The Old Ways

[Vrak Nashar]

Athiss
[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Vrak stood quietly before a small holo-table within the Central Temple of the Sphere of Intelligence. The room was devoid of all life save for himself and one pink Twi'lek who stood eagerly at his side, or perhaps she was slightly bored.

The Pureblood could never quite tell with her.

It didn't matter however, this day did not belong to her, arguably that had been yesterday. He frowned for a brief moment, thinking back to the moments they had shared within his bedroom upon that ship. In truth he still didn't quite understand what it meant, for him, for her, or for what he would do, but for now it did not matter. There was a matter at hand, one far more simple and laid out before him.

It was best to deal with that first. "Are you ready, my dear?"

Vrak knew that Seraphina made an attempt to hide as much of herself as possible when these things came.

The holo-conference with Berilin would be a very short one, but he knew that Sera might want to disguise herself before it ever really began. He personally did not understand such measures, but he'd humor her, especially now. He glanced towards her for just a few moments, giving her a moment to prepare herself before he made the call to the Other Councilors. This needed to be done before all of them.

There was no room for mistakes.

Not when everything was on the line.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

There were multiple reasons for obscurity aside from just protecting ones' identity. It meant that your enemies also could gauge nothing about you. Facial expressions, tells, slight twitches for either delight or disgust. All were obscured by the garb she wore. Only the slightest hint of pinkish skin and emerald eyes would be visible. This also served well when intimidating those you sought to betray or kill. Which, in this case, Seraphina assumed to be Berilin and perhaps even the other councilors.

To them, she would be as recognizable as a single leaf among the trees, unique in only that she stood by Vrak's side for this communication.

"Yes." She said quietly, adjusting herself before her hands fell behind her back, clasping together. She was a step behind Vrak, so not to give the impression to the others that she was necessarily involved with the dealings, so much as some kind of servant with a bit more weight to throw. They would likely know what her purpose was to Vrak, but little else.

And so she simply stood quietly as Vrak began.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Good." This had not been done in nearly three centuries. The last Kaggath that was fought on Athiss had been between a Councilor and his apprentice. Though the custom had been outlawed at the time the rest of the Council had allowed it and given the two Sith a large valley on Athiss in which to fight their battle.

The fight had been originally been a challenge by the Apprentice to claim the place of his Master, a challenge that he ultimately did not succeed in. The two fought, and eventually the student lost out to his master. According to legend the fight had been spectacular, though ultimately fruitless. Vrak hoped that it wouldn't be so here, mainly because if he lost...he lost everything. Berilin could not only take his resources, his life, but his very name from the histories of their people.

He couldn't allow that. "Councilors."

Vrak said as he switched on the Holo-net Relay, a few seconds of delay stymieing the sudden appearance of four other men. After a moment each one appeared, two of them sitting in throne like chairs, the other two standing. Three of the four wore masks similar to the one that Vrak often war, one did not. That final one was Berilin, his confidence practically exuding as he appeared directly in front of Vrak, his eyes fixed on the younger Pureblood as if in challenge.

He knows Vrak thought in amusement.

"I have come here to deliver grave news." He motioned towards the other Councilors. "An attempt was made on my life."

There were no gasps. "By one of our own."

This time two of the figures shifted, those who were seated. Vrak smiled slightly, watching Sitas move in his throne. He had not told his ally of this particular event, not finding it necessary. Now that he would challenge Berilin however Sitas would support him.

"I want recompense. Reconciliation." His gaze fell to Berilin. "I challenge Lord Berilin to a Kaggath."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Emerald eyes danced between the four men assembled before Vrak, their blueish holographic forms only slightly different from one another. Most looked rather passive and unimpressed by both Vrak and his claim, as well as his challenge of Lord Berilin. Perhaps they felt that because the challenge was brought against the councilor of war from the caste of knowledge that there was little weight to throw around, and that Vrak had just inadvertently signed his own death slip. Rational thinking would support that theory as well. From most points of view Vrak was being over ambitious and suicidal with this challenge.

Sera remained motionless, noting that several times Berilin and another councilor, one of whom she knew nothing about, glanced passed the Pureblood back to her, as if she were somehow relevant to this discussion. The instant the Twi'lek's eyes fell upon either one however, they fell away and back to Vrak. Perhaps they were attempting to identify what purpose she had in all of this, or maybe they were just interested in what she was.

Still, she remained eager to hear Berilin's response to all of this, and that of the council.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"I accept."

That was no large surprise, neither was the smirk that spread across Berilin's face. Both Vrak and Sera had known that the other Councilor would jump at this chance without a single beat of hesitation. The ego that the man carried saw to that. The others were the problem. Many laws had already been broken, but this one hadn't. The other three councilors could still decide to deny Vrak his private war, though since one of them was loyal to him it was unlikely.

He glanced towards Sitas.

"The Council will allow this."

The older Pureblood spoke up before Aril or anyone else had a chance to intervene. There seemed to be a slight hesitation from the 5th man, but then he too slowly nodded. This was tradition after all, and the Purebloods were no longer fighting for survival. Vrak glanced towards his old Ally for a moment then back towards Berilin. "Our battleground is the Empire. All of it."

Berilin's features tightened for a moment, opening his mouth to speak.

"Every world. Every spec of space." The younger Pureblood smiled. "All of it."

Vrak very pointedly glanced at Aril, then ended the transmission.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

As soon as the transmission was severed Seraphina pulled back the hood and lowered the facial veil that covered her.

"None of them seemed surprised."

That was also the first time she had seen all of the council members, none of which she would ever forget thanks to the magic that was her perfect memory. Though she would need Vrak to identify them by name for her as they did not openly divulge that during the very brief exchange. The Twi'lek could deduce well enough who Aril was, given Vrak's notable glance towards one Sith in particular.

If they were displeased by his demand that the Kaggath take place across all of Sith space they were unable to voice those objections before Vrak terminated the call. "Will he wait for you to come for him? Or will he come looking for you now?"

Just how long they had to plan this sort of hinged on whether or not Berilin would now come after him directly.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Some of them were." He told her quietly. "Sitas and Niril had no idea this was coming. They simply hid their surprise."

The Councilors had been doing this for centuries, a single twitch of the body, a small shifting of your legs was enough to give away your intent sometimes. They had trained all of their lives to rule, and with that came a certain art to keeping oneself perfectly still. Vrak had once heard it commented that the Councilors would make excellent Sabaac players, though whether any of them would actually ever play such a game was of course up to the question.

"Berilin will try to make the first move." He was sure of that.

"We have to pull him away before he can." Slowly Vrak reached over to the small keyboard on the side of the holo-console, his fingers flicking over the keys for a moment. "Aril will already be expecting me to go towards Korriban, I'm sure the two are talking now."

He keyed in a few more command codes, then a moment later the hologram in front of them shifted once more.

This time a Chiss appeared, bright red eyes giving off an eerie glow. "Admiral, prepare your ships to head to Korriban."

Vrak had told the man days upon Sera and his Initial return that the fleet would need to be prepared. Now was the time to see that enacted.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera stood quietly as Vrak ordered the Chiss admiral to direct his fleet towards Korriban. She wondered whether or not it would be a total loss, or if they could eliminate Berilin before those losses were incurred. The sentiment was hardly one of compassion though, as their deaths would effect her in no significant way. But strategically speaking, losses were obviously always a negative aspect to war. The less of them one incurred the better. Even as an assassin with no formal military or tactics training she could deduce that much on her own.

"What do you think will happen when they find a force much larger than theirs at Korriban?"

Even the most loyal were unpredictable when it came to matters of certain death. Most would typically retreat to save their own skin. Just how many ships Berilin had to throw around was also a bit of an unknown to her.

"Will they flee?"

So long as they had enough time to bury the hatchet in Berilin Sera figured it hardly mattered what exactly they did, so long as that time was well borrowed.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

It was, oddly enough, something that Vrak hadn't really considered.

The fleet he had under his control was mostly made up of cruisers, stealth ships, and only a handful of Star Destroyers. None of them were really meant for open naval combat, and compared to the armadas that Berilin controlled they were nothing. That didn't matter however, all they had to do was draw Berilin away. The journey from Korriban to Telos took two days, and by the time they launched from their homeworld Vrak and Sera would already be on their way.

"They might." He answered her honestly, something that he found himself doing more and more. "A few will stay to the end though."

The Admiral for one would. The man was loyal above everything else. Vrak had plucked him from the trial courts of the Galactic Alliance just a few weeks after the fall of the One Sith. He wasn't the most brilliant commander, at least not compared to the legends of his people, but he was competent enough that he could stall Berilin's forces.

"Those that run will be vilified in the end." Not by him, but by their comrades.

Vrak intended to win this contest, and win he did he'd have more than enough sway to take Kaas.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Twi'lek turned to leave the communications chamber, their business there being done.

"Then we had best be sure to make wise of our time once we arrive at Telos."

The last thing she planned to do was to drop out of hyperspace to another waiting fleet, only to be blasted before making planet fall. "Do you have anyone on Telos that you trust that can give us assured, discreet landing?" Or at least trust enough that they wouldn't blow their cover to Berilin. That was the real key.

Wherever the man was, he was surely defended by guards, but whether or not he had the trust and loyalty of all the sectors of Telos would be important information to have.

"Assuming we land at a starport anyway. The closer we can be the quicker, the better."

That, and she had more than her fill of life threatening turrets in the days before.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He nodded. "I have someone inside of Berilin's citadel."

That was his job after all. As Councilor of Intelligence Vrak had agents sprawling not only across the Empire, but the galaxy itself. He had spent decades cultivating his network, and they included pieces and parts of all galactic life. Telos, oddly enough, had been easy enough to infiltrate, mostly due to its focal point as a trade station for many larger galactic corporations. Most everyone was willing to take a bribe there.

"He has made his home on the surface of the world." The Pureblood explained as they left the room. "Hidden within the mountains beneath Citadel Station."

The massive orbital that constantly grew and aided in Telos' terraforming.

"We won't be able to land at the fortress, but there is a small trade city nearby." That was about as much as they could hope for, and would allow them to approach the station on a small set of speeder bikes.

He had planned this well.

"He will be protected of course." He glanced at her. "But it's nothing you haven't done before."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Very well." Making their way back into the corridor the Twi'lek continued speaking. "Will landing at the city alert him in any way?"

Perhaps Vrak's ship was identifiable to Berilin or those working for him. Surely he had someone that could ID the Sith when he landed. If being discreet was important, it was better to know right away if the trade station would compromise them before they got under way. Of course it was nothing she hadn't dealt with in the past, but what she wasn't looking for was surprises.

Surprises were never beneficial. Not when it came to killing a high profile target.

"Protected by what exactly? Do you have any idea?"

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"No, I have codes that are registered to the sphere of War." That was what he did after all, spycraft. They would be able to get to the starport easily enough, same with the city. The difficulty came when they made their approach to the citadel.

He smiled slightly.

"Berilin holds to the old ways." Vrak said. "Aril has seen to that. The Fortress he build for himself there is not protected by Shields or Turbo-lasers, rather, Sorcery."

Amusement played on his features. "The gates are sealed, we'll have to go by the cliffs. There will be watchers, but if we kill them before they can send word back it will be alright. Once we're inside we'll have to face His personal guard."

Vrak pulled a datapad from one of the nearby tables.

"Six men and women." He told her. "Each trained personally by him."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sorcery. Sith garbage.

Seraphina despised illusion tricks. She had encountered them on more than one occasion. It was the lowliest of low when it came to tactics. She shouldn't have been surprised that the man utilized them to protect his sorry behind.

A roll of her eyes. More cliffs. "Does every Sith build their keeps by cliff faces? Is that just some other strange affinity you lot have?"

The idea of being blasted off the edges of rock into oblivion again came rushing back to her. It nearly happened last time,

"I worry less about his guard than I do about the idea of being killed while cliff hanging again."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He gave her an amused smile.

"Most of them are." It was really only logical to build your fortress into the side of a mountain. Hard earth was naturally resistant to Turbolasers and missiles, plus it also made it so the fortress was only accessible from certain paths. He wasn't about to Inform Seraphina of that of course, mostly because she already seemed agitated and there was no need to lecture her, not right now anyway. Instead he simply gave her the datapad.

"We'll be fine." He told her. "Berilin won't be expecting us, and he's fool enough to grow lax once he thinks he's crushed me."

Which would of course require some theatrics.

The Pureblood turned and headed out the door, wandering the hall with Seraphina at his side as they headed towards the Hangar bay of the Temple. Their trip to Telos would be a short one, and hopefully timed with the arrival of his fleet to Korriban. Vrak homed to make it so he and Sera arrived just a few hours after Berilin's fleet left, giving them ample time to execute the Councilor.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera followed the Sith to the hangar, the awaiting shuttle familiar to her by now. They had taken it many times recently for various purposes. On board the servants she had grown to see quite frequently greeted them, raising the ramp after their entrance and quickly hustling towards the cockpit with their destination directed to them. With this business done perhaps there would be some down time.

There was some business with GEAR she had been meaning to take care of. One final loop to close in that aspect of her life. Anonymity was important, and keeping it that way was more so. That meant closing ties with her company to prevent any future leaks tying her to the company. Perhaps with that down time she could get that taken care of.

"Then let's go kill you a councilor."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He smiled and nodded and agreement. It was really the only task now ahead of them, the only one that mattered anyway. Berilin stood in his way, more than that, he had put himself in Vrak's way. The Councilor for War had deliberately marked himself for Death.

Vrak would have been fine with allowing the man to live, he even would have been fine to let the Other Pureblood stay in power, but the simple truth was such a thing would no longer work. Berilin had marked himself, he had tried to kill Vrak and with that he had sealed his won fate. As the ramp began to close behind them Vrak wandered towards the meditation room, the small chamber in the aft of the vessel where he could sit in peace and quiet.

The trip went fast after that.

Most of the time he and Sera spent in either contemplative silence or small terse conversation about just what they were going to do. The journey went by surprisingly quickly, and within a few hours the small shuttle dropped. "There."

He said, pointing to the planet.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Twi'lek peered out the viewport to the planet of Telos below. Somewhere down there was the man they were after. Little did he know that in orbit, death was coming for him.

As the shuttle began to lower towards the atmosphere, the small flare of red and orange pushing against the hull rocked the ship slightly, though the woman had become so accustomed to space travel that her body failed to notice the shifting of the floor beneath her anymore. Unless something really went wrong, it was as typical a way to travel now as it would be to ride along inside of a speeder. For a quick second Seraphina wondered if Vrak's admiral, and his fleet would survive the encounter that would shortly follow.

Perhaps news of the councilors death would reach them even before they reached Korriban.

Perhaps.

"I will get ready." She said quietly as she made for her bag, within the same armor she typically wore.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Vrak was of course already set to go.

Unlike Korriz they needed no special equipment to breath on Telos, Citadel Station and the work done here by various Corporations had made sure that the planet below had at the very least a breathable atmosphere. The Sith Pureblood glanced back towards Seraphina for a moment, giving her a nod before returning his attention to the world below. For a brief moment he wondered if things really would change drastically when they were done.

Somehow he doubted it. He already wielded significant power, and just because he killed the Councilor of War didn't mean he would gain that seat. Instead he would simply take control of Berilin's personal assets. They were considerable of course, greater than his own, but still.

"We have been cleared to land, My Lord."

Vrak smiled, good, the codes had worked. Without another word The Pureblood turned on his heel and headed towards the back of the ship, hooking the lightsaber on his belt and ensuring that his robes were wrapped a bit more tightly. He felt the ship shake slightly as they passed into the atmosphere, the light of the distant sun fading as they passed into the dark side of the planet.

Within just a few moments they were approaching the starport.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Sera would meet the Sith by the ramp very shortly after they parted. Her armor once again obscuring all but emerald eyes and pinkish extremities. The Twi'lek offered Vrak a nod as she stepped down onto the metallic floor from the small step where the hatch separated the room from the corridor. The call that they had been cleared to land had been heard by the woman as well, as it was relayed to Nashar. Her head tilted from left to right, causing a few light cracks and pops from the muscles in her neck.

"Time again to alter a government."

That was her specialty, after all. Manipulating the scales from one side to the other when needed. Most assassinations were either for political gain or revenge. this one was actually both. Vrak was hardly a noble man by any stretch of the imagination, and the attempt on his life was being met with a violent recourse for both his own pride and the now apparent need to shift the balance of power once more in his favor.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]