A Common Enemy

[GhostOfProtocol]

Commenor​

852 ABY​

[member="Lady Kay"]​

​

He hadn't returned in so long.

Since he'd left for Vjun, Kei had avoided Commenor. He'd avoided it moreso since The Battle of Zeltros, the near death experience and entrapment within the armour of Darth Krayt. He was almost worried that Kay would judge him for how he looked while trapped within the armour, through no fault of his own. Therefore he'd avoided Commenor for months, not returning.

The Flying Dutchman floated above the planet.

He'd become more accostomed to the armour, stopped caring how people thought of him. He accepted that he would be judged for having large spikes but he didn't care. The armour was powerful and it had saved his life. He was becoming used to the armour, used to the thoughts of other people dancing about his mind. He was getting used to controling the powers of those who'd long since died.

A shuttle fell from the Dutchman. The security detail were training, though John Lyson had insisted on coming along. It wasn't as if he would be needed, Lady Kay would hardly pose a threat to him. Should she try and stop him, Kei could break her without even looking at her, his power growing beyond what he had ever imagined it could grow to. He was always weakest in the Silver Jedi Order.

The shuttle touched down. Kei hardly even waited for Kay to greet him, he just stepped from the shuttle and walked towards her office. He didn't have chance to wait, he was too angry to wait. The Minster of Defence had tried to kill him during The Battle of Alderaan, only hours after he had battled [member="Kyrel Ren"] during the Battle of Hapes. The Free World Coalition had tried to kill him twice.

Only the CSA Minster of Defense had led an army against him.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay was given word as soon as the Flying Dutchman came into orbit over Commenor. It was part of the protocol that she had set into place. This way she could have tea and refreshments, even meals prepared while her close friends and family members were making preperations to land.

Why [member="Kei Raxis"] was coming to visit, she wasn't sure. It couldn't be to babysit. Maybe he wanted her to look after something else for him, or maybe it was to remark on Veiere's trial, she wasn't sure.

The floor echoed with the sound his Kei's booted footsteps. They were at a quick pace, so it was easy to realize that he was in a rush. Olivia stepped in front of him, not recognizing his armour. The old lady gave him a stern expression. "What's this all about? Have you gone mad?"

Kay opened the door and just stared at passed Olivia to her old friend. "Kei? Is that...you? What happened?"

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Commenor​

852 ABY​

[member="Lady Kay"]​

​

Kei ignored the old woman. He had business with the Queen and with the Queen herself. When the Minster of Defense tried to kill him, that was business that concerned the Queen of Commenor. He locked eyes with the Queen, pulling his helmet from his head. He gave the helmet to John, who held it clasped in his hands for a few moments before he slid it under his arm. Kei ran his hand through his hair, shocked by the weight of his hand.

"My old friend"

She asked what had happened. He didn't have time to explain the story, to explain how and why he was now locked inside of a suit of armour. He had expected a reaction, he hadn't expected the reaction that he had achieved however. He thought Kay would want to know what happened, he hadn't expected the look on her face. He wished he had known what to expect, known through the force that Kei's face would appear as it did.

"Care to explain why your Minster of Defense tried to kill me less than twenty four hours ago?"

He hadn't even entered the office yet. That was a good thing to point out. The next thing to point out? The anger that tore through his voice, it made him sound super unnatural. It made him sound less like himself and more like an unnatural creature. It scared him, he was changing so much since Ra'a'mah had turned him, since he'd truly fallen to the darkside of the force. It surprised him how much he had fallen.

He glared at Kay.

 

[Kay-Larr]

The removal of the helmet confirmed his identity. It was [member="Kei Raxis"] , yet it wasn't at the same time. The Darkness that spilled out of him while he spoke was enough to make her realize that her friend was confined to a small corner of his mind.

Kay placed her hand on Olivia's shoulder and moved her aside. A brow raised as she took in what Kei was asking of her. "She did what?! Are you sure? What if she just didn't recognize you? Step inside." The last thing that she needed was for more bad news to get out. And more bad news was not what she needed right now. "I didn't authorize any attacks on anyone. What's going on?" How much further out of the loop was she? Veiere's trial had taken up most of her focus.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Commenor​

852 ABY​

[member="Lady Kay"]​

​

She may not have recognised him.

Yet she still lead a battle against unarmed people. She still lead a battle against a city that had no ability to defend itself, a city that relied on Kei Raxis and his own forces to defend it. She had lead an attack against an army who were untrained and couldn't hit a target thirty metres away. She lead an attack after joining The Sith Empire. She lead an attack on a city that didn't deserve to be attacked, that had already seen so much.

"You didn't authorise it? Then why was Amelia there, why did she march on The Free World Coalition and Alderaan? Why did she march alongside The Sith Empire?"

He was furious. Kay knew more than she was letting on, he was sure of it. His spies had told her that Amelia was there, had seen the Defense Minister speaking to the Sith Lord who he had battled and tore through the city, pulling bricks down upon each other and attempting to disable each other any way they could. Kei knew something deep was going on here, he swore it in his mind at least. He wanted to believe it.

"Do you want me dead that much?"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay raised a brow slightly. "What are you talking about? Of course I don't want you dead. I would never..." She sighed. What was [member="Amelia Sorenn-Syrush"] up to? "She said that she had a personal matter to tend to and that my resources wouldn't be used. I didn't ask as I had assumed that it was to do with her company." It wasn't as though she had control of everyone during their time off. She may be their leader, yet she didn't own them.

"Which Sith is she aligned with? I need to know if we don't have contracts with them..."

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

[member="Lady Kay"]​

Commenor​

852 ABY​

Kei frowned.

Amelia had gone behind the back of the Queen to wage a war against New Alderaa. Amelia had gone behind the back of the Queen of Commenor to wage her own private war against The Queen of Alderaan. That explained the numerous bounties Kei had been alerted to on his return to Commenor, both Faith Organa and Amelia Sorren-Syrush falling to each other's level and starting bounties on each other for very petty reasons.

A true reason to start a bounty was if someone had, you know, attempted to kill you.

Kei pushed his fringe from his face, locking his eyes on Kay. She had been so invested in the trial of her husband, yet another man who had attempted to kill Kei before. She had been so invested trial of the century, the man who had waged a full on war against The Jedi Order upon Deneba, the man who had waged a war on a very innocent group of Jedi who just wanted to study, who didn't care about violence or fighting.

Kei almost admired the man now.

"That's not important. She lead a battle upon an entire city of innocent people and you're going to stand here questioning me about contracts?!"

Anger was setting in. He needed to calm himself before he accidently did something he regretted. It wouldn't of been the first time he accidently choked a man to near death, or the armour did anyway. It wouldn't of been the first time that the armour took over and Kei nearly killed someone. He couldn't kill Kay, he needed her for future plans. Ra'a'mah needed her for future plans. Kay was important, all right.

"Handle it. Or I'll handle it myself. She tried to kill me Kay"

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Kei Raxis"] just didn't understand. Maybe he was just too angry. But Kay had always searched for reasons as to why people did what they did, to know of what motivated them so that she could figure out a way to get a problem resolved. "You don't understand. I need to know who else we're dealing with. Maybe there is some leverage that I can put on them and make it all stop."

She held his gaze with her own, the anger brewing in him was easily noticed. But there was something else in there too. He was calculating, planning, and in this current state that he was in, that wasn't a good thing. "What do you mean; you'll handle it yourself? That isn't how we work here, Kei...." Oh that position of Minister of Defence was jinxed. No one ever really lasted there for long. Even the Deputy Minister [member="Cato Marek"] hadn't been seen. And if she was to pull [member="Amelia Sorenn-Syrush"] from her position pending an investigation, her duties would have fallen onto him. But just as with most of her friends and top government officials, he too was gone.

So much for delegation. So much for getting others to help her.

"I'll take care of it my way. Just don't make any rash decisions. If the tables are turned and we become targets, I'm going to need you." She was going to need a lot of people. It was time to have another conversation with [member="Connor Harrison"] .

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

[member="Lady Kay"]​

Commenor​

852 ABY​

​

Kei ran his hand through his hair again.

He understood. He understood perfectly what the situation was. Kay wasn't willing to handle the situation, she was too scared of facing the wrath of Amelia Sorren Syrush. She didn't want to upset her esteemed military commander, even though she had attempted to slaughter the naval advisor and a rather large number of innocent civilians during The Battle of Alderaan. Kay was too afraid of what the rest of the Sorren Syrush family would think should she imprison Amelia.

He was tired. That was true. He was tired and angry, he hadn't slept properly since being trapped in the large Sith armour. He hadn't even had a moment since the outbreak of the Battle of Hapes. The Battle of Alderaan had come too soon after, not enough to rest. From one battle into another, from one war into another. [member="Kor Vexen"] had all but torn him apart during their battle, beaten him and broken him. Yet, Kei gave Kor everything he had in return.

He shook his head. He would handle it in his own way, although he wouldn't do anything stupidly rash. He didn't want to slaughter Amelia, just question her. He wanted to know why, why she had lead a battle and an army against civilians who would hardly defend themselves. He wanted to know what reason she had to side with the The Sith Empire. It may have been money, but she knew House Raxis would have doubled her earnings. Maybe it was power?

He wanted to know.

He faced Kay, sighing. He exhaled, looking around the room. It hadn't changed all that much since his last visit. He wondered if he had his own office somewhere deep in the government building, one that came with his rank. He knew he had his apartment, though he had paid for that. Mostly paid for that, Kay had thrown a little extra in to cover the costs. He ought to check that at some point, otherwise he'd be working from The Raxis Estate or his penthouse.

He spoke, the anger that had permiated his voice replaced with exhaustion.

"She lead a war Kay. I can't let it slide, she tried to kill me"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay frowned as [member="Kei Raxis"] remained silent and just shook his head. Obviously he didn't like her ideas. But Kei had gone through much shock, plus whatever that had happened to get him into that armour.

Then he spoke up again. What he had said and how he had said it gave her pause. Perhaps her mind was just too clouded with the trial, and the fact that she felt more isolated and alpne than ever sure didn't help matters. This PR nightmare wasn't helping any.

"Alright Kei...Have her brought in for questioning. And you're right...none of our people should lead a war like that. If my husband has to pay for it, than so should she." Kay massaged her temples. She felt a headache coming on, or maybe she just needed more tea. Or maybe it was a mixture of a lot of things.

She lowered her hands. "Is there anything else? Do you need any medical attention? Something to eat?" No, she wasn't stalling him. She just wanted him to know that she still cared.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

[member="Lady Kay"]​

Commenor​

852 ABY​

​

"Have her brought in for questioning."

Kei offered a small smile. Kay had given him permission to have Amelia questioned for leading a war against Alderaan. Kei would track her across the galaxy, bringing her to justice. Kay was right, if Veiere had to stand trial for leading a war then Amelia would also stand trial and pay for her role in leading a war with The Sith Empire. Kei wanted answers, he wanted answers so much because he just wanted to know what had caused her to stand with The Sith Empire.

"I'll be fine. The armour appears to have one advantage, it heals me and itself very quickly"

He offered a slight grin. The anger had mostly subsided, mostly replaced with exhaustion. He wanted to track Amelia down but he needed sleep before he did anything. He didn't want to black out, he didn't want to fall asleep in the middle of the office of the queen. He was exhausted, he needed to find a way to sleep with tearing Kay's beds apart. He'd had all of his beds in his houses made up nicely as so he could sleep on them.

Specialistic beds.

"The lack of sleep however? A large disadvantage"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Well at least she had managed to calm [member="Kei Raxis"] down. She had a gift for that. Usually it involved observing others, asking them questions and discovering what would make them feel better. Sometimes it was something simple. Other times it was more difficult and would take some time. But she mostly always managed to get there in the end.

"A lack of sleep is never a good thing, Kei. It can make you crazy and more likely to lash out." Like he did with her earlier. "We have rooms to spare, as you know. Olivia can take you to one of them. After your rest, we can share a meal and you can tell me all about this...well, this new look of yours." Not to mention the Dark aura around him. Kay attributed it to the armour. Much like Darlyn's lightsaber, it seems to have the ability to affect the one that bears it.