Private Modal Soul

[Lucien Dooku]

NEW IMPERIAL ORDER // WARLORD OF NIRAUAN
HAND OF THRAWN // NEW CARANNIA
[VIBES] | [DRIP]

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- Hand of Thrawn, 864 ABY




Business as usual.

What that entailed for the Warlord of Nirauan was more of the intricacies of factional politics, and laying the foundation for Nirauan's dominance within New Imperial space. He found it a bit ironic, given how much he loathed the idea of having Irveric Tavlar 's job. The rebellious Warlord had spent the first couple of years doing absolutely nothing pertaining to his title, but now he found himself faced with the problems that came from administrating one of the fastest growing provinces within their ethically-divided Empire.

All the problems of administration aside, there existed no greater threat to Nirauan than COMPNOR and its raidcal base of supporters. Their tendrils extended throughout the Empire; Nirauan proved one of the few -- if not the only -- exception to that rule. So far the agents of that dog known as Harssk had been unable to make much of a dent into the culture that was forming upon the planet. Nirauan was slowly shaping out to be the bastion of liberty that Luc had promised to create.

Whether in the growing city of New Carannia or in one of the smaller cities popping up across the world, the values of liberty and freedom were engraved into the hearts of its residents.

Sooner or later, the fragile peace established between Lucien and COMPNOR was bound to come to an end. The infiltration of his administration by their agents would eventually be a reality, according to the estimates of his closest advisers.

Sooner than he'd think.

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A knock on the door brought his attention away from the stack of paperwork he skimmed through on his desk. Valerian entered his office, stone-faced as ever, walking across to the Warlord's side and handing him an unmarked folder. Luc skimmed through the contents of the folder over the course of a few seconds before he sat it to the side and gave a smirk towards his most senior official.

"Has she arrived?" He asked.

"Thirty minutes ago." Valerian responded.

Luc smoothed out his jacket, leaning back within his chair nonchalantly. "Then let's not keep her waiting, shall we? Feel free to bring her in- and give us some privacy."

"It'll be done, my Lord." Valerian gave him a nod,, then proceeded to exit the office to relay the Warlord's orders down the chain. It wasn't often that Lucien had a meeting inside his office with anyone outside the Imperial Assembly, But he had his reasons for seeing the individual in question himself, and so did his guest as well. ​

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[Rika Hiro]

She knew all too well who Lucien Dooku was. Champion of the moderates, the self-proclaimed nemesis of COMPNOR. In some sense of the term, he was an annoyance to many in the organisation and actively tried to hamper its activities via the way of politicking and sabotage. By virtue of his position in the Order, the Serennan was spared the usual fate that awaited far less important individuals who crossed swords with the organisation's ambitions. Though patience was ultimately limited with those who thought themselves beyond the agencies' reach, her superiors were content to let the man live and found other means to hit the lord of the 173rd. A simple message here, a killing of an associate there. Enemies of COMPNOR by extension the state knew only one language, intimidation.


Though she found herself here under the false identity of a military liaison from some minor intel unit in the Imperial armed forces, both she and the agency knew Dooku was no fool when it came to infiltrators. Being gifted as Lucien was with the mystic way of the force, he'd spot an Eris model HRD from a click away. This was more of a show of power from COMPNOR; they knew he wouldn't kill an agent of theirs. It'd be giving them all the justification her superiors would need to go after the institutions and peoples Dooku held dear to.


Flanked by several of Dooku's armed men and frisked for any hidden weaponry or tech, Asa was brought from the nearby landing pad to Dooku's office quarters. The procession stopped upon a large durosteel door which promptly opened and revealed a relatively spacious office space. Her armed escort promptly left the Atrisian to her own devices, and she walked in. To the average person, she just looked like an Atrisian Imperial bureaucrat pen pusher, nothing too out of the ordinary, especially in military bases dotted across the orders ever growing territory.


"Well met Mr Dooku, I do apologise for being late, but your men frisked me and held me up," she offered the Serennoan a reassuring smile and offered to shake his hand, hair tied back and eyes framed in wide glasses. Asa looked relatively harmless in the office pen pusher persona, which unluckily for those Agent Yubari was instructed to hunt down and eliminate was often the last face they saw. But in Dooku's rare case she wasn't here to garrote him after a few hours, instead, she was here to observe and keep a tab on him.

Lucien Dooku

 

[Lucien Dooku]

NEW IMPERIAL ORDER // WARLORD OF NIRAUAN
HAND OF THRAWN // NEW CARANNIA
[VIBES] | [DRIP]

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Lucien stood up when his guest entered the office, a genuine smile settled on his face that accentuated the spacer clothes donned by the Warlord. At first glance he was a far cry from the depiction of your standard Imperial Warlord. He was young and carefree in demeanor, a fact that was further demonstrated by the dismissal of his elite companions from their posts outside his office's doors. Truth be told, a part of it could directly be tied to the confidence that Lucien had in himself. The Exiled Prince had survived numerous warzones since his inception into the New Imperial Order, and there were few enemies within the Empire who possessed enough hubris to make an attempt on his life.

He reached out and shook her hand,, peering into the woman's eyes beneath the glasses for the short time that they exchanged greetings. "The pleasure's all mine, Miss Yubari." He spoke up, letting go of the woman's hand and directing her off to the side of the room, towards a small lounge that offset the rest of the drab office around it. He moved first, settling onto a couch that was flanked by a pair of chairs on either side. He reached across to a coffee table sitting in front of the couch, grabbing ahold of the lone bottle of Corellian Rum and pouring himself a drink before addressing his guest once again.

"Feel free to call me Lucien." Luc flashed her a smile as he poured the Rum into a second glass, offering it to the Atrisian out of hospitality. "Mr. Dooku sounds waaay too proper for my liking. Makes me sound like one of these Imperials who take their station far too seriously if you ask me." He sipped at the Rum for a moment, his eyes shifting towards the skyline of New Carannia that was visible from the entirety of his office.

"I'd ask what brought you to consider the opening within my retinue." The smile softened away as he spoke, and his gaze tilted back towards his guest, a playful smirk taking its place. He reached to his side, picking up a manila folder and tossing it lightly onto the table. It slid across the surface, coming to a stop in front of the Atrisian. "But I've got this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that you'd only tell me what I wanted to hear. Not what I really desire to know." Luc offered a nonchalant gesture towards the file, giving her full permission to take it for herself if she chose to do so. It contained a fair amount of information regarding the woman's identity, outside of the cover that was initially provided to his people to warrant her visit in the first place.

"Am I right on the money with that assumption, Asa? Or are we capable of having a friendly and open conversation."

Long had he -- and Valerien, for that matter -- suspected that the agency would attempt a bolder infiltration of his administration. Under the guise of battling remnant Sith loyalists, elements of his Legion were constantly dispersed throughout New Imperial Space at all times. Most of them were indeed cleaning up the threat these shattered pockets of the Empire held, but others were fully sanctioned by Lucien himself to partake in black operations against COMPNOR on behalf of the interests of Nirauan.

It was a necessity to keep the influence of COMPNOR far from the former capitol of the New Imperial Order. Their operations had also obtained a plethora of intel on the numerous agents who worked on behalf of that dog Jaeger Harrsk . A Cold War had long been brewing beneath the nose of the Sovereign Imperator. It was only a matter of time until tensions reached their maximum, and the spark that was needed to set things off was put into play. ​

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[Rika Hiro]

"Just following protocol... Lucien," She almost tripped on the last word, nearly instinctively reverting to the standard way she was programmed to greet individuals. Informality was a foreign concept to her, though she was well acquainted with playing it up for appearances in order to get closer to peoples of interest. It let people at ease and allowed them to guard down, and not realise who they were dealing with even as the timer drew close for them—like a predator playing wounded while the prey drew closer in, unaware of what was awaiting them.


She helped herself to the seat facing Lucien, looking around the spacious confines of Dooku's office with a sense of surprise at how well furnished it was. Clearly, Mr Dooku didn't lack funding or wealth, though her superiors often wondered how else the boy wonder of Niraun secured his wealth and power. He sure seemed to have the knack to fund counter operation efforts against COMPNORs own plans, though for how long he'd be doing it with impunity was anyone's guess. Her own superiors patience waxed and waned with each passing week; however, Lucien continued to crap in the wrong group's backyard. And sooner or later a simple observation mission would turn to a hit.

"It can be whatever you want it to be Lucien, I'm sure you're well-acquainted with people telling you what you want to hear, but such is the way of Imperial bureaucracy in this order, you have to kiss a boot every now and then, it's just how it is."


Though not quite an order of nepotism like the Sith Empire was, paying homage to your employer in the vast labyrinth that was the Imperial bureaucracy and logistics system paid a long way. However, appointing half your family and brood to positions of power and importance was not the way to lasting domination, and Kaine Zambrano had learnt the hard way. The New Imperial Order was a meritocracy at heart, and it leant to its successes in the field, both militarily and in the cloak and dagger trade that COMPNOR peddled.


"Any self-respecting servant of the order would kill for a position in a retinue as esteemed and well paid as yours."

Lucien Dooku

 

[Lucien Dooku]

NEW IMPERIAL ORDER // WARLORD OF NIRAUAN
HAND OF THRAWN // NEW CARANNIA
[VIBES] | [DRIP]

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"Interesting."

He mused out loud, leaning against the couch's arm without even the slightest shift in his visage despite the woman's admission. She was bold, and Lucien liked that attitude in a woman, even if sometimes they happened to be on the side of his opposition. Then again, he expected nothing less from agents who held their allegiance to Jaeger's fanatical, yet highly effective organization.

As much as the Warlord wanted to end their reign of terror for good, he wasn't dissonant enough to disregard the effectiveness that COMPNOR had when in the field. Many of their operations led to intel or otherwise positive results that fed into the grander scheme of the New Imperial Order's rise to prominence within the galaxy. Their methods were poison, that in itself was not in question. But they served a means to an end that benefitted the greater Empire as a whole, that much he would give to them.

It still wouldn't prevent him from destroying them eventually.

He scoffed at her words with a smirk, wagging a playful finger in her direction. "Miss Yubari~ I think your profilers must have misinterpreted their data on just who I am. I don't bend the knee to the Order, nor do I kiss the boot of anyone besides my own, and maybe my girl."

Luc sipped at his drink, keeping a pair of narrowed eyes locked onto his guest. "I don't look for self-respecting servants who are out to tell me what I want to hear. Nor am I in the market for a beautiful woman who's lookin' to make me swoon over her and show weakness. I'm an Imperial Warlord, and a Prince of Serenno, so do not think I won't put a blade through your chest in a heartbeat if the preservation of my life was in question."

The smirk faded momentarily as he leaned in closer to the woman, balancing his elbows on his legs and resting his chin upon his interwoven hands. "...But I'm not really in the mood for all that violence. For what it's worth, I should send a bottle of whiskey over to that dog Jaeger Harrsk 's office to congratulate him for this attempt. In fact, I'll even bite at the hook and consider your offer of employment into my retinue. Surely that'll please your superiors, Miss Yubari~"
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[Rika Hiro]

"Now, that's not very courteous of you, but I can assure you, Lucien, you are not the first person to attempt to put a blade through me nor the last."

Asa allowed the Serennoan an indifferent shrug, almost too relaxed in its execution given the casual threat belied towards the HRD. It was true that many individuals had threatened or tried killing Yubari in the past, but they were all dead or drinking soup out of a straw in some Imperial blacklist site. Her gaze wandered towards a letter opener knife neatly arranged alongside some office supplies on Dooku's desk, sleek and sharp in design yet only six inches long. She did ponder, would it be big enough to put through the prince's eye. But then Asa knew this was not a hitjob; otherwise, she'd be jamming it in Dooku's eye already. A shame really, Harrsk would've appreciated the creativity of the kill.


"Do what you must, my superior Harrsk is quite interested in your little heroic activities, and I must ask Mr Dooku, do you think it's worth it?"


At least Asa was spared the boredom of playing a pretty thing; she and everyone else knew Lucien was no fool. She preferred to be direct; what did an agent of the order have to fear from some upstart noble? They did fight for the same cause ultimately. Something Lucien seemed to forget in his quest to be an annoying contrarian and pain in the side to Compnors activities. But as one would be patient with a wayward child who is irrational and an inconvenience. The agency would be patient with Dooku. But patience like spice was a rare commodity, especially in the depths of the Imperial state where cut-throat politics and dog eat dog environments were the normality.

Lucien Dooku