Private Stellar Exchanges

[Astra Sadow]

It was true he could gain more if he were forthright with her, but the man did answer to Mercy. Astra satisfied the Empress' every whim, but she wasn't required to do so. So long as the relationship ended on a positive note, the woman likely wouldn't try to harass Sanguine Enterprises even in The Core. Though Astra certainly wasn't looking for an exit. Lysander, on the other hand, had a more complicated connection -- one that would nearly have his head in the wake of Jakku. All that to think, he might not be free to confess everything to someone like her.

"You're facing an age-old problem, Lysander. Imagine instead of galactic conquest we're speaking of making a holovid. Part of a renown series trillions enjoy. Most would hope a planetary budget were given to their favorite serial so that the grandest epic might be produced. However, what often tends to happen is incorporating more than the schedule or concept permits. Extending too far. Not because of a lack of vision, but because there was nothing to stop you. Make you pause and wonder whether you'd made the right choices. With all the credits in the galaxy why not shoot for the stars?"

"Mercy is an extraordinarily strong woman. Powerful, yes, but strong-willed. Driven to her own philosophy. One that doesn't require people to bow willingful or even out of fear. If she needs someone to submit she will make them submit. Nothing has stopped her so far, why should she believe tomorrow any different?"

Astra smiled for a moment. "Impassioned arguments may fail where more direct plans may succeed, Lysander. Entice her with something that makes her lean forward and then as an afterthought mention something elsewhere. Give her what she wants, and build what she needs off to the side. Arguing will only make her dig in."

"That is, after all, what Sanguine Enterprises does for the Covenant. It's true I had hopes for something else with Abregado-rae, but only as an opportunity of chance. Something more deliberate, like Selvaris, stays out of the line of fire with those she will enjoy crushing; and in return I will continue to furnish whatever she needs to lay waste to her enemies."

Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow​

There was something uncomfortably elegant in Astra's reasoning. Too many spoke of the Covenant as though a single will sat at its center, when it remained a Duumvirate; any plan built to last still had to account for both halves, including the one fewer people ever saw clearly.

“Looking back, I think I went into the Humbarine conversation treating it like a debate I had to win. I thought if I could just find the right words and build a strong enough case, the logic would eventually speak for itself. And that can work. It's served me well often enough. But only when everyone across the table actually wants to be persuaded. That wasn't really the situation. Probably something I should've recognized sooner.”

“All I wanted from them was belief. What I probably needed was tolerance long enough to prove the thing could stand. I don’t really need them to share the principle. If the result serves enough of their interests, I can keep the principle for myself.”

"The Covenant still has two hands on the wheel, Astra. Getting one of them on board doesn’t tell me what the other will do. I think the worst part is getting used to winning. Success starts teaching the wrong lesson. When everything in front of you eventually gives way, it's easy to mistake that for being right. Eventually, resistance stops meaning ‘maybe don't’ and starts meaning ‘how much force will this take?’”

Conscience, he'd come to believe, exacted a far crueler toll than any enemy ever could, leaving its salt in every crevice of the soul. Another wound that never closed, another chain taken up of his own accord. Most Sith were untouched by these costs, their consciences as hollow as the halls of their fortresses; and there were nights when he envied monsters that clarity, the certainty of choosing a direction and walking it without once turning to see what had been crushed beneath their heels.

Lysander's thoughts began to wander elsewhere, but his attention never left her. “I'm no longer limited to diplomacy, Astra. There are other ways I can be useful to you.”

 

[Astra Sadow]

"And does this other hand cause you great difficulty?" Astra asked softly. Arris? The Corpo hadn't forgotten Arris, but the cybernetic-woman could be reasoned with. Tempted. Mercy could as well, true, but it was of a different sort -- a kind most weren't prepared to handle. Neither was better nor stronger, merely different. And she felt confident Lysander would have the most trouble 'convincing' Mercy. Predominantly because the Empress didn't want to be convinced; she wanted to be shown.

"I've never doubted you could." Astra doubted he had ever truly been 'limited' to diplomacy either. Perhaps he'd favored it, but it was no sin to have a preferred method of dealing with people. "We're of a kind. I enjoy when I can convince someone to do as I will without openly threatening them, but if it comes to it I won't hesitate to spill their innards." A soft chuckle and a hum followed.

"What else are credits for, but to acquire the greatest resources -- be it people or objects? To open doors others would find firmly shut no matter how kind the word or loud the demand. Everyone needs something, Lysander; all you have to do is figure out what it is, and how much it'll cost to get it for them." Financial freedom was a form of freedom.

Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow​

At the question, Lysander's head drifted to one side before he shook it. "No. Not anymore. We met recently and reconciled. First time we've actually managed to see eye to eye on things.." There was little point recounting how long it'd taken to arrive there, or how many misunderstandings were dragged along every road between one conversation and the next. Downright exhausting, really.

His eyes narrowed. "You know, it's strange, Astra. They're probably the only two I've learned not to test for sport. I've argued with both of them. Disagreed more than once. Disappointed them, probably, a time or two as well. But that's about it.." Nothing there was really building toward a point. Lysander mostly just found himself curious what Astra might do with the observation. That he was hardly shy about pushing at her edges should've been plain enough.

Only the trace of a smile surfaced when she chuckled. The evidence had been mounting for a while. "I know." With one tiny distinction, perhaps. "Something tells me I'd still give them one additional chance before we reached the innards stage."

"Access is one thing. Becoming useful enough that people notice your absence is another, wouldn't you say?" Just as the chairwoman once said on Empress Teta, back at the beginning. When Lysander nearly walked away from the Covenant, suddenly the idea didn't feel so abstract anymore.

"That part does make sense to me. Find the need first. I figured out pretty early on that whoever's footing the bill gets a lot more slack. Learned that long before Spore Industries ever came along. Took me a few rough chapters to get it, but once I did, I understood that credits don't just pay for things.. they keep others from deciding what you get to choose. Within reason, I suppose. Not exactly a thrilling tale."

 

[Astra Sadow]

Astra meet Lysander's eyes. Her smile became a touch milder, but no response followed. In fact, she had noticed Lysander liked to test people. Her in particular this very day. A dangerous game he played assuming all people were safe to test with such abandon. Had Astra had a lesser relationship with him she might have easily buried him on this world. Not that he'd known it at the time, but madness was not convenient in how it influenced someone. She managed. Well enough. But that was no certainty for a practical stranger.

Such a lucky man.

Then she leaned forward so their noses were scarcely separately. "Exactly, Lysander. Power. Influence. Access. Talent. All kinds of ways you claim the freedom to choose and to turn the galaxy the direction of your will and not another's. No one has infinite resources to always get their way, but what kind of life would that be anyway? Can you imagine living a thousand years with no challenge to mark the passage of time or force you to grow? But by your own hands you find the means of getting what you want when it matters most."

Astra drew her face back again with a smile on her lips. "You should always be mindful of your audience, Lysander. Not everyone responds favorably to the same stimuli." Which was true for Mercy as well in how peevish Lysander had gotten over certain decisions made. But she wasn't teaching Mercy a lesson in this moment, she was trying to instruct Lysander on how better to realize his vision. Anything to keep him from garnering the ire of Empresses yet again.

Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow​

By now, Lysander knew better than to write it off as a coincidence. Astra had pulled this trick more than once, drifting into his space whenever a point apparently deserved a little extra emphasis. Always close enough to make ignoring her impossible. Always retreating again the moment she'd gotten whatever reaction she was after. And always, somehow, leaving him less bothered by it than he probably should have been. Maybe he was simply becoming less surprised by it, accepting that this was just part of who she was.

"You know, Astra, for someone warning me about choosing the right stimulus for the right audience, you seem fond of demonstrating the lesson on me."

Of course, there was one fatal weakness in that accusation; Lysander was clearly enjoying himself. "That's what, the third time? Fourth?" The exact count escaped him, and it hardly mattered. "Very educational." Very humble.

Back to the actual lesson, then. "That's the contradiction, isn't it? We spend our lives chasing the freedom to act, only to find that the obstacles are what give the choice any meaning in the first place. If every door were already open.. there'd be nothing left to accomplish except walking through them."

Curiosity worked its way into the look he gave Astra next. "So what still gives you trouble? After everything you've learned to do in all those years.. everything you can reach that most people can't.. what still feels difficult enough to matter?"

"And if possible, without the.." Lysander searched for the word. "Pedagogy."

 

[Astra Sadow]

Astra did have a growing desire to sink her fangs into Lysander's inviting neck. Something he wasn't aware of, and wouldn't appreciate; but he wouldn't begrudge a woman indulging in something so inviting would he? He should feel complemented. "I hope you remember what I said as vividly as you do our proximity."

"Accomplish?" Astra echoed. "There'd be nothing to accomplish at all. Unlimited, unopposed power would be as gratifying as no power at all; only, someone with no power would at least still be capable of dreaming of and manifesting something better. Not that you'll ever hear a Sith Lord worry about whether they have too much power. Nor should they. Opposition finds a way." No one should wish to be stopped, but the Rancor would not hurt to reflect on what they would do if they caught the starship.

She lowered their hands in order to stroke the top of Lysander's hand with her free hand. "I am a Humble Merchant, Lysander. I came from a broken world, clawed my way up among criminals, and built a credit-making empire. There are plenty of systems left to plant my corporate flag and snatch the resources out from under the unwary. It's a novel challenge. Something different." Sometimes, a woman had to invent her own challenges. Step completely outside the familiar and embrace something different. It was a different skill set (albeit with some overlap) with different priorities and objectives.

"Don't tell me you've never thought of trying something new, Lysander."

Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow​

The lesson would keep. So would most of the others she'd given him. Astra had left more in his thoughts than she likely realized, little observations and arguments that returned weeks later at the most inconvenient moments. Lysander had always been prone to carrying such things longer than people expected.

Silence held him for a second, then he hummed softly. "Maybe. But I think people romanticize opposition once they've survived it. If an engineer spends years fighting pointless obstacles to build a bridge, who do we praise? The engineer, right? Nobody praises the obstacles. So no.. I'm not convinced resistance has value on its own. Reality hands out enough of it without pretending it's a gift. Could be the real gift is finding that experience never manages to make you completely known to yourself."

He wasn't entirely sure that was the right way to frame it, but the thought made sense to him all the same. There had to be some comfort in discovering that experience hadn't made a person entirely knowable, even to themselves. Some might believe the real reward was finding that even mastery failed to mark the end of the journey.

His wrist searched for a more comfortable position. Another breath lifted his chest before the answer finally came. "I have. I just don't know if it'd be anything new."

 

[Astra Sadow]

"Romanticize it? You make that sound like that's a bad thing." Astra chuckled. "Lysander, everything about cutting down our enemies is romantic. We court Death. We offer the sours of our victims up to it. A thankless, silent paramour whose approval we'll never know until its cold embrace welcomes us in time."

As for whether the real gift was what Lysander claimed, Astra had no response. Some things a person should work out for themselves without a mentor approving or disapproving of their own view on a subject. Personally, she like to think she knew herself thoroughly. And she was undoubtedly a romantic when it came to bloodshed and death. Which was why she found it so hard to resist the temptation to partake in the butchery when she found herself swept up in the Covenant's blood baths.

He had thought of trying something new, but didn't know if it would be new? "Lysander, there is nothing truly new in this galaxy. Trillions of lifeforms occupy it. Quadrillions came before those. Everything has been seen at least once. Experienced at least once. That doesn't diminish its value when it's your first time. Try new things, Lysander; especially when you stop thinking about the thing you're best at -- when it becomes so mundane you wake up, stare at the ceiling, and think 'is this all there is?' I hear pottery is in vogue these days." A smirk tugged at her lips.

Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow​

"I've found reasons worth bloodying my hands for. I've just never learned to love the act itself." Reasons were embarrassingly easy to find. Even Tapani could be justified if one knew which parts of the story to emphasize. One's mind could be gifted at converting guilt into philosophy. "Give me enough time and I could make a convincing argument for every ugly thing I've ever done. Might even believe it. The mind loves building scaffolds for its own sins."

A moment passed. "Death hardly needs our courtship, Astra. It takes its turn with everyone eventually. I'd rather spend the time I'm given courting something that might actually live."

"I don't know if I agree." The admission came softly. "Something doesn't cease to be new simply because somebody, somewhere, did it first. I mean, if that's the standard, then every victory is borrowed, every discovery a repetition, every life a reenactment of someone else's. Sounds like a more convenient way to look at things. I don't care if the galaxy has seen everything. It hasn't seen everything through my eyes."

Lysander pressed his lips together. "I haven't grown completely tired of diplomacy just yet." Entire governments could put their ambitions on the table and still insist they were acting out of principle. Sometimes they even believed it. "I like winning arguments before anyone realizes there was a battle." Finally, a smile. "So you'll forgive me if I remain unconvinced that wet clay offers richer conversation. I doubt it could lie to me with... sufficient sophistication, either. I guess that gives you a considerable advantage. For now."

 

[Astra Sadow]

Sins? Lysander really did have the heart of a prince inside him still. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Nothing said a Sith Ruler couldn't be refined, elegant, or even principled. Even the most ruthless Lords usually had some shred of philosophy or standard by which they measured themselves (no matter how mad they were). But to call them sins implied guilt. Regret. And perhaps that was one of the reasons she enjoyed his company. Lysander still knew what those things felt like.

A warm smile was returned when Lysander found no need to court death. Well, he wouldn't understand. Certainly not so long as he believed in morality and the intrinsic value of sentient life. He should. Someone has high-minded philosophically as himself should understand -- not in the same way she did, but in his own. What was more tragic than understanding just what death truly entailed?

With a soft sigh, Astra patted his hand. "Exactly, Lysander, so where do you come off worrying whether what you do will be new?"

"Oh," Astra grinned, "I could lie in ways that you would find difficult to spot even if someone pointed out that I had lied at all. Sufficiently sophisticated, as you said. But I already told you I wouldn't lie to you, didn't I? How many times now could I have sold you on a delightful and sinful little lie? I have no need to lie. The Truth will set you free, as they say."

"Or, in this case, enable us to explore all those delightful corporate opportunities that haven't been fully realized yet. It's so much easier to coordinate your business plan with someone when you weren't worried how they'd screw you over in the process, isn't it?" Despite the claim she wouldn't lie, Lysander stilld found much to enjoy in their conversations. That was only fair. Astra had much to say. Much she could teach Lysander. So many Games whose rules they could explore together... when to follow them, when to bend them, and when to break them.

Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow​

The distinction wasn't quite what Astra thought it was. Lysander cared little for precedent. It made no difference to him whether someone else had walked that road before. What haunted the edges of his thoughts was the realization that he had walked it himself once, and that the path back seemed shorter every time he looked at it. Of course, she couldn't be expected to understand a thought he refused to carry to its conclusion. Perhaps because he already knew where it ended, or perhaps because part of him found that answer far too easy to live with.

The interesting thing was that he'd never doubted her ability to deceive him. Quite the opposite. Knowing what she was capable of made her decision not to use it against him considerably more meaningful. Trust was an odd thing that way. "Oh, I do remember, Astra. Quite clearly, actually. You needn't convince me you could fool me. I'd be rather disappointed if someone with your talents couldn't manage that much." The blonde's voice softened with a shade of amusement. "But I think there's something to be said for knowing you could do a thing and deciding not to. Mind you, I wouldn't mistake my willingness to trust you for a complete lack of imagination."

Spending every conversation wondering whether someone was telling him the truth, watching for inconsistencies, weighing every word.. all of that just sounded exhausting. He liked to believe there were better uses for their time.

"But there's one thing I'd caution you against. If you ever do decide to sell me one of those delightful little lies, Astra, please make certain it's worth what you're getting in return. I don't think you'd enjoy discovering how little all that cleverness could do to put things back the way they were." All the credits in the galaxy couldn't purchase it once he decided to throw it away. Some transactions proved impossible to reverse.

"It is. Though I don't imagine we'll always agree on where credits belong, or what should become of them.." The notion drew another smile. They had spent much of their time together in disagreement, circling opposing conclusions from different angles. "I suspect there are quite a few things we could build together that neither of us would have been reckless enough to attempt alone."

 

[Astra Sadow]

A soft, throaty hum followed. "That's why we have separate bank accounts. Unless you're proposing, Lysander?" They didn't need to agree where the credits were spent if they used their own account to spend it. Though if they agreed on a strategy the expectation would be their personal projects wouldn't keep them from fulfilling the group objectives.

Much like Lysander's threat about spent trust, Astra knew how to use her money effectively. She might not have been a Corpo all her life, but even a Sith Lord knew how to balance their own budget and what betrayal cost.

"Oh? I do like the sound of joint ventures, Lysander. That is a primary difference between a Lord and an Executive, after all. Nothing says two companies cannot collude to manipulate the market." Sith often had trouble working together because of the need to claim the greatest power. Corporations desired credits, but those were easily to acquire while working with others. So was power, but you found few in the galaxy willingly surrendering the chance for more to someone else. Credits were everywhere, but opportunities for genuine power were few and far between. "In fact, it would only serve to benefit us both to do so."

"Shall we take our partnership to the next level then and expand our influence across the face Brentaal?"

Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow​

Of all the directions their conversation might've taken, matrimony hadn't featured prominently among them. In fact, he was reasonably certain it hadn't featured at all. Yet Astra had introduced the possibility with such effortless confidence that Lysander found himself wondering whether he'd somehow overlooked several intermediate steps. Wouldn't have been the first time the woman was thinking several moves ahead of him again.

Laughter found its way past his composure. "I'd have thought you'd at least let me negotiate the terms before deciding I'd asked for your hand."

"Collusion.. such an ugly word for two perfectly respectable enterprises discovering they have compatible interests." His amusement showed no signs of retreating. "I've never understood the obsession with being the only person to benefit from an arrangement. If working together puts something within reach that neither of us could manage alone, why should I resent you for having your share?" Then again, his relationship with conventional Sith thinking had always been tenuous at best.

Better to have a hand in something that could last than ownership of something that'd fall apart the moment he turned his back.

There was no doubt she already knew where he stood. "I don't imagine you've come this far without a few ideas of your own. What did you have in mind?"

 

[Astra Sadow]

"Domination, what else?" Astra replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Not from the start, of course. I'm not advocating we launch an invasion using ships and blasters. Let us start... humbly as legitimate corporate interests on Brentaal. Form relations with locals. Connections with those in power. We need not take our time about it, but nothing that would have the government seek to block our efforts openly at every turn." Neither too slow nor too fast. Meaningful progress by even a mortal's standards.

"We'll earn the peoples' support. Furnish them with all the luxuries and convenience they can afford. Have them defend us against over-regulation and support our representatives being put in the right places. Then, when the time comes," Astra clenched a hand into a fist, "we secure Brentaal forever. They'll even cheer us on. And why shouldn't they? We'll brush aside all the countless squabbling interests and establish a new order where the masses -- and us -- benefit."

Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lysander von Ascania]

Astra Sadow​

It wasn't often someone managed to put his ambitions into words without first requiring him to confess them. Usually there were detours, objections, and at least one conversation devoted entirely to explaining why the idea wasn't as unreasonable as it sounded. One could almost develop a preference for being understood. "There are a few names I've been keeping track of for months now, though I've been careful about which doors I knock on. Brentaal has enough old families nursing grudges without us getting tangled in disputes we had no part in starting."

"I'd rather find out who actually keeps things running before we start deciding what needs changing. Some of those people might prove useful. Others, well, I imagine we'll find ways around them. Humbly, of course. Either way, I think we've got a rather interesting few years ahead of us."

There was a pretty considerable distance between making oneself indispensable to a government and becoming the government. "I follow you. But there's one part I'd like to hear more about. When you say we secure Brentaal, what exactly do you picture at the end of all this? Our interests becoming so entrenched that the government can't afford to move against us? Or something a little more.. permanent? I'm not objecting, mind you. I'm just interested in how far you've taken the thought."