Dominion Crystals Are Forever | SO Dominion of Erinar

[CT-312]

//: Quinn Varanin //:
//:Nearby: Jorryn Fordyce Matteo Guo-Yian Lunaria Talon //:
//: Erinar //:
//: Attire //:
//: EQUIPMENT: Halcyon Armour| M.I. 'Sunstroke' jetpack| M.I. 'Halo' jump boots | Contact Lenses | Wrist Mounted APG | Ancile Shield | Navi/Barca //:
//: FAE/M-06 Eight Blade Razorline Projector| FAE/M-02 Energized Forearm Vibroblade Mk. II//:
//: WEAPONS: VW 864 Maser Rifle | LO-18D | M.I. Model 7 shotgun | LO-22S | Sunshot Pistol | M.I. Model 6 hybrid pistol //:
//: 40|40 Active Mag : 2 Backup Mags x LO-KI/22 Standard Slug Round //:
//: DROIDS: 1 x LK War-X | 2 x LK Pred-X //:
//: ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT: 2 x Kushute Grenades | 6 x Shiva Knife | S.A.N.D. Powder //:
//: 1 x Arrow head of Absence | Taozin amulet | LK Spider Slicer Droid //:
//: Objective I - First Come First Served //:​

CT-312 listened as the Princess explained about the ‘rocks’. These weren’t just normal rocks. The mention of lightsabers had the Scout blink behind the visor. ‘The glowsticks?’ Forging a new lightsaber? Current ones? ‘The Princess has multiple?’ CT-312 had only recently learned the word lightsaber was the proper term for the glowing blades she had encountered. During the Kaggath tournament and once during a Black Sun operation. Careful not to intrude or sound… nosey, but needing confirmation, “Pardon my ignorance, Princess… lightsabers, as in glowsticks?”

The heat thickened around them as they continued toward the energy signature. BARCA pinged again. Three signatures ahead. CT-312 tracked them with a small tilt of her helmet. “I’ve only encountered a few in my time. Seen mostly red. Fought against one and recently fought one that was cyan-colored.” Her visor zoomed in on the signatures. One familiar— Jorryn Fordyce . Two unknowns. They stood near a cavern entrance, appearing to converse with one another rather than fight. “They said they were Jedi. Whatever that means.”

CT-312 paused before asking another question. One that felt strangely silly for someone whose life revolved around weapons. “Are yours different colors too?” Zooming out, she mentally noted these ‘rocks’ were components of lightsabers. Somehow, she had never considered a small stone as the heart of such a weapon. ‘Hmm… doesn’t seem big enough to power a blade…’ But CT-312 knew that looks could be very deceiving.

Her mind briefly drifted to the first mission she ever ran with the Princess. Back then she had looked at her and thought ‘What’s a child doing out here?’ Small. Unassuming. Barely armored. Rapidly CT-312 learned that this “child” was a Sith Lord with multiple titles, achievements, and battlefield experience than most she’d served under or worked with.

When The Princess mentioned her gloves, CT-312 reflexively looked down at her own hands, then up at the Princess. She was leaning over on top of the War-X, smiling at her like this was all completely normal. Careful? Durable? The Scout didn’t think her gloves were anything special or that different. It didn’t occur to her that may be the case. “Are your gloves insufficient?” Behind the visor a faint frown creased her brown. That was… concerning. “If that’s the case, you’re right. Best that I handle the stones.“ Safety first. ”Yes Princess, I’ll be sure to handle them carefully so we don’t lose the chance to collect any. If you see any you like, point them out.”

A sound. No. A whisper brushed against CT-312’s mind. Faint and unfamiliar. Her body went rigid for a split second. Rifle lifting slightly on reflex. The sensation tugged at the edge of her awareness. A pull she could not name. Scanning the area, confused, the Scout found nothing. Before she could dwell, a ping from one of the Pred-X units lit up on her HUD. Another energy reading. Branching off from the three figures ahead. CT-312 halted.

The War-X stopped immediately besides her. Its massive frame going still with a muted metallic groan. The two Pred-Xs froze. Suddenly sprinting back into formation with a wordless command. Flanking the Princess and Scout. “It seems your handmaiden, Jorryn, is nearby.” CT-312 reported. “She has two others with her. Unknown. They appear non-hostile.” Both Pred-X units brushed lightly against her. CT-312 gave on a brief pat as they rumbled low in reply. The War-X answered with a deeper growl, nudging her shoulder gently until the smaller units backed off. “There’s another large reading. Branching further in.” The whisper brushed against her again.

CT-312 turned sharply toward its direction. Facing toward the source of the new signature. A pull. Stronger this time. Almost… calling. The War-X lowered its huge head, nudging the Scout’s arm as if asking permission. She rested her gloved hand against its metal plating in acknowledgment then lifting her vambrace and transmitting the gathered data to the Princess. Was she imagining things? CT-312 debated if she should ask the Princess if she felt it too or to keep it to herself until she had confirmation.

“It would be rude not to say hello.” BARCA beeped twice. With a clicking of limbs, the two Pred-X droids shot off toward the small group. They approached cautiously, closing in on both flanks of the trio near the cavern’s entrance. Eyes glowing red as both battle droids crept forward. Reading no threat, their lenses flicked to yellow as their posture eased. One of the units transmitted a location signature to follow if she chose, to Jorryn Fordyce

[ Tracking Data: XX, XX ]
[ Spot you miles away. Should fix that. ]

Once the message was sent, both droids turned and headed back.

CT-312 glanced into the cavern mouth ahead. “Seems the stones you’re looking for are down below.” The cavern was enormous, carved open by time and fire. Lava pools glowed along the floor, illuminating clusters of crystals. Pebble-sized specks to massive jagged formations erupting from the rock.

“These your rocks, Princess?”

Crystals.

These were crystals. The Scout crouched and picked up one of the smaller ‘stones’. Heat radiated off of it through her gloves as she turned the pebble-sized crystal between her fingers. It looked too small, too harmless. The ginger glow pulsed faintly like a heartbeat trapped inside glass. Her gaze drifted, looking deeper into the cavern.

The chamber extended further down into molten-red darkness. Toward a strong pull. Towards the hum that she could feel crawling along her senses. Deeper toward whatever. Whoever, was calling.

 

[Srina Talon]

Allies: Gerwald Lechner | Lina Ovmar
Location: The Grand Design

____________________________________________________

The faint tremor of Erinar's forges hummed beneath the soles of her boots as the chamber absorbed Gerwald's final words. His contributions did not require praise, nor did she need to scold him for his previous lack of alignment. She could feel the steadiness of his intentions pressing lightly against the edges of her perception. His presence was warm, furred, running along the edges of her mind...and it solidified that the Dread Wolf had already placed the next stone where she had intended it to fall.

It was done.

Good.

She did not turn toward him while he lay out the framework…Detailing anchor sites, relays, and even their soon-to-be expedition into Firefist. Srina did not voice her approval, but there was a subtle shift of coolness in the air. It was less frozen, less oppressive. The work ahead was daunting, but it was, for the moment, the correct path forward. To take the legacy that her husband had left for them and carry it forward—To create something more. Gerwald Lechner had known her longer than anyone in the Empire save for Darth Empyrean , even longer than Darth Carnifex .

He knew that she never did anything without purpose, nor did she act without logic. If she assumed that they could learn to control Force Storms, there was a method to that madness. She would not experiment blindly and enact what was not proven, but she wouldn't shirk from the challenge of seeing it through. Sith that could control the storm could move an army in an instant. It was not the Force alone that turned the tide in an incursion, but bodies, people, fighting bloody tooth and nail.

That was never more evident than in the failure of the Galactic Empire at Atrisia, which the Sith Order would do well to learn from. There had been immense amounts of raw power at their disposal, and yet their reliance on the Force to attack satellite territories for them had failed miserably. Raw strength was not enough, not alone, not by itself.

It required people to wield it.

Her gaze, pale as sunlit bone, drifted back to Lina Ovmar .

The young woman had learned, seemingly quickly. Earlier insolence had given way to measured thought and ambition that was properly tempered before her eyes. Srina noted the shift—Not with warmth, but with the same clinical precision one might study any other weapon, blade, or tool that was often tasked with proving why it might be worth keeping. Lina's offer was sensible, tone, respectful.

Her final words, however…

Alvaria.

It was a broken world, broken because its King had disappeared just as swiftly as he had arrived. Uttering the name was like dropping a stone in still water. No one else moved, but Srina felt tension spool in the air. Not fear. Not suspicion—Attention. Every set of eyes waited for the Empress, not the topic.

Once again…Lina pressed in a public forum about something that other monarchs would have had her head over. Srina did not flinch. She did not blink. The scent of jasmine and rain folded back into the air with a sharper, colder edge. She stepped away from the viewport and returned to the holotable with movements that were unhurried and weightless. Her hand brushed the edge of the projector, and the light dimmed until the Blackwall only existed as a faint silhouette.

"Do what must be done, Lord Lechner. Firefist will wait for no one…", the words were soft, affirming, all that the Dark Councilor had already spoken. "And I'll not delay our young from exploration and staking their claim on territory unknown. The sooner they begin charting, the better."

It was only a matter of time before the Republic sank their claws into it. Already, they were gobbling up newly freed pieces of the Core like a gluttonous beast. It was only then that she lifted her eyes fully back to the waiting Lady Ovmar and evaluated her fully. Such intense scrutiny would feel like pressure coming in at all sides, gravity, taking root. "As for your willingness to collaborate on storm research…It is noted. That work will come later, once the new gates are operational and secured."

Not approval, not dismissal, just acknowledgement. Placement. Lina had offered her services and Srina had not denied them…But Alvaria. Of all things to leave her lips, Alvaria.

Srina's expression remained as it was, impassive and empty. As if the state this planet had not affected her in any way, as if she hadn't taken in the blood and grief as a wound. "But the matter you raise now is not one for open forum…", she responded after a moment, and nodded her head, causing silence to ripple through the rest of the Sith that had assembled in a slow wave. The hall emptied of personnel, one by one, holoprojectors and staff disappearing as if they had never been.

Until all that remained was herself, Lina Ovmar , and Gerwald Lechner .

"If you wish to speak of Alvaria…You may."

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Srina Talon | Lina Ovmar

The tremor of the planet faded beneath the last words of the Empress, leaving the council chamber suspended in a heavy silence. Srina's voice had closed the matter of the Blackwall with finality that no one in the room dared contest. Firefist would be taken. The gates would be built. The diamonds would serve the future she shaped. Every Sith present could feel the direction settle like a new spine through the Order.

Gerwald did not move. The Dread Wolf remained exactly where he had stood from the moment Srina turned toward the burning horizon. The room exhaled in relief at her decision, but the wolf only watched her, observing the cues that had guided him long before she took the throne. A faint shift of posture. A deeper quiet in her breathing. The scent of jasmine and rain changing with sharp precision as her mind settled into the next task. Others saw poise or coldness. Gerwald saw calculation. There was rarely a moment in which he failed to read her.

Lina bowed her head. Acceptance settled across her shoulders. Satisfaction followed. The young woman had bent her pride rather than break it, which was a rare trait in this hall. Her voice returned with an offer to assist with research related to storms, a calm request born from ambition shaped into discipline. The Empress answered not with praise or dismissal but with placement, and the wolf noted the difference. Srina had given Lina a foothold, nothing more.

Then Lina pressed further.

Alvaria.

The name cut the air cleanly. It carried grief, memory, and consequences that few in this room understood. Gerwald was not present when several moved against the world, but the Dark Councilor had heard enough to recognize the tension that entered the Empress's stillness. Srina did not shift her stance, nor raise her voice, but the scent that surrounded her sharpened in a way only the wolf would ever read. Lina had her attention.

Nothing in the room moved. Every councilor, aide, and guard froze. Gerwald did not speak. The former Lord Commander had learned long ago never to stand between the Empress and a subject she wished to address herself.

Srina turned from the viewport and approached the holotable. Pale eyes settled on Lina with a weight that pressed the air thin. Her tone carried no wrath, yet the entire chamber seemed to tense under the gravity of her scrutiny. Gerwald recognized that stillness. He had seen her hold the galaxy itself in that kind of silence before making a decision that changed the course of campaigns.

The Empress dismissed the room without raising her voice. One by one, the Sith departed. The chamber drained until only three remained: the Empress, the ambitious Lady Ovmar, and the wolf who had served the Echani faithfully longer than any could claim.

Gerwald had not spoken since Srina addressed him earlier in the meeting. Her comments about carrying forward the Order's legacy, about learning from the failure at Atrisia, about the need for people to wield power rather than cast it blindly through the Force, had settled into him the way her directives always did. They were not an admonishment. They were truth spoken for the one who would act on them. The Dark Councilor accepted that weight without resistance. It was what he had been shaped for.

Her remark that he should do what must be done regarding Firefist had echoed through the wolf's mind from the moment she spoke it. It was not a suggestion. It was permission to begin. Srina seldom told him twice.

Now, standing at her side once more, Gerwald inclined his head slightly. A gesture that reflected acknowledgment of her earlier command without inserting himself into this new matter. Alvaria as subject matter belonged first to the Empress and the woman who named it. The wolf would not interrupt.

Srina's final statement settled over the chamber with the same quiet gravity she had wielded from the start.

The Empress opened the floor. Only then did the wolf shift his stance, weight settling in a way that suggested readiness rather than intrusion. He said nothing. The Dark Councilor held his silence as he had been trained to do. Gerwald's eyes drifted from Lina to Srina, reading what others could not see. The slight narrowing of her gaze. The faint pressure of her presence expanding in the Force. The subtle cooling of the chamber. These were signs that the topic mattered, that the Empress was bracing herself to receive something she already suspected would come.

The wolf waited, not as a warrior, diplomat or as husband to one rebuilt by Srina's hand, but as the Dark Councilor whose silence made space for truth to emerge. Whatever Lina said next would shape the next step of this meeting. Gerwald watched, ready to act only once the Empress made her will known.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina wanted to argue, to counter that a public forum was exactly what Alvaria needed. It had been a public onslaught after all, hundreds of civilians and Tsis’Kaar remnants slaughtered, an entire noble family driven from its home. But Srina knew all this.

She had been there.

She met the Empress's scrutinising gaze without flinching, noting the change in the air around her. It was like the pressure of a storm that had yet to break. Lina held her ground, unwavering. It wasn't defiance, for she would never openly defy her Empress, no it was something else.

Lina had spent a long time hiding in the shadows, speaking only enough to make a point, but without drawing attention. She was forgotten except by those who knew her. Now she was ready to step into the light, to be known. Her power was quiet, but it was unmistakable.

Once everyone had filed from the room and the Wolf had moved back to her side she was invited to speak. For a moment she didn't, picking her words carefully and letting the silence hang as she did.

“I could stand here and list the number of dead civilians, or tell you how many loyal servants House Marr lost in the Kainites slaughter, but you already know those. They are encased in the crystal you created.” Lina’s eyes glittered not once moving for her face. “The incursion was not only unnecessarily violent, but it was loud and public and yet, there has been no recourse.”

Lina recalled the horror on Revna Marr 's face when she realised her family home had been subject to the Butcher King's wrath. The guilt twisted again in her stomach. “Lesser creatures have been sentenced to death over lesser crimes. So I ask, Empress, that Darth Carnifex and Darth Prazutis stand trial. Unless, of course, you already have a plan to deal with them?”

Srina Talon Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Srina Talon | Lina Ovmar

Gerwald remained where Srina had placed him as a silent weight at her flank. Lina’s words filled the room, bold enough that even the stone seemed to hold its breath.

When she invoked the names of Darth Carnifex and Darth Prazutis, he did not flinch. The Dread Wolf simply lifted his gaze. He was not angry or outraged. Gerwald was curious. Why had Lina Ovmar chosen this line to cross? Why did she want Srina Talon to interfere on her behalf against the Kainite Lords? Had she forgotten what it meant to be Sith?

Her request hung in the air like an open wound. Sith did not ask for justice in this way. They did not speak of trials when speaking of gods. Sith survived their overlords or they died beneath them. There was no middle ground.

His voice cut through the atmosphere with a simple question.

“Didn’t this begin when you opened your loins to House Marr?”

He let the words settle and offered nothing else. His eyes turned to the Empress. Srina’s would be the next voice heard.

 

[Srina Talon]

Allies: Gerwald Lechner | Lina Ovmar
Location: The Grand Design

____________________________________________________

The chamber no longer hummed with the static pressure of too many strong minds crammed together. The area had seemingly opened, stretching into the absence left behind by the last of the withdrawing Sith Lords. What remained was space, space to think, space to breathe. Gerwald had shifted minutely at her side, like a large predator, not unthinkable…Because he was. She could feel him as a contour of heat at the edge of her perception, all fur and devotion. His loyalty brushed at the back of her mind like the memory of familiar armor. Well-worn, waiting quietly.

His voice, when it came, cut through the quiet far more crudely than he realized. If Lina Ovmar wondered why it was that the Empress had cleared the room…Perhaps now, she might wonder a little less. Certain things did not need to be discussed where it could be repeated and spun into weapons. Reputation once broken was difficult to repair.

A lesser woman might have flinched or savored the barb. Srina felt neither reaction. What exuded from her instead was a ripple of something far more refined. The sensation of temperature narrowing, a filament of cold, folding neatly around her. It was not anger. Anger was noisy, undisciplined, and useful only to those who needed noise to hide their truths. Her head inclined by the slightest degree, the white-gold strands of her hair shifting like blades of light as she murmured the name of the Lord Commander…Barely more than a breath. "Gerwald."

She did not turn to face him as that would imply his remark had struck a nerve. Even if it had—Neither in the room needed to know. It was not her intent to judge, merely to state the facts.

"I remember a time when your hungers stilled a nation for a fortnight and resulted in war. Do you?"

There was no intent to humiliate him, but a less-than-subtle reminder that men and women were equally driven by their passions. It was normal, natural, but actions also had consequences. Her wolf to call could tear kingdoms apart, but there were moments when his gruff disposition led to an equally sharp tongue. Blunt, but cruel. Her gaze instead fell on Lina…She observed her the way an Echani might watch an opponent before a duel. She noted her stance by the line her body made against the shadows, the tilt of weight from one foot to the other, the flare of breath against the ribs.

Even her voice held information.

Srina noted the barest tendril of guilt, followed by the beginnings of conviction. Lady Ovmar had spoken of death, of ruin, of civilians cut down—Of truths that had been carved into the very crystal the Empress had raised from the blood of Alvaria. Her words brushed against a lingering ache buried within the Echani warrior, an ache that she had not allowed to surface during the massacre or in its aftermath. As Lina pressed on…Srina remained still. Silent.

Beneath that calm…Memory stirred.

Alvaria's sky had burned hellfire red when she arrived. The air had been full of smoke, the palace grounds reeked of old blood, still warm, in places. She had felt it—The sorrow that clung to stone and the dark triumph staining the Force where the Kainite had passed like twin storms made of bone and fire. Their creations, monsters, and wolves, left a legacy for the remaining populace who would turn their likeness into beings of myth. They would raise them up. The same way, the opposite way, that they had raised Malum of House Marr to their King. They were a people who believed in prophecy and legend. In knights, saving the princess, and serving in their liege or whatever deity they believed in.

In turn…This event would be handed down, from ear to ear, as if it were divine punishment.

The Silence of Alvaria.

The Great Purge.

Yes. Srina HAD been present on Alvaria. This was public record. Unlike many…Srina did not hide when she interfered with the machinations of their people. She did not need to—The games did not belong to her, there was nothing for her to win. So…The delicate and carefully phrased plea landed in her mind not as an offense, but a misalignment.

A misunderstanding of the culture, Lina Ovmar claimed, and the throne she addressed.

Trial.

As if the Sith were the type of people who believed that justice was something to be handed down instead of carved out of the bodies of their enemies. When Srina did speak, her tone was airy, as though she were explaining an intricate concept to someone whose intelligence she did not doubt…But perhaps someone with experience she recognized as potentially incomplete. "You seek recourse…As if we are a nation guided by jurisprudence rather than might."

Her fingers brushed the sides of the holotable, the metal still slightly warm from the earlier projection.

"We are Sith. We do not hold trials for those strong enough to act, nor do we hold funerals for those too weak to survive the result."

There was no cruelty in her tone…It was only the truth, as she had known it to be, for decades. Srina could do many things, many things, but reversing time and restoring life to an entire city was beyond her reach. She could bring back…One, perhaps. Two. And even then…They would not be what they were. Shells of themselves, without an anchor, to retain their humanity. @Gerwlad Lechner had experienced that with his mate, when she was reborn, when Srina restored her from his memory.

It was a cost that he was still paying, that Naedira Darcrath , lived with each and every day.

There were worse things than death.
​

"I could be incorrect...But it seems that you ask for justice. That...justice...implies a world where right and wrong are measurable things. We do not live in such a world. We live in consequence. You speak of the Kainite as though they committed an act that was against our laws. They did not. They responded to a chain of provocations from House Marr…", her eyes, golden and glimmering, seemed to sharpen and focus, "A broken marriage contract."

"Humiliation cast across the HoloNet, a kaggath, perverted into a farce that shielded Alisteri Haxim from the vengeance that tradition demanded. A lie told to the Empire itself—A ruler, who vanished, leaving his world leaderless, undefended, and ripe for conquest."

Each offense was stated lightly, gently, because by their laws, none of these situations were against any sort of "law" that would have required her intervention. Was it smart to lie to the crown? To the nation? No. No—It was not. "Actions have consequences…Even when we are not present to witness them."

Her gaze softened, though it did not warm.

"If I were to grant the trials you seek…Who shall I summon first? You, for breaking a vow witnessed by half the nation? Alisteri, for kidnapping and beating their younglings? Malum, for his lies, for you, for abandoning Alvaria without provision or protection for his House? The Kainite for their bloody aggression? For holding Lady Revna? Lady Revna, for refusing my aid, which caused more friction? Nefaron, Lirka, and Helix for their equally bloody moves against the Tsis'Kaar? The Dark Council for failing to be everywhere, to stop this, before it started?"

Srina felt her jaw tighten, leaving silence for a long moment. She was not unaware of the things that went on in the borders of this Empire, and anyone who assumed that was woefully mistaken. The wintry sovereign moved away from the table and stepped closer to Lina Ovmar to obtain her full attention. To bring their eyes together, in a moment that would likely never be repeated.

"Would you have me call myself?"

It was a question that made blood chill, freeze in the bones, while the room went deathly still. Eyes that were tinged with corruption turned to something metallic and empty. As if the hollows of her eyes could draw everything in, twin black holes, swallowing everything within her point of view.

"I have killed entire cities, Lina. The population on the Moon of Echnos was pulled under my thrall when the Galactic Alliance attacked because we needed bodies to deny them. Elrood suffered extensive losses at my hand when their people went mad due to a convergence, this, is where I learned to crystallize blood for further use.", Srina continued, speaking at length, to give the woman the full extent of her thoughts. "…Several cities on Susevfi were razed for killing my daughter when she came to aid them…And several more, for reasons that you may or may not find distasteful."

Srina took no pleasure in killing. None. It was a consequence of the path that she had chosen when the Light had failed her so completely that she dropped to the depths of the dark and never returned. She was a force of nature, a mother, and something that defied the natural order. She did want to see her children thrive, all of them, but there was a price for stability. "I could sentence us all…Here. Now. But what would be left? Who would be left once pounds of flesh are removed for trespass?"

Her eyes closed then, breaking the connection. When the Empress spoke again, the tone was quieter, but carried the unmistakable weight of authority shaped by years of bearing a nation's expectations. "You were not on Alvaria…Not all was lost. Malum's children are in my possession until their mother comes to claim them. Their people, in time, will recover. I have ended the crusade against House Marr, and the Kainite have been…handled."

There was something about the way she said the word "handled" that conjured sensations of something incredibly unpleasant, but the diminutive woman did not elaborate. "The Sith…"

"The Sith are not clean, logical creatures. We do not wash our hands of the consequences of our choices, nor will I allow the throne to be manipulated to pursue an agenda that does not befit the Empire. I do not know what your particular grievance is, but there is a focus on Darth Carnifex and Darth Prazutis that cannot be denied. It is not simply, Alvaria."

She stepped back, granting the space between them the dignity of breath.

"We create our own power, and we endure its cost. And if we desire vengeance…We pursue it with our own hands—Not by soliciting the Crown or the Assembly to fight your wars for you."

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Gerwald's words were like a slap across Lina's face her though to her credit, her only outward reaction was a sharp intake of breath as her gaze shifted slowly to regard the Dread Wolf as Srina reminded him of his own escapades. His opinion of her was noted before she took a breath and returned her gaze to the Empress, dismissing him in favour of hearing the words she spoke, even if what he had said left her unsettled.

She did not interupt, even when the accusation of a broken marriage contract was cast, nor when the surprise that Srina had not only offered her assistance to Revna, but had been refused. When Srina stepped forward, closing the distance between them, Lina felt the shift is the quiet storm that always followed the Empress, the warning that rested behind those words was enough for Lina to know her place.

She didn't look away, nor shrink back from the power that was held before her. She weathered it with quiet patience. Letting silence rest between the three of them once she had finished speaking.

"Forgive me Empress, for I speak without having all the information. I had not known your help was offered to Revna and refused." There was a sadness in her tone, momentary disappointment befire she continued. "But allow me to correct the misinformation you also have." Her gaze flicked once to Gerwald

"I did not break the marriage contract. My relationship with Malum was long before the wedding, it was before I had even fallen pregnant. It was information used by Carnifex to carve me away because he no longer had a chain with which to control me."

She took a breath, letting the rising anger at even speaking if the matter fold away back into its cage. "You are right, my focus on Carnifex but I have my own method of handling my grievances against him. This is not about me."

She paused trying to select her words carefully. "There is only so much needless destruction a nation can take. You, are the Empress, if you decide a city should crumble then it crumbles because our lives are yours to do with as you see fit." Her gaze shifte to Gerwald. "You are a Dark Councillor, your authority and decisions reflect the will of our Empress." Her eyes moved back to Srina. "Carnifex is neither. Yet he and Prazutis move, destroy and take like they are. To admonish them publicly sends a message that cannot be ignored, it serves to remind the Order what happens when rivalries spiral out of control."

She relaxed, her emergaze moving between the pair of them. "However, if you say toinhave a handle on them, then I believe you. I just hope it is enough to temper what will come in response."

Srina Talon Gerwald Lechner

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Srina Talon | Lina Ovmar

The chamber had emptied, but it had not relaxed. Space did not lessen pressure here. It centralized it. The absence of voices left only the weight of what remained unsaid, and Gerwald felt it settle against his senses with the familiarity of an old battlefield.

Srina’s murmur cut through the quiet before her question did. His name was spoken barely above breath and carried more warning than command. The Dread Wolf did not turn toward her. He did not need to. The temperature in the room had narrowed. The scent of jasmine and rain had sharpened, not with anger but with precision. This was the stillness she adopted when memory and judgment overlapped.

The question followed.

She asked if he remembered.

Gerwald did.

The memory did not arrive as a spectacle. It never did. What returned first was the stillness. A nation that had gone quiet, not because it was crushed, but because it had been held in place by an appetite given too much room to grow. Hunger, indulged without restraint, did not simply consume, it spread.

Desire became expectation.

Expectation became grievance.

Grievance hardened into conflict.

The war that followed had been swift, brutal, and clean only in the way fires were clean when they left nothing standing.

What lingered afterward mattered more. The cost did not end with surrender. It settled into the soil. It haunted trade routes. It shaped the way people learned to speak to power. That was the part Gerwald never forgot.

His head inclined, a fraction of a movement that acknowledged the truth of the question without flinching from it.

“I... remember,” the Dark Councilor answered. His words were steady.

There was no excuse or defense in his answer. Gerwald acknowledged the rebuke. Srina did not ask the question to wound him. She asked to measure him. Gerwald met that measure without embellishment.

Only then did his attention shift.

“I believe I am the one who mentioned your loins, not the Empress.” Gerwald said, turning his gaze to Lina Ovmar. The tone remained even and stripped of mockery. The clarification landed cleanly.

The Dread Queen’s response was immediate.

The Force struck without warning. It was sharp and accurate. A precise impact snapped Gerwald’s head to the side and drove the breath from his lungs for a fraction of a second. Pain flared, then vanished, leaving behind the unmistakable signature of Srina’s discipline. The Dread Wolf did not stagger. He straightened slowly, tightening his jaw once before easing again. A faint pulse of heat rolled through him as he absorbed the rebuke. There was no glare or protest. The correction had been deserved, and Gerwald accepted it as such.

The room held.

Gerwald resumed without shifting position toward Srina, without placing himself at her side, without assuming her authority. His role here was not to shield the throne. It was to reinforce the structure around it.

“Lady Ovmar, what you ask for is not how Sith operate. Trials are instruments of restraint. They exist to contain power that cannot otherwise be checked. We are not governed by restraint. We are governed by consequence.”

His gaze remained on Lina, not accusatory, but unyielding.

“Alvaria burned because a sequence of provocations that escalated. Empress has stated them. That is not justice. That is the outcome. The Sith do not summon tribunals to make examples. We create examples through action, and we live with the cost when those actions ripple outward.”

Gerwald paused, allowing the words to settle without pressing them.

“The throne is not a mechanism for correcting rivalries. It is not a court of appeal. It exists to ensure continuity of power, not to referee disputes that arise from ambition colliding with ambition. When the throne intervenes, it is because stability itself is at stake, not because someone demands balance.”

Alvaria’s name hung in the air again.

“The world did not fall because the Empress failed to act as you wished she would have. It fell because Darth Malum left, and those tasked with stewarding it believed themselves untouchable. That belief always ends the same way.”

The wolf’s tone softened, not with sympathy, but with clarity.

“You seek boundaries. I understand that instinct. But boundaries in this Order are enforced by strength, foresight, and restraint chosen voluntarily. They are not drawn by spectacle or by public condemnation.”

Gerwald’s attention shifted at last, not to Srina directly, but toward the space she occupied. The subtle changes in the air told him she was listening. He did not attempt to anticipate her judgment. That was not his place.

“My duty as a Dark Councilor is to ensure that the Order continues to function even when its actions are brutal,” Gerwald concluded. “Not to pretend those actions can be made righteous after the fact.”

Silence followed.

Gerwald did not fill it.

The Dread Wolf had spoken and reinforced the structure as he saw it. What came next belonged to the Empress.

 

[Srina Talon]

Allies: Gerwald Lechner | Lina Ovmar
Location: The Grand Design

____________________________________________________

Srina did not blink when Gerwald Lechner suddenly lurched forward, as if struck upside the head by the hand of a very angry giant. Her eyes remained forward, gaze lingering on the holo-projector with a stillness that seemed ethereal, unnatural. Nothing was that still—Unless it was dead.

“Are you well? Are your paws unsteady, wolf?”

He knew what he did.

The soft drawl of her question would linger with a warning that would be nearly palpable on the skin. The pale Echani had made it quite clear that the one thing she would not tolerate from anyone in this hall was disrespect. It diluted the severity of the issues being discussed and flavored it with an agenda that she did not align with or care about. There was nothing, nothing in this world, that would make her give a damn about who slept with whom in this Empire.

She had listened, however, to both Gerwald and Lina.

The clarification about when the affair occurred slid past her without purchase. It did not lodge, did not spark interest, did not provoke any sense of surprise, outrage, or relief. Srina felt no need to interrogate timelines, to weigh intimacy against vows, to parse private lives for moral leverage. Such things were noise, little more than the wind moving between two trees.

The only thing that mattered had already happened. Alvaria, burned. House Marr had taken a rather significant hit, in part, due to a contract that had been visibly broken. The Kainite had responded in the only language it knew. The only language, it respected. Blood. Srina’s gaze settled on Lady Ovmar, pale and unblinking, not unkind but extremely remote.

As if the Empress were standing several steps back from the conversation Lina thought they were having. When she spoke, her voice was calm enough to sound hollow, a delicate sound that was about a far removed from this topic as she could possibly be. “You do not correct me…You misunderstand, or perhaps I have not been clear.”

“I am not concerned with if or when you lay with Malum of House Marr. Your personal life is not my domain. It never has been. I do not audit desire, nor do I govern intimacy. What I have spoken is only of the outcome.”

In truth…Srina would rather run herself through with her own blade than have this discussion. She was ill-suited for it, and Gerwald Lechner was far too crass to achieve any outcome that wouldn’t result in some new deeply woven hate-spree that made the Order grind to a halt. She would not allow the Lord Commander to do that twice in her lifetime. Her eyes sharpened, not cold, but focused purely on the task at hand. There was no shame for her actions—No judgment.

“I am afraid…Your wedding was the event of the season. The marriage contract was subsequently ended, publicly, symbolically, and irrevocably through a galactic announcement on the Holo-Net by your ex-husband. That is all the Kainite requires. How it came to be is immaterial to the consequence. Alvaria did not burn because of timing. It burned, in part, because a contract became null.”

Quite frankly, it embarrassed the hell out of them. But…That wasn’t something she would comment on when it went without saying. Srina drew a deep breath, one that was almost tortured, and brushed wayward tendrils of white hair behind her ear. “The Kainite…Did not strike because your past-self had a wayward heart. They struck because a bond recognized by power was severed, and Malum compounded that rupture with deception, absence, and hubris.”

It did not excuse the massacre, but it did provide necessary clarification. If it was too difficult to grasp after painting it that clearly, Srina, was undoubtedly at a loss. The thought process on the entire matter was one that belonged to the High Republic—Not the Sith Order. They did not resolve slights, perceived or otherwise, with hugs, hand-holding, and bursts of song. Morality was not a factor.

Only strength. Even her word was not enough…She had to have the strength, to make them stop. The strength to hold them, all of them, and force them to accept her as law. Not pretty words on a tablet.

The notes about Revna Marr were a little odd…Was she to report her every interaction with every Sithling in her Empire to the news? Why would she not offer the young woman assistance in a world she did not quite seem to understand? In a prison, with a device in her spine, alone and suffering. Srina had offered to bring Revna home, knowing that Carnifex would deny her nothing…And she was fairly certain Gerwald had made similar overtures. “I had this same conversation with Malum once. Revna chose to stay. To remain. I am not in the habit of breaking the wings from a dove, but…I respected her decision.”

It had been her choice to make, though, Srina was willing to bet that at some point, transitioning from prisoner on the Malsheem to honored guest of Korriban might have had something to do with it. Darth Caedes was soon to call her his Queen, after all. She knew what it felt like for others to make decisions for her, and Srina tried to let their people make their own choices until intervention was necessary. The only person Revna had truly harmed was herself, which, even that was…Up for debate. Complicated. Way too complicated, for this moment.

Then Lina spoke directly of Carnifex.

And for the first time, genuine confusion touched Srina’s thoughts, not in an emotional sense, but more conceptual. A faint crease formed between her elegant brows, subtle enough that most would miss it.

Carnifex…Kaine…Not hers?

The notion didn’t offend her, but it didn’t align with reality. The Empress drew a slow breath, and the air once again cooled in response. “You speak as though Darth Carnifex exists outside of my dominion.”, her tone almost thoughtful, rather than sharp. “But he is here…”

Her hand lifted to rest against the small phylactery that always sat around her neck, just slightly, above her heart. The dark artifact pulsed with her touch, almost like it was answering a call she hadn’t made.

“Right here.”

It was his damnation, his salvation, under her control.

“He has had the opportunity, more than once, to kill me. He lifted me from the ashes of Echnos when annihilation would have served him better. My death would have shattered my husband in ways that would have been irreparable…My demise would have given him swift and immediate victory. He returned when summoned. He answered on Alvaria when called. And when I offered him the chance to test his strength against mine, openly, he declined. I do not take loyalty on faith, Lady Ovmar.”

Her hand fell away from the phylactery.

“I accept what has been proven. I accept what I control. Titles…Do not define power.”, she offered softly, “Nor does restraint diminish it. Darth Carnifex and Darth Prazutis remain what they have always been, which is exactly what I require them to be. Conquerors. Annihilators. Dangerous.”

Individually, the enemies they held outside the Order might find it simpler to pick them off one at a time. But when their goals were aligned…The Sith Lords she governed were vile, wretched, monstrous creatures of might and inevitability. The “Sith Behind the Wall” might not have made the most noise, but they struck with precision. They nurtured strength, timing, because for all the “talk” of the Galactic Empire? All their posturing? Declarations to destroy the galaxy?

They’d failed miserably.

“I will forgive your oversight since you were not present on Alvaria…But I did summon the Kainite publicly. I halted their advance, publicly. I ended the crusade publicly. That was admonishment, that was record, and it was intentional…But do not mistake control for containment. They obey because I have given them reason to do so. My ability to keep my promises should not be confused with domestication. What happened later…It is between myself and the Kainite.”

There was no one else who could summon either leader of the Kainite and have them both drop weapons and respond. If the mother of Malum’s children had been thinking clearly, she, too, would have been spared her fate. Her refusal to let them pass, even after hearing they were being summoned by the Empress, was her own folly. In that moment, she became an obstacle in their path, not toward slaughter, but toward obeying their chosen sovereign.

That was never going to end well.

. "However, if you say toinhave a handle on them, then I believe you. I just hope it is enough to temper what will come in response."

Srina seemed to turn very quiet at these words. If she had seemed chilly before…Her gaze had melted into that of a frozen wasteland. Her head tilted, slowly, and the golden of her eyes flared into something reflective. As if the dynamic had changed. From one individual speaking on relatively equal terms to another, mutual respect, and all appropriate etiquette being observed…To that of a cat that had just discovered there was a mouse in the house.

“Is that a threat?”

Her pale countenance seemed to shift with every passing moment, from cold beauty, to cheeks that were too gaunt with a few too many teeth…But was it really happening? It was hard to tell with changes that were so subtle, with reality that seemed to shift in such a way that the mind had trouble catching up with what it was seeing. Finally, she nodded her head in acceptance with a ghostly smile touching the kiss of her mouth. It was far more terrifying than anything else she could have done.


“…I was always the better fighter between myself and my husband, even after he was resurrected. There is a reason the Kainite come when I call…So if you mean to incur my wrath—Prepare yourself well, Lady Ovmar.”, her voice still never raised from the delicate, humming tone that was more soothing than frightening. It raised more questions than it offered answers, though it would become clear that she would not be manipulated into doubling punishment for those who served her because someone feared the shadow they cast. “The Kainite will not begin another conflict with House Marr.”

“I do not know what you seek to gain…But I am not blind. Alvaria will not become a stepping stone for a vendetta. It was a tragedy, and that is what it will remain. I have bound them from initiating further bloodshed against Malum and his people…But they are not stripped of their nature. If you provoke them into answering, knowing what you know, knowing what they will do whether you succeed or fail…”

“That burden will be yours to carry.”

Srina had already intervened once…There would be a problem, hell, to pay if she were required to do it a second time. If it became an issue that negatively affected the entirety of the Order, there was also the chance that the Empress would act as a ruler should and eliminate the problem before it started. Lina was correct—Srina, regardless of partiality, did not want to see the Order fail.

Unlike the Kainite, who were impossible to miss, those who made Srina their enemy...Never saw her coming.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

If Lina had any thoughts on the sharp correction that jerked Gerwald's head aside it did not show on her face. Such a curious relationship they had, if she was to take it all at face value then she might liken it, rather crudely, to a dog and its master, but if Lina knew anything it was that nothing was so simple.

She listened carefully to his words letting out a small resigned breath as he finished. Lina had known that nothing would come of this, but she had hoped that maybe, just maybe it would have worked, that a public admonishment might make Revna Marr think twice against going against the Kainites. She had more than eniugh reason to do so, but even Lina didn't dare strike head on.

When Srina spoke of Carnifex being here, er hand reaching to brush the necklace that rested against her chest. A look of puzzlement crossed her face, wondering what significance the necklace had to Carnifex, whatever it was, she doubted it was something small. She filed it away under things to consider another time and lifted her gaze back to meet the Empress's.

The shift in the air was unmistakable, the predatory gleam in Srina's eye mught have made others step back. But Lina was not a mouse, she was a rat.

Her head tilted, a smile playing on her lips. "I might be bold, Empress, but I am not stupid. Threatening you would be a death sentence." She shook her head, the smile fading. "That is not at all what I meant. I have spent a lifetime on the wrong side of Lord Carnifex, his wrath is something I am intimatly familiar with."

Her voice softened. "I don't ask any of what I have for myself, I ask for Revna. She would be furious that I would dare to undermine her in such a way, but to keep her safe..." she exhaled a heavy sigh.

"Thank you both, for hearing me. I understand the position you hold and respect it." She offered the both a small bow of respect.

Gerwald Lechner Srina Talon

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Srina Talon | Lina Ovmar

Gerwald Lechner did not straighten immediately after the impact. The force of it had been precise rather than cruel, corrective rather than punitive, and it left a brief ringing behind his eyes that he accepted without complaint. The Dread Wolf steadied his stance with a slow breath and allowed the moment to pass without protest.

The question that followed did not require words.

Golden eyes shifted, not toward the Empress, but just enough that she could see them. There was no defiance in the look and no apology either. What passed between them was recognition. The Lord Commander was steady. The paws were firm. The strike had landed exactly where it was meant to.

Only then did Gerwald turn his attention outward.

The Dark Councilor’s gaze settled on Lina Ovmar with a weight that carried none of Srina’s frost and none of her mercy. This was not the Empress addressing a subject. This was a warlord addressing another who had overstepped without understanding the cost of doing so.

“You speak for Revna as if she cannot endure her own storms.”

The words were flat and controlled, shaped by certainty rather than anger.

“That makes her appear weak. She is not.”

Gerwald shifted his weight, slow and deliberate, boots grinding softly against the stone. The movement placed the Dread Wolf fully within the space of the exchange without intruding upon the Empress’s authority. The distinction mattered.

“Revna Marr survived captivity, isolation, and the collapse of her house without yielding her spine. She chose where she stood, and she chose who she would answer to. Acting for her behind her back does not shield her. It diminishes her.”

The wolf’s expression hardened, not with cruelty, but with disappointment.

“You do not protect her. You speak over her.”

There was no raised voice and no attempt to dominate the room. The words carried their weight because they were delivered as fact.

“If you wish to support her, then allow Revna to carry her own burdens.”

Gerwald’s attention did not linger on Lina for long. The point had been made. Dragging it further would have served no purpose.

The Dread Wolf’s gaze returned to the holo-projector, to the quiet aftermath left in the Empress’s wake. Srina Talon had spoken. Srina Talon had decided. Nothing further was required from him on that front.

Silence followed, deliberate and contained.

Gerwald remained where he was, posture composed, presence unmistakable, allowing space to reopen in the chamber. The Lord Commander had said what needed to be said. The rest belonged to the throne.