Private More Than A Taste

[Lanik Dawnstar]

Standing at the base of the steps to the Senate Building on Coruscant, Lanik looked up the series of steps to the grand doors. He’d heard about the meeting between the Galactic Alliance and the New Imperial Order. Never once did the Jedi think that the general he’d met on the field of battle would be the one to turn on the Sith. The one who’d spoken about not having a choice in fighting for the Sith, the one now leading the charge against them.

Newscasters and paparazzi lingered around the senate building, pictures being taken as other senators exited. Resting his back against the speeder waiting to take the Imperator to the spaceport Lanik looked haggard. Not as bad as when he and Tavlar had last met, yet still his exhaustion was visible. The Jedi’s hair unkempt, black circles lingered under his eyes, and stubble had managed to form on his chin.

Blue eyes tracked the doors as they permitted other to leave, all before locking on to Tavlar. Since the battle of Kintan it seemed that the one-time General had suffered more injuries. The shard of metal protruding from their head almost resembling a horn. Yet surprisingly he appeared slightly younger than Lanik remembered? Perhaps it was a lack of stress from working under the Sith, or perhaps some sort of surgery?

Climbing the steps, the Jedi Knight approached the other warrior intending to meet them halfway. Each step was calm, collected, but with the grace of a nexu on the hunt. Coming to a stop before the man, Lanik would extend his forearm. “A pleasure to meet you once more General, or should I use Imperator now?”

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

Galactic City​

Coruscant​

Immediately following Sonder ​

It was a still foreign air about him. Coruscant. In the wake of devastation, the world had rebounded into an era peace and prosperity under the unified Galactic Alliance. The scale was nigh incomprehensible, Dromuund Kaas being the only world in comparison to this. Even still, the people here lived easily. Regarded each other with casual civility all the while life beneath the Sith bootheel was akin to permanent subjugation. Without a lineage in the Dark Creed, his origins on Dantooine were far more humble and mundane among his comrades in Sith-Imperial High Command. The New Imperial outlands to which the Sovereign Imperator led his realm in exile paled in comparison to the Core.

After he'd emerged from the Chancellor's Suite, he should've very well expected Lanik appear before him.

“I know my destiny General Tavlar. The force has one for you as well. You can’t hide from it, perhaps its time you embrace it.”

In an act of prophetic wisdom, the Corellian Jedi had all but deemed Irveric's path. There was no doubt Dawnstar knew Irveric was not long for the Sith Empire, that he might tread his own ground soon enough, the very same vision Ryv had deemed to the General. With the brow over his still organic eye arching at the sight of the pale-haired Jedi he was quick to divert his path toward him, motioning a hand to his Novatrooper retinue to stand aside before he reached his hand out to shake Lanik's firmly.

"Destiny works in mysterious ways, doesn't it, Dawnstar? Good to see you in better straits, Jedi." Irveric says, fully aware of the context within which the Corellian was freed from his internment under the watchful eye of Darth Voyance . Even still, there wasn't a shred of bitterness over the matter. After all, the Sith were no longer anyone that Irveric had to feign a begrudging respect for and Voyance's Sith Keepers had all but scattered into the unknown regions as Tavlar's New Imperial Order seized the reins of the rebellion against the Sith-Empire.

Appearing a man broken from Mandalore, his gaze irreparably scarred and misshapen from the war but even still he carried himself akin to his station. A soldier. A warlord.

"Here to interrogate me for the press are you?" Irveric remarked, speaking under far better circumstances than the first two occasions they'd encountered one another. For all that had culminated, they were 'allies' now. A peculiar if also predictable turn of fates.

Lanik Dawnstar

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

Coruscant
Senatorial District

Looking over the shoulder to the squad of troopers that shadowed the Imperator, Lanik offered a slight smirk. Those men may never truly realize that the one they followed and were to protect was more than capable of defending themself. Perhaps even posed a bigger threat to the Jedi Knight on his own than they did collectively.

Tavlar had once bore the stance and gait of an officer, but as Lanik took in the Imperator there was a new feel to him. He’d transcended what it meant to be an officer, Tavlar radiated power, ambition, and a driven focus that could match any Sith or Jedi. Tales from the ancient annuls of history told of those who held such a presence, Tarkin, Thrawn, Pellaeon. Not only some of the greatest military minds in the galaxy but leaders who held a domineering presence without the backing of the force.

Seizing the other’s hand, Lanik offered a faint smile to the Imperator. It was obvious the jedi was weary from days without rest. “I said the force had a path for you, never did I imagine that it would lead to you leading a rebellion against the Empire. I’m glad to see that you’ve finally seen the path that was open to you.”

Releasing the other warrior’s hand, Lanik looked back to the media that sat behind the lines of guards that held them at bay. Flashes came from within the crowd as the piranhas that were the press sought to get any pictures they could of the new Imperator and Jedi. “In fact, I seek to help you escape them. There are actually some questions I meant to ask you.”

Lanik knew that the questions that would be asked would border on the verge of treason so as his eyes stared into Irveric’s, Lanik sent a pleading look to the man. Something that the other would remember that even after being tortured the Jedi hadn’t done. That even when potentially faced with death he hadn’t given such a look.

“There is a park nearby that I think you’d very much enjoy the view of.”

Irveric Tavlar

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

Galactic City
Coruscant

​

"I did what had to be done." Tavlar stated outright. His true sentiment since the battle of Kintan concluded. They had both known that his servitude in subjugation to the Sith would've only resulted in his body bloodied and unrecognizable at the bottom of a mass grave. Leftenant, Major General, Lord General. A cog in the machine. In treason, he could at very least have the solace of controlling his own fate. For what could be the better or worse. On one hand, he stood at the precipice of destiny, able to snuff out the darkness once and for all. On the other, there might not have been any stopping the might of the Sith Empire if he'd continued to exist in its servitude.

"Yes - if there is somewhere outside the sight of these tabloids and provocateurs, that might be more ideal." Irveric spoke, his tenure at the Sith-Imperial Officer Academy did a number to mold his vocabulary. Shaping the Dantooine farm boy into one who postured himself a genuine Imperial.

The two making on their way, Irveric continued to speak in spite of the hectic circumstances that came with a foreign leader of his infamy in Galactic City.

"Even if I lost a handful of my own in the process, it is good that your Jedi comrades were able to free you from the clutches of the Sith. Voyance had initially gone into league in this treason herself but has since exiled herself to the unknown regions, taking her retinue of cultists with her. For the better." With the New Imperial ranks swelling with new recruits from the conquered outland and veteran defectors from the Sith Empire, he needn't rely too much on his Sith allies, quick to seek paths of less resistance than that which Tavlar tread. Mortal men in the shadow of a seemingly immortal Empire. The Imperials sought to make them bleed.

Lanik Dawnstar

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

Coruscant
Axial Park
Tags: Irveric Tavlar

​

“It is good to know you no longer ally yourself with the likes of her, and ilk similar. The Sith seek nothing more than to rule and fulfill their own fantasies of grandiose self-glorification.” Lanik said as he continued to lead the way to the park, keeping his eyes honed for anyone following, both reporters and possible spies.

Axial park was one of the main tourist destinations on Coruscant. One that had flora imported from a variety of other planets. Trees lined both sides of a pristine pathway, bowing over at the top to create shade for those who walked. At the center of the park an extremely large pond with a fountain that shot crystal clear water into the sky.

To say that Lanik and Irveric made an odd pair would be an understatement, all-around people glanced over to see both the Jedi known to have aided the Republic in their darkest times and the new Imperator of an Imperial Order who led the fight against the Sith. It would be on the front page of every holopage by nightfall.

Taking a seat at one of the benches and activating the aural dampeners so the two could have privacy, Lanik scooted over to offer more room to the former General. Gem colored eyes stared out to the fountain than across the park as Lanik took in what he was fighting for. What he’d always strive to protect… Civilization.

“You’re probably wondering why I wanted to speak with you. Do not worry all grudges of the battlefield and my imprisonment have been laid to rest. Nor is Darth Voyance of any particular interest to me as of now. I have far more pressing concerns.”

Inhaling, his hands clasping together in his lap. Lanik felt for the first time true fear for the thoughts that crept in his mind. “General, when did you know it was time to turn against those you once served? You picked what you thought was right for your people instead of what could keep you safe. How did you know it would work? How do you cope with it?”

 

[Irveric Tavlar]

Galactic City
Coruscant

​

It was reassuring that Lanik bared no ill will to Tavlar following the brief alliance he'd had with Voyance. Alas, a truly peculiar pairing it was. Two men who'd been at odds with one another bent on inflicting mortal finality on the other face to face only a brief moment ago when the Sith Empire marched a bloody path to Kintan and promptly left empty handed. Save for Dawnstar in tow as a prisoner of war.

Seating himself next to the jedi his weary gaze was quick to take in the view around him. Afterall...it was foreign. He was born on Dantooine, a planet with a legacy among Lanik's creed but otherwise insignificant, only ripe for Mandalorian Marauders and evidently, Sith occupation. Since then he'd only truly seen the Ecumenoplis of Dromund Kaas. A planet with a far drearier atmosphere than Coruscant in its reconstructed glory. Just as the Alliance fought to preserve what they built, the New Imperials fought to tear down the rotten machine which desecrated and marred the identities under its rule. An odd contrast but a common interest.

Now isolated from the bustling if organized chaos of Galactic City around them, Lanik spoke.

“You’re probably wondering why I wanted to speak with you. Do not worry all grudges of the battlefield and my imprisonment have been laid to rest. Nor is Darth Voyance of any particular interest to me as of now. I have far more pressing concerns.”

The grudges had long past. Irveric himself could respect what it took to fight for ones life as he did the same that day, several times before and several times after even if the bouts did not carry the same burdening weight that the personal nature of melee combat did. After all, it was likely Lanik's mercy that Irveric still breathed at all.

“General, when did you know it was time to turn against those you once served? You picked what you thought was right for your people instead of what could keep you safe. How did you know it would work? How do you cope with it?”

"After Kintan...I could see the writing on the wall. The Sith Empire...was a rotten machine, one that was only going to turn its wheels into the grave. At first my grievance was only bred from distrust and pragmatism. The Sith Empire was weak and growing weaker. It would throw itself at the Silver Jedi among others until it was bled dry and left to rot. I couldn't stand to keep leading my soldiers in the fray like that. To be chewed up, to be burnt like fuel for the funeral pyre. Not long after Kintan..." Irveric motions up his cybernetic arm, the synthetic machination still as cold and ugly as when Lanik had first laid eyes upon it. As if to stress how little the bridge in time was between his deployments, only about seventy two hours after Kintan that he was given his next assignment.

"I was assigned as military governor of Sundari. Mandalore. There was warning of a Mandalorian terrorist cell set to strike. And they did. Me and my men, the very same detachment you and your Jedi fought on Kintan were there to meet them. We defended our objective and drove them back. I do well and truly mean that I fought to protect Mandalore and its people. They were Imperials, just as I am and all the same they deserved our protection. I was broken, I nearly died. I felt death...but we endured. The wounds were barely sealed when Kaine Zambrano put into words his new mandate. The people I fought to defend, deemed to be eradicated. The lives of my men, wasted. The blood I spilled, despoiled. No explanation heeded, no reason given. That was when it became personal to me. When it was evident our sacrifice was in vain." Irveric stated outright.

Lanik Dawnstar