Kopecz slammed his fist down on the table. 'It's hopeless, Kaan.'
The other Dark Lords gathered in the tent murmured in agreement.
'The Jedi positions are too well defended; they have all the advantages,' Kopecz went on angrily. 'High ground, entrenched fortifications, superior numbers. We can't win this battle!'
'Look again,' Kaan replied. 'The Jedi have spread themselves too thin.'
The big Twi'lek studied the map in more detail and realized Kaan was right. The Jedi perimeter extended too far out from their base camp. It took him barely a moment to realize why.
The clash between armies of Jedi and Sith, led by Jedi Masters and Dark Lords, had shaken the foundations of the world. The power of the Force raged unchecked across the battlefields like the thunder of an exploding star. Towns, villages, and individual homes caught up in the storm had been wiped out, leaving only death and destruction behind. Civilians caught up in the wake of war had been forced to flee, becoming refugees of an epic battle between the champions of light and dark.
Seeing their suffering, the Jedi had sought to console, comfort, and protect the innocent citizens of Ruusan. They planned their strategies around defending civilian settlements and homesteads, even at the expense of resources and tactical advantage. The Sith, of course, made no such concessions.
'The Jedi's compassion is a weakness,' Kaan continued. 'One we can exploit. If we concentrate our full numbers on a single point, we can breach their lines. Then the advantage will be ours.'
The assembled generals and strategists of the Brotherhood of Darkness nodded in agreement. Several raised their voices in roars of triumph and congratulations. Only Kopecz refused to join in the celebrations.
'The Army of Light still outnumbers us two to one,' the heavyset Twi'lek reminded them. 'Their lines may be overextended in some places, but we don't know where they are vulnerable. They know our scouts are watching; they hide their numbers just as we hide ours. If we attack a location where their numbers are strong, we'll be slaughtered!'
The rest of the generals stilled their voices, no longer swept up in their leader's enthusiasm now that the glaring flaw in his plan had been exposed. Again, there were rumbles of disagreement and displeasure. Kopecz ignored the reaction of the other Dark Lords. For all their power, for all their ambition, they were like so many banthas, blindly following the rest of the herd. In theory everyone in the Brotherhood of Darkness was equal, but in practice Kaan ruled the others.
Kopecz understood this, and he was willing to follow him. The Sith needed a strong and charismatic leader, a man of vision, to quell the infighting that had plagued their ranks. Kaan was just such a leader, and he was normally a brilliant military tactician. But this plan was madness. Suicide. Unlike the rest of the rabble, Kopecz wasn't about to follow their leader into certain death.
'You underestimate me, Kopecz,' Kaan reassured him, his voice calm and confident, as if he had anticipated this question all along and had an answer prepared. Perhaps he did. 'We won't strike until we know exactly where they are most vulnerable,' the Dark Lord explained. 'By the time we attack, we'll know the precise number and composition of every unit and patrol along their perimeter.'
'How?' Kopecz demanded. 'Even our Umbaran shadow spies can't provide us with that kind of detail. Not quickly enough to use it in planning our attack. We have no way of getting the information we'd need.'
Kaan laughed. 'Of course we do. One of the Jedi will give it to us.'
The flaps covering the entrance of the long tent serving as the Sith war room parted as if on cue, and a young human woman clad in the robes of the Jedi order stepped through. She was of average height, but that was the only thing about her that could ever be called average. She had thick, raven hair that tumbled down past her shoulders. Her face and figure were perfect examples of the human female form; her tricopper-hued skin was set off by green eyes smoldering with a heat that was both a warning and an invitation. She moved with the lithe grace of a Twi'lek dancer as she walked the length of the assembled Dark Lords, a coy smile on her lips as she pretended not to hear their whispers of surprise.
Kopecz had seen many striking females in his time. Several of the female Dark Lords gathered in the tent were gorgeous, renowned as much for their incredible beauty as their devastating power. But as the young Jedi drew closer, he found he was unable to take his eyes off her. There was something magnetic about her, something that transcended mere physical attractiveness.
She carried her head high, her proud features issuing an unspoken challenge as she approached. And Kopecz saw something else: naked ambition, raw and hungry.
At his side Kaan whispered, 'Remarkable, isn't she?'
She reached the front of the tent and dipped smoothly to one knee, bowing her head ever so slightly in deference to Lord Kaan.
'Welcome, Githany,' he said, motioning for her to rise. 'We've been waiting for you.'
'It's my pleasure, Lord Kaan,' she purred. Kopecz felt his knees go momentarily weak at her sensual voice, then snapped to rigid attention. He was too old and too wise to let himself be blinded by this woman's charms. He cared only about what she could offer them against the Jedi.
'You have information for us?' he asked abruptly.
She tilted her head to one side and gave him a curious glance, trying to find the reason for his cold reception. After a moment's pause she answered, 'I can tell you exactly where to strike at their lines, and when. Lord Hoth put a Jedi named Kiel Charny in charge of coordinating their defenses. I got the information directly from him.'
'Why would this Charny share that kind of information with you?' Kopecz asked suspiciously.
She gave him a sly grin. 'Kiel and I were. close. We shared many things. He had no idea I would come to you with the information.'
Kopecz narrowed his eyes. 'I thought the Jedi disapproved of that sort of thing.'
Her smile became a sneer. 'The Jedi disapprove of a lot of things. That's why I've come to you.'
Kaan stepped forward before he could ask any more questions, placing a familiar hand on her hip and
