Private Old Acquaintances

[Darth Carnifex]

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NATHEMA

The agriworld of Nathema was located far in the northeastern provinces of the Sith Empire, where it supplied nourishment to the nearby star systems with vast quantities of harvested foodstuffs every year. When the Empire first came to Nathema, the world was underutilized by the locals and many of its fertile valleys were uncultivated. In the years since the Empire's arrival, much of the world's arable land had been converted to farmland connected via a network of trade ports that routinely export the world's foodstuffs to other star systems. These starports ranged from small single-port structures to massive complexes enough to dock the largest cargo ships in the Empire. ​

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Though Nathema was nominally controlled by one of the Empire's many Prefects, it was in reality controlled by a Sith Lord by the name of Onrai . One of the more reclusive Sith Lords, Vantai rarely interacted with the rest of the Empire except for the most necessary of official functions. The Sith Emperor allowed her this degree of privacy and isolation due to their familiarity in past Sith organizations, and in return, Vantai remained loyal and helped improve the agricultural systems of Nathema. Now the Sith Emperor was en route to Vantai's orbital facility, his personal shuttle scything through the dark void of space towards the expansive complex. Normally he would have sent a functionary to meet with Vanessa, but he understood that she would be more receptive to what he had to say if he appeared in person; as much as a time drain as that was with the growing insurgency to the north.​

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His shuttle settled down on the landing deck in one of the hangar bays connected to Vantai's orbital facility, the Emperor emerging alone from the shuttle's interior as he strode out towards whoever came to greet him.​

 

[Onrai]

The initial cavalcade of Dark Troopers on board the facility carefully observed the Emperor. They, like hundreds of thousands if not millions of others, had served him as a soldier on various campaigns, only to have been injured beyond the capacity to continue serving the Empire. Vanessa’s rehabilitative procedures had helped return them to the peak of physical condition, ensuring that despite their age, they were more than a match for any ordinary Sith soldier. Being accepted for such a project, in concert with being granted a military position, led to their loyalties shifting - they no longer served the Empire because their Emperor demanded it. They served it because the one who had returned them a normal life demanded it.

Such was, as Vanessa presumed, the reason Kaine had come to her otherwise ignored and forgotten planet. Between her being the only one still having knowledge of the Imperial Graveyard, where the remains of the old Sith Empire, New Order, and impounded Galactic Alliance fleets had been sent out to, and the manpower that was rarely leveraged within the region, in concert with her sorcerous ways and exotic technologies, Vanessa could prove effective as an ally to whatever side she chose to align with.

The Sith Lord herself remained isolated on board the orbital complex, waiting in a meeting room for the Emperor to arrive to. There was no meeting party, as expected. Currently she was working on a chemical weapon for use against the inevitable hordes of Jedi that would try to predate the Empire during its moment of weakness.

“A surprise to see you here, Kaine.“ a faint image of Vanessa would flicker into existence next to the Emperor. “I’d say I was busy, but I’m sure such concerns mean little... Follow me, please.” They would presumably start walking towards the hangar elevator. “I’d heard about what that one Sith... What’s her name, Voyance? What she had done. It’s frustrating. The Empire was supposed to suffer from infighting after your eventual death, disappearance, or relinquishment, remember?” she believed such had been run over to the Emperor previously.

As they stepped in the elevator and it began to traverse upwards towards the laboratory levels, she continued. “It’s surprising that an individual you trusted immensely would betray you in such a blatant manner. Perhaps your judgement was misplaced - or perhaps you set her up to this like you did with Arcanix as some sort of “test” to weed out all the disloyal people who’d follow such a rebellion. Not sure if I’ll get an answer to that.”

Arrival on the chemical floor would see Vanessa, wearing personal protective equipment, enter the elevator as the image disappeared, the elevator rising further up the facility’s height as she reached around, trying to open the zipper.

“A little help?”

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor listened in silence as they walked, his stride was prideful with head held high as they moved through the corridors of the orbital facility. He did not react to Vantai's words about Darth Voyance , though that was something of a sore spot internally.​

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Had he expected that Voyance would turn against him?​

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No, he hadn't. He had thought that her pilgrimage into the galaxy would give her clarity of reason, to show her exactly why the Empire was necessary for the Sith to achieve their goals and ensure their survival. Instead, she had returned blinded by ancient dogma and fallacies, much like the Jedi who they fought against. The Emperor had attempted reason, but Voyance and her cohorts were irrationally bellicose and obstinant. Only through force could the Emperor restore order and balance in the Empire, to save the Sith from being torn apart like their predecessors. ​

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And when he finally met Voyance again, he would tear her apart with his bare hands. A final ignominious end for the mystic he saved from the spice-dens of Ventooine, an act of kindness that the Emperor would never make again. ​

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The lift they entered rumbled to a stop, the hologram disappeared and the real Vantai boarded. She requested aid with the zipper of her protective gear, and the Emperor complied with such a simple task. Then he finally spoke, "The traitors will be dealt with in time, the future of the Sith will not be put in jeopardy for selfish reasons of blind ego. There will be no mercy given, no quarter spared. I will see all that has spit in my face be consigned to ash, their memories a footnote in the history of the Empire."​

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Onrai ​

 

[Onrai]

“Yet you obviously are concerned.” She replied, sliding out of the top of the PPE suit. Once they reached the administrative deck, the two Sith would walk to the meeting room. “Pretty consistently, I’ve been staying here within my own domain. I don’t involve myself in the greater affairs of the Empire, particularly after the suggestions of my disloyalty. You presumably still have the bulk of Sith military assets in your hands, as well as the loyalty of most if not all your councilors and generally maintain the upper edge. Yet you’ve come out to the furthest corner of the Empire to talk to me about something in this time of crisis. What would that ultimately be, aside from stating all traitors are damned to eternal suffering under your grasp?”

For all of the Emperor’s power, he was rarely open and forthcoming regarding his motivations behind visits, at least not initially. the two would reach the meeting room, where Vanessa would soon summon a droid with refreshments for both of them.

“So, what’s this about? Is it worse news than my personal assets within the Empire being reduced to a legion of 5,000 troops?”

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"I am always concerned, Vanessa. When it comes to the Empire I cannot afford to remain aloof."​

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They swept into the meeting room, the Emperor remaining standing for the moment as he regarded Vanessa summoning refreshments for the both of them. When those refreshments came, the Emperor would take a glass of whatever was offered and take a swig of it. These days, the Emperor rarely had a need for food or drink, the Dark Side sustained his metabolism more than the meagerness of crude matter. Yet, it was common courtesy to accept the hospitality of your host, even if you ultimately didn't need it.​

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"The edict was a necessary measure, standardization was required. For too long I have let the Sith have too great a free reign in the military, that divide needed to be reinforced." His justifications for the new Sith law aside, he quickly moved on to the truth of why he had come. "As for the reason that I am here today, the ideological purification of the Empire has begun. The Rule of Order must remain the rule of all in the Empire, I will no longer stand ideological perversion or drifting. Those who wish to be in my Empire must make a choice, either embrace the Rule of Order or be destroyed."​

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He placed both hands on the table, looking directly at Vanessa. "You once plotted to preserve the Empire in the event of my death, now I know if you still hold such convictions to fight for it while I am alive."​

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Onrai ​

 

[Onrai]

“True. Direct rule is important - helps keep rebellions from arising.” She said. Vanessa would take a sip of the cool and refreshing lemonade and eat a finger sandwich that had been offered by the droid, sighing as she leaned back.

“The edict is admittedly handicapping for me. Technically, the armada you see here is leaderless right now. I’ve yet to put a proxy in place of governance over this world.” She said. “And what specifically do you classify as ideological perversion?“ this she was quite confused by.

With regards to his last statement, she pondered. “Well, I’m not entirely sure. I’ve been isolated out here for so long that Nathema wasn’t even listed as Sith territory for a time. Never did get that favor you offered me redeemed - the whole “capital ship” thing and whatnot. And I technically don’t have anything more than the five thousand legionnaires you sent me, since the rest of the forces here are under no one’s command.” She said.

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Anything that strays from the Rule of Order must be either brought back into the fold or excised complete, Vanessa. The Sith are not above this scrutiny, several Sith Masters were executed for their treasonous beliefs. Their heads line the boulevard to the Imperial Palace on Bastion, preserved in stasis fields." Not only the Sith were being culled, but the Imperial military was also undergoing its own purification as the officers closest to the errant Irveric Tavlar were being taken out by Sith Assassins and embedded loyalty agents in the Imperial hierarchy. Their heads joined those displayed on Bastion, and many more joined them as the rot was being cut away from the Empire.​

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"And you and I know better. Just because you do not control something directly does not mean you don't control it indirectly, your influence over the forces you have accumulated is nothing to underestimate. You have been in this game for as long as I have, Vanessa, and I know you." They had been close companions years in the past, working together to ensure the Sith's survival in a myriad of fields. Though they had fallen out of communication for a time, the Emperor had never forgotten the clever and resourceful woman of his early Sith years.​

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"Will you stand by me, Vanessa?"​

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Onrai ​

 

[Onrai]

“Oh, don’t do that... it’s a waste of power. Just put the heads in a durasteel box with a transparisteel panel and let them slowly rot away. No need to let them continue to stay fresh, after all. And you can still clone them from bone remnants.” She shrugged. “Waste of energy to keep them in stasis, and skulls are more intimidating than severed heads.” She pondered over how effective the ideological cleansing would be. “I don’t suppose such cleansing would also be applied to the millions of maimed Imperial veterans I’ve rebuilt, and whose loyalty is devoted almost exclusively towards yours truly, would it? That would... make my forces a bit useless to you, truthfully.” She chuckled before sipping and taking another bite.

Kaine’s latter comments made her smile. “You flatter me, Kaine. But my substantive capabilities are very little in the grand scheme of things. I have the Maldrood fleets, the Darktroopers and Bloodtroopers, and what’s left of the old Sith Empire and New Order navy in storage, along with those Galactic Alliance ships we impounded. I think that was about a third or so of their naval complement.” She replied.

To his last statements, Vanessa sighed. “I will...under two conditions.” She said.

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Sith Emperor leaned closer, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Vanessa.​

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"Of course not, the soldiers you have engineered shall remain as they are. But what conditions are you looking for, Vanessa?"​

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Onrai ​

 

[Onrai]

“First is that I need that dreadnought.” She said. “As is, we need a vessel that can on its own effectively deal with traitor fleets. Fortunately, the Sith navy has yet to build battlecruisers designed to function as dreadnought killers, and as such I see little if any threat coming to such a warship. The design is still sitting in my archives, waiting to be implemented.” she said. Having the vessel was going to be of utmost importance given the fact that the Ablution was never going to be able to survive extended engagements with traitor fleets.

“The second one is just some sort of actual place of authority.” She said. “in the previous Empire, you had entrusted me as one of the three Sith Lords within the triumvirate that answered to you. I’d like to be able to do something similar again.” She enjoyed another morsel. “As is, I’m not going to actively send my men and fleets to assist Voyance - but I need an incentive not to remain outside these internal politics, as I have most other things.”

She looked at Kaine. “Would you do that for me?”

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor thought and pondered on this for a moment, a long moment perhaps. His eyes never left Vanessa's own, the molten halos shimmering in a sea as black as the Emperor's dark heart. ​

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Finally, he spoke, "I can grant you the dreadnought you desire, Vanessa. That is an easy enough accomplishment, but as for the position of power... That is not so simple." Taking another drink of what had been offered, the Emperor continued; "There are currently no positions within the Empire that can be given away, nor would could any be ousted from where they sit. It would come off as too, what is that word... Tyrannical." The Emperor smiled fiercely, a predatory smirk that spread from ear to ear. Certainly, he could do what he had just suggested, but the Empire he and his companions had built from nothing prided itself on meritocracy, where those who toiled and bled deserved the greatest reward over those who did very little or nothing at all. Though nepotism did prevail in some aspects of the Empire, the Emperor abhorred such slavish sycophancy. ​

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"If there comes a time where your skills would be magnified by authority, you will be granted such a position. For now, I give you my pledge that I will aid you in whatever experiments or designs you have rolling around in your head, Vanessa."​

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Onrai ​

 

[Onrai]

Vanessa gave a sigh. Well, at least she could finally have the necessary fleet assets to challenge or otherwise destroy all who would be opposed to her. She looked at Kaine as he said 'tyrannical' and understood quite clearly what it was that he meant - the suggestion that her contributions to the overall Empire as of late were perhaps lacking in the face of the insurrection. She sighed, but did perk up at his final comments. "Very well, Kaine. That sounds good to me. And I'll even send a pair of the Sovereign battlecruisers I have sitting back here out to you. Feel free to use or modify them as you see fit."

This wasn't entirely what Vanessa had hoped for, but she had to admit that his overtures to her were more than had been made in the past. "Suffice to say that you have my and my assets' support."

Darth Carnifex