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| - The six enormous Massassi stood outside Rin's chamber, glaives in hand, armor gleaming. They saluted with their weapons as Tariun passed through their midst, waving open the door and stepping inside. Rin stood across the small parlor she had set up for herself, leaning on a holoprojector that showed the Empire. At first Tariun thought she was studying the same tactical map they had just left behind in the war room, but as he watched, it reset itself. The golden glow of all sixty-three of the Empire's initial systems glimmered, expanding to pick up new systems in the Xoquon sector as the Tetrarchy's red appeared nearby. Then there was a small flash at the dot representing Hudrel, and the red began to blanket the gold again, retaking the Xoquon sector first, then steadily encroaching on the Empire's home territory. When it blanketed Irestego, the progression reset. Tariun watched the progression of the war twice all the way through, then looked at Keltrayu. He stood a few steps away from Rin, arms crossed and expression pained. His Fyippin-hide jacket gleamed under the soft lights of the parlor. He glanced at Tariun, and the Sith saw echoed there all his worry and concern. Not for the Empire. The losing war was frustrating in many ways, and the death of valiant soldiers regrettable, but all such concerns paled in comparison to their worry for Rin. Tariun's sister, Keltrayu's master, and the best person either of them had ever known. "Rin…" Tariun started, looking back at her. "How has it come to this?" she asked quietly, not looking away from the map. Her small shoulders were tight with stress and here, away from her other servants and followers, her voice trembled with fury tainted by despair. "We misstepped at Hudrel," Tariun said candidly. There was no point glossing over it; Rin herself had said as much a dozen times. "We've been playing defense ever since." "You told me not to attack it," Rin reflected, and Tariun winced at the pain in her voice. "You advised me against it and I didn't listen to you." "I supported the attack," Keltrayu admitted. "I was just as much an advocate as—" "I am Queen," Rin cut him off, flicking a dismissive hand over her shoulder. "We were wrong, but you gave me your best advice. I gave the order." Tariun and Keltrayu looked at one another again. "Rin, the concept was good," Tariun said. She finally turned to stare at him incredulously; he forced himself not to dwell on the anguish that was plain on her face. "We're the underdog, this war was never supposed to put us on the defensive. We can't win that way, then or now. It's always been about attack. We just attacked the wrong target." "And now you'd have me risk that again," Rin retorted. "Risk everything on a desperation attack." "We're already desperate, Rin," Keltrayu replied bluntly. "We might as well have the attack, too." "If we die, we die fighting. And if we win, the whole war changes," Tariun insisted. Rin closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before she turned back to the map. Touching a key, she froze it on the Empire's greatest extent, all the territory it had captured before the disaster at Hudrel. "I know you two don't think about the people," she said. Before either of them could interrupt, she raised a hand to forestall them. "I know you're devoted to your soldiers, and that you've found people you're fond of our worlds. But it isn't the same." A twist in the Force from Rin's mind shut off the lights and the holoprojector; in the darkness, a different projector displayed the same map in midair. Tariun found himself standing beside Corcer's homeworld of Zorabos. Walking into the field of glowing golden orbs, Rin passed her hand through some of them. "Iscandar. They joined us thinking we could spread knowledge across a whole galaxy. Now the colony they founded is lost, and their homeworld is the biggest target in the war." She turned to another spot, in the Xoquon sector. "Wemod. They were so happy to be freed—and freed so briefly before the Tetrarchy drove us back. What do they think of us and our promises now?" Stepping back, toward the very beginning of the Empire, Rin stared at a dot for a long moment before speaking. "Centuries the Qua lived in slavery. Treated like animals, bred like animals. Families shattered, children slaughtered, entire generations knowing nothing fear and pain and death." Residual loathing was obvious in Rin's voice. "The Empire has been the first daylight to their world since before any of us were born. What kind of slavery will they face this time if we lose?" She waved her hand, and abruptly the lights came back on as the holomap vanished. Blinking, Tariun cleared his vision in time to see Rin sit down in one of her comfortable chairs, her head in her hands. "How many thousands, maybe millions have died for me already? These people trust the Empire to protect them—they trust me. And now you ask me to gamble with their lives." Tariun could say nothing. He could understand the desire for power; he was a Sith Lord, after all. Loyalty to his family and his species, absolutely; the protection of Quadia made perfect sense for Rin. Respect for soldiers and spacemen and corpsmen? They had learned that from their father, and even though he would spend their lives without regret if need be, Tariun really did respect the forces under his command, and he could understand that too. But this all-encompassing compassion…it still made no sense. That Rin was a Sith was undeniable; in battle she was a volcano of destruction, and he remembered the field of crosses on Quadia that bore mute testament to the fate of slavers in the Golden Empire. But Rin would feel pained if a Tetrarchy soldier killed even a single civilian on one of her worlds, too. How she could reconcile her two natures eluded him, and Tariun could find nothing to say. Keltrayu stepped forward, kneeling at Rin's feet. "If we win at Tizgo V, we could save them all." "And if we lose, we doom them all," Rin replied immediately, grimacing at him. "They trust you," the Dathomiri echoed her words. "They trust your decision. If you decide to attack, all of us will follow you anywhere." "If we hold our course," Tariun said, before Rin could get a word in, "can you see any possibility of victory? Or are we just delaying the inevitable?" Rin looked up at him, then leaned back in her chair, her beautiful face torn. She stared straight ahead, but Tariun could sense she was not consulting the future now, just lost in her own apprehension. Keltrayu hesitated, then reached out to take one of her hands. She didn't seem to notice. "It's a risk, Rin," he conceded softly. "It will put everyone in terrible danger. But we're in danger already." "We can't hold as we are," Tariun said, stepping up to her other side and looking down at her. "Every day it gets harder to keep what we have left intact. If we lose, we die quickly; if we don't fight at all, we will die slowly. All warfare carries risk, Rin, but inaction is the worst risk of all." "If we die and the Tetrarchy takes our territory, our people have the memory of us to carry in their hearts against their oppressors," Keltrayu said, sudden intensity in his tone. He took Rin's hand with his other one, too. "That seed of faith in something better can be all the difference to a slave. They'll know that there was someone who dared to fight for them, a leader who cared about them enough to die for them. If we win, you lead them to victory, and if we die, you're the hope of victory that will inspire them after you're gone." "Master," he said, and Rin finally turned her gaze on him. "They all trust you." "We trust you," he added, gesturing to Tariun without looking away from Rin's eyes. "I trust you. And all of us would rather die fighting for you than live to see your dream die." Rin swallowed hard and looked up at her brother. He nodded back gravely, kneeling at her other side. "You know I'll die for you if I have to. But if we can win…we can win everything. The Empire goes on and on, and you get to see your dream come true. If we don't fight, we know how it ends." Rin closed her eyes, and in the Force Tariun felt the heat of her emotions, each examined in turn in her mind. Her spirit passed through the crucible and emerged purified, her perpetual compassion reflected and dissipated through the prism of her Sith control. When she opened her eyes again, her face was still strained, but her eyes were cool and calm. "Tizgo V?" Tariun nodded. "It has the resources we need, and it's important enough to crack their morale through to the top." Rin nodded back slowly. "Then let it be so."
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