A Ruusan State of Mind

[Tmoxin Temi]

The Sovereign Stingray II slid into a heavily protected hangar near the under-construction Triumvirate Citadel on Ruusan. This was bound to happen sooner than later, thought Tmoxin Temi. She knew the Sith would eventually move in on Techno Union territory due to the firm alliance that had been in place for two years. However, she didn’t predict it would be a Sith group on more of the fringes.

But in all fairness, the Union got what was coming to it. The main governing body of the Techno Union – the executive council - had disbanded, Tmoxin herself stepping down as the Foreman. Planets in the region were returned to monarchs or local government officials, which of course, were much weaker than a centralized administration which happened to have hundreds of thousands of military droids at their disposal.

Don’t underestimate this group, thought the Hapan businesswoman. The Triumvirate had recently seized Ruusan, and quite easily it seemed through the holonews reports. She’d been spending time in semi-retirement at her Keffi ranch on Bothawui, but after a long respite away from politics and war, Tmoxin finally admitted to herself that she missed the excitement of warfare. Not even the violent shock ball games that the Morpho Sports Complex hosted, and of which she’d become a fan – of both watching and betting – could assuage her longing to command an army again, choosing which ordnance to utilize, watching glorious AT-ATs stomp down on an unsuspecting landscape, to revel in taking a checkpoint and completing an operation for the sheer pleasure of accolades and drinking with Generals in the Officer’s Club.

Curious, she’d asked for an audience with Darth Adekos, not realizing that she’d met the man before under very different circumstances. In fact, she lined his bank accounts with credits every day to some extent. Approaching the thick security detail, the Hapan Dark Jedi stated her business and was led to a finished atrium to wait. She was dressed in her custom armor without all of the modules that she would wear on the battlefield. But Tmoxin, for personal reasons, some stemming back to childhood, had a healthy fear of the Sith. There was no way she would have conducted this business meeting unarmed. She felt, even now, as though she were walking willingly into an abattoir.

A couple of construction lackeys passed by and one said offhandedly: “That marble statue goes in Darth Carach’s wing."

Carach, thought Tmoxin, stifling a smile. If anyone would be the first to slice her to the bone, it would be the ruthless, Sith Lord and former Voice of the Dark Lord.

She had higher hopes for Adekos’s receptance today.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

The atrium was still under construction by the time Tmoxin entered. Darth Adekos was alone. That is, he was not with the other Triumvirs. The room was crowded with a few sculptors, chiseling away at gargantuan marble pillars that lined the room. There were three on each side, but only the middle column on the right appeared to be nearing completion. It bore the elongated features of a hooded Muun. Darth Plagueis, no doubt. It had been a close decision between all the Triumvirs to determine who got a pillar in their Citadel on Ruusan. They were in agreement on most Sith that were scheduled to be present, seeing as the reasonable strain were easily separable from the mindless and the bloodthirsty.

Tyranus didn't make the cut, though. Although he was cool and even tempered, his failure to lead the Confederacy to victory was a colossal mistake. One overshadowed by Sidious' successful destruction of the Republic and the Jedi. Sidious' features were just barely taking shape in the marble pillar to the immediate left of the atrium's entrance, which had been left ajar so workers could easily move in and out. Adekos sensed Tmoxin's entrance and turned to look at her, reflective mask sizing up the Hapan woman.

"Well, well. Look what the Morpho dragged in." He immediately noted her armor. "Expecting a battle, are we?"

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

The Hapan Dark Jedi turned her head in the direction of the man’s voice - a familiar tone, but somehow slightly altered by the mask, whether by design or on purpose, she did not know. But she sensed nothing amiss, nor odd enough to warrant further investigation.

She let out a derisive snort. “Don’t worry I’m not here to collect your bounty, Adekos. Although it seems like you need more protection than a few marble statues,” Tmoxin said, her lips curling in a smile.

“Oh and let me guess… all of this paid for by the acquisition of Techno Union assets, I presume?” This question was asked with more amusement than bitterness. The red-haired businesswoman held no love or loyalty to the Techno Union. The Hapan Hussy, as the holonet gossip sites called her, only cared about one thing. Her own hide. But that didn’t discount her tactical experience in battle and command of her troops. And assuming Darth Adekos didn’t throw her out on the spot, that’s what she was here to discuss.

“Where is your statue? Does it stand outside of the citadel refresher, like a towel rack?” she teased. She knew it was likely the main Triumvir’s likenesses would only be immortalized after their deaths. But perhaps hubris dictated that Darth Adekos’s shiny silver mask would be decorating a pillar in his own lifetime.

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

Not even a minute into the conversation and the Hapan's words were clawing viciously through the air in attempts to ruffle Adekos' feathers. He actually stiffened for a moment, her scathing comments having caught him by surprised. Then remembered he should have known better by now- especially after an opening like 'look what the Morpho dragged in.' Clearly this was the only thing that could happen when two class acts clashed.

"Don't be silly. We would have been left with a deficit if we tried to collect any of Union's decrepit leftovers." He sniggered. "It wasn't as if they had any major holdings on Ruusan anyway. Their acquisition of the world was a schizophrenic move at best, considering it holds little materialistic value. I wonder, who could have suggested such a brazenly unprofitable move? And who would lead such a worthless campaign?"

Darth Adekos actually had no idea whether Temi was the one behind it or not. The implication that she might have been should be insult enough in either case. "And no, no statues of me. Although truly I should aspire to a position as illustrious as Keeper of the Towels. Better than whatever the One Sith might have saddled me with." The One Sith now had a councilor dedicated solely to philosophy. What possible function of government could be enhanced by someone whose only duty was to ruminate on the fundamentals of Sith philosophy? Disgusting. At least towels were more clear in their purpose, as were the furniture pieces that held them. A few of the workmen had to pause what they were doing to peer nervously at the Hostile Hapan who had spoken so plainly to an allegedly powerful Sith Lord.

He gave a wave of his hand, as if dismissing the portion of the conversation that consisted of cheap shots. "I hope you've come for some other reason than to slight me in front of the sculptors. Otherwise we'll have to keep this short."

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

If outraged breathing was a sellable commodity, Darth Adekos would have patented it. She could almost hear him huffing and puffing at the indignity of the Hapan’s barbed words. Yet as he lambasted the Techno Union for mindlessly gobbling up Ruusan, Tmoxin’s brows furrowed as she thought back to her data files over the Ruusan Planetary Acquisition Act No. 44723. Did I stamp my signature on that? Or was that [member="Draco Vereen"]? Or [member="Lucien Cordel"]? He was always better at the legal stuff than expansionism.

“Whether you believe this is selective amnesia or not, I do not remember who ordered the occupation of Ruusan. But if you want to go ahead and blame me that’s fine,” the Hapan Dark Jedi said. “I’ve been blamed for worse.” Her head whipped around to the workmen who intensely watched the impromptu show, and she snapped, “Get back to work, or I’ll rip your eyes out of your sockets and feed them to my Keffis. Darth Adekos does not pay you to stand around and gawk.”

Turning back to the Sith Lord, she said softly, “Keffis are vegetarian. Anyway, I did not come to amuse you with my humor, Lord Adekos.” The emphasis on Lord was just over-dramatic enough that it was likely she was mocking him a little.

“I come with a proposal. While you may know me as a businesswoman or whatever the gossip rags choose to call me, I am a Dark Jedi and former ground Commander. My enterprises are profitable, I have everything I want except perhaps the Crown of Hapes, and I’m fully satisfied with most areas of my life, including friends and relationships.”

She looked down and ceremoniously removed her leather gloves, pulling them off one finger at a time. Glancing back up at the gleaming mask, seeing her own fun-house reflection in it, she admitted:

“And I’m bored as a Void Dweller. Give me something to do, Adekos."

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

“Get back to work, or I’ll rip your eyes out of your sockets and feed them to my Keffis. Darth Adekos does not pay you to stand around and gawk.”

He cringed, inwardly, because now this stranger was in his capitol building yelling at people who weren't employees. Alright, she wasn't a stranger, but the workers hardly knew that. What it looked like was that Darth Adekos was sitting here losing control of a situation. Terrible, terrible PR. All the workers would go home to their families and run their mouth off about how a Triumvir had sat there and taken this lip from some uppity bint in armor, because she was looking for a job or something. Well, nothing a few public service campaigns couldn't fix. Maybe if this were an actual stranger in front of high-ranking personnel, his response might have been different.

"We should all be so fortunate to be as satisfied in our personal lives as you." He returned. "But you seem to be carrying some pent up anger, a little bit of stress. Look at you, you're all tensed up."

Adekos folded his arms across his chest, although one hand came up to rub his chin as he contemplated. "Something to do... Yes, well, I suppose you could try yoga. Or knitting. My great-grandmother had similar problems. Did wonders for her; right up until the end."

The Ardik family would have liked to been able to say that those hobbies had added a few years to her lifespan. It did mellow her out- she was always a very angry woman, constantly worrying about this or that. She said it kept her on her toes. It did keep her keen and aware, but it also drove just about everyone crazy. Then the yoga started and she calmed down significantly. And then she got assassinated, since she stopped keeping tabs on her rivals or checking her airspeeder for explosive traps. So, really, the yoga might have been what killed her in the end, depending on who you asked. At least she got to knit a few nice shadow cloaks before she got offed.

Back to business. "Surely you must have some other goal here other than alleviating simple boredom? I've read a lot of studies, you know. Soldiers who do their job simply for the thrill of it aren't nearly as reliable."

 

[Tmoxin Temi]

“Terrible PR” was Tmoxin’s middle name. She was no stranger to gossip and scandal published about her life on the holonet, from her traitorous maneuvers against the One Sith to her embezzlement of millions of credits from her ship magnate lover. All of it was out there for public consumption, and she could not give a flying crink about it.

But her eyes narrowed when he spoke of knitting and yoga, her Hapan sensibilities finally insulted. Tmoxin’s pert nose wrinkled in distaste.“Yes I suppose I could squeeze a spin class in after I lead an army to victory. Or maybe as I’m snapping someone’s neck in two, I could whip out my crochet project. I’ll have you know that I’m a decorated officer Lord Adekos. I don’t need a hobby. I need a conquest.”

She knew threats and intimidation wouldn’t work though right at this moment, she felt like exploding one of those smug-looking statues apart with Telekinesis. The redhead had heard that Adekos was quite fond of treasures. Perhaps a gift was in order. After all, the Dark Jedi Hapan knew Techno Union space very well as she’d extensively traveled and defended it over the past year.

“There is a large mining operation on Christophsis, run by a slaver, which as I remember, slavery is against the law in Techno Union space… one of your laws I presume?”

She waved her hand. “Neither here nor there. The Morpho Security Division led by myself will seize the mine and turn it over to…” She thought about giving it to the Triumvirate but greasing the palms of your friends was a precise business indeed. “To you, Adekos,” she finished. “You keep it, sell it off, expand… whatever your heart desires. You do have one of those, right? Assuming it's not as mechanical as the rest of you." Resting hands on her hips, Tmoxin asked, “If that operation goes well, will you consider a role for me in your organization?”

[member="Darth Adekos"]

 

[Caulder Dune]

[member="Tmoxin Temi"]

"Yes, yes, decorated officer." Adekos dryly echoed. "Of course I know. I doubt you'd let anyone forget."

Darth Adekos was about to owe up to, perhaps even gloat over, the anti-slavery legislation when she dismissed the detail of it off hand. The Sithling could have gone on all day if he really wanted to. That was the second time in his life he had outlawed slavery. Third if one counted the amendment in the Triumvirate's founding articles preemptively prohibiting the practice. Someone had to look after the economic security of the Outer Rim. It might as well be him.

When Tmoxin offered to fork over the keys to a mine owned by some slave-owning lunatic, he appeared to merely shrug. A year or two ago he might have dismissed the offer. Probably saying something along the lines of "I hardly have any need for a dirt farm on the other side of the galaxy." But these days Adekos was learning that diversified assets were the best kind. Those energy mines on Sarapin were raking in some real money, so why not more? It would give his Neimoidian pal more capital to work with. If there was one this his surprisingly-not-mechanical heart desired, it was more money.

Although, a mechanical heart would have been nice. No question of that. Definitely safer and more efficient than a regular heart. It could even improve his health drastically if he supplemented it with some additional cybernetics. Of course, the surgery was invasive and expensive. Not to mention the cost of the actual cybernetic part was astronomical, not to mention the mandatory adjustment period, the possibility of the body rejecting it, the the possibility of infection, sabotage, or any number of other complications. Cybernetic parts like that were best attained on an as-necessary basis, not on a whim. Adekos would get one only when he absolutely required it and not a moment sooner.

Anyway. "Well, if you feel the need to spoil me with such a gift, I shall indeed consider it. Here, walk with me. I'm sure the workers have heard enough." Or maybe he just did not like the way she had eyed one of those statues just then. Adekos nearly held his arm out, but immediately thought better of it and continued on.