Fruits of my Labour

[Asharad Graush]

Just as any other day when he wasn't upon Tantorus or on Yalara or Dosuun, he was on the edge of First Order Space, mostly uncharted and dangerous to get to, there were few pinpricks of white that designated fiery suns and other planets. Unseen, and unknown, the red and black Star Destroyer, King Adas lurked on the edge of the known galaxy. Normally it was to be amongst those that were no longer the stiff, and proper Imperial Officers and Officials he typically avoided while on Yalara and other worlds. There was only so much he could take before he needed to immerse himself back into the Dark Side.

The Star Destroyer reeked with it.

Many of the crewmen on board were Sith, at varying levels, though they were all skilled in at least one form of combat, and were all apt at doing their duties on the ship.

Hung up, straightened, perfected with no wrinkles was his Officer's uniform and black overcoat right beside it, matching it when it came down to the fine detail of whether there were wrinkles or creases within it.

The answer was no.

Only moments before he had finished his training with the Force. Use of standard metal credit coins that he used with the Force and tools of destruction. In the past he had used them to tear out the throat of a person, in recent memory on Tantorus in fact, though those were stories for another time.

"My Lord," he heard in the commlink in his ear.

"Speak."

"Transferring transmission to you."

A'sharad walked towards the table where he used a cloth to clear himself of the transparent beads of sweat that dotted his body. Crossing to the other side of the room, he turned on the holoprojector.

 

[Asharad Graush]

Turning away from the holoprojector, A'sharad hadn't seen who had come up onto the screen, but he walked towards the table where a fresh set of clothing was awaiting him. A simple black shirt, not armourweave or anything, just a plain shirt, and then he slipped it up and over his head after slipping his arms through their respective holes.

"My Lord," he heard as he dressed himself.

He recognized the voice as Right. The Sith Warrior he had put in place to head his company while he was away. His twin, Left, was still on the Sta Destroyer, likely outside of his quarters t that very moment. Both of them served him tirelessly, he was certain that if he ordered the both of them to kill each other, they would. They were brothers to each other, and cousins to him, though the only resemblance they shared was in their similar heights.

"What is it?"

They would kill each other he knew, for they were Sith. And he was their Lord. It was always about self-preservation and advancement with the Sith.

"A prototype for the shield generator has finished constructing."

A'sharad never wasted time when it came to his company, it was always get to work right away. Vyrassu suspected Right knew that by now, and in the next few moments that was confirmed. "Do you know where I am?"

"I am already on the way, My Lord," Right said. "Technicians on your ship have also been alerted. They wanted to show you something." Suddenly, he rose to his feet as he bowed to his Lord, and then the transmission cut out. No doubt due to the Hyperspace jump.

 

[Asharad Graush]

A'sharad stepped out of his private quarters after he had put his armour on. He didn't go a date without it upon the Star Destroyer. Even if it was upon his own company's ship, after Ubaron had tried to destroy his company from the inside out, he had decided it'd be for the best in the event that there was an assassin on board. Not that Left couldn't handle the job of protecting his Lord, for when A'sharad stepped outside, he was already on his flank, shadowing him, but merely because an assassin was meant to be unseen.

If he hadn't known who Left was, he would've suspected him too.

"Your brother is on the way with the prototype shield generator," he said after a few silent moments of walking down the hallway. He may have been armoured for the sake of protection, but he had forsaken wearing the helmet that came with the armour. He didn't enjoy being.. Closed up within the suit, and so he opted not to wear it. "He'll come on board while we watch the results. Two ships, Right's, and one of no consequence," he said with a nod of his head.

It was to be one of the smaller ships that came from Vitiate. Not too expensive to make, one that was likely mass produced. Easy enough to replace, it probably would be by the end of the day.

Naturally, Left didn't answer when A'sharad spoke, he didn't speak much, besides, there wasn't anything to respond to.

 

[Asharad Graush]

"He'll be here within the hour, I want you to go down to the technicians in the Hangar Bay. They'll have something set up for you, I'll be on the Bridge," and just as he finished speaking those words they were passing the doors that would take A'sharad to the Bridge's bulkhead door.

Left stopped walking so that his legs came together, and his arms suddenly became glued to his flanks as if they were magnetically pulled and locked there, and he bowed a surprisingly audible, "Of course, My Lord," heard before he disappeared down the hallway in the same moment A'sharad made himself known on the Bridge.

"Lord Vyrassu," the Captain said. Was it Matheson? He didn't really care. He was a Human after all. "Are you well?"

"Very. You've been made aware of what is required in the Hangar Bay?"

"It is already prepared in anticipation of today's testing."

"Good."

 

[Asharad Graush]

"Tell me Captain, how long have you served on the Adas?" He slowly rotated his head, his black cloak dragging on the ground behind him as he set his golden orbs on the human Captain. He couldn't sense the potential for the Force from him. He was perhaps the only person on the ship who didn't have the Force. What purpose would he have for him?

"Since your Father took command of it, My Lord," he had chosen his words carefully, A'sharad had noticed. Had he enjoyed his Father's presence? He had known that his Father was far kinder than he was, some would say it was civilized, he would say it was a waste of his time. If he danced around the point of what he wanted, he wouldn't get what he wanted. If he didn't get what he wanted from others, he'd take it. That was the way of the Sith. His Father? He'd serve, work, and then ask for it.

It was weak.

He was dead because of it.

Well, not really, but it was better that he was proclaimed dying for failing at adhering to the Code of the Sith than, 'I killed him because I felt like it.'

"How many engagements did you two experience together?"

The Captain turned to face him, "One against the Omega Protectorate, and then some against the Galactic Republic's border patrols. Nothing big, I'm afraid."

A'sharad's gaze dropped down over his body... "I'm sure we are in agreement there."

 

[Asharad Graush]

Left marched down the hallway without the Lord of his family.

In every direction he looked there was someone there expecting to see A'sharad coming by soon later, but they were soon disappointed to find nothing. He was rarely seen without his Lord, and now that he wasn't with him now, he was receiving odd looks. Nothing that a flash of his sharp, whitened teeth couldn't solve as he released a growl. Something that Vyrassu would've found uncharacteristic, but was certainly normal for him to do when he wasn't looking.

Within a few minutes he had arrived in the Hangar Bay, there, there was half a dozen Sith Troopers standing in a line across from each other - three on each side, some armoured, others not. The armoured ones on one side, the ones that were not on the other.

"Uh, it's... You... Where is Our Lord?"

Vyrassu hadn't made them aware that he was standing in his place?

"I will do." He said darkly, crimson orbs flashed as he stepped forward, and the scientists stepped out of the way.

"Er, uh, yes," the head technician said, fumbling over his words.

"Essentially, the molecular shield is to work as standard Stormtrooper armour in the First Order's military," the engineer explained. "So when a blaster bolt strikes the, um... Armour, it disperses over the chest," the male explained to him. Simultaneously, he raised his hand to the Graush Troopers, and they took up their positions. The ones that were in a heavier armour stood still, while the ones with the blaster took aim, and then after a few moments took their shots.

All of them struck dead in the centre of the armour and instead of felling the man that bore the armour, it still scorched the armour, and was evenly distributed across the plates, effectively dispersing the energy before it could actually turn the Trooper into a corpse.

 

[Asharad Graush]

"My Lord, our long range sensors are picking up something."

"What is it?"

"Two ships coming from... The direction of Tantorus."

A'sharad nodded his head, and then a few moments later an Anti-starfighter Frigate and a shuttle that must've been taken from one of Tantorus's shipyards was taken.

"Send him his orders to get in the Hangar," A'sharad ordered, pointing at one of the communications officers before he looked back to the screen. Right's shuttle ventured closer to the Star Destroyer as it plotted its course for the Hangar Bay, but the Anti-starfighter Frigate hadn't moved from where it had exited hyperspace, as was its orders. It was manned by a minimal crew, in fact, mainly slaves from Tantorus who had been promised freedom after doing this, and droids.

No one of true importance to him.

Within a minute the Hangar Bay had opened and closed. Within, Left continued to watch as blaster bolts scorched the duraplast armour but yielded no results as it just dispersed across the suit. He was hardly interested, and his attention had only been drawn away by the familiar aura of his brother's presence. Of course, his features had no reaction, but he had ventured over to his landing shuttle and they had a short embrace.

One that consisted of grasping each other's forearms and nodding before turning away so that Left could escort him to the bridge.

 

[Asharad Graush]

Left and Right came onto the Bridge to see the back of A'sharad Graush and the Captain. When they had come onto the Bridge, the Captain had taken steps back and had effectively made himself scarce after looks from both Pureblood siblings. And then finally, the trio had been reunited after what had only been a few weeks. A'sharad felt both of them as he glanced over his shoulder to them and offered a nod of his head. Had they not been Sith, perhaps he would've embraced Right. His loyal bodyguard, and family member.

But no.

They were bother Warriors.

Sith Warriors, no less.

The image of strength for the Sith, at least where the media was concerned.

"The frigate has the new shield generator on board?"

"Yes... My Lord," he said in his typical, guttural voice, yet a tone that suggested there was something else h had to say, but he didn't press him. If it was important, he'd tell him. Left and Right had learned tha early on from him.

 

[Asharad Graush]

"Very well."

His arm raised up to point at one of the waiting gun deck operators, and he nodded his head.

"All guns target the Anti-Starfighter Frigate," he said. His voice had taken on an air of authority, it was time to finish this day's operations. It'd be the first time in quite some time that the crew had gotten to fire something. In fact, it had been many years since they had last been in a Naval engagement. He should've led them against OMEGA, but the Citadel on the Ground required the destructive touch of a chaotic Sith Knight. So he had gone down with the White Wolves.

Hmm.

"All available guns are target."

"Destroy it."

 

[Asharad Graush]

Perhaps the interaction between the turbolasers and the molecular shields had the same interaction as the blaster bolts versus the duraplast Stormtrooper armour. His reaction had been total annihilation of the Starfighter, but instead, he was rewarded with brief flashes of light that weren't explosions, and fire. It was instead turbolaser bolts splashing across the shields of the ship, painting the hull an assortment of different colours, but the paint never actually touching it.

It was a curious sight.

Only when warheads had touched the shields had true explosions begun.

"The slaves are empowering their shields."

"They're not supposed to do that," A'sharad said darkly.

"They know what's going on."

"Sir, they're preparing their escape!"

And he could see that for himself, the ship was turning, and a moment later, even under fire by the turbolasers, ion cannons, and warhead missiles, the aft part of the ship blew up, lighting up their tactical displays a moment later.

"Oh," A'sharad said a moment later.

"The engines were rigged to blow before we left Tantorus' orbit," Right said from behind his shoulder. It was still floating there, and A'sharad gave the command to finish it off. Without the prototype anymore, it was gone, but they knew that it worked, that was all that mattered in that instant.

"Send word to Tantorus," he said to the communications officer. "Have them construct more, it worked."