Acina sat on her throne and watched Lana Beniko walk the gauntlet. Beniko was upset, that much was clear – leaked into the Force until it was a roiling mess around her – but that was to be expected. Beniko had abandoned the Empire to search for the prisoner who'd brought Vitiate to his knees once before. She'd been successful at that; unfortunately for her, ridding the galaxy of Vitiate required sacrifice and that was what her Jedi target had chosen. Now, Beniko came back to the Empire with her tail between her legs, the Alliance her Jedi had forged crumbling behind her, begging to be reinstated in Sith Intelligence.
“Empress Acina.” Beniko greeted her with a stiff bow.
“Lana Beniko.” Acina did not rise. “My condolences on your Jedi.”
Beniko clenched her fists and snarled. “Her loss will be felt acutely.”
“Indeed.” Acina let the silence stretch. Her Sith Empire would go to a new direction, but she had risen to the Dark Council even before their Emperor returned at the helm of another Empire. She knew how these games were played.
Beniko held out for several minutes – enough to make clear she, too, knew this was a game of dominance, and that she knew she had lost – before folding. “The Alliance crumbles now that its purpose is complete,” she started. “I wonder whether there might be a place for me in your Empire?”
Direct and to the point. Smart enough to recognize she had to swallow her pride. “After your ... defection, I doubt Sith Intelligence will welcome you with open arms.”
Beniko's expression grew mulish. “I assume you have an alternative assignment for me, then?”
Acina let her stew for a moment more as she rearranged herself on her throne. Obviously she couldn't give her anything too humiliating, or too close to Acina herself, but- “Sith Intelligence is forever in need of analysts. You will report to Darth Corvix in the morning for your assignment.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Beniko bowed again. “Is that all?”
“No.” Acina leaned forward. “I will tolerate your one defection for the sake of killing Valkorion and freeing the Empire from Zakuul. I will not tolerate further indiscretions. Loyalty will be rewarded, but I do not suffer betrayal gladly.” In the old times, traitors would've been killed. Beniko's late Jedi had pled for mercy on Lorman's behalf, though, so now Acina had practice with coming up with far more creative humiliations.
“I understand,” Beniko bit out.
No doubt she did, intellectually. But what Acina wanted was a visceral knowledge that she was here on Acina's mercy.
Acina rose from her throne. “But do you?” She opened her hand and an old Sith warblade flew to it. Beniko tensed. Good. Acina wouldn't kill her, of course, she'd use her lightsaber for that, but an Empress with a point to prove was not something one generally wished to experience.
To her credit, Beniko remained still, gaze down, as Acina slowly descended the steps to her dais. Hanging around with that Jedi hadn't eradicated all her manners.
Acina stopped on the last step and reached out with the warblade. She hooked the flat of the tip beneath Beniko's chin and pressed.
Beniko's chin rose. She kept her eyes to the floor as long as possible, before flickering them up into a hesitant eye contact.
“Lana Beniko,” Acina quietly said. “Do not mistake this for anything but what it is.”
“A favor.” It was amusing to watch Beniko speak without moving her jaw.
“A pardon,” Acina corrected her.
Beniko averted her eyes in an approximation of a nod. Acina lifted the blade slightly.
“My Sith Empire is not Vitiate's,” Acina started. “It will not be run by assassination and power games. It will not be run on the backs of the common people while the elites revel. We are one people working toward a common goal. You are a servant of the Empire. Do not forget that, Lana Beniko.”
“Yes, my lord,” Beniko replied.
Acina held the warblade beneath her chin and lifted it, then held it in its new position for a moment longer. First point made, she let the warblade drop and stepped down the last step.
Beniko did not rub her throat, but she did relax. A fool. The Empress of the Sith was standing before her.
Acina took one step more and reached for Beniko's throat with her free hand. Thumb digging into the veins of one side, middle and ring fingers digging into the other side, twist so the side of the index finger cut into the wind pipe above the larynx.
Beniko hadn't been expecting it, as she did nothing to suppress the instinctual reaction to fall back, chin up, wriggling out of the grasp. Acina blocked her escape by holding her head in place with the Force.
One. Two. Three. Four. Beniko's legs started trembling. Five. Beniko's eyes grew unfocused.
Acina let go. Beniko collapsed on the floor, panting.
“Get up,” Acina ordered in a disinterested voice before Beniko could start the motion herself.
Beniko rose into the same position she'd been in before. Her hands were clenched into fists, though, and she couldn't contain her anger, her wounded pride anymore: it leaked into the Force, poisoning everything around it.
“So you do still have some pride; good.”
“You mentioned your Empire does not run on power games,” Beniko snapped.
“Indeed, it does not.” Acina smiled and ran a finger up Beniko's throat before gently enclosing it in her grasp. “However. You might recall how your Jedi asked me to spare Lorman?”
Beniko nodded. Acina could feel her larynx bob as she swallowed.
“Leaving Lorman alive led to an ... exercise in creativity, let's say. Should you betray me or the Empire, your punishment will be both more merciful and much, much crueler than any of Vitiate's Dark Councils could have managed.”
“And this was supposed to be a preview, I suppose?” Beniko snarled.
“A preview – and an assessment,” Acina said. She let her hand drop from Beniko's throat. “I have little use for sycophants.”
Beniko snorted. She had been the head of Sith Intelligence; she knew how these games were played.
Acina had only the instinctive understanding any Sith who rose high had. She had, however, read all the briefing material Sith Intelligence had given her, and given some thought on the fault lines between Beniko and her Jedi.
“Your first assignment is to kill Arcann,” she said. “He is a threat to the Empire, and the Republic will not mourn him, either.”
Relief was Beniko's first reaction, followed by a burst of suspicion. It was not an easy mission, but it was something Beniko agreed with – and her Jedi hadn't.
“I know where he is,” Beniko reluctantly said. “However, his mother-”
Acina raised a hand to cut her off. “You will be leading a strike team. Darth Corvix will tell you the limitations you work under and what knowledge they have.
“Dismissed,” Acina concluded.
Beniko bowed once more and walked out of the audience chamber. The problem Acina had given her was sufficient to quell her bristling pride for now. With Arcann's death, she'd be split from her Jedi's legacy and return back to the Sith Empire. Acina could use her. Beniko would let her.
Acina stared at the closed doors a while longer before pushing the matter from her mind. Her next appointment would be here soon; she should go back to her throne.