Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Private Heartwork

Darth Luminoth

Guest

rd9A4ic.png

“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”
「HEARTWORK」
Darth Maleva

New-Sith Space, The Deviant, 36 Standard Hours after The Dominion of Brosi...
Crewmen and women of The Deviant emanated a thick dread. The sight of Luminoth's engraved mask approaching them down a durasteel corridor was as nervewracking as the surrealest of nightmares. Stories and rumors floated around the ship about the obscured Sith Lord, half of them true, the other half fabricated horror stories. Not know what was the truth, what was conjecture, and was outright fib only added to the Dark Sun's eerie mystique.

The news of General Thissis' death and the now General Vaal's promotion had already spread across every kilometer of The Deviant. Whispers about Lumnioth's reasoning, method, and ruthlessness swam and slithered every private and obscure corner of the ship. Some said he melted Thissis into viscera with a glance of his true face. Others said he forced the new General to choke off his life herself. Someone in engineering started the rumor that Maleva and Luminoth had simply gotten bored and eaten him.

The simple, vertebra-sundering truth of Thissis' death was far less menacing in hearsay. So, what else was he to do than remain silent rather than clarify? Avernus wrote: 'It is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.' Luminoth would allow the rumors to germinate, and wither their confidence like weeds. Only fearless men were bold, and the more obedient they were, the easier everything became. Love also begets loyalty, a much stronger loyalty than fear, but one was much more practical and easier to maintain.

Out of every pulse on The Deviant, he had only managed to be loved by one. It was far from an intentional machination, but such sentiments rarely were. Despite his initial suspicion that the mutuality of the sentiment had been an intentional machination on the other end, time had quelled most reservations. Fortunate, that the womanly icon of these sentiments were the second godhead of The Devaint's widespread dread. It made the strings of his phantasmal marionette less prone to snapping. He tugged through her, rather than on the strings of the half-willing martyrs that held them afloat. 'He who builds on the people, builds on the mud,' Avernus told him.

The guards that stood sentinel before The Dark Lady's chamber were not immune to Luminoth's constructed presence, either. Luminoth could not sense even the faintest intention of protest as he moved between them and punched a button on the door control, sending it fizzling open. He strode through the sub-room, opening the second door as the former shut behind him. A paw masked by sable cloth removed the engraved facade from his face. Serpentine, blonde streaks danced loose as another hand removed the hood from his head. He placed the mask down on a wall-protruding table as he moved around a retaining wall into the main area of the dimly lit chamber.

The sentence-studdering timbre of a masculine voice, far removed from his own inquired: "
I hope- I'm not- interrupting anything?"

A feigned pleasantry, but he'd inferred that she admired his soft tact, fabricated or otherwise.

 
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Darth Maleva

Guest



Rough bristles danced across the canvas in delicate strokes. Reds and yellows intermingled with black as Maleva guided the brush. The easel was but a mere distraction from the hunger that pained her, but one she at least enjoyed. One foot step backwards, and she allowed her weight to shift on the heel as she assessed her work. A grimace tugged at the corner of the Sith's lips. Unsatisfied with what she had created, she tossed the tool aside to the rolling cart next to her.

A sigh escaped her lips as she strolled across the room, pulling the shirt stained with various colors over her head, and discarding it haphazardly. Her pants were shed as well before she reached the wardrobe to assess. The Anzati's hand floated across the various items, allowing herself to admire each texture. She paused as her fingertips found a courseweave tunic. Though she wouldn't be caught dead in such a thing now, it invoked memories of days long past, spent blending into crowds, the hunt the only thing that mattered. Even so many years later, she could still hear the faint whisper of her mothers teachings in the recesses of her mind.

She let her hand continue until she found a suitable choice. Pulling it from the collection, Maleva gracefully slid on the form-fitting black britches. The door slid open on the other side of the room, a familiar voice greeting her. Her still bare torso pivoted to offer a teasing smile.


"I suppose I could make time."

Her attention returned to dressing as she donned and buttoned the flowing black blouse. She found a pair of heeled boots, wiggling her foot into each, before sliding up the zipper. Once more, Darth Maleva turned to Luminoth, gaze probing his form as she ran her hands through her tussled mane. His expression never gave anything away, something she both envied and hated.

"Business or pleasure?" The woman inquired with an arched brow.

 

Darth Luminoth

Guest

rd9A4ic.png

“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”

「HEARTWORK」
Darth Maleva

"Business," he stated with the raucous intonation of a distinctly outer-rim-sounding smuggler. He stepped around the furnishings, situating himself square with the canvas. Cerulean gaze unfettered by the usual hindrance of his mask regarded the piece with an indiscernible analysis. Most of the artistic nuance was lost on him. Luminoth had never had much of an eye for the arts. Regardless, he gave her creation its due before turning to look at her again.

"
Although, given that disappointing you isn't generally in my best interest-" he began in a feminine voice, teasing tone slowly warping to a deeper, flat near-monotone that was distinctly his own voice. "I can make time for pleasure as well, but it'll have to wait." His heels shifted, turning him to an abrupt left. Slowly, he moved across the chamber and in front of the mock-viewport, a digital display from sensors to mimick a window to space without the security risks of a transparisteel weak point in the wall of the chamber.

The display's realism made it indistinguishable from an actual viewport. He stood in front of it, back turned toward Maleva as he gazed into the white-speckled void beyond. Brosi was visible from here, a particularly large speck, shining with a bluish hue against the black. A flamboyant male voice came forth: "
First, I have a proposal. A scheme, if you will." Luminoth stole a glance over his shoulder. "If your mood begets hearing me out, that is?"

His head swiveled back toward the void, considering Brosi's minuscule speck as he awaited an answer.

 

Darth Maleva

Guest
Maleva's eyes rolled in annoyance. Since the Warlord's had begun to grow in power with the Dark Soveirgns' combined fleets, there was more business than ever before. Days were filled with tasks that never seemed to ever be caught up, as there were always new developments. Nights were spent analyzing every bit of information she had picked up during the day. The Anzat hadn't even been able to properly hunt for longer than she would have liked. Though the busyness was surely a good omen, and one the kept her distracted, irritation arose nonetheless. A deep sigh escaped her chest.

"Making me wait isn't generally in your best interest, either."

As she spoke, she threw him a pointed glance, making her way to a small table across the room. She pulled a crystalline flute from a shelf beneath. Maleva held it at face level, inspecting it thoroughly, before setting in on the surface. Her hand danced around the plethora of decanters. After a moment, she decided on one filled with an emerald ichor, pouring herself a generous serving. She raised the brew to her lips, looking to take the edge off, before turning to Luminoth once more. Slowly sauntering to his side, Maleva spoke once more.

"I can't say you haven't piqued my curiosity, however. You of all people know how I love a well-planned scheme." There was a hint of adoration in the words, coupled with apparent snark. Maleva's own mind began to race as she stared at the screen. "Go ahead, tell me what you want with Brosi."
 

Darth Luminoth

Guest

rd9A4ic.png

“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”

「HEARTWORK」
Darth Maleva
"Go ahead, tell me what you want with Brosi."


"Nothing," a wispy female voice replied. "But I know something that you don't know you want yet," it continued, the feminine quality of the intonations entirely unfitting of his face. He squinted, trying to consider the speck beyond what his eyes were reasonably capable of. But the Force, especially the dark side, was limitless. The events on Brosi's surface were hundreds of parsecs away. But in the force, they were close enough to touch.

A leisurely whim manifested farsight. Extrasensory surveillance gathered vague impressions, brief imagery, and fluid concepts from the world, and dragged them through the countless lightyears back to his conscious. He could see it; if one could really call it seeing. "
The final belligerences that protest Sith rule over Brosi are teetering on the brink of extinction." The aimless lack of focus in his eyes was disappeared with an attentive presence as he snapped fully back into his immediate surroundings.

His head swiveled, looking down slightly to Maleva. "
The newly instated 'Ore-Dukes', some corporate men who have an in with Voyance, are, as you can imagine, finding the state of their new domain considerably difficult to manage," he continued, voice finally shifting to a drawling baritone. "Through no fault of their own, obviously. Corporate Authority seems to have underestimated the defiant will of the Brosin people. Needless to say, they aren't exactly laying down. It's only a matter of time before Sith forces leave them to finish the cleanup."

A dusky paw rose, brushing a contrastingly radiant strand of hair out of his pallid face. "
Getting to the point, when the remainder falls to him, I wish to bolster Brosin resistance by facilitating insurgency. Corporate shortcomings are a seed we must nurture. When they come asking for help, you come to their aid. We self-destruct the insurgency, and you claim dominion over that mineral-rich rock for yourself, citing the Ore-Dukes' incompetence."
 
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Darth Maleva

Guest


Emotions flickered across her face while he spoke. Confusion, realization, a flash of fear, before finally falling into stoic consideration. She bit her bottom lip as she took in the full weight of this proffer. It was beautifully planned with a deft hand; yet one glaring flaw could not be overlooked- the dark saint herself. Should they move in the shadow's without her knowledge, such a thing would be impossible to hide when the plan came to fruition. Such deceit we surely be met with retaliation in kind, and Brosi didn't have the militant resources so hold up against the might of the warlords.

A shiver of dismay ran down her spine. Was it Luminoth's own hubris that caused him to overlook it, Maleva's innate instinct for survival that caused her to worry? She could not be sure. If the latter, was it a sign she grown weak-hearted? Was the risk worth the reward? Questions raced through her head as she frowned. The woman began to pace, thinking.

"I'm wary," She finally began, hesitant to display any sign of unwarranted anxiety. "Of the implications of such a move. We both know what holding a planet means. I would be spitting in the faces of the other high lords... and Voyance. What are we to do when we incite their wrath? The likes of them alone do not worry me; but combined with the might of their followers, against our own small forces..."

As she turned to pace again, she stopped in her tracks, looking to him instead. Her shoulders slumped in defeat. He had kindled a desire, one that began to rage, yet there seemed no way to satisfy it.
 

Darth Luminoth

Guest

rd9A4ic.png

“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”

「HEARTWORK」
Darth Maleva

"Once you have Brosi, there would be very little to detract from your own claim to the title of High Lord," he mentioned, illuminating another layer of the plan. His eyes returned to Brosi's distant flicker as she began to pace. "Dark Sovereign Kaar appears to have an interest in stepping on Voyance's toes if the whispers about the initial conflict are to be believed. Dasam Kal toppled an Ore-Duke to appropriate his forces. An opportunity for Kaar, and if we offer Kal additional forces from our deposal of other Ore-Dukes, an opportunity the aspiring infant-lord as well."

"
That being said," he continued with another jarring change of expression. This time, a hollow, echoing voice that was decidedly inhuman, eldritch. "I believe you overestimate the Dark Saint's interest in Brosi. Still, you are right to believe this will not go uncontested, but nothing worth doing ever does." 'Never was anything great achieved without danger,' Avernus once told him. "We have our men, and you have my blade. All of my blades. I've done the math, poured over the odds, it's doable. Very doable."

Looking back, he masked the beginnings of a frown. Only a subtle flicker of the corners of his mouth managed to manifest. He wouldn't admit it, but it troubled him to see her look so diminished. A step toward her brought him close enough to reach out a hand. The back of his curled fingers caressed softly against her opposite cheek. "
Don't act so soft," he teased in his own voice. "You belong at the top, you know that. Trust that I've calculated this machination such that it will bear fruit with minimal detriment."
 

Darth Maleva

Guest


The anzati allowed her head to lean into his touch, eyelids falling shut for a moment. The gesture and words shifted the storm that raged inside her. Insecurities faded away, leaving a fierce tenacity in their wake. The other high lords would hold no sway over this decision. She would not allow the fear to control her, but rather reshape it, weaponize it, and know that failure was not an option. The forces Luminoth offered, and the limitless bounds of their minds together gave her all she needed to succeed.

You belong at the top. There was a part of her that couldn't believe that, even still. Yet Luminoth was the one of the very few who could match her wits, even coming in a step above her at times. The flicker of doubt was extinguished by the reluctant respect and trust Maleva had found for him. Her own insecurities only shackled her, holding her back from her full potential. When they managed to take Brosi, everyone would see her as a force to be reckoned with; and when they crushed those who resisted, she would be stable in her own seat of power, never having to submit to the will of an imbecile who had only gained their spot through brute force.

Her lids flickered open once more find his gaze. Determination overcame her expression, her brow furrowing.

"I want it." The words came out softer than she liked, so she repeated again, passion fueling her statement. "I want it."

She pulled away from him, eyes turning back to the screen. She stared at the planet intensely. Just a rock, yet so much more.

"What do you need from me immediately?"
 

Darth Luminoth

Guest

rd9A4ic.png

“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”

「HEARTWORK」
Darth Maleva

"Nothing," he said again. His hand dropped to his side, feet carrying him away, along the mock-window. "What you need from yourself is another story," he continued in an elderly rasp. "I can't be expected to do all the work." Both hands folded behind his back as he turned to gaze over the stars. "The plan may be my design, but ultimately the moves are yours to make."

'One should never fall in the belief that you can find someone to pick you up.' Luminoth had confidence that Maleva was far above such an on-the-nose flavor of hubris. Then again, he'd thought the same of his old master. If she was to be the figurehead, she must be proactive. Decades out of central authority had perhaps weakened those authoritative muscles. Maybe she just needed a refresher?

That, or she was playing him to look out of practice.

She loved him, but he wouldn't kid himself. They were both Sith at the end of the day. The possibility of deception couldn't ever be ruled out. Then again, he had gone a particularly long time with his brain still whole and in his skull. Far longer than anyone else who tended to find themselves often in her company. It might have meant something, but he wouldn't count on it.

Hubris kills more Sith than their own kin and enemies combined. He wouldn't forget that lesson.

"
I will keep everything at the ready for when you decide to pull the trigger. Beyond that, the rest is up to you."
 

Darth Maleva

Guest


"Forgive me," The words dripped with poison. "I made the mistake of assuming if you were to offer a scheme, it would be fully laid." Maleva raised the flute once more, tipping it back to finish the drink before speaking again. "Nevertheless, it changes nothing."

After lingering a moment, she finally tore her gaze away from the view of Brosi. Moving to place the empty glass on the nearest table, she then floated to the commlink she had left at her bedside.

"Pull me all reports available for Brosi in the last ninety days, and have them sent to my datapad."

There was no answer to her call- it simply would be done. There likely wouldn't be much on the reports she did not already know, whether from her previous briefings or Luminoth's words, but even jewels could occasionally be found in the rubble. Moves had already begun to play in her mind, each searched for faults and risks. Moments that would come after decisions played out in a foggy haze, allowing her to see what she may have missed. Her gaze did not return to the lord when she finally spoke again.

"The initial dissent amongst the people- were there any key players?" She asked thoughtfully.
 
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Darth Luminoth

Guest

rd9A4ic.png

“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.”

「HEARTWORK」
Darth Maleva

Luminoth squinted. "The mistake you made was thinking you would have to do so little. There are few things I wouldn't do for you, but I am not your peon." In his own voice this time. His eyes moved to look her way, head remaining forward at the space displayed on the massive screen. The raspy intonations would return to herald: "The plan is laid fully. Near-perfectly, dare I say. If I were the one turning the gears, I would be the one receiving dominion over Brosi. You must sew seeds to receive a harvest."

"Pull me all reports available for Brosi in the last ninety days, and have them sent to my datapad."


A sigh escaped his lungs. He strode deeper into the room, running his fingers along the edge of a table as he circled around it. "Already done," he replied, the enthusiastic voice of a child taking the place of the struggling, elderly wheezes. Quickly, he'd find himself arms crossed across from her on the opposite side of the bed, leisurely favoring one leg as he stood.

"The initial dissent amongst the people- were there any key players?"


"Not really. The independent planetary leadership. Nobodies now; the ones that still live," he explained. A business-like female voice took over. "Now it's only the Ore-Barons scrambling to set up their administrations under Sith rule. Time willing, infrastructure on their accounts will already be set up by the time we make our move, forcing less work on us."
 

Darth Maleva

Guest


Maleva nodded in acknowledgement, gaze finally returning to meet him. She didn't bother to justify the blatant snark with an answer- she knew there was a reason he had come to her instead of aiming to come out on top himself, just as well as he did. No taunting words could change that truth.

"Timing will be key in all of this. Too quickly or too slow, and it will crumble in our hands."

Two fingers fidgeted with one another at her side. The smallest of movements, but one that spoke volumes.

"Be on the ready for my orders."

Her tone held notes of dismissal she moved to grab the datapad from the drawer and began scanning the initial information. Her eyes flickered up once more to meet his.

"Oh, and let's not pretend this plan, as-is, does not benefit you as well. Neither of us are that stupid, my dear."
 

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