The Reclamation of Helska [Sith Empire Dominion of Helska]

[Onrai]

The more there was conquest, the more the Imperial navy would be needed. In truth, Bosch wished he didn't have to come out here to the fringes of Sith space - there wasn't a need for Imperial fleets in such sparse regions of space. A warship or two would do just fine in quelling a pirate presence, but certain persons had requested the presence of a lot more Imperial infrastructure than was truly needed.

Still, Bosch had to admit that Pandeima's rationale made sense when she explained it to him. The planet had only one accessible resource, and that was water. Large cargo containers converted into water tanks would be invaluable assets, part of fleets carrying their most vital asset. Fresh water was rare on Imperial vessels, most utilizing waste recycling to adequately acquire water of sufficient purity to drink, and one or two ships carrying tanks full of fresh water would make for a nice morale boost to the Imperial navy.

"Remain in orbit. Engage any ships that do not broadcast a proper identification code."

 

[Hawke]

Hawke's communications officer worked swiftly to get ahold of someone of command level aboard the station. "I've established contact sir. Patching you in".

Her officer make quick work in getting communications open. Maybe on their end they made contact; they were most likely aware of the situation beholding this system. "This is Captain Hawke of the Sith Empire. Whom am I speaking with"? Her voice was raised to someone with force and absolute authority.

"I'am Igrethk Kabp. Master of Blackwell Station". The man showed no cowardice or attempted to grovel. He had self respect; which was good. For if he had that, he had control. With control it made it easier for Hawke to control the station much easier.

"I give you an ultimatum Igrethk. This station shall become property of the Empire and be subject to its jurisdiction. Surrender your arms and allow us to board unimpeded. You've my word that none will be harmed so long as you do not put up resistance. I'll give you ten minutes to think it over; you will not get a fairer deal sir. Sith Knights are much more... impulsive than I am. And it would be best if I were in full control before they arrive". Igrethk shouldn't be moronic enough to say no. Not with the very real threat of the true meaning of the word Sith.

The minutes ticked by as The Paladin closed the last few kilometers to the station. The comm system warbled to life with Igrethk's raspy voice. "We will comply with you're ultimatum Captain Hawke. Come aboard".

Hawke was pleased with the response. A whole station taken without any shots is quite a feat. Having a Sith fleet and the Empires Force users who were more akin to diplomacy at the point of a Light Saber may have made things easier for the good Captain of course. But Gideon would be pleased regardless. Hawke had the crew prep for docking and boarding. Now she and her crew had to properly secure Blackwell, which should be easily done if Igrethk was really master here.

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

Krag stepped out onto the ice blanket which lay over the entirety of this planet's surface and it cracked slightly under the Graug's weight and heat. Thankfully the ice was thick from many thousands of years of ice and cold weather, else he and his apprentice might fall straight through the planet. Krag tried to peer off into the distance, but the blasted cold was obscuring nearly everything more than a few feet away. This was just perfect, he was back on a planet with a climate that made him want to stomp on a Ropo with a curtain of ice and snow to top it all off. Krag sneered, his good eye unable to pierce through the flurry


"This is irritating, why do we always get sent to these useless planets with snow and heat and-


Right in the middle of his rant, Krag felt a disturbance in the force...one that was like a sudden hint of instinct rather than a clear depiction. Krag listened to the slight whisper almost without thinking and sent a plum of ash whipping to his left side and causing it to harden. The Graug didn't move as he did this and no sooner had the ash hardened then did a blaster bolt smash into it. A plum of ash blew out towards Krag as the bolt impacted, but the lethal round soon dissipated with it and simply vanished into the flurry of air around the Sith. "Draw your blade!" Krag roared as he drew upon the saber he had received from the phantom. The saber ignited, shooting out a beam of energy that appeared to be a cylinder of unstable smoke and ash that leaked from the protective field.

 

[Djonas Vile]

Jonas looked around the land that had been hit by countless blizzards. A sheet of white expanded forever from their position. "This..is gonna be boring. I can already tell." Jonas said to himself. Then excitement came in the form of a blaster bolt aimed for his master. Once he was hit, Jonas reached behind his back and grabbed his blade and activated it in a double bladed fiery orange hue that glowed easily through the flurry. Jonas took position at his master's side and kept a lookout from where the blaster fire could have originated from.

@[member="Krag"]

 

[Lief]

Their ship made its way through the orbital sphere of the planet, away from the recently claimed ship and onto another. From the ship itself shots were fired, no longer at the Empire but instead the pirates who plagued and halted their descension. Without a word to her Apprentice she allowed her ship to fire off a few rounds when his new target spotted them and retaliated. Knocking out the power to the specific canon aimed at them she was able to manuever the ship down towards the hangar, bypassing the security in order to lower down. Again Skydd and her Apprentice were able to take out those who were waiting, while Kara herself grabbed one through the Force and brought him whimpering to his knees before her. "Make use of those who submit" she said, as she waltzed off with this man through the hangar bay...

@[member='Thyrian Ashborn']

 

[Onrai]

The laser drill got to work. Focusing its beam of energy, it began to cut a hole through the ice sheet, boring a hole into it that the pump would eventually fit onto. Other parties were doing the same in other nearby locations, and soon, pumps were fitted that were pumping fresh water from beneath Helska IV's icy crust into the gargantuan water tanks.

Elsewhere, mining equipment was at play, devices being used to to gather and crush enormous chunks of ice removed from the glacial surface of the shell coating the planet's ocean. This ice was then melted and poured into even more waiting tanks, getting to work on filling them up. Circe herself got out a transparisteel glass and took a drink - it was exceptionally clean and fresh.

"Mmm... Delicious."

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

Krag eyed the blizzard surrounding him, there was no way anybody could see them without some sort of heat vision. The knight brought his saber up and prepared to deflect any further attacks. There would be no way for him to fight what he couldn't see, so he thought quick. Krag threw his hand forward, sending a long cyclone of ash into the distance from which the blaster bolt originated. The cyclone quickly expanded outward, large enough to fit the large Graug and his apprentice into, and stretched out for dozens of meters. With the closing of his fist, the ash hardened and created a long tube that blocked the blizzard and allowed the Sith a clear and narrow view of the cavern in which they sought. At the end of this makeshift tunnel of hardened ash was a bewildered sniper, his face showing his utter surprise at what had just transpired.

The Graug grinned, growling to his apprentice "Follow me." and with that he shot a ball of force fire from his hand. The flame soared through the tunnel and impacted with the sniper, bursting him into a burning corpse. The Graug quickly ran into the tunnel, ducking his head slightly to avoid being hit by the multiple blaster bolts tearing through the ash.

@[member="Jonas Vile"]

 

[Djonas Vile]

Jonas looked up to his master and nodded as he began to follow him. With a swift brush of his shoulders, Jonas had pushed off ash that blew onto him from his master. He followed at his side as Krag charged through the tunnel. , lightsaber burning like a star.The shooter would not live to tell the tale of shooting Jonas' master. Not for much longer anyway.

@[member="Krag"]

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

Krag leap out, back into the snow, his lightsaber piercing through the dense blizzard. He deflected the bolts that burned through the air towards him, sending them into the frozen ground. The knight slowly advanced towards a nearby pirate, who stumbled back in attempt to escape. However, he feel down onto the ground and Krag easily dispatched him with his blade.

 

[Thyrian Hearthfire]

Allowed free reigns over the fates of the pirates, Thyrian and Skydd split off to give themselves room, with the Ashborn taking the right side and Skydd the left. The two attacked ferociously, spilling blood throughout the hold. Whenever an enemy would throw his weapon to the ground and give up, they rounded them up and kept them out of harm's way - that is to say, *their* way. The Ashborn and the droid were like an unstoppable machine, unable to give way, ever plowing on through the opposition. Once the ship was out of enemy pirates, they turned their attention to those who had surrendered. Despite lacking the manipulative abilities of his master, Thyrian managed to force them to cooperate through a show of strength, and as such allowed them to pick up their weapons and resume command of the ship, now flagging under the Empire.

@[member="Kära Vi'dreya"]

 

[Olom Grihk]

Olom grinned as he began re-calibrating the computers to take in the new data. One of the Sith was draining excess water off the planet. Of course, since no one lived on this barren rock, it was almost entirely excess water. Still, he began coordinating the droids and teams, the base building itself up around the abandoned hangar, more walls of pre-packed durasteel being welded together to create a massive perimeter, drills pushing into the caves. He'd get the turrets up and running soon. He input another series of commands and sipped a small drink he'd prepared for himself. "Inquisitor Gideon, the base has been secured. We constructing additional structures and a secure military perimeter as we speak."

He smirked and folded his hands. This was going excellently...

@[member="Gregor Gideon"]

 

[Hawke]

The Paladin cut the thrust of her main engines. Slower then a Hutt after a feast she crept in closer to the station until latching on. The boarding ramp was extended, sealed and pressurized. "Boarding teams go! Only shoot those who pose a threat". Hawke's troops stormed across the ramp. The airlock had been opened once everything was set, a good sign Igrethk was really giving up. The soldiers met no one as they entered, much of the lighting was either inoperable or broken. Testament to the age of this structure and its keepers. Her troops advanced deeper into the station, breaking into squads to fan out. In all there were forty men in four squads; it was a fairly large station though. Things would take time to search everywhere.

Preliminary reports Hawke received told her of the lack of occupants. Curious that there was no signs of life as of yet. Scans and visual verification identified several ships still docked here. She knew Igrethk was onboard, they would find this master of Nothingwell Station soon enough. "Mr. Freedolf, accompany me over to the station. And round up my guards for the trip. If there is no one aboard but this Igrethk fellow; we should have no troubles if we step lively". Her First Mate affirmed her orders and went to carry them out. He brought no contest to her, knowing full well she was quite capable of sizing up situations.

 

[Djonas Vile]

Jonas walked back into the light snowfall of Helska. He watched in awe as his master dispatched the shooter with ease. The burning body singed from his master's blade like burning paper. "Where to now, master? Shall we search the cave?" Jonas said as he pointed a finger towards the cavern made of ice and snow.

@[member="Krag"]

 

[Onrai]

@[member="Hawke Katamirth"]

The admiral was quickly notified of Blackwell Station's surrender and began to move a couple of his ships - Ranators - away, in order to assist in the capture. he had to admit, whoever had taken the station intrigued him greatly, and he wanted them as a part of his fleet.

Well, at least he didn't know her personally.

 

[Hawke]

@[member="Aken Bosch"]

The news of reinforcements was a welcomed action on behalf of the good Admiral. It also proved of the swift success of the fleet against the pirates. Helska was already thought to be a cake walk for the Sith. It was always swell for predictions to be accurate. Hawke and her guard walked over to Blackwell Station; seeing the state of this place in person just made one feel unsettled. There were surely horror novels written about these kinds of stations. Mad scientists conducting experiments and things go wrong, and the monster kills everyone. That sort of thing. Fortunately for Hawke this was not a science fiction horror story. Igrethk had been good on his word. Everyone aboard was with him in a centralized location aboard blackwell; and secured by her men.

Captain Hawk shook one of the six arms Igrethk had. He was a Harch, a species of spider-like peoples. Thinking back to her schooling days she studied about one of their kind. Admiral Trench, a very formidable and famous commander from the Clone War days. She needed to focus on the matters hat hand though. "I am glad we did not have need to exercise force Mr. Kabp. Much to often we turn to the sword rather than the pen".

"Indeed Captain. The Sith Empire is very warlike and their Knights thirst for blood. There are those such as you who seek diplomacy though. Such I find favorable to myself and perhaps you shall bring your skills to a larger theater one day". Igrethk's mandibles wiggled as he spoke, seemed the more fat jolly type than someone to run with Pirates. He had his reasons, most likely credits in supplying this system with everything it needed.

"Well for now I will use my skills of diplomacy on your behalf, all yours". Hawke spoke louder so everyone in the room could here. "I'll see what I can do to keep you all from trouble. Shouldn't be an issue for some traders doing what they do. I will have to follow procedures of course. For now you will be in holding. Blue Squad, escort them to the ship". Blue Squad's commander saluted the Captain and marched the prisoners off. Once they were far and away Hawke gave new orders for a search of the station and additional crew members to help. Anything illegal and the like would need to be taken or destroyed. Hawke had a gut feeling this needed to be done.

 

[Other Space Kaiden]

Krag deactivated his saber and nodded, the snowfall and ice from the blizzard melting instantly as it touched his burning hot skin. The Graug hooked the hilt onto a loop in his armor and nodded towards his apprentice, before throwing his arm out towards the cavern and pointing a clawed finger towards the entrance, "Get moving, I want to get off this world quickly...I hate this damn cold." the beast growled, stomping through the ice and snow into the cavern.


@[member="Jonas Vile"]

 

[Onrai]

The sweet taste of nice cold water ran past Circe's lips as she drank another glass. The first of the tanks she'd dropped were almost completely filled, and soon, the freighters would be on their way back to the surface, ready to remove the water tanks and replace them with new ones to be filled up more by the pumps.

"That's right, men, keep the work up! With a system like this, soon Helska will be almost dry and the desert planets of the Sith Empire and her allies will be oasises once again..."

 

[Malus]

In between worlds, en route to the Helska system.
Obscurity.

Malus was sat upon the command seat of the Obscurity's bridge, his stern gaze locked on the transparisteel screen ahead. Arms resting on the seats arm rests, he waited for the Attrition-class Star Destroyer to arrive in the Helska system. It had been a day since the order had come from Darth Vazela that the Obscurity would be participating in the dominion of Helska, rather than the one happening at Sneeve.

During that time, there had been an incident where a rookie officer had got into a fight with another in the mess hall. Being out in the void for so long was getting to the crew. But there was nothing he could do about that right now. Shore leave hadn't been cleared by their Lord and he doubted that Darth Vazela would ever allow such a thing to happen. Not unless Malus spoke up on their behalf. But the Commander doubted he had the confidence to that at this moment in time. So instead, he resorted to fear rather than hope. He had been present at the public executions of the two rookie officers.

Such was the protocol in this situation. Murder two and instill the fear of the thousands of officers that served on board the Obscurity. Order had returned to the ship and another another incident had been reported. Not even a minor one. Malus had also noticed that the bridge officers he normally worked with were working better in the aftermath. He pondered as to whether or not the others on board the ship were issuing similar behavior.

 

[James Kerval]

In between worlds, en route to the Helska system.
Obscurity.

James was stood in the background of the command seat, trying to concentrate on the datapad held in between his eyes. With each passing day, he was slowly beginning to let his depression and thoughts affect his work. His hazel eyes saw the words of the report, which was something about a report regarding the Dominus-class starfighters on board the Obscurity. But he was not reading. His thoughts were on the woman he had left behind on Streysel Island. Ellice, the love of his life and the two children they had had together, Alicia and Jim Kerval. He had named his son Jim, as a nickname. His real name was James Jr Kerval. His son had been two when he had left them six years ago; and Alicia had been on the eve of her fifth birthday. Now his children were eight and eleven. Six birthdays he had missed since he had joined the crew of the Exitium and then latter, the Obscurity.

He nearly screamed in his frustration...

"Entering the Helska system," said the helmsmen. James lifted his gaze from the datapad, the sound of the mans voice forcing him to come back. His face returned from the angry, despairing look to the somber expression he normally wore, albeit with a hint of sadness, and stepped forward to the side of Malus. He realized his mouth had been slightly parted, due to the overwhelming despair he had felt. He swallowed the saliva in his mouth, cleared his throat and kept his hazel eyes the helm.

 

[Darth Vazela]

@[member="Circe Savan"]

The Helska system, observational deck.
Obscurity.

The stars had been a mystifying, mesmerizing spectacle as the Obscurity flew past them at speeds faster than light. Sat upon the darkened throne, risen from the ground of the observational deck to a height large enough for a single man to sit in, Darth Vazela had been still, in deep thought. He thought of the meeting he had with Tyrin Ardik months ago on Korriban, in the darkened chamber where Dark Councillors of the old and recent era had convened in. He thought of the young woman that had emerged into that same chamber several hours after the Dark Lord of the Sith and the other Sith had vacated and the request she had come to propose. Then his thoughts had turned to the meeting he had a week later on Almania, with the woman he was steadily approaching, in regards to the attack he had in mind for the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the topic of conversation he had with Circe Savan and then the small, preliminary report he had garnered from her a month after their encounter on the Towers of the Je'har on Togoria, during the Empire's dominion there.

Now Darth Vazela would enter the realm of one half Zeltron, half Falleen once more.

The stars stopped passing by and the Obscurity came to a halt, arriving in the Helska system. Slowly, the Sith Lord lifted himself to his feet and off the abyssal like throne to the large, transparisteel screen ahead. This close to her, Darth Vazela could feel the presence of Circe Savan, as clear as he could see the several worlds that made up the Helska system, and the star that burned brightly in the horizon. The transparisteel screen dimmed to protect the eyes of Vazela from the suns light. Stretching his thoughts, he whispered aloud. A whisper that was carried into the mind of the woman he sought.

"Circe. Where are you?"