Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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A Long Time Coming

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl_9eILFrAI​
YAGA SYSTEM
UBIQTORATE STATION


The Ubiqtorate Station above Yaga Minor had been abandoned for decades, if not centuries. Too many regime changes, too many maintenance costs elsewhere, kept the Yagai from manning it below. The Yagai had dealt with Mandalorian occupation, then Sith occupation, then joint occupation and finally Primeval repression before finally coming to terms with self-rule once again. As the Primeval receded into nothing and its various Warlords began the bloody cycle of infighting that always plagued galactic nations in decline, Yaga Minor was left surprisingly untouched. A new regime was forming based on the Old Imperial ideals that had been part of Yagai culture centuries before.

You know, traditional Old Imperialism. Stormtroopers, autarky, totalitarianism. That kind of thing. It was something Adekos could get behind, but he didn't want to be behind any more. He wanted to lead and, in this day and age, he couldn't do it alone. That was why he called [member="Darth Orcus"] and [member="Darth Carach"] here to discuss things. The Ubiqtorate had been cleaned out of useful information and technology years ago. It had taken extensive jury-rigging for him to get the life support system into working order. All of this just so their meeting would have the kind of ominous, dramatic setting befitting of their stature: a lone, decrepit, and forgotten monument of intelligence gathering, floating in the cold reaches of the Yaga System.

The main atrium was the most dramatic room not experiencing electrical difficulties, so it was here the three Sithlings gathered. "I appreciate that you both have arrived on such short notice. I apologize if the station isn't up to your standards, I didn't want to send the Yagai into a panic by having us show up on the surface. They let this old wreck slip into their blind spot years ago."
 
YAGA SYSTEM
UBIQTORATE STATION

[member="Darth Adekos"] | [member="Darth Orcus"]

The One Sith was... well, perhaps it was best to stay quiet on the matter entirely. The least said the better about that entire affair, but suffice it to say that Carach was growing less and less satisfied with the establishment. The Sith just weren't very orderly or focused on the stability that should be their primary focus - instead they insisted on expanding more and more. Who had approved the nonsensical skirmish into the wylds of the Unknown Regions, cutting through systems and sectors at large towards Panatha? What had been the plan behind that? Did nobody care about the insanity of the logistics?

Boots. Their gorram legions needed more boots.

It was unbelievable and frankly the Sith Lord had quite enough of it. And it was almost as if Adekos could read his mind, or perhaps it had been the late-night talks in front of the hearth in the grand library of his that had inspired this trip.

"We are hardly pompous princelings in need of pampering, Ardik." Carach replied calmly, while taking a wide look around the open room. Cold durasteel lined the walls, some of the hatches torn out and exposing the inner-workings of the electronics, but at the very least things weren't exploding like the Dark Lord's Palace.

It showed that even the lavish estates could be quite... inhospitable if the situation was just right, or wrong, depending on the perspective.

"This will do fine for now."
 
The cetacean stood opposite the two humanoids, pulling at the sleeves of his white dress shirt underneath the new suit so that they sat just so. Corusca gem cufflinks glinted in the artificial light. A superb suit, tailored to his size and in possession of a number of interesting qualities. Not least among them the quality of rendering bullets and bolts an ineffective nuisance.

A smile split Orcus' lips. And why should it not? Sith swam from the One Sith like rats from burning flotsam. Just as he had known they would. The Dark Lord of that order had faded into obsolescence long ago. Killed one too many times no doubt. Orcus left long ago, when their ranks had first become polluted by the cancer of the Vong. In the shadows, he had waited, biding his time while he built up the Herglic Trade Empire. Establishing order of law and stability in his own way.

Yaga would be the first step forward from the shadows as Tion's cabal revealed themselves. Oh there would be trials and contests aplenty. No shortage of Sith would question their worth.

Orcus would relish the chance to smite them into the ground.

"Mm. Indeed, indeed." The bass voice rolled out rich, strong, and deep as the ocean. "Now, what's this I hear about those Primeval zealots? Causing a ruckus are they?"

[member="Darth Adekos"] | [member="Darth Carach"]
 
[member="Darth Carach"] | [member="Darth Orcus"]

The Umbaran nodded to Carach. He was right, they weren't pampered princes. Pompous, however, was another story entirely. Their detractors could say what they would about, but they could hardly deny that each of the Sith Lords assembled here knew how to run an administration. A skill sorely lacked by whatever bumbling, ham-fisted braggart knocked the Dark Lord's corpse off his throne. "The Primeval themselves were a perpetual ruckus, Orcus. Their remnants share that trait, although not much else." It had always irritated Adekos that a region of the galaxy so decorated for its rich Imperial history should be subjected to those marauding extremists. Fortunately, the coming months would see that wrong swiftly and brutally righted. "Although, that isn't the only reason we're gathered here."

With a gesture, a holoprojector on the central table snapped to life. Adekos recalled a time when, years ago, Tyrin Ardik outlined his plans for the dismantling of the Mandalorian state to the dimwitted leader of the Death Watch, underneath the junk piles of Raxus Prime. If that plan hadn't gone the exact opposite of how it was supposed to, it would have made him nostalgic. This would go much better, he hoped. The holographic image of a sector map snapped to life before their eyes. The chamber was bathed in the eerie blue light of the activated holoprojector.

"Gentlemen, I think we can agree the One Sith is broken. Economically, philosophically, logistically... It's time to start over." Another mental command to the holoprojector (Adekos' powers allowed him to transcend the mortal restrains of a remote clicker) and it shifted to a closer view of Yaga Minor. "This planet, indeed, this region is suffering from the backlash of failing Primeval rule. Its citizens crave a return to normalcy, some semblance of order and purpose."

"And I think we're the best Sith to give it to them."
 
[member="Darth Adekos"] | [member="Darth Orcus"]

An expression of distaste flashed in and out of existence at the mention of the Primeval. A rabble of zealots and inept caught together in some kind of religious fervor - only barely held together by their Host Lord and even then as much a threat as it had been an ally to the One Sith. It had served its purpose in pitching the Mandalorians over into a more chaotic state... and if rumors served right then that chaotic state was found to be far more directed at the Republic.

Ah... good old Genevieve Lasedri. A true friend to the Sith, truly. In one fluid motion she had done more damage to the Republic than the One Sith in the previous decade.

"With the Host Lord dead the Primeval fell into some kind of civil war." the Sith Lord pondered about it, before shrugging. Right on time, really, it gave them this opportunity after all. "Interestingly enough one of the Warlords tearing apart the Hosts was a Hutt... named Zambrano."

He met both their looks with some amusement.

"Not sure if related, of course."

Carach listened further. Bringing some vestige of normalcy back to the citizens of the ancient 'Pentastar' holdings... a worthy cause, perhaps also a profitable one. With worlds like Muunilinst, Yaga Minor and Mygeeto no longer under direct zealot control? There was definitely a lot of potential here for some good.

"I imagine that there are still Primeval Warlords eyeing up this territory for their own gains?"
 
Orcus chortled at the look. Ah, Zambranos. Gutless worms, most of them. More concerned with making it known how much blood lay on their hands than truly building anything lasting in the galaxy.

"If not, then it will be some other hungry pup, looking to seize a scrap from the dead master's table. Whelps who couldn't make a name for themselves when the pack ruled. We'll easily crush them beneath our heel."

The Herglic looked delighted at the prospect, no doubt imagining skulls crunching like eggshells underfoot. All part of his grand charade. Play the part of the hulking villain, only concerned with how many buckets of blood one might fill. And the whole while scheming for power while others derided him.

Human high culture made so many baseless assumptions based on simple appearance alone. Orcus' part was more or less played out for him in their own minds. Tradition and cultural values leaving others to shake their heads at the barbaric whale, but expecting nothing less. For what thoughts could a cetacean truly have that humans had not too, and greater?

"What's the first order of business then?"

[member="Darth Carach"] | [member="Darth Adekos"]
 
[member="Darth Orcus"] | [member="Darth Carach"]

A Hutt named Zambrano? This was the kind of content the galaxy continued to churn out? Darth Adekos was beginning to wonder why he bothered to get up in the morning. As if Kaine and his dubiously legitimized progeny weren't already more Zambrano than this wretched galaxy needed, now there was a Hutt with the same namesake tearing apart former Primeval space. How could this ever be allowed to transpire? On one end of the galaxy there was a loathsome slug of a creature carving out his holdings with doom and fire... And now on the other end there was a Hutt.

All kidding aside, Vornskr was a decent enough man. Some days more than other. He had vision and a clear conception of the virtues of an orderly society. It was just unfortunate that his vision often included public decapitations, mounting heads on spikes, gratuitous torture dungeons, and other barbaric, degenerate practices better suited to Mandalorian grunts than Sith Lords. Otherwise he might have been standing here as well. A Quadumvirate, if you will.

"I doubt Darth Vornskr ever lacked for concubines after the passing of his wife. Not enough to consider Hutts, at any rate. The name of this Zambrano is purely... Coincidental." Adekos could hope for that much, at any rate. "But I'm getting off track here."

As of now, both Zambranos were the least of their worries. "Our first move will be to establish a rapport with one of the successor governments. Behold, Yaga Minor. The various wars between the Primeval and the Mandalorians left them and their neighbors in a poor state. Muunilinst suffered the most from this, I believe. What makes Yaga Minor important is that they are the fastest to recover and the first to take a hardline stance against the Primeval cults and their other associated acts."

An information box opened up near the image of Yaga Minor, text scrawling along at a reasonable pace. There was even a picture of the current Governor-General, the now-undisputed ruler of the planet, and his second in command. Their Imperialist party had taken control of the Yagai Planetary Senate and promptly abolished it in favor of actually getting things done. They were charting a path towards a greater Yaga Minor, starting with exiling Mandalorians and outlawing the presence of Primeval cults.

"They're doing relatively well for now. Analysts predict the Governor-General will lose control of his regime in a few months due to corruption or assassination, at which point a violent civil war will break out among his would-be successors and an assortment of freedom fighters with various political leanings." That was always the problem with these meteoric regimes- no chain of command. "Whoever wins, everyone loses. Fortunately those analysts can't account for foreign intervention in the form of us. We'll align ourselves with this regime, prop it up, groom it into an empire with larger ambitions... And then seize power ourselves and guide it from there."
 
[member="Darth Orcus"] | [member="Darth Adekos"]

It was very amusing to gossip about the exploits of the Vornskr Lord, but at the end of the day Ardik was quite right. They had a job to do and in this instance it apparently meant bolstering the spread of imperialism through these areas. Not something that Carach was against. He had spent some time with the Imperium in his pursuit of [member="Sinistra"] a few months ago... a pleasant affair, all things considered. But it did gie him a liking for all things imperial; orderly, lawful conduct and above all no chaotic Dark Lord who threw temper tantrums every so often.

Just the sound of progress in the wind.

And yet. And yet Carach was a bit skeptical - no, skeptical wasn't the right word. It was... what was that feeling? It tasted slightly of sour grapes with a mixture of ashes.

"I am intrigued, Ardik." very careful wording for a Sith Lord who was usually very outspoken and brash when it came to their newest plots and schemes. "But what are your projections? What are the risks, the rewards... how much chance is there that this will turn into a success?"

For Tyrin Ardik was a man of calculation and tact. He would not have come to them with this idea without hard data, planning and a modicum of graphs supporting his notions.
 
Orcus was a whale of gambles and risks. Nothing quite came close to the thrill of rolling the dice. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. He had a good idea of where his fellow Hegemon might be going with the cloak and dagger play. After all, the two of them had spent the better part of a decade forging a corporate empire behind the scenes. Carving out their chunk of the galaxy for prosperity and security to reign supreme.

Carach had been too busy riding the One Sith's coat tails. It was expected he would have some catching up to do.

"First Yaga Minor, then the rest of Imperial space. A new Empire. One guided by strong hands. By Sith hands. Just as it should be."

A heavy flipper clapped down on Ardik's shoulder, a bit too jovially. "The risk seems minimal. If this puppet government falls we can start somewhere else. The rewards are expansion. Recovering the old worlds, step by step. Come, Carach, they told me you were a Darth of vision.
[member="Darth Carach"]
[member="Darth Adekos"]
 
[member="Darth Orcus"] | [member="Darth Carach"]

"Bringing law and order to the galaxy is its own reward, my dear friend." Adekos responded, candidly, to Carach. Sentiments that echoed Orcus' on the surface, but Carach knew Adekos better than that and would detect the hint of irony in his voice. Obviously there were other reasons they would want to engage in this sort of nation building. Prestige, wealth, respect, power, comfort, legacy... But to maintain appearances it would be better not to openly admit to such things. There was more at stake here than personal gain, although those were all benefits that came with ushering in a new age of stability. They had to be more forward thinking and aware of the larger picture than their predecessors.

Ah, but he was getting ahead of himself already. "Among our peers we are the few Sith who have demonstrated the ability to build. To administrate. So long as we devote ourselves fully to this cause, the risks of failure are low. We have all done this before with... Varying degrees of success. We won't fail. Not even if someone were to try and stop us."

One could hardly call his tenure as Emperor successful. That was the problem with inheriting old power rather than carving it out. There were too many expectations, too many irrational and unproductive status quos to maintain. Eventually it became too much. It all ended with a parade of angsty exiles running roughshod over the throne room and himself. Not this time. Now they could all set the tone from the beginning and keep it where it needed to be. The like-minded would come on their own and the aimless, chaotic ne'er-do-wells of the galaxy would be left to rot elsewhere. Or in the One Sith, provided they lasted much longer.

"I can tell Orcus is more than willing to join me. Where do you stand now, Carach? Have I assuaged the trepidations you hold?"
 

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