She would remain silent as the conversation moved into the data center at the end of the hallway, the room a testament to the idea of data being king. She was well aware that the room was likely only one of several that would be the processing centers for the governing AI that Serina was utilizing for her ambitions, which was a shame because it would certainly be indicative of a first-generation design if that were the case.
Her silence would remain as Serina explained what she respected and how she respected it. Respect for power through understanding and respect itself, not grounded in tradition or force. How... idealistic and yet flawed in its reasoning, but that would be something to be addressed. As the explanation for her actions on Saijo began, what was said offered her an interesting insight into the young woman, although perhaps not in the way she intended. The claims that it was calibration, not rebellion, was an odd descriptor to use. It suggested to her forethought into her actions, planning that went beyond a spur of the moment attack.
Her next words were admission that she had acted without sanction and had made a spectacle of the whole affair. That need not be said, but saying it gave her another piece of the puzzle. Her supposed rejection of the underlying reasons of ambition or delusion rung hollow to her though, as though the words needed to be set for performance but held little power or effort beyond the air expended for them. The girl oozed ambition from every pore, perhaps more blatantly than other Sith of her age she had encountered thus far. There was a thirst to prove herself, to prove that her way of thinking and doing things were right. That much was obvious and thus leading to the hollowness of her rejection of those.
And then the justification she had fully expected to come, the one that she had been forewarned about would be forthcoming. Saijo and its governor were planning to act against the Empire as a whole, building up resources for war slowly but steadily. According to the young woman before her, a coup with the full and quiet backing of the Tsis'Kaar that Darth Fury had been a member of. That she had acted to thwart those endeavors before they could culminate, before they were unleashed and destroyed the Emperor and the supposedly squabbling Dark Council.
But the real reason, the real insight into the young woman before her, came next when she said she had done it to wound the Tsis'Kaar... because they had rejected her, had spurned her offers of support. That the attack had come because they had struck her first, with pirates and other nefarious and subtle means.
There it was.
She had been offered three reasons for the assault on Saijo, for the decimation visited upon it and its governor. The data bearing Fury's authorizations and everything he had done to Polis Massa flowed freely in the data center. It was all so wonderfully constructed... except for a few issues.
"How magnanimous of you to strike down such an enemy before it attacked us," would come her quiet response. "How thoughtful that you did so out of duty to the Empire and to your people. Such passion. And all the data we could ever want to corroborate the account of events, all right before me. How generous of you to provide it..."
A pause, just the right length of silence to add emphasis to the next words she would say.
"And how all of it is irrelevant now."
It would be her turn now to begin pacing slowly in a circle, each step made with deliberate focus and grace born only from someone that had been playing this game for a long long time.
"You made a few mistakes, however, my dear at this first attempt at subterfuge. Mistake number one, admitting to the Emperor's Hand that most of this information if not all of it from Darth Fury was obtained after the attack had been nearly concluded, suggesting you had planned to attack Saijo with your mercenary force before that particular justification came up. I have her full report about the affair and what she witnessed."
She would pause a moment, looking at the girl with some amusement in her eyes, before continuing both her circle and her dissection.
"Mistake number two, although you share this one with the former governor of this system as well. Why not report these pirate attacks in the first place to the Dark Council? Such an attack on a system near several key worlds in the southern portions of our Empire would certainly have drawn attention, and yet not a word of it came to us. Why, the idea alone of pirates slipping through the Blackwall would have brought an immediate response from the Dark Council if not the Emperor himself.
"Mistake number three, you brought forth too much data. The art of creating a truly believable story as you wanted to construct relies on it being created in pieces, tiny ones, and all of them building up and reinforcing the other. You tried, I would imagine, but how you presented it here is too much. You didn't allow room for the stories to breathe on their own, but that's born from inexperience at the art. It takes practice to understand just the right number of clues and hints and data points to lay where others can find them."
She would glance up at the flowing data screens before back at the young woman.
"Mistake number four. Once you had bested Darth Fury and his forces, you made the decision to bombard the planet. To shatter its infrastructure and people, to ensure that your mark was left on it. An orbital bombardment, when the order is given, needs to be a dispassionate action. You, according to the Emperor's Hand and her report, were anything but dispassionate."
She would finally stop pacing, looking directly at Serina eye to eye again.
"Mistake number five, and this is the kicker of the argument, ties into mistake number two. Do you know why the Legions besides the Zero Legion are not allowed to operate anywhere except on the borders of the Empire? I'll tell you. It's to avoid unnecessary violence without authorization, to ensure that anyone that tries with the Legions or their personal forces is immediately recognized as crossing a line and brings the full force of everyone else down upon them. You admit to me that you knew this attack on Saijo was not sanctioned, and yet it occurred anyway when all you needed to do so within the bounds of our Empire is to inform us and seek the justification from any of the Dark Councilors or the Emperor and Empress."
For the first time, the Force would shift in the room and around them as her power stirred, rising from where it had been hidden. It was only a slow uncoiling of it, but it was quietly subsuming and engulfing the room. Her gaze and tone belied the power however, remaining calm and measured.
"You spoke at the beginning of your explanation that you respect power through understanding and respect, not tradition or force. However, that is a flawed belief, especially among the Sith. All Sith, from the Emperor down to the lowliest Acolyte within the academy system, have their power and standing grounded in both the traditions of the Sith and the power they hold, whether it be in the Force or other means. A Sith that
understands this, understands that the rest of the galaxy is fair game but to strike at another Sith requires acting within the rules established by tradition, such as the Kaggath or the unsaid understanding that rivals need to be eliminated without yourself being caught in the act, creates the
respect of those under them and those above them that recognize someone that should be cultivated."
A beat. Another coil of her power rearing up, tightening the circle.
"You have not done so. I believe you did tell me the real reason for your attack, and it was to simply strike at the Tsis'Kaar because they spurned you. You knew Fury would be a good target because he held a fortress world and it could be a demonstration of what you can do, of your power. You allowed a need for petty revenge and unchecked ambition to drive your actions, regardless of what you tell yourself or others in such honeyed phrases. Anything you claim otherwise is a lie, to yourself and to anyone else that hears you."
Another tightening. She hadn't moved at all from where she had stopped pacing, but her presence,
her power, would be all around Serina. There would be nowhere her own abilities could go, and she would find she could only move a foot before meeting a force, invisible and forged from nearly seventy years of study. And it still wasn't the full extent of her presence, just what she had deemed necessary thus far.
"Let's begin the lesson."
