Private Walk In the Shadows

[Revna Marr]

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The summons had come not long after Revna had spent some personal time on Jutrand alongside a myriad of other Sith and common folk alike, attending an event being held in one of the Arenas. Upon opening the official order, she noticed it was from Gerwald Lechner, one of the Dark Councilors of the Eleventh Sith Empire. He was calling her to his flagship, though he did not specify for what reason. There was no urgency to the summons, nothing saying she needed to go in haste - but the newly anointed Darth knew better than to keep a higher ranking Lord waiting.

That, and she was rather curious to know the reason behind why Lechner would be calling her to his personal ship instead of his Spire on Jutrand, or even the Council chambers themselves. It felt like something official, and yet perhaps personal at the same time, but there was only one way to really find out. So Revna directed the helm of the Vindicator of Faith to change course and sent a response back to the Councilor saying that she would be arriving shortly at the location provided to her.

The Vindicator would drop out of hyperspace a respectful distance from the Dark Councilor’s own flagship, the Vigfjall, and communications between the two were established to ensure hostile intentions were not assumed, given her own starship’s stealth capabilities. With clearance given, Revna boarded her personal craft within the hangar bay and departed her ship for the Vigfjall, landing a short time later aboard the Councilor’s command ship.

From there, Revna was met by personnel and guided through the ship’s corridors and to wherever Gerwald awaited her presence. She still wasn’t certain for the reason behind her summons, but she knew she would learn the truth of the matter in due time. Gerwald was not one to beat around the bush, something for which she appreciated.

“Lord Lechner.” Revna said as she made her presence known, dipping her chin respectfully towards the Sith Lord. “I received your summons.” was all she said as she waited for the other Sith to address her and perhaps explain why he had called her aboard his command ship in the first place. ​

Gerwald Lechner

​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Revna Marr

Gerwald had chosen the Vigfjall deliberately.

There were conversations suited for the Obsidian Spire, where visitors came and went beneath the shadow of the Dark Council. Others belonged within the Council chambers, where every word carried the weight of office and Empire. This was neither.

The Lord Commander stood before the broad viewport of his flagship, hands clasped loosely behind his back as the Vindicator of Faith settled into position beyond the transparisteel. He had known Revna had arrived before the bridge informed him. The report merely confirmed what his senses already suggested.

Gerwald had been watching her movements.

Not personally. He had neither the time nor inclination to follow another Sith across the galaxy, but his place beside the Empress demanded awareness. Srina had entrusted him with more than a seat upon her Council. Gerwald was the violence held in reserve behind her throne, the answer when diplomacy had exhausted its usefulness and enemies mistook restraint for weakness. He was her wrath, and through him, the wrath of the Empire.

That responsibility required him to notice things.

Ships appeared where they had not been expected. Resources shifted. People moved. Conversations happened behind closed doors. None of it meant much alone, but Gerwald had spent too many years commanding armies and hunting enemies to dismiss a pattern simply because he could not yet see its conclusion.

Revna was doing something.

That did not make her an enemy. Gerwald had no reason to consider her one, but loyalty to Srina did not permit him the luxury of ignoring what he could not explain. Whatever Revna intended, Gerwald needed to know whether it strengthened what the Empress had built or threatened it.

The wolf wanted the truth.

By the time Revna was escorted to him, Gerwald had moved away from the viewport. The chamber he had chosen was removed from the bustle of the bridge, somewhere they could speak without an audience. His corrupted golden eyes settled upon her as the doors closed behind the Sith.

"Revna."

There was familiarity in the greeting. Whatever titles she had accumulated since they first crossed paths, Gerwald had not summoned the Queen of Korriban to stand upon ceremony.

"I did."

He gestured toward one of the seats before taking his own.

"I have been watching your movements for some time."

There was no accusation in the statement. Gerwald simply placed the truth between them.

"Not every step you take. I have better things to do than keep an accounting of where the Queen of Korriban spends her evenings." A faint trace of amusement touched his expression before disappearing. "But enough."

Gerwald leaned back slightly.

"You have been moving with purpose. Quietly. Carefully. Whatever you are doing, you have been deliberate enough about it that most would probably overlook the pattern."

His gaze remained fixed upon her.

"I did not."

The Lord Commander allowed the silence to settle for a moment. There was no threat in his posture, nor did there need to be. Revna knew enough of Gerwald to understand what he was capable of. More importantly, she knew whom he served.

"Everything I do is in service to the Empress and the Empire she has built. That means when something moves within it, I need to understand why."

He did not dress the statement in accusation. Revna had earned more respect from him than that.

"So rather than continue watching pieces move across the board and invent explanations for them, I thought I would ask you myself."

Gerwald regarded her for another moment, curiosity more than suspicion behind his expression.

"What are you up to, Revna?"

 

[Revna Marr]

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Gerwald greeted her with familiarity and gestured for her to take a seat within the chamber she’d been brought to. She sat down as the other Sith did, before folding her hands into her lap and crossing one leg over the other in a gesture that would suggest relaxation and ease, even after hearing him say that he’d been watching her movements for some time.

"Not every step you take. I have better things to do than keep an accounting of where the Queen of Korriban spends her evenings." He continued, a hint of amusement laced into his words, enough to bring a faint smile to her own face. "But enough."

Gerwald leaned back in his seat slightly as he continued, his amber eyes settled on her: "You have been moving with purpose. Quietly. Carefully. Whatever you are doing, you have been deliberate enough about it that most would probably overlook the pattern. I did not."

His words were not laced with danger, his posture did not indicate he was threatening her. He was simply being honest and up front about what he had noticed, and Revna had expected one such as him to notice such things. It was part of his duty for the Empress, after all. She held his gaze with her own, her facial expression relaxed and perhaps even calm. Sith could say one thing with their mouth, but say something different with their eyes, the way they shifted their body, the way they sat, how they breathed.

She had learned and picked up these cues over the years, and she read Gerwald even now - enough to know that she was in no direct danger, or trouble for that matter. He was not accusing her of anything, but came forward with…curiosity.

"What are you up to, Revna?" He finished with a probing question, and she felt the corners of her lips lift a little higher.

“Oh a little of this and pinch of that…” she started, a flicker of amusement dancing across her features, before she settled into something more serious. “I have been seeking opportunities for myself, Gerwald. Chances to grow in power, expand my influence, and rise above others who are too afraid or who lack the willpower to seize those opportunities for themselves. I have been seeking and making allies with whom I can build a strong foundation with, who will aid me should I have need of it. And because allies are useful, for a variety of reasons.”

Revna tilted her head to one side, almost in a predatory fashion, as she regarded the Sith Lord across from her. “I am not content to sit on the sidelines and do nothing with what little power and influence I have amassed. So I suppose that is what I have been ‘up to’, as I move quietly from here to there.”

Her smile returned, sharp and calculating, if only briefly, before it returned back to something more serious. “If you are concerned or worried that I am trying to undermine or move against our dear Dread Mother in any way, shape or form, then I can assure you that I am not. I share a bond with Srina, and I would not betray that. Loyalty means something to me - I am just trying to find ways to make myself more…useful…to her, in my own small way.”

​

Gerwald Lechner

​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Revna Marr

The answer earned a quiet huff of amusement from Gerwald. Revna had grown considerably since the woman he first encountered years ago, though some things remained familiar. The ambition she described did not trouble him. Quite the opposite. Sith who lacked ambition had no business calling themselves Sith. Power was meant to be pursued. Influence was meant to be expanded, and opportunity belonged to those strong enough to recognize it and bold enough to seize it.

Gerwald listened without interruption, his expression revealing little as Revna explained herself. It was only when she spoke of the Dread Mother that something shifted behind his corrupted golden eyes.

The Dread Queen.

That was what Srina had always been to him.

Long before the Eleventh Sith Empire existed, before Srina took its throne or Gerwald ever stood upon her Dark Council, their history had already been written elsewhere. It was forged through battles fought together and losses endured long before either of them held the titles they bore now. Their bond belonged to another time, another life, and it had survived everything which came after.

The throne had not earned Gerwald's loyalty. Srina had.

The Empire had simply given that loyalty a greater purpose. Gerwald served the Empress because she was Srina, not because an Empire had placed a crown upon her head. He had stood with her before the throne existed, and he would stand with her if the throne disappeared tomorrow. Whatever the Empire required of him, whatever violence needed to be visited upon those who threatened what she had built, Gerwald would answer. He was her wrath before he was ever the wrath of the Empire.

“I know who you mean when you call her that.”

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“She has always been the Dread Queen to me.”

There was more contained within the words than Gerwald cared to explain. Revna had her own bond with Srina, and he would not diminish it by comparing one against the other. Neither would he pretend his devotion began when Srina became Empress.

“And no, I did not bring you here because I believe you are plotting against her.”

Had Gerwald truly believed that, this conversation would have been considerably different. There would have been no invitation to sit and no quiet conversation aboard the Vigfjall. Revna would have discovered precisely what it meant for Gerwald to be the wrath standing behind the Dread Queen.

His expression hardened slightly as he leaned forward, his forearms settling against his legs.

“Ambition does not concern me, Revna. I would be more concerned if you had none. You should seek power. You should build alliances. You should make yourself impossible to ignore and take every opportunity lesser Sith are too timid to seize.”

There was approval in the way he said it. Gerwald had never believed strength was something to apologize for, nor did he believe the Sith should wait patiently for power to be handed to them.

“But becoming useful to the Dread Queen requires more than accumulating power.”

His gaze remained fixed upon hers.

“You have a crown, and you have Korriban. You are building relationships, gathering influence, and becoming stronger. Those are things I would expect from you.”

Gerwald leaned back once more.

“What I want to know is what you intend to do with it.”

That was what had drawn his attention in the first place. Revna was not simply collecting titles or surrounding herself with allies. There was purpose behind her movements, even if Gerwald had yet to determine what that purpose was.

“I am not asking about whatever passes between you and Srina. Whatever bond you share with her belongs to the two of you, and if she has entrusted something to you, then it is not mine to pry into. I want to know what you intend for yourself.”

Revna had said she refused to remain on the sidelines. Gerwald believed her. Everything he had observed suggested the same, but ambition without direction could accomplish very little.

“You said you refuse to sit on the sidelines, so don't.”

There was no challenge in his tone for the sake of challenging her. Gerwald was offering Revna exactly what she claimed to want, an opportunity to demonstrate that her ambition had direction.

“The Empire has enemies beyond the Blackwall. It has worlds that need to understand what Sith rule means, and there are Sith within our own borders who have grown comfortable beneath the protection the Dread Queen has given them. There is no shortage of places for someone hungry enough to make herself useful.”

A thin smile pulled at Gerwald's lips as he regarded her.

“So tell me where that hunger is taking you.”

 

[Revna Marr]

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Gerwald listened to what she had to say without interrupting her, his expression devoid of reaction - at least until Revna mentioned Srina. That seemed to shift something within him, and Revna noticed it.

He said he knew who Revna was referring to, and knew her as the Dread Queen. Revna had heard that term used for Srina before by others, but she personally had always preferred Dread Mother - for that was what she embodied for the little Sith.

Briefly, a memory danced through Revna’s mind, of when Srina would meet with her within the depths of Carnifex’s great library aboard the Malsheem, to provide small but precious moments of respite for the little raven haired Sith. Braiding her hair, encouraging her to keep pushing forward, to keep fighting. To remind her that she was far stronger than she realized.

That was why Srina was her Dread Mother.

She blinked, and brought her focus back to Gerwald. He told her plainly that he had not called her to his flagship because he thought she was plotting against the Empress. He didn’t have to say anything else about that, because Revna knew that if he suspected her to be plotting or moving against Srina, then they would not be discussing it with words.

The Dark Councilor leaned forward in his seat, his expression hardening slightly as he returned to the matter at hand. Revna’s ambition did not bother him, and he expected nothing less from a Sith such as herself. He made it clear that she should be pursuing the things she mentioned - building alliances, growing her power and seeking after more of it, and making herself impossible to ignore. Her ambition seemed to gain approval from Gerwald, and that meant something to her.

Out of everyone in the Sith Empire save the Empress herself, it was Gerwald Lechner who posed the greatest threat to Revna. Not to her reach for power or against her ambition, but because of the role he filled for the Empress herself. He was the throne’s judge, jury, and executioner - and Revna was keenly aware that keeping his blade turned away from her would only work in her favor.

Gerwald spoke plainly again - that if she desired to become useful to Srina, she needed to do more than just accumulate power. Making alliances, gathering influence, gaining a crown and all that came with it, were things expected of her.

What he wanted to know was what she intended to do with everything he had mentioned. He told her bluntly not to sit on the sidelines. It was a challenge, but not in the way most would see it as. More of a push, or perhaps permission, to do what she felt was necessary and needed in order to take what she wanted for herself.

“The Empire has enemies beyond the Blackwall. It has worlds that need to understand what Sith rule means, and there are Sith within our own borders who have grown comfortable beneath the protection the Dread Queen has given them. There is no shortage of places for someone hungry enough to make herself useful.”

Her eyes seemed to almost brighten hearing that, the hunter within her catching scent of something that it found promising. Gerwald gave her a thin smile, almost as if he had purposefully dangled something in front of her that he felt just might catch her attention. And it certainly had.

“So tell me where that hunger is taking you.”

For a long moment, perhaps longer than necessary, Revna was silent - almost as if she was weighing the risks and the rewards of speaking whatever was lurking within the depths of her mind, revealing the engine that was driving her.

In the end, she chose to reveal the truth to Gerwald. Not because she simply trusted him to a degree, but because she knew that he had the power behind him to help her reach for her ambitions, her aspirations. He was a thread in the wider web that she was building, that she could pluck and see what came of it.

“My hunger drives me to gain as much knowledge - and thus power and control - over what I can, where I can. To climb to a place of prominence amongst the rest of us. And I desire to use that position in order to propel myself further, climbing higher - as far as I can reach. The Dark Council, becoming a Dark Lord of the Sith, perhaps one day even Empress myself.”

She pursed her lips in thought, letting her honest words settle between them. Her mind kept drifting back to his earlier statements, in regards to enemies beyond the Blackwall, Sith growing too comfortable in positions that could be ripped out from underneath them and given to another, worlds in need of a reminder of just who ruled not only them, but the greater galaxy at large.

The Tsis’Kaar and the Inquisition were supposed to fill those roles. Both had been dismantled or destroyed, with the fall of her Master and the disappearance of her cousin.

The Sith Empire did not have a proverbial shikkar blade with which to use on her enemies - foreign or domestic.

And, as Gerwald had pointed out earlier, he couldn’t afford to be watching everyone’s movements.

Perhaps…there was an opportunity here for her. A great and ambitious opportunity - though what that looked like in its entirety was hidden from her. Revna’s eyes narrowed in cunning thought and consideration.

“I am surprised the Empress, or the Dark Council at least, has not ordered the formation of another Sphere or Legion or Ministry to handle the matters you mentioned earlier, since the Tsis’Kaar and the Inquisition are no more.” She said softly, canting her head to one side again as she regarded Gerwald with the same focus he gave to her.

“Are there…plans…to rectify that?” ​

Gerwald Lechner

​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Revna Marr

Gerwald did not react immediately when Revna finally gave voice to the full measure of her ambition. The Dark Council, the mantle of a Dark Lord, perhaps even the throne itself were all heights she imagined within her reach. None of them disturbed him.

If anything, the admission pleased him.

There had been a time when Sith would not have felt the need to apologize for wanting such things. Ambition was not treason. Hunger was not disloyalty. Srina had not become Empress because she lacked either, and Gerwald would have thought considerably less of Revna had she claimed Korriban represented the limit of everything she desired.

“If your ambition ended with the crown you already possess, this would have been a much less interesting conversation.”

There was amusement in his expression as he regarded her, though it faded when Revna invoked the Tsis'Kaar. Gerwald's mouth tightened slightly at the name.

“The Tsis'Kaar died with Ophidia, and as far as I am concerned, it should remain dead.”

There was no hesitation in the declaration.

“Ophidia was wrong. She was not the Sith'ari. Whatever her followers believed they were building around her did not survive her, and those who remain have spent more time fighting over the scraps she left behind than proving there was anything worth preserving.”

Gerwald had little interest in resurrecting another institution simply because the Empire still possessed needs the Tsis'Kaar once claimed to serve. Its failure had been greater than the death of the woman at its center. It belonged to an era when the Sith had divided themselves beneath competing doctrines and allowed those divisions to become identities of their own.

The consequences of that experiment were still being unwound.

“Strosius at least chose his own path. He abandoned the Inquisition, and now he seems determined to see the old powers dead simply because he wants them dead. I may not always agree with where his ambition takes him, but it is his ambition. I can respect that.”

Malum was another matter entirely.

“Malum seems content to convince himself that he is the cleverest person in whatever room he occupies while allowing the strength and accomplishments of others to carry him forward. Perhaps one day he will prove me wrong, but a Sith who spends his life riding upon the accomplishments of others eventually discovers he has built very little of his own.”

Gerwald leaned back in his chair, considering Revna for another moment.

“That is weakness.”

It was also precisely what Gerwald, Srina, Carnifex, Taeli, and others had been working to strip away from the Sith Order. What had begun as three doctrines had fallen into disarray, and Gerwald had no desire to replace their failures with another collection of competing institutions. The Sith needed to remember what they were before they concerned themselves with inventing another banner beneath which to gather.

Revna's question, however, was not without merit.

“The need you have identified is real.”

Gerwald shifted slightly in his seat.

“I have been working diligently to consolidate control of the Imperial military beneath my hand. I have no intention of allowing the force which carries the Dread Queen's will beyond our borders to become a collection of competing commands and private ambitions. When Srina requires the wrath of her Empire, I intend for there to be no question whether it will answer.”

There was nothing boastful in the statement. Gerwald spoke of it as an inevitability, something already underway rather than an aspiration he hoped to achieve.

“But armies cannot answer every threat.”

His corrupted golden eyes settled more intently upon Revna.

“Some of the Dread Queen's enemies will stand across a battlefield and make the mistake of believing they can survive what I send against them. Others will hide. Some will hide beyond the Blackwall, while others will hide within it. They will wear titles, gather influence, whisper into the right ears, and convince themselves that loyalty spoken loudly enough will keep anyone from noticing the knife behind their back.”

Gerwald could not watch all of them. He had admitted as much when Revna first entered the chamber, and the responsibilities gathering beneath his authority would only make that reality more pronounced.

Perhaps that was why her question interested him.

“You asked whether there are plans to create another Sphere, Legion, or Ministry to replace what was lost.”

A faint smile returned to his features.

“I think that would be the wrong lesson to take from their failure.”

Gerwald let the thought settle before continuing.

“You just told me that you intend to climb as high as your strength can carry you. You want power, influence, a place upon the Dark Council, and perhaps one day you will decide even that is not enough. Yet when you recognize something the Empire lacks, your first instinct is to ask whether the Empress or her Council intends to build it for you.”

There was no rebuke in his tone. If anything, Gerwald seemed interested in what Revna would do once the contradiction had been placed before her.

“If you want to rise above the Sith around you, do not wait for those already above you to create the opportunity.”

His gaze remained fixed upon hers.

“You want to make yourself useful to the Dread Queen. You want to dispatch her enemies and those who would threaten the Sith from without or within.”

The faint smile disappeared, replaced by something more deliberate.

“I may have use for you, Revna.”

Gerwald allowed the offer to remain precisely that. He would not tell her what she should build, nor would he resurrect the corpse of the Tsis'Kaar and hand it to her with a different name. If Revna wanted prominence, she would have to demonstrate that she possessed more than hunger.

She would have to show him what she could do with it.

“Perhaps you are asking the wrong question. It should not matter what the Empress or the Dark Council have plans to replace it.”

Gerwald regarded her steadily.

“Perhaps you should tell me what you are going to do about it.”

 

[Revna Marr]

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Revna huffed with her own amusement with his statement that, had her ambitions ended with Korriban’s crown, their conversation would be much less interesting and, no doubt, a lot shorter. Unnoticed tension within Revna’s shoulders seemed to ease, however, upon knowing that her admitted ambitions wouldn’t be rebuked. She believed that nothing she had said was worth the ire of the Empress’s Wrath, but there had still been that small seed of uncertainty. That was now laid to rest, and she banished her concerns.

When she brought up the Tsis’Kaar, however, she noticed that Gerwald's amusement seemed to vanish. He wasted no time in telling that the Tsis’Kaar had died with her Grandmaster and, as far as he was concerned, should remain dead.

“Ophidia was wrong. She was not the Sith'ari. Whatever her followers believed they were building around her did not survive her, and those who remain have spent more time fighting over the scraps she left behind than proving there was anything worth preserving.”

Gerwald continued, and he mentioned her Father, how Alisteri had at least chosen His own path. The Councilor didn’t always agree with what path those ambitions took her Father, and frankly neither did Revna for that matter. But Darth Strosius's ambition was His own, and Gerwald respected that and so did she.

When it came to Malum, however, the Lord Commander had a completely different opinion on that matter.

“Malum seems content to convince himself that he is the cleverest person in whatever room he occupies while allowing the strength and accomplishments of others to carry him forward. Perhaps one day he will prove me wrong, but a Sith who spends his life riding upon the accomplishments of others eventually discovers he has built very little of his own.”

He declaring that such a thing was weakness. And she agreed with him on that. Riding on the coattails of other’s deeds and claiming them as your own was not a strength.

“I agree that the Tsis’Kaar was the remnants of a war machine that has since died, and it should remain a ghost of the past. As for Malum, I agree with you on that too. We cannot afford such weakness within the ranks of those that would lead and guide our Empire.” She stated plainly, aligning herself with him on that.

He carried on, explaining to her that he was in the process of consolidating control of the Empire’s military underneath his hand, and he had no intention of allowing such a force to become a collection of competing commands and private ambitions. Revna nodded her understanding and agreement with that, for it made sense to her. Their enemies were more likely to find and exploit weaknesses or fractures within their military if it was spread across different individuals who sought command of various parts of the Sith Order’s fighting force. Bringing it all under one leader, one guiding hand, was wise. And Revna couldn’t think of anyone better than Gerwald for that role.

There was a pause, before his sulfur eyes settled on her again, this time a bit more pointedly. He told her that some of their enemies were likely to stand and face whatever he sent their way, while others would likely try and hide - be it outside the Blackwall, or within its borders. He was speaking a language that Revna knew, and a half grin tugged at the edge of her lips.

Sniffing out those who would hide and try to pretend to be something they were not, was something she rather enjoyed. But she enjoyed feeling their blood on her hands more, and seeing the shock and surprise flicker on their face as they died even more so.

“You asked whether there are plans to create another Sphere, Legion, or Ministry to replace what was lost. I think that would be the wrong lesson to take from their failure.”

Revna chewed on that statement for a moment as the Sith Lord let it linger between them. So if not another Legion or Ministry to fill the space left behind by the ill fated Tsis’Kaar and the Inquisition…then what?

“You just told me that you intend to climb as high as your strength can carry you. You want power, influence, a place upon the Dark Council, and perhaps one day you will decide even that is not enough. Yet when you recognize something the Empire lacks, your first instinct is to ask whether the Empress or her Council intends to build it for you.” The raven haired woman almost corrected Gerwald upon hearing that last portion. She hadn’t asked anyone to build anything for her - but she bit back the response that clawed up her throat, as she recognized that statement had been said on purpose.

She was told plainly that if she wanted to rise above the Sith around her, then she shouldn’t wait for those above her to create the opportunity for her. If she saw something she could interject herself into…then she had the freedom to go for it. Perhaps Gerwald would see the understanding click into place behind her own fiery gaze, on the pale features of her face. She sat forward slightly, unaware that she had done so.

“You want to make yourself useful to the Dread Queen. You want to dispatch her enemies and those who would threaten the Sith from without or within. I may have a use for you, Revna.”

“Oh?” Now her interest was most certainly piqued; an expression that bordered on excitement danced across her features. That hunger for opportunity surfaced again, and she did not hide it from the man she considered an ally.

“Perhaps you are asking the wrong question. It should not matter what the Empress or the Dark Council have plans to replace it. Perhaps you should tell me what you are going to do about it.”

There it is. Gerwald was putting that ball in her court now.

For a long moment, Revna did not respond to him; she simply regarded him as he regarded her, but behind her eyes was a mind already at work, following the threads of the web she could see. This…was a great opportunity for her. A chance to actually do something with herself, beyond simply being Queen of Korriban. While that was a great honor in and of itself, she wanted to do more. Revna knew she’d be a fool to discard this opportunity that Gerwald had laid out before her.

“I have the training necessary for such tasks, and it is within my nature to work from the shadows. I was often deployed by my former Master for such work in the Outer Rim.” She began, slowly at first, her eyes drifting away from him to stare at something else as she pulled her thoughts together. “I have a framework in mind for…something.”

She snapped her attention back to him, that hungry gleam shining more fiercely now. “We need Eyes, Ears, and Hands…and a Voice to guide those elements. Eyes to see into the midst of our own people, or into the very heart of our enemy’s schemes, past their borders. Ears to hear the whispers of war or dissent before they ever reach the notice of the powers that be - when it may already be too late; and Hands that are ready and willing to feel blood on them when given the order to eliminate any and all threats to the Sith, and to our Empress’s rule and dominion.” A small smile curled at the edges of her lips. “Or remind our own that no one is safe behind their titles, their accomplishments, or their crowns.”

She sat back in her seat, once again folding her small and pale hands in her lap, crossing one leg over her other knee. She was quiet for another stretch of time, her mind still at work as she tried to find the best way to convey her thoughts to the Sith Lord across from her. “I can make this happen, but I cannot do all these things myself - I am but a single person. If you agree to this…idea or framework I've presented, then I would place myself at its center and embody the Voice, if you will, to guide or direct these other...extensions.” She canted her head to the left, slightly. Her expression shifted from thoughtful, to wary and cautious.

"But I know better than to assume or believe that this...opportunity you've placed before me...isn't being offered for free. So tell me what price I have to pay, in order to step into this role? What will you ask or perhaps demand of me, Gerwald? What would be expected from me?"

​

Gerwald Lechner

​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Revna Marr

Gerwald caught the agreement immediately.

His expression hardened when Revna declared that the Empire could not afford the weakness she believed Malum represented. The judgment came too easily from someone who had spent the better part of their conversation describing what she intended to become rather than demonstrating what she already was.

“Careful, Revna.”

There was no anger behind the warning, but the approval she had earned moments before had disappeared.

“You are very quick to agree with my assessment of Malum, but you have yet to prove yourself any different. You have told me what you want. You have told me what you intend to become. Thus far, they are words.”

Gerwald held her gaze for a moment. He had no intention of defending Malum. His opinion of the man remained precisely what he had already stated, but Revna had mistaken Gerwald's criticism of another Sith for an invitation to place herself above him.

“Malum may disappoint me, but he has at least given me something by which to judge him. Do not mistake my criticism of another Sith for evidence of your own strength.”

His eyes narrowed slightly.

“If you believe yourself better than him, prove it.”

That was ultimately what Gerwald expected from every Sith who claimed strength. Titles could be given. Bloodlines could be inherited. Others could open doors and provide opportunities, but eventually there had to be something beneath all of it which belonged to the individual. Revna had asked him for the opportunity to demonstrate that she possessed exactly that.

Gerwald listened as she began to give shape to the framework forming within her mind. Eyes to see where others could not. Ears capable of hearing the whispers which preceded rebellion and war. Hands willing to reach into places where the overt power of the Empire could not and bloody themselves when necessary. Revna would stand at the center as the Voice which gave those extensions direction.

It was more than she had offered him before.

It was still only an idea.

Gerwald remained silent until Revna finally asked the question he had expected would come eventually. She wanted to know what his support would cost her.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“At least you understand that much.”

Gerwald shifted in his seat, settling back as he considered the woman across from him.

“My support has value, Revna. If I place my name behind you, open doors for you, give you access to resources you could not otherwise reach, or put the weight I have accumulated behind what you build, I will expect a return on that investment.”

There was little reason to disguise the arrangement as something more charitable. Gerwald wanted Revna to succeed, but her success would need to benefit him as surely as his support benefited her.

“First, you prove this works.”

His gaze moved over her for a moment before settling once more upon her eyes.

“You have given me an idea. I have heard plenty of ideas from Sith who were convinced they would reshape the galaxy. Most of them never survived contact with reality.”

Gerwald gestured faintly toward her.

“Build your Eyes. Find your Ears. Decide what kind of people deserve to become your Hands. Show me that your Voice can command them without everything collapsing the moment you are not standing beside them.”

Only then would she have something worth Gerwald placing his influence behind.

“If you succeed, I can give you access to things you do not possess now. The military is increasingly coming beneath my authority. Intelligence passes through my hands. Ships, soldiers, logistics, and resources are available to me on a scale you cannot presently command. There are doors throughout this Empire which will open because I tell them to.”

His expression sharpened.

“But understand what happens when I begin opening them for you.”

Gerwald leaned forward, his forearms resting against his legs.

“If your Eyes discover something of consequence, I expect to know before anyone else sitting on the Dark Council. The Dread Queen is the only exception. If your Ears hear something that can give me an advantage over an enemy, I expect that information to reach me before someone else has the opportunity to act upon it.”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“And there may come a time when I need your Hands.”

Gerwald did not need to explain that he possessed more than enough ways to kill someone. The problem was rarely whether he could dispatch an enemy. Sometimes the difficulty rested in ensuring no one could determine whose will had ordered the death.

“If I want a political enemy dead and cannot afford for their corpse to point toward me, I may give you a name. If I do, I will expect the problem handled without my Legions marching through their front door and announcing who wanted them gone.”

The arrangement would give Gerwald reach where military authority became cumbersome, but he had no intention of standing over Revna's shoulder and dictating every movement of whatever she created. If he wanted another organization under his direct command, he could simply build one.

This needed to belong to her.

“I will tell you what I need accomplished. How you accomplish it is your concern. They will be your Eyes, your Ears, and your Hands. Their successes will belong to you, but so will their failures.”

Gerwald's expression grew more serious.

“If one of your Hands becomes overzealous, you answer for it. If one of your Eyes feeds you false information and you act upon it, you answer for it. If you send people to their deaths because you judged a situation poorly, those deaths belong to you.”

Responsibility was the other side of power, and Gerwald had little respect for leaders who wanted one without accepting the other.

He settled back once more.

“That is what I will expect from you.”

The Lord Commander allowed a moment of silence to pass before the faintest trace of amusement returned to his features.

“You should expect something from me as well.”

Gerwald had no interest in an arrangement where Revna merely became another tool at his disposal. If that was all he wanted, there were easier ways to acquire one.

“If my name can open a door you need opened, use it. If you need intelligence I possess, ask for it. If there comes a day when your Hands cannot accomplish something that requires soldiers, then you will have someone who commands them sitting across from you.”

His golden eyes remained fixed upon hers.

“If your influence grows, mine grows with it. If I become stronger, you should be intelligent enough to find a way for that strength to benefit you.”

The smile which followed carried something decidedly Sith within it.

“That is how this works.”

There remained one condition Gerwald would not negotiate.

“Everything we have discussed remains beneath the Dread Queen. Neither of us uses her name to justify an order she did not give, and nothing we build together moves against her. If that ever changes, there will be no negotiation over the price.”

Revna already knew what would happen then. Gerwald had no reason to belabor it. He regarded her for another moment before returning to the matter that actually interested him.

“But none of that matters until you prove you can build what you just described.”

Gerwald inclined his head slightly.

“So prove it.”

 

[Revna Marr]

Wearing:
Ring || Lightsaber || Necklace || Armor​

The little Marr went still upon hearing Gerwald’s rebuke, though there was a faint dip to her silvery black brows as she frowned. Once again, it would appear to her that her words were received differently than how she intended them. The same issue happened with her Father, too. And the same thing had happened with Mercy, not all that long ago.

“Malum may disappoint me, but he has at least given me something by which to judge him. Do not mistake my criticism of another Sith for evidence of your own strength. If you believe yourself better than him, prove it.” He said, narrowing his eyes at her.

Gerwald might hear a barely audible sigh that was edged with emotion - frustration, perhaps something else. “You misunderstand me, Lord Commander.” She said softly after a moment. “I am not claiming myself to be stronger than Malum, or anyone for that matter. I am smart enough to know and grasp that I have yet to prove myself, or prove the words that come out of my mouth. I was simply agreeing with you that riding on the coattails of other’s accomplishments is not a strength to fall back on. Or a strength at all for that matter. Your criticism of one Sith is a warning for me, too. A word of caution for what not to do.”

There came a subtle downward shift of her eyes, then her chin. “Do forgive my poorly worded statement. I am not above making mistakes or saying things that do not come across the way I intend for them to.” Revna was not above correction, and she wanted him to at least understand that before they moved on.

The moment transitioned, and the conversation carried forward. Gerwald listened to her without further interruption, no doubt holding his silence until the time was right to speak his thoughts on what she had said.

Of course, her awareness that support did not come freely, was what brought the small smile back to his face.

Now it was her turn to listen, as the Dark Councilor laid out his thoughts, his expectations, making it clear to her the path forward.

He had access to resources she did not have, and his support was valuable. She was very much aware of that, which was why she was willing to even entertain the man and whatever demands he might have for her in this proposal.

But first, she would need to prove her idea even worked. That was reasonable; it would be silly of him to back her or support her in this venture if he didn’t know it would pay off first. She wouldn’t want to entangle him in it anyway until she had the framework she imagined fleshed out. The logistics of it needed to be ironed out further before it could be realized. Gerwald, of course, bluntly pointed out that an idea was just that - and any Sith could give an idea and many of them fell flat the moment those ideas were put to the test.

He seemed to grant her the freedom within which she could begin forming this framework. Building the Eyes, finding the Ears. Deciding who would be worthy enough to be the Hands she had mentioned. Then came another crucial part: how well could she command these pieces, and have it work without her direct oversight.

Her expression was thoughtful, taking everything he was saying on board. Already her mind was working, faces and names drifting through her thoughts. Possibilities that came with positives and negatives that would need to be carefully weighed.

She was told that, if she succeeded in these things and built something worth his backing, then he could give her access to that which she did not possess currently. With the military falling more and more under his direct command, he gained access to intelligence, to ships, soldiers and more. There were doors throughout the Empire that could open to her because he told them too.

But then he brought up the ‘catch’ so to speak. What he expected from her, if he decided to back her in this venture.

“If your Eyes discover something of consequence, I expect to know before anyone else sitting on the Dark Council. The Dread Queen is the only exception. If your Ears hear something that can give me an advantage over an enemy, I expect that information to reach me before someone else has the opportunity to act upon it. And there may come a time when I need your Hands.”

Revna continued to listen in silence, cataloging everything said to her in the moment. The price she would have to pay for his support. What he was asking for was exclusivity to everything that she would gain - with the Empress the only exception to this.

“If I want a political enemy dead and cannot afford for their corpse to point toward me, I may give you a name. If I do, I will expect the problem handled without my Legions marching through their front door and announcing who wanted them gone.”

A faint smile pulled at her lips. Assassination was something she had been trained in, and she fully understood the delicate nature surrounding such a thing, especially for high profile individuals like Gerwald.

In truth, the demand that the Empress’s Wrath placed before her wasn’t something outside of her comfort zone. Other than a very select few individuals that had her loyalty or devotion, she was not really tied to anything. She had no qualms about giving Gerwald what he asked of her in this…arrangement. It would benefit them both. The only thing she could foresee being a problem in the future, was if she was tasked with orders that involved her own loyalties. What if she received orders to assassinate Darth Strosius, for example? Or share critical information and secrets about Caedes that she knew and no one else was privy to?

“I will tell you what I need accomplished. How you accomplish it is your concern. They will be your Eyes, your Ears, and your Hands. Their successes will belong to you, but so will their failures. If one of your Hands becomes overzealous, you answer for it. If one of your Eyes feeds you false information and you act upon it, you answer for it. If you send people to their deaths because you judged a situation poorly, those deaths belong to you.”

The weight of that responsibility settled upon Revna’s shoulders. It was daunting, sure, but so was ruling a planet on behalf of someone else. The stakes were even higher here for her, in this.

Whatever she created, had to be disconnected from her too - to a degree. She would need to form another version of herself with which to fulfill this role.

A bit like how Sheev Palpatine and Darth Sidious were the same…but no one really knew. Not even the Jedi - at least, not until it was far too late. Of course, she would not compare nor liken herself to that ancient Dark Lord of the Sith. But the concept was the same.

And it would…challenging…to pull off. But Revna liked challenges. It made her think, it made her push herself to grow, to expand. Knowledge was power, but she needed the wisdom to use it properly.

Gerwald settled back in his seat, the motion catching her attention once more. He told her that this was what he expected from her, and after another moment of lingering silence, said that she should expect something from him too.

She could use his name to open a door that she needed opened; if she needed intelligence that he possessed, then to ask for it. If her future Hands could not accomplish something that required soldiers, then she knew someone who could command them. And, as her influence rose…so too would his. And if he became stronger, then he expected her to find a way to benefit and strengthen herself from that too. His smile conveyed an unspoken understanding that only another Sith would know: take what she could and use it for her benefit, her own power.

He would do the same with her, after all. Whatever influence and power this venture brought to her, would spread to him too, because he would be the ultimate shadow behind her own.

There was a condition, however. One that the Lord Commander brought her attention to and made sure she understood was non negotiable. “Everything we have discussed remains beneath the Dread Queen. Neither of us uses her name to justify an order she did not give, and nothing we build together moves against her. If that ever changes, there will be no negotiation over the price.”

“I understand.” Revna said, finally breaking her silence.

“But none of that matters until you prove you can build what you just described. So prove it.”

The little Marr sat up in her seat a little more, her face shifting as a myriad of thoughts and considerations and ideas danced around in her mindscape.

“Very well. I will take some time to further flesh out the framework I have in mind and begin the process of building that which I envision. I can report back to you my progress, if you wish - Councilor. I do think it would be a good idea, that way you can see advancements. I also value your wisdom and insight, so I would like to consult you from time to time - especially if you are going to be my main point of contact through all of this…the shadow behind my Shadow.”

She would pause and purse her lips, before moving on to the next thought. “However, I would like to present this to the Dread Mother before I ever move forward with anything. I may fear you, but I fear her wrath or displeasure even more. I would not want to bring into existence an Agency that she does not give her consent over. Do you object to this?”

​

Gerwald Lechner

​

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: This
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Vigfjall
TAG: Revna Marr

Gerwald regarded Revna quietly as she accepted the challenge. There was no need to offer encouragement simply because she had agreed to try. Agreement was easy. The work which followed would determine whether anything discussed aboard the Vigfjall amounted to more than an interesting conversation between two ambitious Sith. Her offer to keep him informed earned a slight nod.

“I do not need reports simply for the sake of receiving them. Come to me when you have something worth showing me. Tell me who you have found, what you have built, what your Eyes have seen that others missed, or what your Ears have heard before anyone else knew to listen. If you need my counsel along the way, ask for it. I meant what I said about using what is available to you. My experience is no exception.”

Gerwald had asked Revna to prove herself. He would measure that proof by results rather than how diligently she documented the process of reaching them. The description which followed caused one eyebrow to rise slightly. The shadow behind her Shadow was an interesting way to describe what Gerwald had offered, but it was not quite what he intended.

“No,” Gerwald answered, though the word came without rebuke. “Do not make me the shadow behind yours, Revna. If you build this, then its shadow belongs to you. I will invest in what you build if you prove it is worth my investment. I will use it when it benefits me, and I will make demands of it when I have need of what you create. You already understand that. None of those things make me the power behind you.”

That distinction mattered. Gerwald had no interest in creating another Sith whose accomplishments depended upon proximity to someone stronger. If Revna succeeded, he wanted that success to belong to her. His investment would give him an interest in seeing her influence grow, but it would not absolve her of the responsibility to create that growth herself.

“If this succeeds, I want your name attached to its success, whether the galaxy knows that name or not. I want you to have built something powerful enough that my association with you benefits me as much as mine benefits you. If one day you find yourself sitting on the Dark Council because of what you accomplished with it, I would rather know I invested wisely than wonder whether I carried you there.”

Then Revna mentioned the Dread Mother, and Gerwald listened as she explained her desire to bring the idea before Srina before moving forward. The admission that she feared Srina's wrath more than his drew a low chuckle from the Lord Commander.

“As you should,” Gerwald replied, unmistakable affection resting beneath the words.

He knew the Dread Queen in ways few living beings ever would. Gerwald had known Srina before the throne and before the Empire, when neither of them possessed the titles they carried now. Whatever terror others associated with the Empress, his devotion had never been born from fear of her power.

His expression grew more serious as he considered the question Revna had actually asked.

“I do not object. I expect it. You asked for my support, and I have told you the conditions under which you may have it, but that does not give either of us the right to decide for the Dread Queen what she will permit within her Empire.”

There were liberties Gerwald could take without consulting the throne. He commanded armies, shaped military policy, and increasingly possessed the authority to move enormous pieces of the Imperial war machine according to his judgment. What Revna proposed was different. If successful, her creation would reach into the private affairs of Sith throughout the Empire, gather intelligence from beyond its borders, and possess the means to make enemies disappear without the spectacle of soldiers marching against them. Something with that kind of reach would ultimately exist beneath Srina's rule.

“If Srina approves but changes the boundaries, then we work within the boundaries she gives us. If she decides there are things your Eyes must never look upon or places your Hands must never reach, then they do not. If she decides the entire idea is unacceptable, then it dies here. My investment will never purchase authority over her will.”

Gerwald suspected Revna already understood that much. She would not have asked the question otherwise, and the fact that she intended to seek Srina's consent before proceeding told him she understood where the ultimate boundary rested.

“Take it to her yourself,” Gerwald continued as his gaze sharpened slightly. “Do not ask me to stand beside you while you convince her, and do not ask me to make the argument for you. You told me you want to rise, and you have already admitted that you know you have yet to prove you are more than your words. Consider this your first opportunity.”

He gestured faintly between them as he continued. “You may tell her everything we discussed. Tell her what you intend to build and what you believe it can do for the Sith and for her Empire. Tell her that I have expressed an interest in supporting it if you demonstrate that it works. Then convince the Dread Queen that your idea deserves to exist.”

There was no smile this time, though something approving remained in the way Gerwald regarded Revna. He had given her what she had come looking for, even if neither of them had known precisely what shape the opportunity would take when she first stepped aboard the Vigfjall. What happened next belonged to her.

“If she gives you her blessing, come back to me when you have something worth showing me. Then we will see whether your Shadow has teeth.”

 

[Revna Marr]

Wearing:
Ring || Lightsaber || Necklace || Armor​

Gerwald listened to Revna say what she needed to say, and in turn she absorbed anything the Sith Lord had to say in response. He didn’t want reports all the time, only when it mattered. That was understandable and that was something she felt she could do. Likewise, he made it clear that he did not want to be the ‘shadow’ behind her own in any of it. He wanted this to be on her shoulders, the successes or failures to be hers, and hers alone.

That too was acceptable. As daunting as it would be, she felt some relief that this project would be hers and hers alone. If it succeeded, then it would be her name attached to it, not his. Or anyone’s for that matter.

As for taking her idea to the Empress to hear what Srina had to say about it, or even get permission to begin setting up the Agency in the first place, Gerwald seemed to be in support of that, though he did tell her she would have to do it on her own.

“Take it to her yourself, do not ask me to stand beside you while you convince her, and do not ask me to make the argument for you. You told me you want to rise, and you have already admitted that you know you have yet to prove you are more than your words. Consider this your first opportunity.” He said, and the little woman could not hide the small chuckle that escaped her.

“Not to worry - I am capable of discussing matters on my own merit with the Empress. I do not need you, or anyone else, to hold my hand through it, nor speak on my behalf.” Revna replied in response to that, her words blunt and straightforward, because they were true. She did not need Gerwald’s help in talking with Srina, she didn’t need anyone’s help for that.

“You may tell her everything we discussed. Tell her what you intend to build and what you believe it can do for the Sith and for her Empire. Tell her that I have expressed an interest in supporting it if you demonstrate that it works. Then convince the Dread Queen that your idea deserves to exist.”

Revna nodded in understanding and took some mental notes to do just that whenever she met with Srina next. When Gerwald fell silent for a moment, Revna got the sense that perhaps the time of their conversation here was coming to an end. She had laid out what had been on her mind, Gerwald and heard and offered his own take on it, and laid out a clear guideline of what should happen next.

“If she gives you her blessing, come back to me when you have something worth showing me. Then we will see whether your Shadow has teeth.”

“Very well - I will reach out to her as soon as I can, and then I will be in touch with you at some point in the future when I have something worth your attention.” She said cordially, before rising up on her feet and giving the Wrath a respectful dip of her chin. “Thank you for your time, and for listening and providing input on this matter, Councilor.”

With their business concluded, Revna turned away and departed the private office where she and Gerwald had discussed the topic. Her mind was already a-swirl with thoughts and ideas and just what she was going to say to Srina, whenever she had the chance to actually meet with the Empress.

It also dawned on her that, should her plans actually work and come to fruition, she would soon have a measure of power and control within the Sith Order itself. It would take time, and a lot of work and dedication, but she was up for it. She wanted to rise, to push her weight around, and make a name for herself.

And now she had been given the opportunity to do so, and she was going to take it and make something with it. ​

Gerwald Lechner
​