the dark side of the Force into the Holocron, which she had seen Darth Bane do countless times with the Holocrons of Freedon Nadd and Belia Darzu. The Holocron glowed brighter in response, but the gatekeeper didn't appear.

Zannah concentrated hard on the Holocron, but to no avail. It just glowed brighter. She tried reciting the Sith Code to the Holocron, but that didn't work either. Zannah cursed under her breath. If only she had the in-depth knowledge of Sith Holocrons that her master. But she knew that Bane's spirit wasn't going to share if what Khan said about this Holocron belonging to Darth Nox.

Zannah spent over half an hour trying to open the Holocron. This included reciting the Sith Code through different phrasing of words, by concentrating on different amounts of the dark side through the Holocron. She even sliced her hand to make a blood offering, but even that didn't work.

Frustrated with her failures, Zannah unleashed a wave of Sith Lightning at the Holocron as she screamed, "Just open damn it!"

In response to the presence of Sith Lightning, the Holocron glowed brighter than ever before. A beam of light emerged from the top of the Holocron. The particles took the form of a woman of average build, wearing black robes was styled after the robes worn by Darth Revan. The robes seem to hug every curve of her body. On the woman's belt was curved hilt lightsaber unlike any she had seen before. The way it was built, the hilt could function as a standard lightsaber and, yet, benefit from the change in attack angles that were common to curved hilts.

Then, there was the woman's face. She looked slightly younger then Zannah, give or take a couple of years. She had an oval face with high, rounded cheekbones. Her black hair ran down past her shoulders. On her, slightly pale skin was purple markings that framed her yellow eyes and covered her top lip. Her bottom lip had a purple triangle mark. It was unclear if they were tattoos or applied make-up, but none of that mattered. Then, there was her scar. It was large and pronounced, running across her face in a downward motion.

“I am Darth Nox, heir of Lord Kallig and Dark Lord of the Sith,” the gatekeeper of the Holocron said. Her voice was clear, commanding, and sporting an accent that was unfamiliar to Zannah’s ears. “Who dares to seek my knowledge?”

“I am Darth Zannah, Dark Lord of the Sith,” Zannah said, bowing the gatekeeper. “I have a little ghost problem.”