Chapter 3: Old and New Aches of the Heart 1/2

Author's Notes

It won't stop growing! The attention this story is getting is really shocking me and filling my black heart with joy.

Speaking of that... oh boy... does this chapter get into those dark themes I warned you all about. A solid quarter of this chapter is Naraiz dipping a bit too deep into the Dark Side. It's his first time really doing so as this new person so the inexperience is biting him in the ass.

Please support by become my patrons at /MikeX713 on the site-that-shall-not-be-named-for-some-unknown-reason.

"And this here is the Godswood." Lyarra said as we entered the walled grove that housed the Weirwood of the Old Gods. It has been about a week since she had begun to teach me all she knew about the North. Quinn had begun to learn all he could about Westeros from the Maester, and while his reports were littered with small biases I really was more or less using it as a cover. I would eventually plunder the Citadel for all it was worth in terms of knowledge not covered in the Ice and Fire books, but for now I needed a reason for what I knew.

"Peaceful… there is a calm here that is rare anywhere else." I said as he we walked toward the very center of the grove. Lyarra said little to my words. Our relationship was cordial, she was no longer purely suspicious about me when it came to me being a stranger. She still was weary of intent toward her but at the same time to my utter delight… she wasn't hostile toward my slight flirtatious comments.

In the days of me having these little lessons with Lyarra I had asked Jaesa to give me a read of the Lady Stark. I had instructed Jaesa to haunt the castle and learn all she could both with rumors and her powers. My darling apprentice gave me a wonderful report that fed into my desires perfectly. Lyarra is a strong woman and slumbering wolf waiting for any sign of danger to her pups. Her love for her children is great and she would go to any lengths to keep them happy and safe. But there was resentment and coldness toward Rickard for the fact he was her cousin and their marriage had been a forced one. She didn't love him but she did respect him. Jaesa had even told me that she was deeply attracted to me along with nearly every other decent looking man in the keep. Lyarra apparently wanted nothing more than to have an affair but couldn't due to all the deep seated loyalty toward Rickard all the men of Winterfell had. This gave me a perfect In with the woman that I could exploit. Worst case I have sex with her and that's it. Best case… I turn her against her husband and I have a perfect little spy in the North. I am such a bastard.

"You have said that the Force is not divine… so does that mean you have no Gods where you are from." Lyarra asked as she sat down on a small rock that clearly had been the seat of many Lords and Ladies of Winterfell before. I however was slightly mesmerized by the flow of the Light Side around the Weirwood to fully hear her. "Naraiz?" I blinked at hearing my name, even if it was one that I was still getting used to.

"Y-yes… sorry. I was a little distracted by the beauty in front of me." I said smoothly and Lyarra smiled as she looked around. "Oh you think I was talking about the trees." I said as I passed by her to approach the face carved onto the Weirwood. I didn't need the Force to know that she was blushing at my compliment. Rickard was a straight forward man and rarely did he flatter his wife as he should, so that left me being able to do it for him. "What was your question again?"

"Oh… nothing important." She said brushing off her previous attempt at serious conversation. Unconsciously fixing her hair in some hope that the man with her would continue to notice her. She had never felt the joy of being courted, her and her husband's marriage had been arranged since they were little and Rickard never bothered with the pomp and little things that two people in love would do. It was this that had first made her wall herself to him, feeling that if he wasn't going to put in the effort to treat her like something to be desired then why should she act like she desired the arrangement in the first place.

"Now come now, I've already apologized, do not wound me further by denying you." I said and the chosen words had the effect I wanted. Through the Force I could tell that her emotions were flying all over the place. Lust, shame, need, more lust, and conflict. I smirked behind her back as I knew what was on her mind, I raised my hand to give her a small push, a small bit of Force Persuasion to water the seed that had already taken root.

"You're disgusting you know that." I stopped what I was doing and looked toward the source of the voice. And there leaning on the Weirwood was Satele Shan, it was like a punch to the gut. My new mind was flailing about trying to control my reaction while the old one was a storm of emotions. Yes… this woman was someone to Naraiz, and what I was feeling was something that I was finding very difficult to come to terms with. Mostly because of how sudden it was.

"Lyarra… could I have some alone time here. I wish to commune with the Force in such a peaceful place." I said never taking my eyes off the scowling former Grand Master of the Jedi. I could feel a bit of disappointment in Lyarra, both innocent and not as much. She stood up and said her goodbyes for the moment and left me and the Force Ghost. Thankfully it seemed that she could not see the specter. Deciding to sallow the feelings in my stomach I defaulted to wit and being an asshole. "I win… that's all I have to say to you. And any other Jedi that might want to show up. I. Win." I said bitterly as me and Satele glared at each other.

"That's what you say to me." I heard her grumble to herself and for the first time I felt resistance to the meld between me and Naraiz. That side of me was not happy and was becoming more chaotic with each passing moment. Satele looked back to me and I could tell she was less than pleased by my choice of words. "You killed Vitiate yes but you did so with the help of Jedi and the Republic." She said and looked infuriated by my choice to double down and mock her with a childish hand talking gesture. "Could there possibly be a worst inheritor of Revan's Will than you!"

"Yes, a Jedi could be worse than me." I said before circling around the Weirwood with Satele staying where she was. I needed to move to business, and away from whatever it was that was happening between us. "Now why is this tree so attached to the Light Side?"

"Don't know and I wouldn't tell you if I did." She snorted as I walked back around and looked right into the carved face of the Weirwood. I wonder if the Three-Eyed Raven could see me right now… not getting any visions or external minds inhabiting the tree so I assumed no at this moment.

"Then why are you here Satele? Can't be just to banter with me and call me names." I said as I turned even more serious. Recognizing this, the Jedi's posture changed slightly. Our relationship was as complicated as one could get. Over the course of the Cold War, then the war after that, the False Revan bullshit, and then the Eternal Empire… things happened. Things that I did not want to deal with now. Things that I honestly really wished had played out differently. But in the end they happened and I had to deal with them as a new man.

"I can assume that you've figured out that this is not the time that you know." She said as we both took a meditative pose facing each other. On our knees we sat as equals of the Force, I could tell that she was grateful for the fact that I at least still had some manners. It was things like this that got me far with certain Jedi, that I could be civil with them at times where it was needed. I had to be, as a follower of Revan I knew that the petty feud between Jedi and Sith was nothing more than that and the sides needed to find true Balance.

"Give or take a few thousand years." I said knowing full well that it was about a century before the start of the Clone Wars. Or at least a century before the Naboo Incident. That was the basic timetable I would need to reform the Empire in the shadows. First fix my ship, get an idea of the state of the Galaxy and figure out where I could find allies. Take over or strike a deal with Kamino for my own Clone Army. Kill all Hutts. And then become Anakin's father. That was my current to-do list but it could change.

"The Jedi of this age have lost their way. As it pains me to say this but the Order is lost down the path it has chosen. If not by you than the hidden Sith will destroy them." No shit Satele, that's what I'm counting on. This will be a cake walk if I can defang the Republic by taking the Clones out from under Palpy. And with my new order of the Sith, the Jedi won't know what hit them. Bunch of pansy ass pacifists they are. "The Jedi have taken a road of absolute order and have militarized the Republic into an authoritative tyrannical government intent on taking over the galaxy to impose its own twisted form of order and so called freedoms." Fuuuuuuuck… damnit God! When I said throw a few curveballs at me I didn't me give me an AU. Oh I'm going to need a lot more information.

"Uh… that's not what I'd expect out of the Order." I said dumbly and Satele actually snickered at the sight of me dumbfounded. "Anything else you might be able to tell me? You know… for old… never mind." I was panicking at this point but I shut up at the glare she was giving for trying to parley our history in such a way. What the hell was I facing? I was thanking the stupid Rule of Two Sith for their work to shroud the Jedi's Force Sight, if not for that I would have no chance to build up my army. Forget just using Clones… I'm going to make fucking Space Marines Legions and maybe a few fuck damned Titans. Also a Star Forge could be useful… and I know where one should be waiting for me.

"I can tell you the locations of a few caches of Old Republic Black Ops Projects that were abandoned after the war, they are still intact and should help you. I suppose you also want some Holocrons to help in the creation of your new Sith Order?" She asked smugly, enjoying my new-found distress highly. I did not like it one bit but grovel I shall, the Sith side of me hated it but I was in control here. The personalities were still mixing, and I still had a lot of my old traits… Slaaneshi shameless was still there.

"Yes please." I more than slightly begged and Satele was surely thrown off by that. So thrown off she just accepted it and began telling me all she had to offer. "Wonderful… who's waiting for me at the tower? Marr I'm guessing?" Satele just gave me a blank look that confirmed my guess. It would be nice to see the man after all this time. He was a Sith that understood so much beyond what the Order felt as canon doctrine.

"Before I go, I feel compelled to ask you not to destroy that woman. I can see that look in your eye, you're a wolf circling your prey." She chuckled at the unintentional pun. But then sighed as I felt that I should explain at least part of my thoughts on Lyarra.

"You know me Satele… despite being the Empire's Wrath I rarely destroy anything." I said it was true, I killed many but given the chance I rather not destroy and slaughter. So much more use out of living subjects than dead ones, prisoners can give me so much more than casualties, and enemies can always be turned no matter how defiant. "I dominate, not destroy." I said darkly with a small lick to my lips as I felt the monster in me grow a little more hungry. "You wonder how I achieved Balance while you did not? It's because I feed both the Dark Side and the Light Side. I spare an enemy here and I break a mind there. I go on a rage fueled genocide and I save an innocent life at the expense of my plot. It's all about equal actions counteracting each other."

"And what will counteract your sick plans for that poor woman starved of real love? Love that you are using as bait." Satele spat but the second she said this she paled as she realized she had no place to talk. The air grew silent between us and the tension grew to the point were only thanks to the calming effects of the Light Side were keeping things civil.

"I'm going to ignore that. I'm going to forget you said that because I did not start this off as I should have. But I don't ever want to hear from you judgement on how I conduct myself in this area." I shot back and she had the decency to flinch at my words. "But to the question, what will counteract it is the fact I am freeing her. Yes… what will happen won't be what most call freedom, but it will be for her. I'm not telling her that I offer love, I'm offering little more than a change." I said feeling that I didn't need to explain myself anymore. It wasn't like I gave much thought to it anyway. Lyarra was a beautiful woman that I wanted, that was all I needed. Lyarra's feelings and her desires were merely the framework by which I would take her. I am a Sith, one that fully admits that I have my vices and dark side. The Light in me along with what few morals I have make sure I won't devolve into little better than those fools that tried to force themselves on my Jaesa. But that still didn't mean I was a nice guy at the end of the day.

"I at least tried… and I know that there are worse fates." She grumbled that last part, but I heard it.

"Careful now… I remember you-"

"Shut up you disgusting pig of a Sith!" Satele raged before snapping out of the material world. Returning back to the Force I could feel her slap me upside the head with a massive Force Vision of the armies of the Republic. What I saw in the final moments of the vision pissed me off to now end.

"FUCK YOU GOD!" I raged as I knew I had my work cut out for me but fighting the arguably best soldiers in all of Sci-Fi was pushing it too far. "Yup… going to make fuck damn sure that I have Astartes. Gonna need them if I'm going to be able to fight Spartans."

Lyarra was waiting outside the Godswood for Naraiz to finish with his business. She really didn't understand much of his Force, but she knew he was not daft. Not when he could lift her up into the air by a simple wave of his hand. Which he had done once as a jest, while she would never admit it she couldn't help but enjoy his little joke. It felt like she was flying like some Targaryen of old riding their dragons. Even if Naraiz had only held her up not even past his shoulders.

She didn't even notice when she started to feel so close to the stranger. It was within the first day of her showing him around Winterfell and telling him about the North that she begun to call him by his first name instead of Ser Rhyhall as was proper. He just had a charisma about him that made her felt so comfortable around him. The fact that her children all adored him also warmed her heart up to the foreigner. Brandon after he was off his punishment constantly followed Naraiz when he could, asking him all about how to become so skilled to where not even an entire village of mountain savages would be a challenge. Naraiz just gave nonsense drops of pretend wisdom to the growing boy, Lyarra found it amusing how seriously Brandon would take his advice. Only for Eddard to later tell Brandon that the wisdom that Naraiz had given him was nothing but a jest. Eddard himself was still very careful around Naraiz and his fellows, the shy boy had told his mother that he just felt like Naraiz reminded him of a Bolton. She lightly admonished her son for his words, Naraiz wasn't anything like those monsters.

The one that had the most impact upon the Imperial's arrival however had been Lyanna. Her little she-wolf could not stop talking about how amazing it could be that there was a place were women could all that men could do. That was until Naraiz laughed at such a thought. It was one of the times that the man had popped into their family meals, and she had badgered him about the woman that he had worked with in the Empire. Naraiz had given Lyanna what he called a reality check, he told her that yes it was nice to think about the what ifs but that did not help you here and now. He prompted her to look at her home and see how best she could work to change it to what she wanted it to be.

Then there was her youngest, Benjen. Naraiz had the smallest interaction with the young boy. And Lyarra felt that this was done on purpose. She could call a time when Benjen came running to her about a splinter he had gotten when she was showing Naraiz their Glass Gardens. He had been pointing out a few ways to improve them when Benjen showed himself. Naraiz then stiffened upon the sight of the boy and mumbled something in a language that Lyarra could not even begin to understand. From that point on Naraiz had made it a point to avoid Benjen.

"Hey She-Stark." The sound of Naraiz's apprentice and her irritatingly disrespectful name for the Lady of Winterfell snapped Lyarra from her musings. "Where's my master, I've got a little itch that only he can get." Lyarra frowned at her crude attempt at covering up her true intentions along with the intentions themselves. Naraiz was an honorable and handsome man, he shouldn't need to indulge himself in a woman like Jaesa. Sure she was pretty in a certain light but that was ruined by those putrid yellow eyes of hers and the nearly demonic traits that she seemed to possess.

"Naraiz should have a lady worthy of him, not this witch whore." Lyarra thought indignantly and Jaesa smirked as she picked up on the woman's true feelings. No one could hide from her eyes. And it made Jaesa all tingly knowing just how twisted her master could be. Taking another man's wife was nothing new to Naraiz, Jaesa knew this but what made this really fun for her was how slow he was dragging this out. Her master usually just in one meeting caused any woman would drop to their knees and get to work just with a flare of his power and few sultry looks and words. "Naraiz is in the Godswood… communing with the Force as you would call it."

"Tsk… gross. That place is bathed in the Light Side. He's going to come out all peaceful and serene and-"

"FUCK YOU GOD!" They both heard and everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to the Godswood with wide eyes. A ripple of power had been sent out with those words, with it came Naraiz's anger and frustration.

"I stand corrected, he'll be perfect when he comes out." Her master all pissed off and in need of stress relief, plus that burst of his power, it all got Jaesa terribly wet. She was rubbing her thighs together as she watched her master exit the walled grove.

"Fucking Halo army… Infinity class capital ships… Spartans." Jaesa heard her master grumble and she would ask about it later. She could see that he was deeply troubled. The kind of deeply troubled that did not lead to sex but plotting and planning. "Jaesa, find Quinn and get him to our room. The Force granted me a vision that we need to discuss." She nodded and bowed to her master knowing that fun time was over. Something had happened to get him serious and she would be ready by his side to assist him in any way.

"Naraiz is something wrong?" Lyarra asked concerned for the sudden change in moon the Sith had.

"Lyarra, as much as I would like to spend more time with you I must attend to some private matters." Naraiz said as Jaesa left them. Lyarra was getting increasingly worried as he spoke. From what she could gather he had been granted a vision of sorts that had told him of something he had not expected. Her mind went to the one idea that she knew could set him off like this.

"Is it the Republic. Are they coming after you to Westeros?" She asked and he stopped. He looked at her proudly and she couldn't help but preen in that moment of approval. It was rare for her to ever have a person look at her like that. Like she had done something above and beyond.

"No, I can say with certainty that the Republic is not coming here." He chuckled as he looked up to the sky for some reason Lyarra couldn't fathom. "But there is a danger to me and my vassals. I thank you for your time and look forward to the next time we see each other." Naraiz before leaving Lyarra without another word. She stood there for a few moments feeling very conflicted. The internal battle in her raged on as adulterous thoughts surrounded her mind.

"Come out Marr! I know you're here." I grumbled as I walked into the burnt-out tower of Winterfell. This would be where Jamie and Cerci would fuck and be caught by the peeping Bran. It made sense that this place would have a twinge of the Dark Side. But why? I had no idea. The Weirwoods had some leg to stand on but this tower… nothing.

"Hedgehog." I turned and saw Marr standing on the other side of the room, still in his armor and not showing his face as always. I felt that maybe he should now that he was a Force Ghost. "I still think we should have made that your Darth name." He chuckled to himself as I knew he knew I always wanted a real one. But I was named Emperor's Wrath before ever becoming a Darth. So many on the Dark Council either just called me Wrath or the stupid nickname based on what I looked like without my Mask. "You look saddened… did seeing Satele dead and beyond your grasp do this to you?" He asked and I growled and flared a bit of my power knowing it was pointless.

"No, her vision of the Republic as it is now did this to me." I said and Marr began pacing. "So you better give me some good news." I growled out, his comments had put me in a bad mood and I did not like this smug streak that he had now. All because he was a Force Ghost and I couldn't punch him in the face.

"I do have good news." Marr said satisfied with his tormenting the Empire's Wrath. "While it is true that both the Jedi and the Republic are both strong. The Empire is not as dead as they want to believe. And I do not speak of only you." Marr said and I raised an eyebrow. Were some of the contingency plans that had been made in the last days of the Empire successful?

"Keep going, what do you mean that the Empire isn't dead. Considering what I saw in Satele's vision I doubt that the Republic would allow for even a single remnant of the Empire to remain." I said as I tried to unravel what Marr was speaking of and all I can think of is the contingency plans. But even if all of them stood the test of time and survived that wouldn't give me the resources needed to challenge the Republic.

"In the time since you last saw this galaxy, the core worlds of the Empire have been subjugated and brought into the Republic's folds. Dromund Kaas is now a rival to Coruscant in economic importance and has become a city world in of itself. An Imperial population remains there just as they do in all other Imperial Core Worlds." It was then that Marr gave me his vision, and it was glorious. The Sith Empire had hidden itself in the Republic's colors. There was deep seeded resentment toward the Republic and all that was needed was for someone to claim the ancient title of Sith and free them from Republic military control. Dromund Kaas had the numbers, it was no longer a jungle world but instead a city world like the Republic's capital. It wasn't nearly as large or deep as Coruscant but it was what I needed. It hosted the finest Military Academy in the Republic, and while its system and all other former Imperial systems had Republic ships and troops protecting them, Imperial pride and heritage had remained strong.

"All that is missing is a force strong enough to take on the blockades and occupying forces, and keep the Republic out for good." I said as the vision ended. Kamino is the vital key here, I could never raise real forces from the Imperial population, the Republic would sniff them out. No, what I needed was a hidden place like Kamino to build my forces and retake Dromund Kaas and the surrounding systems. With them as my Core Worlds, we had the economic and industrial power to fuel a war. And with Imperial Officers, I would have the perfect upper command.

"As Satele also gave you, I will give you all the caches of old Imperial resources that remain in the galaxy. Some of which were not told to you." He said and I knew he had a cheeky smile behind that damn mask of his.

"My lord." Quinn said as he closed the door behind him and gave a perfect imperial salute. He stood at attention while Jaesa took her place on my bed. Sprawling herself across the furs making he look perfectly delectable.

"At ease Captain." I said as I placed a small holo-transmitter in the middle of the sole table in the room. It then projected a map of the known galaxy, colored in the previous borders that the Republic and the Empire had. "This is what we know." I said before transmitting new orders from my wrist terminal. It now showed an accurate map of the Republic, and to my irritation it was bigger than it should be for this time period. "This is a new reality."

"My word… your theory that we traveled in time were true?" Quinn asked in slight horror at the sight of the Republic so bloated and unchallenged.

"I had a nice long talk with Satele Shan's Force Ghost, she granted me a vision giving me some much needed info." I grumbled as I leaned back in my chair. Jaesa scowled at the mention of the Jedi Grand Master and it was understandable. Jaesa loved me and I… had a complicated relationship with Satele. One that threatened her views as my first. An attitude that I found dangerous due to certain reasons in my past. "The Republic has militarized to a degree that they are actively expanding their borders. Taking in territory by force under the banner of expanding freedom and democracy. I don't give a shit about any of that, what I care about is that they have guns and a lot of them." This was going to be very difficult. God had seen fit to give the Republic Admiral Hood's dream navy and kickass army to boot. Stylized in the fashion of the UNSC, only expanded on with a military budget that was ready to bring a lot of freedom to the galaxy. "And they have apparently super soldiers… called Spartans. Named after a warrior society form the annals of history." God apparently got a little lazy with naming things in an original way.

"This doesn't look too good for us." Jaesa said lazily kicking her feet back and forth as she rested on her stomach. "Maybe this world has its charms, we could take it over and rule as god-kings or something." She half joked as she knew I would never let the Galaxy in the hands of the Jedi. But at the same time this was sounding very hopeless, they had no means to build up a force to combat the Republic.

"Oh ye of little faith." I said with a growing smile on my lips that confused both Quinn and Jaesa. "Because Satele wasn't the only member of the old gang I talked to." I chuckled madly to myself as I focused in on the former territories of the Empire, and specifically the core Imperial worlds. "All of these are ready and waiting for a true Sith uprising." I said confidently but at the same time I was a little concerned. Where the fuck was the Rule of Two Sith in all of this. There was no way that I was stealing the Clones out from under Palpy which made me sad. But the fact that the Jedi were this strong, real generals and leaders in a kickass army and navy with fucking goddamn Spartans, made no sense with the original canon plot. I was going to need to find out what the Rule of Two Sith were plotting and fast.

"Just as they should sir, any true children of the Emprise no matter how down the generational line they would be ready to uphold our vows to the Sith." Quinn said and I was a little on the fence about that. The vision showed me a population that hated the Republic more or less for never forgiving or forgetting the Empire rather than because they were still loyal to the Sith. It was the resentment and the promise of a return to the golden age of the Empire that I was really banking on. Time to make the Empire great again!

"So we got a base… but what about big strong dudes to keep that base?" Jaesa asked and I had to give the girl points for that.

"I have a few plans and ideas on that." I said not giving anymore details as I wanted to see if Kamino was even still a functional planet. If not them then I would find other means to create a Clone army. I will have my clones… nothing was going to stop me in that regard. "But for right now we need to focus on this world, and our ship."

"Why this world sir? Once we have our ship fixed, admittedly this might take some years, but couldn't we just leave and return to Imperial Space." Quinn said and I chuckled at him already referring to the Imperial Core Worlds still as Imperial Space.

"Because the Force placed us on this world for a reason. The fact that I was able to find places that are infused with the powers of the Dark and Light Sides of the Force means this world is special in some way." I said as I stood up and had a mind to duck into the kitchens to steal a bit of cheese and meat. "And remember what I said Quinn, Feudal Worlds always breed such interesting people." I chuckled as I whooshed out the door intent on having a light snack for the day. But Quinn probably thought I was off to do some important manipulation while Jaesa just pouted that we didn't have sex. I needed to find her something to do, she had already killed eight people and was constantly hounding me for sex, my little apprentice was bored and acting out.

I walked into the main dinning hall of Winterfell, it was beginning to turn to dusk and I wanted to see if I could pop into one of the Stark family meals. It had been another two weeks, and I was beginning to think that our time here in the North was coming to an end. Quinn had already assembled an entire book's worth of reports. Data collected from the Maester and others of this keep. I had my excuse for why I knew what I knew, and I didn't want to stay any longer as I had already begun to attach the wrong kind of attention.

But a few things kept me around. Like the Starks, I wanted to impart as great an impression as I could. Like how I interrupted their family meals. I enjoyed doing so and the Starks enjoyed it as well. I was well received by them all for a myriad of reasons. But as I closed the door behind me I saw that there was a single soul in the room. Lyarra Stark.

"Naraiz? What are you doing here?" Lyarra asked quickly after turning in her seat to see just who had come in. At first she had a look of hidden joy that soon turned to disappointment at seeing me. I could sense that it wasn't because she didn't want to see me, more like she wanted someone else to show up. Fine line there. "I thought I had guards outside."

"Oh… you know me. Silver tongue and all that." I said knowing that it was more waving my hand than anything my tongue did. "Comes in handy in places you might not expect." She blushed as she picked up the innuendo. But like a true Stark quickly crushed it and returned her control. "Expecting someone else tonight?"

"I was… though it was all for not. As I should have seen before I did all this." She grumbled as I came up behind her chair and slid to her side.