The hangar bay was dim, lit only by red strip-lights along the walls and floor. Karn approached his vessel—a sleek, pitch-black ship with sharp, angular architecture. It resembled a darker, more vicious, outfitted for death and escape alike. Red lights pulsed from the underbelly, giving the craft a heartbeat.
As the ramp hissed open and descended, soft laughter and conversation spilled out from within. Karn stepped aboard with a smug grin playing beneath his helmet.
"Welcome home, Lord Karn," purred Nysira, the lavender-skinned Twi'lek, clad in a sleek black flight suit partially unzipped. Her lekku coiled lazily around her shoulders. She walked toward him with the grace of someone who owned every room she entered.
Following her were his other companions—Velari, the emerald-skinned Mirialan with geometric tattoos under each piercing eye and a lithe body honed from years of survival, and Keela, the vibrant-haired Theelin with speckled skin and hooved feet clicking gently against the metal floor.
Each had been his companion, servant, and lover for three years now, rescued from the very slavers who once owned Karn himself. He had returned there not for vengeance but for completion, and what he left in his wake was ashes and liberated chains.
He removed his helmet, setting it down with a metallic thunk, and leaned in to kiss each of them in turn.
"Miss me?" he murmured.
"Enough to check the systems five times while you were gone," Nysira teased.
"We even cleaned the exhaust tubes," Keela added playfully, flicking her vibrant pink bangs aside.
Velari simply nodded, expression unreadable, but her hand slipped into his. "You built this ship with blood and brilliance. Of course, we missed you."
Karn chuckled. "Good. Because I completed my task here."
He raised his hand. In his palm rested his newly constructed lightsaber—a sleek hilt of matte black and crimson accents. The girls gasped in unison.
"Your blade... You did it," Nysira said breathlessly.
"That means you're a Sith now. Truly," Keela said with something like awe.
"It means," Karn said darkly, sinking into the pilot's seat, "that I'm not so easily disposed of and in time I'll be no one's pawn"
Velari took the co-pilot seat beside him, flipping switches. "Coordinates, my Lord?"
"Not yet."
Just then, a chime echoed from the cockpit. An incoming transmission.
Karn frowned slightly. "Velari, give us a moment."
She nodded, stood, and exited, hips swaying deliberately. Karn activated the holo-display.
The flickering blue visage of Darth Sidious appeared, gaunt and cloaked as ever, his mouth curled in a thin smile.
"Karn. My warrior. I see you carry a weapon now that reflects your true self."
Karn bowed his head. "Yes, Master. One that is mine built through trial, and soon to be crisened in war."
Sidious' yellow eyes glinted. "You've done well. You are no longer an apprentice—you are Sith. The Force trembles in your wake."
Karn said nothing.
Sidious continued. "While you were away, Count Dooku faced... complications. At the Battle of Sullust, he was forced to eliminate Asajj Ventress. She had grown too powerful."
Karn raised a brow. "Ventress is dead?"
"As far as Dooku knows. But I sense otherwise," Sidious hissed. "Regardless, she's no longer in his plans. Dooku's loyalty has been reaffirmed."
Karn leaned forward slightly. "Is there a change to my assignment, Master? Am I to return to his side?"
Sidious nodded. "You are. But listen well—some time after the battle, Dooku was attacked at his palace on Serenno by what he believed were Jedi assassins. Poison dulled his senses, but he fought them off with Force lightning. Their identity remains unknown."
Karn's eyes narrowed. "An assassination attempt so soon after Ventress..."
"Exactly. Mother Talzin has now offered Dooku a male replacement—likely another pawn. He's accepted. But something about all of this... feels wrong."
Karn smirked. "You want me to watch him."
Sidious's grin widened. "I want you to remain close. The war must proceed. His place in it... is still useful. Plot the course for Serenno. I trust you will not fail me."
The hologram flickered off.
Karn leaned back, fingers steepled, smirking. "I was raised by a master manipulator," he murmured, "I know emotional bait when I hear it."
The door slid open. Velari returned and gently removed his cloak, then kissed his forehead. "Where are we heading?"
Karn turned to her, then to Nysira and Keela, now leaning in the doorway, clearly eavesdropping.
He raised a brow and asked, "Tell me... any of you ever been to Serenno?"
Nysira grinned. "Only heard of it instories."
"Then this should be fun," Karn said, flashing teeth.
Velari took the co-pilot seat once more. Engines roared to life. As they lifted off and punched toward the upper atmosphere, the stars blurred.
The ship streaked into hyperspace—its black-and-red silhouette vanishing into the void.