Some Day One Day

[Riamah]

It hadn't been very long ago Ra had attended a ball that had been put on by the First Order. They were one government she had little to no contact with in the past. Random chance encounters with its members, but nothing formal in any way concerning her business. There had been rules around her then and those rules would have prevented her from actually conducting business with them unless it was done off the books.

Times had changed for her though. With the fall of both the Metal Lords and too soon after the Coalition did as well to the hands of the Sith. It was an empire she had once been a part of. Over time though, Ra had drifted away from them and when the attacks happened on Alderaan, Balmorra and Kuat, the had severed all her ties.

While at that ball, she had been the guest of Kei Raxis who had come with Commenor. Among that party had also been Adron Malvern and Connor Harrison. Lady Kay as well, but she had not been granted the opportunity to speak to her. When she had met Connor though, she had told him of her position with the Coalition. During that conversation, they had exchanged contact information, but nothing more beyond that.

With the circumstances changed in her life and where it was heading, something told her he might be interested in hearing of the plans she had in motion. It included both Kei and Adron along with a handful of others. Each had their own goals and objectives, but none could accomplish these alone. What Connor might bring to the table, Ra could only guess at, but she knew he could be an asset to these plans.

With this thought in mind, she reached out to him and invited him to visit her on Vjun. Here she lived in Bast Castle and where all the ground work was being played out. Not that one could actually tell just by looking. Plans like this took time and they had only really just begun.

When he arrived, an old man would greet him. His name was Vincent and was Ra's most loyal servant. He had been with her for the better part of the last six years and was her batman, butler and anything else she needed. Vincent would offer Connor food and drink as he guided him to the library.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The air around him seemed to hang still. It was cold, but warm. It was a strange temperature and a strange atmosphere in general. Vjun wasn’t new to Connor, but it had been a while since he’d stepped foot onto the planet. But he had a reason to, an invite from the Sith Ra, that was her name, right? The introduction at the First Order ball had obviously stayed with her.

Greeted by what was obviously a servant at a rather elegant grounds, Connor took a glass of water and an apple – he had a thing for apples recently, but didn’t know why – and followed through.

He admired his surroundings but didn’t quite know what the invite was for. Was she selling him off to the First Order or did she have other motives? Connor didn’t mind, it was nice to meet people who wanted to meet him in return.

A library soon opened up in the grand residence, and he bid thanks to the old man, placed his water down and crunched into his apple and walked around the room, looking at the books and the décor and the various items on show.

[member=Ra'a'mah]

 

[Riamah]

It was quite common for people to look at and admire the collection Ra had picked up over the years of living in Bast. Not that it changed on a daily basis or anything, but she acquired new items for it regularly. Most of them were of a dark alignment or orientation, but the selection covered all spectrums. What the library held was of very little importance to the reason for his visit here.

When they had met at the ball, Ra had been dressed in something formal for the event. In her own home, she was comfortable and wore something far more casual. Simple black pants and what might be viewed as a peasant top. Since they had only chatted that one time and Ra was unsure of his loyalties, she was wearing her weapons. They weren't visible though and the small saber hilts were hidden up her sleeves.

This was how she conducted business as well. There had been a need to keep the fact she was a sith hidden from her two previous governments. Now that was no longer case, but because of the recent actions of the Sith Empire, Ra no longer supported them in any manner. What had started as a slow regression from them came to an abrupt end when they attacked Alderaan, Balmorra and Kuat.

All these actions were what brought her to this point in her life. There were plans in motion that soon would not be kept hidden and secret any longer. The build up of what might be thought of as an empire on its own. However, this was not an empire like that of the sith. What had started as a simple plan to control a simple location for trading purposes has grown into something that could liberate worlds.

At that meeting, Ra had sensed Connor had plans of his own. What they were, she did not know, but wanted to find out if he might fit into hers. So the invitation had gone out to him and he answered.

"I hope your journey here went well. Welcome to Bast."

It broke the silence of​ the room, but would say she was there and open to conversation. Taking a seat in one of the chairs set by the fireplace, Ra would motion to the other in invitation for him to sit if he wanted to.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor heard someone come in, and recognised the Sith, looking far more comfortable in her lounge attire. He looked her up and down for a second and saw she wasn’t THAT comfortable; ready to strike, it seemed, if he said or did the wrong thing. He crunched the apple and gave a small nod of the head.

”Thank you,” he said, half eating to show he wasn’t exactly here for a confrontation, ”and a lovely place you have here. Oh, and you won’t need those things up your sleeves.”

He looked back to the books and pointed them out casually.

”I see you have some varied texts, new, old, fictional, fact. I’d like something like this myself if I had permanent residence somewhere.” He nodded to himself. That was another goal. His own place and a library.

”So, do what do I owe your invitation?”

[member=Ra'a'mah]

 

[Riamah]

His gaze took her in and then apparently he did a close inspection and somehow could tell she had the little sabers up her sleeves. He was the first person to ever pick that up so quickly. HIs body language though was relaxed and non confrontational. So when he said she would have no need for them, she nodded only. Not feeling she needed to fully explain why she had them, what she had been when they met was obvious then.

Almost as if he had requested she remove them, she twitched her wrists ever so slightly and set the hilts down on her desk. There was no threat in her movement, but it levelled the playing field a little. Considering Ra knew next to nothing about Connor, this was a big step for her.

"I've slowly turned Bast into what I consider a home. These are items that were here when I took over residing here and some I picked up on my own. Travelling as a merchant quite often, I need something to distract myself from just how boring space flight actually is."

She watched him for a moment only before answering his question. Not beating around the bush or paying much attention to general pleasantries, getting to heart of the matter would be best. Her eyes were a natural gold in color and not touched by corruption. Former alliance to the sith or not, Ra had never been reliant on the Force all that much and when her use happened, her skills were far more neutral than dark. Yes, she had called herself sith, but in the end had realized she really wasn't one. The deciding factor had been those attacks they had done. Not something to talk about now, she kept this to herself.

"Well, Mister Harrison, I will get right to the point. I am sure you are aware of what recently happened to the Coalition and who did the attacking. What I am not aware of is where you sit on the matter. You came with Commenor to that ball which indicates to me you could be of a more neutral view on things. However, among that group were two apprentices of mine. Adron Malvern and Kei Raxis."

Pausing a moment, Ra allowed what she​ said to reach him. Give him something to think on maybe. The delay lasted a breath and she continued.

"What I say needs to be kept quiet. A movement is in the works. Not something on a small scale, but right now it is. This movement is being coming about because of the need to take the sith down a few pegs. They are an apex predator. It's time for the prey to strike back. Now the reason I asked you to come is we want to know if you might be supportive of this movement?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor listened politely, but knew the real meat of things was yet to come. He mirrored her walk around the library; she sat before the fireplace, and he stood opposite with enough distance between them both. Her weapons were set down, and she started talking.

At the First Order ball, he hadn’t been taking much notice of anyone or anything. He was more focused about his own safety, but he didn’t have to be it seemed. The night went well, and he left in one piece and no ghosts from the past came up. To be honest, he hadn’t expected to hear from Ra, but it was a nice surprise never the less.

And now he knew why. He bit into the apple and savoured its sweet taste.

It seemed she was a puppet-master, and he had spoken to one of her whelps. And knew the name of the other. He admired her way of working – power in resource.

Going on about the Sith, he could agree with her in some way. They had been useful in taking down the Silver Jedi Order a few notches, and allowed them to find their way to the Mid-Rim. Through that, they had found balance. Yet now he heard of Sith acting far from what he expected – intergalactic bullies who were waiting for systems to develop a weak spot and then strike to pull them apart easily.

They were waiting like prey to take apart a wounded animal rather than stand up to them in full force which spoke volumes to a man like Connor.

”I mean, nice idea in theory, but you’ll need a lot of support to remind the Sith who they are dealing with. They move in packs and show their strength when others can’t. They aren’t well prepared for strength in numbers and coordinated, precise movement. They use the Force as weapon more than a tool and don’t care who or what they hurt in the process.”

He looked at her and thought for a few seconds.

”They have tipped the balance, and that is something will lead to all-out chaos if not kept in check. Go on. Why me?”

[member=Ra'a'mah]

 

[Riamah]

Giving her the time to speak, when it was his turn, Ra took a drink and listened to him. The fact he did not sit down indicated that maybe he wished to indicate he held some form of power over her. He gave very little away of his own feelings on what she said, but did agree it was a nice idea. Bringing up the point she was well aware of. A need for a united force after a specific goal and she nodded. That is what Kei and Adron were for. She might be the one behind things, but they were the ones controlling those forces.

They would not be the first to attempt this, but hopefully they would be the last. There had to be a way to end the emperor and his court in a fashion where they could not come back. How that could happen, Ra couldn't think of. Something to work on as time passed.

Connor mentioned balance and how if the sith had their way, things would go badly for the rest of the galaxy. She couldn't help but to agree with this. With how things were working with the other governments around, things appeared to be taking a very dark turn. Up until recently, this wouldn't have mattered to Ra. Now it did. More than once, it had been called to her attention exactly what sith did and what could happen. Ra had been blind and oblivious, deaf to the words of these other people. Then the sith happened to her...now they had made a mistake and an enemy.

No longer was she blind and deaf to the pleas of others. Reaching out to various people, she had started the groundwork needed and hopefully Connor would be on board. Looking at him when he asked why she picked him, she would reach around her back to produce a datapad from one of her pockets. Pressing on it, she activated one of the many files she had on people. In this case, it was his.

"You are known. Both in good and bad ways. I am reaching out more or less because I don't want to have to face off against you. Mister Harrison, you are able to get in close with people and gain trust. Your past indicates this much. Having come with Commenor, you are known by Lady Kay. Her and her government's view on things though isn't the best course of action. Sadly, I can see the sith coming in and doing to them what they did to Coalition.

"If they fall, then there are truly no neutral governments around. The Silver's are again growing in strength along with the Remnant. I don't think they will be enough to combat the might of the sith nor do I do know those two have any form of agreement with each other."

Many deals went on behind closed doors and while Ra was good at what she did with intelligence, some things were off limits even to her.

"You might be a single person, but you alone can tip the fate of a confrontation. We have no desire to bring to us additional adversaries and have no intentions to move against certain governments."

Plans changed over time, but the goal right now was very simple and in the end that was take the sith down at least a little, weaken them and allow balance to happen. However that balance Connor spoke of might be different than what Ra envisioned. ​She planned on having a very powerful movement, one where everybody had a place. It was not intended to be an empire or dictatorship, but it might sound that way. Having learned a lesson in the past, Ra did not hope to emulate past governments, but would take what she learned and improve them.

Every movement and government had its weaknesses. Her reason of involving so many people from various kinds was with the intention of incorporating the best aspects of them. By doing this, it would make this movement unique in her mind.

"It all leads to the reason of why I called you here. On which side do you fall?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]