First Reply This round's on the House

[Darth Strosius]

Tags: Open!
--------------------------------------------

Dandoran had long since been a refuge and even at times a scenic destination for the more criminally inclined of the galaxy and those seeking to get away from the usual trivialities and rules of daily life alike. Even in modern times local cartels and offworld criminal enterprises make use of clubs and gambling dens alongside hotels and vacation destinations freely without much fear of reprisal aside from simple competition. It was difficult to discern a legitimate holiday as for Dandoran from one that guised a criminal operation as a result.

On one of the planet's many lush meadows overlooking a grand lake, one which nowadays was often crowded by private and public yachts and skiffs enjoying the breeze and sunlit days, was one such cartel den embedded in a commercial boardwalk. Club Viscount was among the higher end of the entertainment offered at the destination for tourists and crimelords alike, featuring exotic dance routines and drinks that loosened credits as well as inhibitions. They even had their own famous crew of chefs that could be rented to cook and serve meals live for their patrons.

At present though there was no grand show or classy dinners being held, simply another normal business night where the club was filled with garish music and lights that drew its customers to flaunt themselves on the dancefloor alongside the club's professional dancers. Yet not even the blaring tunes could hide the sound of shattering glass and subsequent screams as the VIP booth window overlooking the main area was violently broken. Broken by the flying form of a rather sleazy Rodian who landed on the floor in a mixture of curses and pained groans, said Rodian being the manager of the establishment.

The disturber of the peace and ruiner of the mood set a heavy step on the edge of the now-broken window, looming over the injured form and shocked patrons below with the crimson glow of His lighsaber illuminating His figure and standing out amidst the other colorful lightning flashing throughout the club. Darth Strosius glared down at the Rodian below and stepped out of the booth, the floor cracking slightly at His landing and the Rodian himself just barely managing to roll out of the way in time to avoid being crushed beneath the armored form of the Sith Lord.

"Now, have you reconsidered your answer carefully yet? The Black Sun's Blackwing Facility excursion, tell me everything."

 

[Braze]

Tags: Darth Strosius

​

Braze had been busy following several avenues, attempting to untangle the threads of whatever larger scheme lay beneath them. One such lead had drawn him to Club Viscount on Dandoran.

He had scarcely stepped through the entrance when a Rodian came hurtling across the room before him.

Braze paused, watching the violence unfold as Gizmo's recording sensors immediately fixed upon the scene. His gaze passed between the battered Rodian and the seemingly Sith individual standing over him.

"What's the matter?" Braze asked, moving a few measured steps closer. "Black Sun no longer playing nicely with the Sith?"

A pair of small droids clung to his form. The smaller lifted from his shoulder and hovered nearby, while the larger muttered something in low binary. Braze answered only by lowering one partially gloved hand, palm turned subtly toward the floor, bidding it remain calm.

He glanced down at the Rodian then back to Darth Strosius

"Have you considered that answering him might improve your evening considerably?"

 

[Darth Strosius]

Tags: Braze
--------------------------------------------

The question, from a bystander of all things, drew a hidden scowl and an audible snarl from the masked Sith Lord. "Sith do not cavort with criminals. They are anathema to the order and justice that we bring." He thrusted His lightsaber down into the floor right next to the Rodian's head, having attempted to crawl away whilst He had His attention divided. But not nearly divided enough to allow such an escape of course. "Just like this kung here. Spice peddling trash."

Darth Strosius watched the droids warily from the corner of His eye whilst the Rodian muttered apologies in Huttese and fished for something from his jacket. A display disk was produced, barely clasped in shaking fingers as it was raised up towards the Sith in offering yet pulled against his chest the moment that He actually reached for it. "Uba wamma wonka! Ya je killya che this! Chuba bargon che myo life naga Blackwing!"

There was a single moment of hesitation from the masked man, a single glance spared for the terrified onlookers and tense bouncers, a single look for the interloper and his droids, a single look at the defiant Rodain. Then His lightsaber slowly raised from the floor, earning a sigh of relief from the club owner. "'Bargon' wan che copa." Darth Strosius plunged the crimson blade down once again, this time aiming to impale the sniveling criminal through into the floor of his wretched club.

 

[Braze]

Tags: Darth Strosius

​

Braze held no love for spice peddlers. He had been waging a minor crusade against several major sources of the substance, disrupting shipments, spoiling deals, and earning the ire of more than a few Black Sun Vigos and Pyke Syndicate associates along the way.

The Rodian's refusal earned little sympathy from him. Even so, the Sith's rebuke drew Braze's attention back toward the masked figure.

"That's funny… the last time I checked, that was precisely what I saw several Sith doing: cavorting with criminals."

His pale head tipped faintly to one side as a curious expression crossed his features before tapping a finger to his jaw in thought as if recalling some old memory.

"Birds of a feather, really… so close they were kissing one another."

His tone remained mild, though each word set carefully in place despite the barb buried beneath it as he moved around the scene.

"Though I would ordinarily argue that Sith are far worse than common criminals, considering all the information they suppress and lock away, cutting entire populations off from the rest of the galaxy."

Braze's somber jade green gaze remained steady upon him as he moved slowly ensuring not to make any sudden movements.

"Then there are the slaves of course … worked to death, processed into food for the sith war machine, or fashioned into macabre puppets for the Butcher King and his entourage of Sith royals."

His fingers settled loosely against the edge of his sleeve beyond the silt of a black fur lined cloak.

"I've seen where their revalries lead, the blood sports they indulge in, and the circles they crawl into afterward for comfort."

A small pause followed as he studied the man, gauging his stance his, his breathing, his poise, and the subtle tensing of musclebeneath cloth. All the gritty little details of information he drank in as this man had been one of the more elusive figuer at thos Sith revalries...

"Then again, you're already aware of all this… aren't you, Lord Inquisitor?"

Braze let the title hit briefly seeing if he'd touched a nerve.

"Oh… or is it former Lord Inquisitor now? Forgive me. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting sooner, and perhaps this one is mistaken."

His expression remained composed, and just polite enough to make the insult beneath it all the more deliberate set in place cooly before the sith Lord like a challenge.

"Please, do correct me if I'm wrong… either way, sir."

What the pale-haired youth attempted was a subtle inversion of Dun Möch. Rather than allowing the Sith to dictate the rhythm of the encounter, Braze pressed gingerly against the man's pride, title, and presumed expertise. He issued no direct challenge, only small doubts placed with enough care that the Sith might carry them inward and sharpen them against himself.

Jedi were meant to protect life, yet Braze made no motion to stop the Sith from bringing his weapon down upon the Rodian. His jade gaze remained fixed upon the scene, coldly attentive.

"When given the choice between death and death, people seldom offer the truth…" Braze remarked. "They offer whatever they believe might purchase another breath."

His gaze lifted once more toward the masked figure before crouching down an arms length away from the rodian.

"Though I imagine a Lord Inquisitor would already know the difference.... Though perhaps that distinction was lost with the title... then again I may just be mistaken..."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Tags: Braze
--------------------------------------------

"Then you haven't seen any real Sith before."

It was a simple rebuttal but one spoken with much conviction, punctuated by the dying gasp of the Rodian and the alarmed screams of the now-fleeing patrons of the club. Darth Strosius pulled His crimson blade from the body and while He didn't holster or extinguish it He didn't yet raise it against the interloper either. "I care little for what he had to offer, truth or lie or pleasantry. His death will grant me what I seek when every witness to it mentions what I killed him for."

The bait had been set, the lure positioned, now all that remained was to see what drew the line taut first. Or rather, whom. Whilst He was waiting for the pests to scurry for cover and reveal themselves in their panic however, He had to correct a few things first. "You are indeed quite mistaken, boy. You speak as though you have knowledge but clearly you're uninformed. You're clearly no Sith yet you seem to have some inkling of what's behind the Blackwall. But not enough, as you made several severe mistakes in your little assessment."

The masked man clicked His tongue in distaste. "The first was conflating the Kainate that pollute the galaxy with the Sith. Their innumerable sins are their own and if I was still the Lord Inquisitor they would have long since paid for them, however their corruption has seeped into all those that would dare call themselves 'leaders' of our Order. Your second mistake was comparing me to any Kainite." The word was spat like an insult and indeed that was how He intended it, finally leveling His lightsaber towards the younger man as he crouched.

"So do enlighten me as to who you think you are to approach me and insult me in such a manner with no weapon drawn to defend yourself."

 

[Braze]

Tags: Darth Strosius

​

Braze reached out with gentle care, drawing the Rodian's eyelids closed beneath the slow passage of his fingers as he listened to the Sith speak.

"I know that whenever 'those Sith' hold their grand revelries upon the holy worlds, you choose to skulk along the margins and cling to the shadows while countless others sing the Kainate's praises for their aid and military prowess." His somber, jade-green gaze lifted toward Strosius.

"You must despise those parades and feasts…the ones where empresses and kings gather to offer their respect, their loyalties, and their pleasant little courtesies to the Butcher King, whilst he holds dominion over their own offspring."

Braze took note of the objective revealed beneath the violence. The murder had likely been bait; Strosius expected the witnesses to spread word that he had killed the manager while asking after Blackwing, hoping on drawing the relevant Black Sun figures from hiding. Yet that strategy came at the added cost of Braze's earlier words, which had painted the former Lord Inquisitor as a man reduced to brutalizing informants without knowing how to draw reliable intelligence from them.

"Experiance tells me you prefer to be pragmatic rather than dogmatic. " He stated simply seemingly showing no fear before the man. A coy smile graced his pale features.

"I have stood before kings, empresses, and those who fancy themselves gods…and granted none of them the courtesy of my silence. I've insulted every last one of them to their face... " He stood up gently.

"I led the assault beyond the Black Wall on Dromund Kaas, entered the heart of Kainite dominion, and brought their slaves back into the Light, whilst you remained outside, carefully separating yourself from 'those Sith' while their banners spread across worlds and their chains closed around lives you claimed no responsibility for."

Braze's jade-green gaze remained fixed upon him.

"You may condemn them now, when words cost you nothing…but when their victims needed someone to cross that wall, I did.... I suppose one learns rather quickly that the loudest bark seldom belongs to the dog with the sharpest teeth."

 

[Darth Strosius]

Tags: Braze
--------------------------------------------

He rolled His eyes at the small display of respect for the deceased that the interloper showed, there was little point in offering any comfort to one that had lived such a vile life. No matter how small such a gesture might be. As much as the little act might have disgusted Him though, Darth Strosius found Himself repulsed at the next accusation that was thrown His way. "I do not attend such vainglorious events at all, and even if I did I would certainly not do so in any skulking manner."

A sneer adorned His hidden features, one evident in His tone with each word He spoke. "I despise them to be sure, but not in the manner that you describe. I do not sit by and watch the sycophants as they grovel before the Zambranos or any of their wretched ilk. Their pitiful displays sicken me. If you actually had any real knowledge of me, then you'd know that. Whatever little informant you have has clearly misled you, I'd be careful where you run your tongue."

Darth Strosius scoffed as he stood and made a rather bold claim indeed. To pierce the Blackwall was no easy feat and not one to claim responsibility for so carelessly. A bold but decidedly foolish admission. He wasn't sure what exactly the interloper was referring to, some incident that the Kainate had attempted to smother no doubt, however He found the attempt to get a rise out of Him rather...lackluster. "You speak as though I've never raised a hand against the Kainate. Do you think me compliant? Subdued?"

His lightsaber was lifted to act as a pillar between them, the crimson glow reflecting off of His dark visor. "Do you genuinely believe that you accomplished anything with what you did? Saving souls from enslavement is noble to be sure, an act worthy of praise without doubt. But to actually challenge the Zambranos? They don't care about lives. They've undoubtedly just enslaved two more unfortunate people for every single one that you aided. Its not about profit, about logistics, not even about the act itself. Its their own pride."

His head inclined slightly. "You can't beat the Kainate with anything less than an army to match them. You can't take bites out of them and hope that they scar. You go for the head. You destroy everything that they've built and everyone that serves them in one fell swoop. That is how you eliminate their stain upon the galaxy, how you make them pay for their sins. And preparing the forces necessary to do that is precisely what I've been doing, little pest. I learned that you can't waste lives trying to win against them in any other way, experience taught me that. If there was any other path, I'd have already taken it to rid us all of the Kainite menace."

 

[Braze]

Tags: Darth Strosius

​

"Old age must be wonderfully convenient for you… A failing memory, and suddenly one may believe his own fantastical inventions with such fervor."

Braze smirked faintly, a peculiar knowing quality settling into the expression.

"Or... Perhaps it slipped your mind. I hear that happens to men of your age." His gaze settled upon the garbed figure. "Though I thought you looked rather comfortable, wrapped in the arms of that beautiful Neti on the holo-recording. Perhaps you will remember once we release that intimate little moment you shared on Korriban across the Holonet."

He mused upon what he had witnessed that day, carefully choosing each word as he verbally fenced with the Sith.

Braze then fell silent while the older man indulged his apparent need to lecture him. He allowed Strosius to speak until the words exhausted themselves, his expression settling into quiet consideration.

"It is their pride," Braze said at last, his tone almost agreeable. "That is what wounds them most, is it not? Their vaunted pride."

His jade-green gaze remained fixed upon the Sith.

"My efforts made a difference to every life we lifted from the depths of that depraved hellscape. Those lives are not rendered meaningless just because others remain in chains. And, as an added indignity, we breached the seat of their power upon the very world they believed untouchable. We proved their walls could be crossed. Every soul taken from their grasp is proof to the whole universe that their dominion can be reached…and that they can be made to bleed."

Gizmo silently traced every outgoing transmission, freely stripping data packets from the air, while Gidgit continued to hover high above them, keeping watch over the scene as the two spoke.

"How solemnly you speak of lives that cannot be wasted while standing over one you spent as bait." Braze's head tilted faintly. "An army forever being prepared is remarkably similar to no army at all, is it not?"

He spoke with the same infuriating calm he might have offered the students attending one of his philosophy lessons, perhaps in some vain hope that the man standing before him might take something worthwhile from the exchange.

"I have not mistaken one rescue for the end of a war. You are merely quite fond of insisting that anything short of total victory must amount to nothing."

Braze's green gaze shifted briefly toward the crimson blade resting between them, then returned to the visor beyond it.

The cloak concealed the shape of his body, obscuring the subtle shifts that might betray intent before action followed. Beneath its folds, his left hand settled across his belly, fingers slipping into the rings of his saber foil.

"And you have mistaken my restraint for helplessness."

His posture remained loose, offering no obvious preparation for violence despite the weapon leveled before him.

"Now…did you come here to uncover Blackwing, or merely to explain why all your victories must remain hypothetical?"

He tried to needle him a little further, having sensed that he might have embarrassed the Sith Lord into grasping for answers. Strosius's sudden interest in the source of Braze's knowledge had not escaped him; beneath all that bluster, the old man was fishing.

"You know... violence is often the calling card of a weak intellect," Braze observed. His head tilted faintly. "I suppose that is why matters so often devolve into such vicious displays among the Sith…hmm~?"