STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Runaway

Friste's name rings through his mind. Xavier knows that no matter what Friste must be stopped even if it means making a deal with the devil.

"You have until Friste is dead then I'm done with you," Xavier says firmly. "So then what happens now?"

Before Xavier can answer his own question, he is interrupted by the door hissing open and the dark figure entering.

"Who are you talking to?" Friste asks, gazing inquisitively up into the tank at you.

"No one, just myself," Xavier replies.

Friste holds his curious gaze for a moment more before talking.

"So, you managed to track me down, Xavier," Friste says. "I am impressed. Tell me, how did you do it?"

"It wasn't hard, you are very predictable," Xavier says.

Friste frowns.

"No doubt that prune-faced slave helped you," Friste says. "The real question is, do you even know what I am planning? I'm sure you have some idea..."

"Trax is not a slave anymore," Xavier corrects Friste before answering his other statement. "I know one does not take a key unless they are going to open something."

"Ah, the Key," Friste says, smiling. "So you remembered what Xorn left the Order for. Poor, simple Xorn. He never really understood what the Key was for or what he could do with it. The Dark Side just called out to him from it and he took it. But I know what it is for."

"What is it for?"

Friste clears his throat.

"Legend has it that there was a mighty General that fought for the Sith, during the last great war with the Sith," Friste says. "One day, he simply vanished, along with his fighting force of hundreds of thousands. Some say that he fled after losing a battle against the Republic, but that's only partially true. Toward the end of the war, when the Sith were being pushed back, one of the Sith Lords decided he would put the General and his army in statis, to be revived when the Sith rose again."

DOes Xavier using Jedi Lore have any knowledge on this?

"So are you planning on finding this army and reviving them?"

No. Friste must have uncovered some hidden knowledge in his travels with Svidrigailov.

"Precisely," Friste says. "And with the Army of Mortez under my control, I will lay siege to the Republic. The only fighting force that could possibly stand in my way would be the Jedi Order, but they are not infinitely powerful. They will be overwhelmed by the numbers I throw at them."

"First you would have to find the army if it even exists, secondly what makes you think they would fight for you?"

"He who has the Key of Mortez has the key to leadership," Friste says. "And it just so happens that I have the Key. That itself is proof, but it is not the only proof I have."

"What other proof do you have?"

"I'm glad you asked."

Friste produces from his coat a crumpled scroll of parchment, stained yellow with time. He unrolls part of it and shows it to you. It is written in a language you do not know.

"This, Xavier, is a Sith military document. I came across it in my pirating, through various means of bargaining and bludgeoning. It refers to the strategy, however flawed it may have been, of leaving soldiers in stasis hidden in enemy space so that when the Sith took that area of space, they could immediately double their forces. A silly plan, really... but proof that the idea was entertained. Mortez is even mentioned."

"So then where is this army if it exists?"

"A forgotten and desolate world that is within Republic space," Friste says. "They will never see it coming. The Dark Side clouds everything."

"What world is this?" Xavier asks.

"I shouldn't say," Friste says. "For though I have you in captivity... I have underestimated you. I could just kill you now and save myself the trouble, but I recognize talent when I see it. Do you remember the offer I made?"