The Sword In The Stone

[Hans Vaiden]

The Sword In The Stone​

Panatha​

[member="Darth Vornskr"]​

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"Query: Are you sure about this, master? Lord Zambrano isn't typically known for his diplomatic techniques, though his efficiency in sterilizing inferior organics is delightful. Liquidation at its finest, master."

Captain Hans Vaiden silenced the assassin droid with the snap of his fingers. The ancient bot plodded softly at his side, a heavy blaster carbine slung across his back despite the warnings Hans had given him. Treading into the bowls of hell itself to speak to its leader regarding a favor was never a thing to walk into armed - even Hans had forgone the typical Verpine shatter gun that found its home upon his hip.

"I'm sure, Sigmund. Just don't shoot anything - at least nothing important." The Captain sighed breathlessly, "And please do let me know if you ever decide to run off like you did last time. I don't appreciate being left in the middle of an archaic factory on Balmorra."

The droid glanced at him with orange photoreceptors. "Statement: I detected a hostile anomaly. It was imperative that I liquidate the possible threat before it was too late."

"It was a rat."

"Repetition: Possible threat."

Hans sighed. "Whatever. Are we there yet?"

Sigmund pointed at the dark, jagged-edged corridor with a metallic digit. "Answer: Lord Zambrano's command room is in there, master. Shall I knock and offer to sell him cookies as you organics so dearly do?"

The Imperial officer shot a glare at the droid, who was no doubt altering his internal programming to produce a silent cackle at his witty joke. Oh well, Sigmund was Sigmund. Couldn't change that poor heap of parts for nothing in the galaxy - and he really was good at what he did.

Promptly, Hans strode to the door and identified himself through the fingerprint and retinal scanner. Behind that door was the former Emperor of the late, true Empire and the sole ruler of the Panathan Imperium. The young man who stood before that thick slab of durasteel didn't even know if the ancient Lord would listen to his proposal.

But it was worth a try.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The chamber was rather large, but dominated by empty space over anything of actual substance. Rows of pillars jutted from the floor to kiss the ceiling in evenly spaced rows to either side of the pathway that led from the doorway to the center of the chamber, which itself was raised up slightly. Between the pillars there was nothing, but off on the distant wall were hung banners that displayed both the sigil of the Sith Empire, and the sigil of the Sith Lord's own forces, which was represented by a black sword cutting across a field of crimson. At the center of the chamber was a circular table made from polished wood obviously imported from outside of the Empire, and was stacked with several trinkets and baubles of various cultures and symbols. Most of them were of the Sith Lord's own homeland, Panatha, and there was even an ornate lockbox that depicted an ancient battle featuring two men fighting to the death with barbed spears.

At the head of the table sat the imposing Sith Lord, Darth Vornskr, dressed in a robe of flowing black zeyd-cloth covered by plates of thick black armorplast, and rings adorned fingers on both of his hands. His stare was stoic, yet his emerald eyes glinted with barely contained malice that spoke of his brutal nature as a unforgiving, and merciless tyrant. The Dark Mark blazed brightly on his forehead, a sigil of pulsating crimson on vein-marked Caucasian skin. As the door opened to allow Hans and his droid entrance, the Sith Lord rose from his seated position to welcome both of his guests, the scribes and viziers that were also present at the table did not rise with their Lord, but remained passive and subdued.

"Captain [member="Hans Vaiden"], a pleasure that you could come on such short notice, I know how busy you must be. Now, sit, and let's get down to the business at hand."

 

[Hans Vaiden]

Captain Vaiden and Sigmund entered the command room with gusto. The first thing to catch their attention was the Black Iron Tyrant moving towards them. Black zeyd and durasteel armor cladded his form in a malicious, unsavory way that only a Sith Lord possessed. Though there was one thing Hans took solace in, Kaine's eyes, which were about the same hue as green as his own. The two sets of eyes bore into each other with cold, hard, and calculating gazes before breaking contact. Hans let his continuing gaze trail across the assortment of art, Imperial sigils, and the plethora of advisors and administrative personnel within the room.

"Lord Zambrano, it truly is an honor to make your acquaintance." The two men exchanged pleasantries and then they were all into business. Sigmund glanced around, analyzing the entire room with bright orange slits, silently maintaining his position at the Captain's flank. As for Hans, he trailed Darth Vornskr to the conference table and took a seat.

"I'm sure you know what I'm here about, sir." Sigmund quietly positioned himself behind the Captain, "About the revival and reinstatement of all Sector Armies and Fleets, primarily revolving around the affairs of Black Sword Command."

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Vornskr returned to his seat, and lowered himself into it, relaxing back into the soft cushioning of the seat and resting both arms on the chair's arms. "Ah yes, that sorry assortment." said the Sith Lord with a subtle derisive tone, his feelings on the matter of Vice Admiral Boan eliminating the members of the Imperial Admirality were vaguely displayed, but this was neither the time nor the place to speak of such things. The Wrath had passed judgement on the matter, and that was enough to publicly placate the Butcher-King. Still, he was worrying about the growing independence and boldness of the navy, and this was, in a way, a method of which to perhaps curb such things.

"Then let there be no veil between us, my plans to restore the Black Sword Command will have one purpose and one purpose only, to clean up out backyard so that when the time comes to expand into the Unknown Regions it can be as smooth and seamless as possible. We might not even get a chance to fight on the front lines against the Republic, nor might we face anything other than watered-down pirate and mercenary flotillas. I doubt we'll even run into a real challenge, but this is a task that must be undertaken. There is civil unrest in the Fringe Confederacy, and should their hold on the western region crumble, then we will be left vulnerable should the Protectorate raise itself out of the muck and strike at our unprotected backside. I would rather not have all that we have accomplished undone because we forgot to lock the backdoor."

The Lord's voice was filled with fervor and passion, and his speech was emphasized by well-placed hand gestures, with the final point made more prominent by Vornskr slamming his clenched fist on the hard wood table causing many of the scribes and viziers present to jump in surprise. "Are we clear on what we must do, Captain Vaiden?"

[member="Hans Vaiden"]

 

[Hans Vaiden]

Smooth and seamless was exactly the way Hans operated. He liked crystal clear lines of engagement, cleanly executed orders, and the smooth discipline that all of the men under his command were reputed for. While he only possessed a single capital ship in the entire vastness of the Imperial Navy, it was a reckoning force of its own and the Scourge wasn't known for leaving any trace of the enemy behind. Complete and total annihilation were things of virtue.

"Understood, sir." The Captain knew about Galactic politics regarding the Fringe Confederation, the Omega Protectorate, and the various aligning planetary governments and confederations. It was his job to know, y'know? "That was exactly what I had in mind, especially regarding the civil affairs of our neighboring sovereign nation-states. I believe a policy of aggressive expansion should be set in place once Black Sword Command is reinstated into the Imperial Navy. We can't afford to be late to the ball game merely because those Jedi pests across the street are still pestering us."

Sigmund looked pensive as well, processing all of the incoming information with the complexity of a supercomputer. He was smart too, not just some pile of bolts and fading paint that knew how to carry a rifle.

But there was one more thing on Captain Vaiden's mind: "However, I don't expect an entire fleet will answer to the orders of a Captain, sir. Do we have anyone else in mind for command..?"

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"That is why I will command Black Sword."

The Sith Lord spoke slowly, so that there was no mistakes or misinterpretation in his words, and with a wave of his hand he activated a holo-projector built into the table's thick wood frame which had previously gone unnoticed until it's existence made clear. With a whir the projector exploded into life with a burst of blue transparent light as various logistic reports, relocation orders, and construction permits appeared before the captain's eyes. They all detailed a rather large, but subtle, relocation of funding from the Imperial treasury into the creation of a flotilla of roughly forty-four ships of Pellaeon Mk-II and Imperial-II class Star Destroyers in the shipyards of the Kuat. Relocation orders had been shuffled around and buried while a massive amount of naval personnel had been collected for the sole purpose of working the massive warships being created on the orders of the Dark Lord's Voice.

"For four years I've slowly commissioned the creation of a fleet, making sure my efforts went unnoticed and allowing the majority of the Imperial treasury's credits to be used for the major war effort against the Republic. But now the fleet is nearly complete, but they are scattered across the Empire posing as sector defenses or buoyed in random dry docks awaiting my order. In a week's time the last warship will be complete, and the fleet will be whole."

The hologram shifted to show a detailed chart of each individual Star Destroyer, it's crew, armament, and where they were located in the Empire. At the top of the list was a warship to, if the details could be believed as credible, measured roughly five kilometers in length hidden somewhere in the neutral void between the Empire and the Fringe Confederacy. "All I need now is your pledge of service, and when the time comes I will name you as my second-in-command, and promote you to Commodore."

[member="Hans Vaiden"]

 

[Hans Vaiden]

Four years was an extremely long time spent in planning and developing an entire fleet, along with the appropriate resources and personnel to staff said battlegroup. During wartime it was never that hard nor did it take that long to build a fleet and get it enough manpower to be deployed, but Hans guessed the Sith weren't exactly as concerned about their backdoor as he was. The Fringe Confederation was never, in his eyes, the most stable ally and was certain their loyalty could be bought over easily. However, it was most pleasing to discover that a Sith Lord had a similar style of thinking.

That promotion was good too.

"My lord, I would be honored to hold that rank and grade. I will hereby pledge myself to the service of you, Lord Vornskr, and the Black Sword fleet." The newly christened Commodore brought a balled fist across his chest, standing and bowing before the Sith Lord. Sigmund stepped back a little, heavy rifle in hand. "What are our plans now, Lord Vornskr?"

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"There are still loose elements that need to be rounded up before we can make a proper appearance on the grand stage of the Empire. My servants are currently tidying those up at the moment, and I have full faith in their ability to execute my will to the letter." The Sith Lord crossed his right leg over his left knee, and leaned back farther in the chair in a very nonchalant manner that belied the seriousness of their conversation, although the surrounding officials were as stiff as wood as they glanced nervously back and forth. While many would prefer to rule through respect and admiration, Vornskr had no use for such things in his command, and ruled through fear with ruthless efficiency and brutally imposed order. Some would view him as too heavy-handed in his approach to authority, but he was a product of Sith teachings and those of his people, who viewed strength above all else, so there was no room for compassion or anything less than brutality in his line of work.

He absently shifted some papers arrayed across the desk's surface before asking; "If that will be all, Commodore, I suggest you return to your station and prepare for the trials ahead. Ever since the Akala Incident the Unknown Regions have descended into barbarism when our control over it was weakened, so I suspect we will face much in the coming months. I hope you can stomach it all." With that, Vornskr gave Hans permission to leave, but he did not rise himself; but rather stayed seating with that false smirk smeared across his face as his eyes glinted with murder.

[member="Hans Vaiden"]