Return and Revenge

[francopell]

Korriban
Sith Main Base

The land of Korriban was barren, long forgotten by an ancient faith. The Sith. They had been destroyed many years ago and had hid, the Dark Side had been weakened and the Jedi were dominant. That is, until, the Gulag Plague. It was the most devastating event to date, destroyign life and lasting for four-hundred years. It was the curse of the Galaxy, the final day of reckoning. Only it wasn't to be. As destructive as it was, it could never eliminate everything. The species are re-colonising and with it comes an old threat. The great villains of the past. Sith. Manipulators of the Force, destructive overlords or powerful Emperors. It can never die, the bane of the Jedi are re-grouping once again. They are no longer in secret. The Republic is also in a rebuilding phase giving the Sith their greatest chance yet. This is the era of a new generation who are following ancient ways. Now, in the Sith Main Base (recently constructed) all the Sith, Force-using or not, Bounty Hunter or Soldier, are called to discuss the next moves in the battle for domination.

Cold and untouched for centuries, the ground of Korriban was hard underfoot for Darth Sidic. He had been put in charge of the re-building of the Order. He had been given free-reign in the Empire and was Dark Lord in everything but name. He had gathered numerous Dark Jedi to help him and he was the sole member of the Dark Council. He was young for his species but was also experienced when compared to humans and was considered the perfect man for the job of re-construction. He had an army to train, a demesne to expand and an Order to rebuild. To say the Republic had the upper-hand was preposterous, everything was chaotic now. He had a chance to stand as ruler of the Galaxy or put the Sith into a position that would only cause trouble. The recruitment scheme was beginning to take off, he had bounty hunters filing in rapidly. Soon he would lead his forces against nearby systems and establish the supremacy of the Empire once again. For now though he was asking all members of the Empire who held any sway to meet at the Main Base where plans would be devised and new members would be met.

The ground of Korriban was mainly rock with tombs carved into the mountain passes. Darth Sidic had carefully placed his Base of Operations near these tombs to enable him a chance at excavation. Under the crust of Korriban was Dark Power that was the fuel of the ancient Sith. They had drawn on artefacts and the spirits of the ancients to enable their power to reach its height. He was leaving no stone unturned in his quest for ultimate power. This would make the Sith unstoppable and he was willing to destroy anything on Korriban to mine into the ground, seeking items of ancient power that would further himself and the Empire. With his mind set on building Sith power and gaining nearby territories, he was sure to make these intentions clear in the meeting as he was a high-ranked and well-respected Sith.

"Greetings fellow Sith! I have gathered you here today to discuss the Empire's next move. Now, who will speak first?" He said quickly and to the point.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine Zambrano straightened out the wrinkles and curves on his new Imperial Uniform, wanting to make himself look somewhat presentable before one of the Council Members. With the power vacuum left after the vicious Gulag Plague, both the Sith and the Republic had begun to rebuild as quickly as possible to outdo the other faction for dominance of the known galaxy. Kaine had to choose between one of the two on who would benefit him more in the long run, and that had been the Sith Empire, and the fact that their more aggressive ways and lifestyles had suited him better than the Republic's way ever could have. So, Kaine had come before the one-man Dark Council and proved himself worthy in becoming the Minister of Intelligence for the Empire, overseeing every dirty little operation the Sith would conduct against their enemies. He'd transform part of his fortress on Thyferra into a communications relay base so he could tap into various networks to receive information that may or may not be crucial to the Sith Empire, but so far nothing of interest has been decrypted, and the last few weeks have been horribly uneventful, filled with nothing but paperwork and relocation of his agents across the Galaxy.

Kaine brought himself back to reality as the single Dark Council member strode into the chamber where the rest of the high-ranking Sith Officials were waiting, including himself. The man who walked in was rather shorter than Kaine, but that in no way meant that Kaine was stronger than Darth Sidic, no no no. Even with his lack of training in the force, Kaine could sense the dark side energy pooled within Sidic's being, and it made his skin crawl just to look at him, but he kept his face as passive as he could and cleared his throat as he rose to speak. "My most esteemed Lord, I must inform you that I have spread my agents into the rebuilding Republic's territory to gather intelligence on their operations, as per instructed, but... if I may be so bold..." Kaine cleared his throat again, "Myself and my underlings grow restless, milord. I request that I use my agents to strike against the Republic's operations and grind them to a halt, assassinations, sabotage! Espionage is all well in good, but we need results, not dribbles of updates on the same thing the Republic has been doing for weeks now." He finished his little speech, but remained standing unless told to sit by his Lord.

 

[Darth Voracitos]

The only "true" Darth strolled through the room, declaring himself the only legitimate member of the Dark Council. In his floating Throne as he always was, Voracitos pressed a glass of his favorite ale, to his lips. Huge gulps filled his mouth with flavor and slid down his throat, satisfying the self-proclaimed Darth completely. He listened to the other Lord talk for action, to move on from our time of cowardice and strike when we had the chance. Throwing his glass off to the side where a slave would pick it up, Voracitos growled. Ignorant fools.

"If you think that a task force is enough to invade a galaxy, then you are sorely mistaken. The Sith--although powerful-- have not totally reformed! This man before you is clear evidence of this! "Dark Council", ha! This here is an Empire, and no one is benefiting from it. I have declared myself a Darth a few months ago, after the... hmhmhm, "mysterious" death of....uh, whatever his name was it isn't important; the fool thought he was a Darth at least, that is my point. But back to the topic at hand, I my "Lord," request a seat upon your council in the nearest possible future. As of now I have a small army under hire that I could add to your force's, but if any of you believe we are prepared to strike the Republic --albeit a weakened Republic-- you are sorely wrong. You ask for our next move? I believe we need alliances; we need money, trade, commerce. Let us first monopolize the galaxy, to ensure a permanent hold. Then," Voracitos paused a moment for emphasis. "We enslave them all." He sat back in his chair happy with his speech. He knew his strategy probably would not hold with the other lords, the others were only blood thirsty. It was no fault of his he first thought of money and power...and women. He was a firm believer in hedonism, and that would be what pleased this Lord. He placed a grape into his mouth and gripped his hands together under his bulging chin, staring into his peers, feeding off of their emotions.

 

[francopell]

Of course, he would love to have lots of trade to ensure he stays the overfed Hutt slug that he is! He's lucky he has connections and has a force to help us in battle because I can't see him being of any personal use to the Empire! How he has risen so high on his current diet I will never know. Still, he is one of the most influential Darths with the power base he has. If he's to get into the Dark Council then he will obviously be in charge of production and logistics, I just don't see him being a warlord leading our forces.

Darth Sidic concealed his thoughts on the newly arrived Darth, he was not willing to make a powerful enemy and a division in the Empire would give the Republic the perfect chance to finish the new rising. The Jedi were never keen on war, ignorant fools as they were, but the senators would jump on the chance to take down their most immediate threat. They were of equal strength as the Empire, maybe even slightly weaker, but a civil war in the Sith would give the Republic a key opportunity.

"You may sit.

What about the neighbouring fringe systems. We could move swiftly and establish a foothold in this area of Space. Do you know of any crime lords who could establish us with a healthy source of income? I agree that if we are to take over the Galaxy then we must start with our finances. Money is the key to warfare, if we can gather enough reserves of credits then we can further our other goals and even bribe senators on Coruscant. As long as we have a criminal affiliate who we can act through then we always have a scapegoat if our hidden activities are discovered. It is a good plan but you'll have trouble finding anything worth credits on this rock. It contains artefacts, yes, but we're going to need to raise money on nearby worlds with more resources that can be traded.

We cannot rush into sabotaging the Republic but there is nothing stopping us being a nuisance. If you can get your operatives to commit crime lords to our side we can then use them to attack the Republic with no ties to us. It would be difficult to ensure they do not have anything bonding them to us but doable I feel. Keep the Republic on their toes which we will then exploit, hard-pressing them whilst we seize some of the more uncertain Core Worlds. It would give them an element of claustrophobia, all trapped away on Coruscant as they fend off criminals running rampage. It would give us an ideal opportunity to take planets and give us a key opportunity to blockade them when the inevitable war comes.

These may seem like the steps towards a war but we are not close to that glorious moment yet. To give us a chance in this struggle for supremacy we must be aggressive. We can rely on the Jedi being too 'moral' to strike back as long as it hits them indirectly." Darth Sidic finished satisfied he had made his point.

 

[Disciple]

Giggling like the madman he was in the corner, paired light blue eyes pierce out of the shadows of the recesses of the command center the Sith had made. Their color shimmered, floating lazily skyward like twin flames, licking at the air of sustenance. Out of all the pretenders here, only one was a true Sith, and that was he, Disciple! But they'd not know that, oh no.

All they'd see was that grinning demon jester mask as he stepped out, bowing faintly at the waist to all around as they spoke and postured themselves in that never-ending power struggle known as Sith Politics. "Come now, children. The member of the...", he cackles faintly, "...'Dark Council' has a point. Move through the outlying systems first. Take the weak, cull them. Enslave populations to make us fleets and arms... and then set them back to living their normal lives."

Lifting himself onto the tip of one foot, he spins around slowly, arms outstretched and one leg lengthened out behind him for balance. There's a puff of smoke and the air where he'd once been was vacant. He steps out from behind Sidic, juggling two handles that were evidently sabers of some variety.

"No, no, no! The Republic has not the infrastructure to track our agents, no. Send our best out to hijack convoys of supplies... pilfer funds~", the cheerful voice of the Jester was decrepit, like the filth-laden air of a freshly opened tomb, "Who cares if they know it's us anyway? What are they going to do about it? Fight us?"

There's a mad cackle at that, and again the man disappears.

Now it's the air itself that speaks.

"Let them come, let them fight. In the end, they will break themselves upon our forces like so many waves upon the rocks."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine growled slightly, but ultimately decided to go with the Sith Lord's better judgement and returned to sitting down. "As you wish, my lord. I shall inform my agents of their new tasks. The children of the Hydra shall sew the seeds of chaos and discord throughout Republic space, and the citizens will hail the Sith as Gods liberating them from the ignorance of the Republic and then we shall enslave them. Thyferra already practically belongs to me and this Empire, and from there I shall open the flood gates of calamity that will shroud all of existence." Kaine now smiled a smile most sinister as he clasped both hands together in front of him, his muscles bulging visibly under his form-fitting Imperial attire. "I already have a possible pawn lined up for us to use and abuse..." He'd grab a portable holo-projector from his person and would set it on the table, activating a image of a drop of blood with two silver swords piercing each side. "The Sanguine Pirates... a group of marauders and cut-throats that have existed in the Polith System for centuries, and have just recently began to grow back in strength and power. Intelligence has it that they are extremely fanatical and ruthless beyond normal comprehension. They will be perfect, plus they owe their inception to one of my ancestors dating back to the Clone Wars, so I will have to call upon... 'old debts', if you will. Rest assured, they will serve the Sith Empire." Kaine shut off the holo-projector and relaxed back in his chair as the Jester-Sith took his time to talk and rant.

 

[Darth Voracitos]

Voracitos listen to the Lords below bicker and argue, and a small frown fell upon his fat face. The jester was... disturbing to say the least. But that was not what made him upset, it was his unanswered demand. He was unaccustomed to being refused his wants, his needs. It irritated him terribly, but out of the sake of power he let it slide... for now.

"I know a Hutt or two, and no Darth, that does not include me if you were wondering." Voracitos's mood lightened up some to his own joke/self-insult. "It will be all too easy to gain their support weather or not they know they are supporting us or not, I know of their every habit and weakness. My operatives will develop a grudge with the Republic in the Crimelords I have in mind, and they will undoubtedly cause some delicious damage. They are wrapped around my little pinky," He stuck his pinky into a dip, "Like this cream of pie." The obese Darth smile a hideous grin, full of yellowing teeth. Ending his silly delights, the time for jest's were over (despite what the jackal of a Sith might of thought) Voracitos went back to business. "But also, you spoke of the artifacts here. Is it possible that those could be sold on the black market? I believe we will find that the excess of useless junk we will find here will attract the eye of many stupid rich people. Statistically we could monopolize an entire market, with an endless supply of Sith "artifacts". The galactic public would be none the wiser! How rich an idea is this, sell Sith Artifacts that are absolutely worthless for billions of credits at a time! Who cares about a few Hutts when you have such a bountiful treasure trove right beneath our feet! Ahh but alas, I believe this would not be in your grand design, hm? Fine, you shall have your cartel, and whatever additional force's you require. I will begin my work right away. Are there any other announcements to be made, Darth Sidic? If there is none, then I request a short recess, I grow weary of politics and yearn to delve into more.... sensual desires if you know what I jest towards. Shall we return in say, an hour, two hours perhaps?" Voracitos did not expect that the Darth would really respond, more likely for him to ignore such a disgusting creature as he. His smile was grand and ugly, and he sensed a particular Twi'Lek cringe in fear. How delicious. A mental frown beset the Darth, knowing his yearn for pleasure would go unheaded for quite a bit longer then what he would like.

 

[francopell]

The Darth shut off his rage at Darth Voracitos. He was hideous and didn't seem to have much of an interest in the Empire, pursuing pleasure ahead of the Sith's needs. Still, he had power and despite how foul he seemed, he obviously had managed to build up a stock of allies that must have took some charisma. But to think that this toad had any competence made Darth Sidic sick, he could barely move on his mobile throne and seemed to treat the Sith with no respect. And when he suggested the sale of artefacts Sidic was temporarily frozen. The very source of Sith power were the sacred artefacts of bygone ages. Selling them was unthinkable to the Darth, and even he was not expecting such venom from Voracitos. His hatred for him grew with every passing second as he lazily lay on his throne. Whether intentional or not, Voracitos had struck a nerve.

And then there was the odd looking jester. Darth Sidic was slightly shocked at his sudden appearance and disappearance but he detected it was from some form of Force illusion. When he did manage to catch a glance of the jester he was shocked at how hideous he looked. Darth Sidic had never harboured a great love for clowns but this was too far and his heart almost stopped from the mere sight of him. He was odd to say the least, and Darth Sidic assumed that he had some form of mental condition that had sent him into such a manic and peculiar frenzy. If this was what the Sith Order was looking like then he'd have centuries worth of work ahead of him. Darth Sidic was generally a traditionalist who honoured the past of the Sith and that was what had led him to the Sphere of Sith Power where he excavated the rocks of Korriban for powerful treasure. These two were definitely not like that at all although he sensed they both had a power. If they didn't then they would be two more people dead at the hands of Sidic.

He moved to speak: "We merely cannot afford a war with the Republic at this time. It would cost us both dearly and we cannot risk a third party rising up from the ash of a war between the two of us. If we can weaken the Republic through the use of criminals we can expand our domain a lot more as we would be unchecked by the Republic. The Sanguine Pirates might prove perfect in this cold war. If they can keep the Republic confined to a small area then the Empire can flourish. We have a trade embargo lined up against the Republic which could strangle them if we capture most of the major planets.

We are not going to sell ancient Sith artefacts to anyone, no matter how useless they may be. It'd bring in credits but it would be getting rid of one of the pillars of the Sith and would disrespect our ancestors. They grant us with great power and they are very much a fuel source for the Dark Side. We could always forge them though, sell them as the original when really they have no power inside them. We would keep the original and manufacture fakes based off of it. We can't just sell the tools of the ancients but we can always copy them. They would have no Dark Side power in them and would essentially be dull rocks, perfect for trade. And no, we are not going to have a break no matter how great your lust is." Darth Sidic sighed.

 

[Disciple]

"Prodding the beehive isn't a war. It's an annoyance. Even governments who don't want war still... spy on each other. Dig into their enemies systems for secrets~ If we aren't ready then they certainly aren't either, giving us leeway to work~" Cackling faintly, the Jester reappears once more behind the corpulent mass of flesh known as Voracitos, perched upon the back of the floating throne like a gargoyle set upon the roof of a skyscraper. "I think, Sir-Man-In-Charge, that perhaps you took too long to understand what he meant by selling artifacts."

Rolling his eyes under the Jester's facade, the rictus grin plastered on his face doesn't shift an inch - even when he speaks. Humming merrily to himself, the hilts of his sabers now back at his side, he rocks gently back and forth like a child upon a piece of playground equipment. "What would you have the Disciple do, oh great overlord~ Hrm~"

Shifting yet again, he appears next to Sidic, back just a little too straight and arms held steadfast to his side in a comical mimicry of a soldier standing at attention.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine felt himself agreeing with the Jester-Sith on this matter, and nodded slowly at Disciple. "I agree with Disciple, there is nothing wrong with agitating the Republic, and I am completely at your disposal. Just say the word, and I will unleash chaos..." He truly did wish to begin his dastardly works right away, not wishing anymore to sit here passively while there were masses to manipulate and strings to pull.

 

[Darth Voracitos]

Darth Voracitos scowled. It seemed that his motion had failed, and thus far his request for a seat on the Dark Council was postponed, and so then the Empire, not ironically, remained an Empire. Empire's were not good for business if you were on the "senate" branch. Voracitos did not enjoy being on the side lines. But alas the meeting appeared to be adjourned, so he decided to be the last one to speak.

"It appears we have a plan then Darth Sidic. How does the motion carry?" The fat slug he was sat and waited for the answer. This time he would not be ignored. His stern expression, and dismisal of the majority of his slaves was evidence of this. No longer was he distracted, he was more inclined to power now.