Drowning in Anger [Open to Republic]

[Cristina Zeitlin]

Cartao​

High Orbit​

Jabiim class Corvette - New Hope​

​

​

"Contruum..."​

​

"Balmorra..."​

​

Here she was, sitting in her own private quarters on the vessel, the alarms blaring once more as her crew was run through another drill. Since the events at Telti, everything seemed to spiral downwards from there. Her vessel had come across a massive build up of Sith Vessels, a fleet that could have easily cut through the Republic and it seemed that it had. In that moment she was cursing herself, trying to figure out what had happened, could there have been something she could have done?​

​

"KARK!"​

​

She screamed at the top of her lungs, nearly loud enough to be heard over the blaring sirens as a mug was sent flying across the room. Slamming against the bulkhead as the liquid contents became strewn across the floor. This was not the only mess in the quarters, much of which had been in disarray, looking as if someone had rummaged through the chambers looking for something. ​

​

Much of the devastation wrought upon the room though was by her own hand, a heavy hand as she held her head within her palms. A soft sob escaping her lips as she sat there, the alarms finally stopping for the moment. There had been a strict command given, no one was to disturb her in that moment, she didn't even care with the Supreme Commander had decided to stop by, no one was going to see her like this, or the mess that was her room. ​

​

The simple fact was that she had lost friends, both at Contruum and at Balmorra. She blamed herself for not arriving in time, or at all. Her mind kept running through the event at Telti, and if her message ever got through to anyone that had even given two damns about the simple fact that the enemy was about to strike. She thought that perhaps if she had thrust the New Hope against the fleet, it might have caused enough of a ruckus that the Sith may have turned away or the Republic may have looked more closely to what was about to happen. ​

​

Pulling out another intact glass, she set it on the table top of the desk, pouring another shot of whiskey into the glass. At this point she was asking for it, pushing the envelope of what was acceptable for an officer of her rank. Then again she couldn't give two karks even if she had them to give in the first place. For her this was mourning, and she didn't care if she was drummed out. Perhaps then she might actually be able to find someway to make her life matter. ​

​

She had started as a criminal, a simple thug and a Judge had saved her life. Now she was just glad that he had been retired and living in obscurity in the Outer Rim Territories. Though even it was still harsh and rough that far out with what everyone had to deal with. The entire galaxy was at war, constant chaos and screaming out. ​

​

Downing another shot, she leaned back in her seat, not even having bothered to put on proper clothing as she sat there. Her slender finger running along the rim of the glass as she let out a heavy sigh. Her mind returning to the thoughts of leaving the Republic, letting the Galaxy have its way and just saying Kark it all. ​

​

That next shot though pulled her from those thoughts as she slowly rose from her seat. Her eyes falling upon the broken mirror that hung on the wall, showing the woman at her most vulnerable state. Then the anger began to well up; an anger that she would put towards the Sith. ​

​

"If they want a total war, then I shall bring it upon them. If the Republic backs me or not, I will watch their worlds burn if it means saving the Republic. I will become a villain to ensure that Peace can be brought upon the Galaxy." ​

​

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]​

[member="Ali Hadrix"]​

@Any Republic Members​

 

[Aston Jacobs]

"It's going to be alright R4, trust me." Aston said as he walked out of the storage compartment after hearing the sound of another alarm go off. The red light flashing several times reflecting a less than serious expression across his face. "I'm not sure, the sirens have been going off several times already. Obviously they are preparing for something." Aston closed his eyes as he took a deep breath focusing centering himself with the force as to get a feel for the moment and what was going on, other than alarms going off.

"It seems like just drills, however there is something else here, tension, uneasiness.....fear...." Aston said with a small sigh as he glanced down at his astro droid thus continuing to walk down the pathway. "I need to speak to whoever is in charge here." Aston said as he reached out towards a crew member that was passing by, his hand reaching for that arm of the crewman stopping him suddenly. "Sorry for the intrusion, but who's in charge here. I need to speak with them."

"She is not to be disturbed."

"Will you let her know a Jedi would like to speak with her. Surely...she can spare a few minutes."

Aston cocked his head to the side as the smirk and chuckled that left the crew man as he turned to walk away and hurry down the hallway. "Something is definitely going on here." Aston said as he leaned against the way, crossing his arms as he waited. In part if nothing was to happen it would pass time long enough for maintenance to be done with his x-wing. "Go back to the fighter, R4. I shall be along soon."

[member="Cristina Zeitlin"]

 

[Cristina Zeitlin]

As she stood there staring into the mirror before her she saw the woman that looked back. There was her old self, the one that stood there and began to slowly fade to the anger that was born from within her. She was no longer willing to fight properly, for what ever that meant. The Republic was beginning to falter, it had been for some time now, though she had no reason nor desire to allow it to fall. ​

​

"I will see a thousand worlds burn if it means preserving the Republic." ​

​

She swore upon herself, to herself, and to any ancient deity that still might find a spark of divinity in being once more acknowledged and that would be willing to provide upon her favor. She would invoke the countless ancient deities of yore that sought out War if she thought for a mere moment it would provide her some guiding hand to bring about the destruction of her enemies. Taking one last look upon her old self she quickly slammed the glass she had in her hand down upon the table. ​

​

Pivoting upon her back foot she grabbed her clothing, quickly pulling her trousers upon her slender frame, her shadow dancing upon the wall. The anger that she felt did not diminish, and those whom were even remotely force sensitive would be able to feel it. In that moment that small under tone of fear that had been sensed was gone, or rather it was eclipsed, overshadowed by the hatred and anger that flowed from the woman. ​

​

As she pulled her heavy jacket over her frame, her door slid open and every single crew member that stood there in the hall way stopped. Their eyes falling upon their commanding officer and all knew that something had changed. She stood there for a moment, straightening herself out as the mess of her room was shown behind her. Then her eyes narrowed before she barked out and tore the silence apart with her booming voice. ​

​

"ALL HANDS TO QUARTERS! THE REPUBLIC STILL STANDS AND WE SHALL BURN ANY WHOM WOULD SEE IT OTHERWISE!" ​

​

There wasn't a chance for silence to fall again as the first cheer tore through the air, and just like a crashing wave it tore through the halls of the very vessel. Soon whispers began to reach among the crew members that the Lieutenant was no longer barricaded in her room, she had stepped back among the crew once more. The mere mention would be more than enough to reach the ears of the Jedi whom was on board, the fact of which was quickly brought up to the Lieutenant. ​

​

"Ma'am, there is a Jedi on board that wishes to speak with you." ​

​

"Conference room, and send a droid to my quarters." ​

​

"Ma'am." ​

​

The crew member offered a salute before quickly returning to his duties. Her own tone of voice had changed as well as she marched to the conference room, the message of which she had no problem believing that it would reach the Jedi. Then her thoughts turned to the simple fact of what a Jedi would want to speak to her about. She had more to worry about, and the first things on her mind was those that called the Republic their enemy. ​

​

"Soon..." ​

​

She mused to herself, and it was a true statement. Soon the anger and hatred that grew within her would grow and come to be unleashed upon the enemies of the Republic. She would forge a new world by burning the old and rending it asunder, though she held no thoughts nor dreams that she could live in the new world. She would do so knowing that she would be viewed in history as a monster. ​

​

For her she would be remembered as the Fire of Corellia. ​

​

A fire that burned across the Galaxy. ​

​

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"]​

[member="Ali Hadrix"]​

[member="Aston Jacobs"]​

 

[Ali Hadrix]

​

By the time the Lieutenant stepped into the conference room, the Supreme Commander was already sitting in a side chair in the corner of the room, enjoying a cigarette and balancing a glass of scotch on her knee. She wore a crisp, black two-piece suit. Her chocolate locks were straightened and pulled back into a tight, pony tail that hung over her spine. Her eyes were shadowed with a pale rose, her lips adorned in a cherry red. The cigarette was half-burned, a desiccated ghost rested at its tip. Smoke drifted from it's hollow and filled the air around the Commander, ignited by the rays of light that came in through the transparasteel viewport behind her. The glass she held was half-full, the decanter rested on the conference table before her, aside a small ceramic ashtray. The ochre liquid swirled about the frozen rocks that sat inside the glass, fluid wisps of alcohol echoed the smoke that filled the room.

"Leftenant." The Commander murmured her acknowledgement of the other woman. In the silence of the conference room, the Commander's voice came strong and firm from the shadows, a sound beyond the periphery of one's attentions, as might a tree in the forest. She sipped at her drink and tapped her cigarette against the edge of the ashtray. A cloud of grey lived briefly within sight before it was dashed against the ceramic.
The Commander took in Zeitlin's appearance; haphazard, unkempt, her typically beautiful face ugly with anger.
"I've spent the last week observing you and your crew, Leftenant." The Commander began. "Oh, don't worry," she added, tilting the glass somewhat toward the decanter. "This if of my own supply; I figured you needed yours more than I did. Cheers." The Commander tipped the glass toward her lips and swallowed from it once more before resting it on the table. She sat straight and leaned forward, setting her elbows before the decanter and the ashtray.
"In the time I've observed you and your crew, I've grown quite impressed by the loyalty you inspire. You live for the crew, the crew lives for you." The Commander shrugged. "It's simple." She brought the cigarette to her lips and drew from it again, smoke drizzling from her nostrils before blowing forth in a plume. She tapped it against the ceramic ashtray once more.
"But you are a woman trapped within a system that does not allow you to operate as you need to in order to be most effective." It was a statement, implicit by the Commander's tone. She shook her head. "That does not sit well with me. I hate seeing potential wasted." The Commander rested against the back of the chair, one leg crossed over the other. "If the war against the Sith is going to be won, I need personnel who are comfortable operating...outside the parameters of the Republic government. Those who are willing to do what is necessary to see the Republic's people triumph."
The Commander drew from the cigarette once more, pulling on it long and deep. The cherry burned bright in the gloom, illuminating a portion of the woman's face before it was hidden once more by smoke and shadow.
"Do you feel it, Leftenant?" The Commander asked. "The encroaching darkness? It knocks, knocks, knocks..." The Commander wrapped her bare knuckles on the wooden conference table with each repetition of the word. "...on our door. It breeds with the decadence our government faces, and it paralyzes our republic, sterilizes our democracy..." The Commander held her hands out, palms up, and shrugged. "Until nothing is left but the objective." She drew from the cigarette once more and put it out with a thrust into the ashtray.
"The objective...protect, provide, prosper. At the end of all things, all that matters is our purpose, Leftenant. Senate laws, by-laws, constitutions, etcetera, etcetera. They're meaningless, the serve only to complicate the values for which we stand: Peace, Security, Provision, Prosperity." The Commander laced her fingers and left them to rest against her chest. "The Republic's people have no need for another line-toeing frigate captain." She jerked her chin toward the greater vessel outside and around them. "The Republic's people need a soldier that can lead with reason, intelligence, and has no moral code other than that which rests at the core of our society: Peace, Security, Provision, Prosperity."

The Commander cocked her head in the shadow, her smiling lips just barely visible in the pall. "Is that you, Leftenant?"

[member=Cristina Zeitlin] | [member=Geneviève Lasedri] | [member=Aston Jacobs]​

 

[Aston Jacobs]

The Padawan parted ways with his Astro droid as he moved down the hallway, passing more of the crew up as he moved along thus a voice called to him, or more so to who he was.

"Jedi."

Aston stopped suddenly and glanced to his right as the hallway thus came to an intersection and the crew member that had addressed him was on his right. "Yes, The name is Aston."

"Conference room, that is where she will me see you. Follow me, and I will lead you there."

Aston shook his head with a small smirk on his face. "No need, I know the way. Thank you nonetheless." Aston moved passed him, as he made his way towards the conference room. The Jedi actually passing it up when he arrived here, and was exploring the place. It wasn't a hard place to miss. Aston rubbed his chin a bit as he entered hearing hushed voice speak through the door. Aston entered as there was two individuals hear. One seated in a rather secluded position, dark and ominous it seemed. Which didn't really bother Aston, he had nothing to fear nor worry about here. Aston just stood towards the back, obviously something was indeed going on. He crossed his arms and just closed his eyes as he meditated briefly.

[member="Ali Hadrix"] [member="Cristina Zeitlin"]

 

[Ras'kala'han]

[member="Aston Jacobs"], [member="Ali Hadrix"], [member="Cristina Zeitlin"]

Three hallways down from the conference room, a man sat in a chair, and everything abot him was stark white. His simple clothing, save for a blue Republic insignia over his heart. His hair, tied back and long. His eyes, curious and cold.

Trystis didn't expect defecting to the Rebel Alliance - by extension, the hated Republic, to be easy. He had steeled himself for the odd looks, the whispered comments. Those were like rain off his back by now. However, he hadn't been ready for the waiting.

A "high-risk asset", with almost no freedom of movement. No use having a former One Sith running about unsupervised. That could only lead to trouble. Compared to the heady, nonstop deluge of bloodshed that was his time in the Empire, this felt stifling. And yet...

...not wholly uninteresting. If he wanted to be accepted, he would need to make himself useful. And he sensed tension - something waiting to occur, and the heat of anger. Closing his eyes, he waited, thinking about what to do next. Would he go to the event, or would it come to him?

 

[Cristina Zeitlin]

Arms crossed behind her back, her hands clasped together as she had entered the room which had been left in a dim light. She stood silently by the large view, her eyes gazing upon the larger vessel and the darkness that was set as its backdrop. She had not made a motion, nor salute to the woman whom had already been seated. She made no motion as she stood with her back towards her, though this was not out of an attempt to slight her, or to disrespect her. More it was to ensure that she could have a moment to collect her thoughts, yet that anger remain there; only to be followed by a question. ​

​

The question was one as such that the answer was simple. At least it was for her, as she was sure that there would have been others whom had they been in her position at that moment would have been struck cold and unsure what to say. No, she was not that individual. Her anger continued to burn, it grew within her, and had she even had some inkling of being capable of utilizing the force it could be said that this was the moment she fell to the Dark Side. For her though it was a moment of change, a catalyst that would see the birth of a force that would ensure the Republic's survival. ​

​

"I make no dream, nor thought that I will have a place in the Republic should it survive. My ties are as such that if those common citizens knew whom I was, or where I came from, they would be horrified that I had risen so high."​

​

Her words stopped for a moment, though her demeanor remained. Her stance showing her anger, her rage that was waiting to be unleashed upon the Galaxy. The Sith had been allowed to continue for too long, and the Senate had largely prevented the Republic from taking any real action. Pacifism was for the Jedi, nor for the Navy, and it was this coupled with the decadence of the Republic that was leading to its collapse once more. ​

​

"There is no place in the Republic as it is now. I am one whom was only given this chance to lead by the generosity of another whom is so far from here that I am glad he can not see what is about to come. He may see it in the news, or he may not know that the Republic he so loved is pained." ​

​

For all she knew that Judge whom ensured that she could live, that put his own name upon the line to see her succeed was already dead and gone. Languishing beneath the ground on some world he decided to retire upon and live the rest of his life on in quiet contemplation. The question remained though, and it was one that was not at this point nagging her. She however had the words to match it, to answer it; and thus she would as she slowly turned. ​

​

Her eyes fell upon the Supreme Commander, her arms remained behind her back with hands clenched together in a tight balled fist. She slowly stepped forward, a single step towards the table. Her eyes showing the rage and anger that was growing within her, showing that she had finally found the breaking point and now she was far beyond such a means as to return her to whom she had been. The woman that she had been before the Republic, before the training as an officer was once more in control. ​

​

She was no longer just Lieutenant Zeitlin, she was Enforcer Zeitlin, she was the woman that had struck fear in numerous underworld gangs and groups that many would rather step out of her way than risk their lives for their boss. This was the woman whom was now resolved to protect the Republic, and it was a resolve that would see entire worlds burn. For her there would be no turning back, and she knew that the moment she took that step there would truly be no place in the future Republic. ​

​

"I lost friends at Contruum. I lost friends at Balmorra."​

​

.....​

​

"No More." ​

​

.....​

​

"The Sith threaten the Republic and the Senators argue over what action to take. The Jedi sit idle as those worlds they pledge to protect are left defenseless. No More." ​

​

The anger began to rise once more, the hatred growing within grew deeper. Her voice trembled, not out of fear, but our of anger. Her eyes seemed to flash for a moment as the visions of what were to come shown before her. She saw her future, and she saw a galaxy burning. ​

​

"I will become the being that those whom support the Sith shall tell their children to fear. I shall become the burning embodiment of Corellia, the flame that shall tear through the galaxy." ​

​

.....​

​

"The Sith want a war, I shall give them a total War. I shall see a thousand worlds burn if it means that the Republic shall survive." ​

​

The dedication was clear in her voice, this was a pact, an oath that she had already sworn to herself. If this woman wanted to know just how far she was willing to go, it was there, lain out upon the table. The lieutenant stood silently, defiant at the fact that she would not allow the Sith to continue to ravish the Republic. She would bring furious anger and retribution down upon the Sith. ​

​

As the door open, she looked to the one whom stepped into the room, sure that such a young padawan was more than capable of feeling the anger and the pain that flowed through her in that moment. Slowly she turned back to face the window, her eyes piercing the darkness once more. ​

​

"Make it quick. I've a vessel to command and I've already wasted enough time wallowing in self pity to waste any further on simple trivial matters." ​

​

[member="Ali Hadrix"]​

[member="Aston Jacobs"]​

[member="Trystis Ray"]​

 

[Aston Jacobs]

[member="Cristina Zeitlin"][member="Trystis Ray"][member="Ali Hadrix"]




Troubled...? Perhaps not that seemed to be not the right word for what he was listening too. Aston understood ones drive to eradicate the sith, the empire. He knew an individual that had such a drive and still did. Where he was he didn't know right now, there was such a line though that once crossed. You probably couldn't come back from, ever. Aston wondered if that was what he was seeing here. He didn't know what had happened to her other than what she had spoke of, that he had heard. He was there, at both of those places that were mentioned. Aston glanced down to his hand a mark upon it that had would essentially change his life forever. In ways that he couldn't realize yet. Aston was always one to be travelling, he was one to be on the move. He was also one to give help when it was needed, or could be offered. That was just who he was. He had helped several Jedi and many others several times.

There was always a chance.

"I see you have quite the mission ahead of you. I joined the Republic several years ago. It was quite different then, even more so now." Aston moved off the wall, walking forward a ways ahead.

"Do you need some help?" Aston inquired looking towards the woman. He wondered, he truly did. Then again lurking beneath the surface there always seemed to be an ulterior motive. But to whom, and who's side would work.

 

[Ali Hadrix]

The Commander listened to Zeitlin's monologue in shadowy silence, drawing on her cigarette and sipping at the glass in her hand, but otherwise showing no reaction. The pale glint in her eyes could be seen as ambient light refracted off them, though no hint of thought or emotion would be gleaned. The woman, Zeitlin that is, was clearly a fanatic. Her willingness to burn worlds was a sentiment that would hurt them more in the long run than help them in reality, but the Commander knew she could harness that passion, that drive.
The woman, who was roughly the Commander's own age, had a charm about her, something that drove the military mind in her Commander wild. Zeitlan was a wild card, a quick draw and a shot in the dark all at once. Conventional wisdom told the Commander that such a person could never serve with CSAF, she was too volatile, but she chose instead to take a chance. Hell, they said the same thing about me, and look where I am now. The Commander reminded herself as Zeitlan finished her speech.
The Commander stood, bathed in shadow and finished her drink before setting it down sharply on the table. She took a last long, slow drag from her cigarette before squashing it out in the ashtray before her. Smoke drizzled upward into the air and dissipated near the ceiling of the conference room.

The shadowed woman put her hand up to silence the new comer, a young Jedi male. She looked at him, her eyes piercing even when hidden. "You'll repeat nothing you hear now, not even to your Masters. If you're uncomfortable with this demand, then leave. But I'll make note of your decision." The Commander gave the young man enough time to make his choice, then returned her gaze to the striking woman before her.
"You needn't worry about your vessel, and I can assure you that nothing we are about to discuss will be trivial in nature. There is no longer any need for concern from you over the Republic, Zeitlan." The Commander told her, stepping forward out of shadow and half-sitting on the table itself. She draped one leg over the other knee and crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her chin over at Zeitlan. "The things I'll be needing you to do wouldn't be sanctioned by any civilized government. So I've decided to craft an operative force that exists outside of it."
The Commander let the silence hang for several long, dark moments. The implications of her words were borderline mutinous in nature, and were the Jedi to have remained he would be beginning to feel in his heart the weight of his decision, and the consequences for speaking out of turn.
"Believe it or not there are mostly innocent beings on both sides of this conflict." The Commander continued. "The Sith are relentless, but they'll be stopped, they always are, I assure you. They always are, when they so choose to rear their hideous heads. I understand your loss, I truly do. And I need your anger. I need your hate. But I need you to be a focused beam, not a rampant wildfire. What I need of you, Leftenant, is to command a small naval task force that will be responsible for transporting and protecting a black operations group I've cobbled together. Roughly two-thousand soldiers, they'll be tasked with destroying Sith facilities, killing Sith personnel, disrupting Sith trade, and generally causing mayhem. The goal is to soften up the Sith for future invasions. You will be responsible for them, they will be under your care."

[member=Cristina Zeitlin] | [member=Aston Jacobs]​