Private War can follow its soldiers home

[Lunafreya Solidor]

The return home should be something she should look forward to, before looking at JanFathal filled her with pride in her heart, but now Lunafreya felt only contempt. She had not even left the rooms on her ship on the way back to Bastion, but she made sure to receive her brother Daedalos and Diabolico, both left their presence with the same injured expression on their faces. Only Gentiana kept her company on the way back, but they had little dialogue because she kept looking out of her ship's window, brooding and thinking about everything she had done and more importantly, what she had not done.

She kept her return a secret, Lunafreya wanted to prevent her schedule from being filled before setting foot on the planet and left everyone believing that it would take another seven days or more for her to return. This was done so that she could decide her fate, for her to think about how to act and react, in the best course of action to be taken to ensure her survival and empowerment.

Sitting in the wooden chair at the top of Spiral Castle, her nostrils drew a heavy sigh. Her face turned to Gentiana with an uncommon lightness, considering everything that had happened in her absence. The castle remained under siege by the forces of the imperialists because it refused to allow them access to information received by the High Command, Gaeriel had disappeared into the woods of the planet and there were still other issues to deal with and other lackeys to persuade.
"Bring him to me.", The maid bowed before the duchess and left to carry out her orders.

Darth Argentum

 

[Darth Argentum]

She'd summoned him, though this time it was different. The Spiral Castle had been under siege for several days now. He could only think it didn't bode well. Without a doubt, something had happened on Bastion.

JanFathal had a communications blackout in place now. The Muun truly didn't know what was happening. Only that they'd slipped through the Imperial blockade under a cloak of Dark Side sorcery. He was most eager to speak to Lunafreya Solidor and ascertain the truth.

She'd officially been scheduled to return days later. Argentum was not surprised by her earlier presence. She was full of schemes and tricks.

As they arrived, he saw the Duchess in her chair. He ignored the full thuds of explosions nearby. The Muun inclined his head.

"Duchess, it's well to see your safe return. However, I can only imagine this...situation means that something went wrong with the Imperials."

 

[Lunafreya Solidor]

With dull eyes she watched Maro enter. she followed the alien's slow walk closer to where she sat and heard his words without declaring any expression on her face. The imperials had surrounded her castle, her first masterpiece, the fruit of her imagination brought to life by Rodrik Harlaw, her favorite architect, but as anticipated by the project created by those two diabolical minds, the Spiral Castle did not fall or even be invaded. A siege to her walls on the outskirts of the city that found the land was the best option, one that she had already anticipated in her project.

She would deal with them in due course. 'They are only human.', Lunafreya said to herself, convinced that no mortal posed a threat to her domain, as the rest of the imperial army did not know of her insurrection, whether at Bastion or the siege led by Colonel Ziro in search of to reaffirm possession of information from the High Command.

"Take a seat, Maro.", Her voice finally stated, cutting the morbid silence. Her index finger tapping the empty glass in her hand a few times while the Muun took possession of the seat in front of her. However, she stood up abruptly. "May I offer you a drink?"

The steps were quick and elegant until the bar located behind Muun, she tried to pour herself another glass, almost full, of ambrostine and filled another with the same content. His fingers slid from the cup gently to the handle of her pistol, which was securely attached to the holster at her waist, her eyes lifted to make sure Maro didn't look at her, and then they left the gun back in the cup.

"Indulge me on something. What do you know about the Old Republic?" Galactic history was one of the few things she had kept from her old learning at Kaikielius, something almost expected of a species as old as that of its people. The steps took her back to the seat, carefully placing the glass on the round table in front of her guest, taking possession of her seat again shortly thereafter. Her sharp eyes awoke for a moment, remaining focused on Maro Dansk. "What is your name as a Sith?"

Darth Argentum

 

[Darth Argentum]

Lunafreya Solidor made no reply to his inquiry. Instead, she offered him a drink and bade him sit. The Muun refused the drink but sat and watched with his features totally still. Something was certainly amiss and he began to wonder.

He waited for her to join him as she fixed her alcohol and the explosions from outside were all the more ominous. The question that she asked caused him to frown ever-so-slightly. What exactly was she getting at? She sat and asked him of his Sith name, his true name.

"My name is Darth Argentum," he told her with pride "This name I chose. It was not selected for me as was the name Maro Dansk. The choice of your name means much. It is a declaration to the Universe. That you have chosen to forge your own destiny and have rejected that of an ordinary being."

His radioactive eyes glowed as he allowed the significance of that to sink in. Then he spoke again.

"As to your previous question, there is a great deal of history with the Old Republic. Some of it is lost. But there are many instances of the Senate's corruption. Also, the old Jedi Order and it's foolishness."

"They were often viewed as heroes, but not always. They were full of themselves and never saw their downfall. One of my own Order, Darth Sidious, was a being of great power. He hid among the Senate and worked over many years to orchestrate the overthrow of the Republic and it's Order. He was even the Supreme Chancellor, all the while working to end the Republic."

He paused and pretended to recall more history. Instead, his thoughts were racing in the calculating fashion of a Muun. Was she indicating a betrayal? If so, who had betrayed who...or who was to be betrayed?

"Sidious eliminated virtually all of the old Jedi Order with a masterful betrayal. It was called 'Order 66'. He accused them of treachery before the Senate and ended the Republic. It was said that, upon declaration of his Galactic Empire, there was thunderous applause."

The Muun stopped as another explosion went off in the distance.

"Technically, the Fel Empire of just a few hundred years ago was the Empire's successor. The very one in which Irveric Tavlar claims this New Imperial Order. They were no great friends to the Sith."

He said the last sentence deliberately, adding extra weight to it. Argentum focused his gaze directly on her own.

"Lunafreya," he said dispensing with his usual formal tone "You didn't answer my question. What happened on Bastion?"

The Muun gestured with a long-fingered hand towards the walls and the siege outside of them.

"You've clearly drawn their wrath. You must understand that you cannot hope to hold out forever. Tavlar's legions are numerous enough to crush even your own army. It matters not that he's occupied with the Sith Empire."

 

[Lunafreya Solidor]

Her people also had a similar tradition. They gave their middle names based on what the child could be in life but unlike the Sith, it wasn't something she could choose by herself, because the Gods and Destiny had already chose her fate in this life. 'I can't help but envy them on that...', she thought to herself as she slowly sipped from her glass as the Muun spoke about the past events of the galaxy, most of them weren't much of a surprise to her, or at least a version of them. Listening to the Muun speaking was actually quite calming, he had a voice meant for oratory lesson some might say, Lunafreya couldn't help but wonder who was the last person that she knew that had a similar voice. Her mind went blank on that, especially after hearing the word 'thunderous' and controlling the urge inside of her of repeating that word out loud.

The last explosion almost convinced her about calling outside and telling them all to shut up. That little show should be over soon so it was about time to drop the act and speak more frankly about this... issue that had been raised in such an unorthodox way. The mind of the female elzeri thought of several ways to pronounce this out loud, as she had rehearsed aboard her ship on the way back to the planet, but rehearsing and actually doing were two very different things.

"He is not.", That's how she chose to start, stating calmly. "Bastion fell as planned, the Sith who survived must have fled to the depths of space or were captured and shot. In all its glory, Irveric Tavlar proclaimed a beautiful speech before ordering us to comply with Operation Kyber Dark, this era's version of Order 66."

The feeling still caused her some disgust. In her moment of greatest triumph when the Royal Academy of Bastion was practically hers, she had been 'ordered' to kill her allies, the hostages, all without any distinction or chance of escape.

"All the Sith were bound to die. Their Sith, our Sith, all Sith. The troopers turned their guns towards their leaders and shot them in the back. Probably they must be hunting the others who were not in Bastion at this very moment.", she took the glass and drank the rest of her liquid, pausing for a moment to taste its taste inside her mouth with her eyes fixed on the empty bottom of the glass.

"And now here we are. Me, in the service of a despot who expressed direct orders to hunt down all the Sith I housed under my roof and the imperials outside, fighting for control of this planet just because Lodi and Nelacar refused to pass forward the orders that came from the High Command to them in my absence. And here you are." Her voice put an emphasis on that last sentence, bathed in her strong exotic accent as she slowly raised her head to face Muun, her next words were spoken very slowly, almost in a pasty tone of voice while slithering in each word. "What am I to do with you, lord Argentum?"

Darth Argentum

 

[Darth Argentum]

He listened to the events of Bastion with a neutral expression. Rather than some outburst, rage or fear, he began to drum his fingers and look off into the distance. Finally the Muun sighed heavily and shook his head. Argentum looked at her sadly.

"If you're looking to follow orders, Your Highness, you'll find that I'm not easy to kill."

His tone was calm and matter-of-fact. A slow smile then spread across his features. It was a clever smile, a knowing one.

"But you're not going to, are you," he laughed "If you wanted to, then why are our...friends...destroying your castle."

"What is the next step. That is the real question. How do you plan to end this siege?"

Lunafreya Solidor

 

[Lunafreya Solidor]

The left corner of those full lips she had curved themselves into a sharp grim. Lunafreya was impressed how he truly saw after her intentions, almost like he knew her all too well. 'He speaks the truth... If I were to kill him he would have died already.', something that could be attempted in tens of different ways than this small gathering they were having right now but how he spoke of the siege made her frown not shortly afterwards.

"Impressive.", she admitted out loud. "Very impressive but still lacking a certain finesse, Maro. For they are here after that valuable information passed on by Irveric Tavlar, perhaps due to some loose tongue somewhere in the castle and not after me, no. I believe that was a consequence of human greed but no more than that, they are here to obtain the means of our undoing by showing off our carcasses to those fools on the High Command hoping for a promotion."

Her speech was filled with disdain and spite, yet she calmed herself before proceeding as another explosion was heard coming from outside.

"They fire against the castle knowing they won't be able to breach through my shield generator, they don't have the numbers or the guns to do that. But no matter, I will deal with this wanna-be conquerors myself. For blood will be met with blood." Her index ginger pressed a button on the panel, allowing the image of a elderly male to appear not shortly afterwards. "Lord Rufus, proceed with the preparations for the homecoming." The male bowed and she ceased the connection between the two, before turning back to the Muun. "You were right when you said I would not kill you, Maro, but... there is still the matter of the present situation to discuss."

"We have outstayed ourselves in here. Staying any longer with these imperials is unbearable. They will find you, kill you and execute me by your side for harboring you and the many Sith that now filled the cells on my ship. No...", Lunafreya bristled in her seat for a contemplative position. "I knew it in Bastion... we must escape, but not like two thieves in the middle of the night, for those pathetic boys at the Inquisitorious will hunt us down for as long as we breathe. That sissy Tyrell and that idiot Tavlar will place every mandalorian and bounty hunter in the galaxy against us, without mentioning the Jedi Puppets of the Alliance... But, if they don't know what was done in here we can take this to another path."

Darth Argentum

 

[Darth Argentum]

The Muun listened carefully and finally nodded.

"We have indeed out stayed our welcome if that's the case. I'd like to find the one who informed on us. But alas, there's no time."

"I'm not surprised that you have a plan. Yet I admit my surprise when I find you've offered safety to Sith."

He grinned cunningly.

"Its clear that you have a purpose in mind for them. We'll have to discuss exactly what. But where are we headed, then?"

Lunafreya Solidor

 

[Lunafreya Solidor]

"Such a pity...", her lips muttered as her expression turned into something of genuine sadness as her eyes looked around the castle. “I really liked this castle.”, her face turned back to the Muun with patience. “This is such a beautiful planet, highly depreciated by the outer galaxy and even more so by those fucking humans. What is no surprise is that I took this long to leave them, I had indeed planned on killing Tavlar, cutting his head in front of his court and executing every single one of those disgusting geezers of the Assembly.”

Lunafreya leaned her head over the arm of her chair placing her delicate chin over the palm of her hand. She was indeed a bit surprised with the Muun, more than a bit.

“The Sith weren’t my first choice in this matter as well, but it will do for now. I have considered many options, time was all I had after Bastion and I have come to the conclusion that my actions were driven above all by self-preservation, that golden poof Avernus was one of the first to be killed by Kyber Dark, now, if they would do that to someone as big as he was just because he was a Sith, so what do you think they would do to me? Not just because I have filled my ranks with Sith traitors, no, but when they came, much like dogs, sniffing all around my affairs on this planet only to discover what I am building in my factories? No, I can’t have that, not today and maybe not tomorrow, they would shoot me in the back just like poor Avernus.”

It was funny that she said that out loud, but when she gave the order of the ceasefire and chose to harbor the Sith in her ships it wasn’t self-preservation that could be found in her thoughts and hopes. Her lips could only whisper “Daedalos Solidor” and nothing else, for above anything, she was actually worried about her brother and not herself. Telling that to someone else was something she would never do and while some could see this as the real definition of family love she only saw that as weakness. Her eyes returned to the Muun, her face was stern and her voice was clear.

“I have made quite an interesting amount of clones of myself. I will have one prepared to take my place as Warlord of the New Imperial Order after we leave, the humans won’t even begin to suspect anything. My clone will keep the tale of the Duchess of JanFathal alive and keep the humans blind to anything aside their own short-sighted lives can see as we leave to Nessantico in the Arnor System, deep within Sith Space lies the key to our salvation. A place ignored by major governments for its location and where we will be safe, but first, Maro, you will need to die.” She gave it a moment. “By faking your death we shall evade those bastards at the Inquisitorious, we shall gather all the resources at hand and move it to a secure location, I currently have started acquisitions of a small organization called Crimson Dawn, by moving the money there we shall play it safe. I will assume a false identity to keep myself out of their attention, at least for now. Also, if the Sith Empire indeed crumbles, we should be prepared not to lose everything, but, if they lose and I believe they will, we shall achieve a trusted position with Emperor Carnifex.”

She started to ponder, calmly thinking it through her own line of thought.
“I will learn the ways of the Sith and I know where to start, but right now, we have the homecoming now get up, follow me and get ready.”, Lunafreya stood up and with a gentle gesture of her hand smoke in the air turned into a giant golden scythe as the wall lifted into the roof presenting her hall with many screens displaying the position of her many servants located on isolated locations of the palace. A castle with no elevators, just stairways through its many maze like hallways.

Darth Argentum

 

[Darth Argentum]

Avernus.

The Muun scowled at that name. He'd been the one to defeat him, indeed nearly kill him, some time ago. It had prompted Argentum down this path. Yet he'd wanted to kill the mincing fool himself.

"Faking my death," he said with eyes narrowing suspiciously "Yes, as long as it's play-acting."

As for using the Sith, he grinned again. It was fitting. The way of the real Dark Side. At her mention of knowing of Sith ways, he only regarded her curiously. He'd certainly be finding out what those were.

At her gesture he rose and followed her through the endless spiral. To safety and the future....

Lunafreya Solidor

 

[Lunafreya Solidor]

"For the Confederacy we will go, Maro, there the Mornedhel will serve us to establish a greater force and complete my dream of creating the largest private army in the entire galaxy.", Her lips almost growled at her strange ally, she would go to the Sith and would take on a new name and a new face, so as to have knowledge of the darkness and to merge the knowledge of the Sith with hers, but for that she needed to go so close to her ancestral home, Valythor, birthplace of all of her race .

They said that all roads led to Valythor, perhaps it was true that fate guided his hand.
"Now, we dance!", With that the doors of his hall opened and together dozens of soldiers of the imperial forces that surrounded his castle entered.

"Lunafreya?", The human commander asked in front of them. "I thought that..." his scowl changed and he soon assumed an austere stance, "It doesn't matter! I am bound to remove you from power, it is not natural for an alien to grow so much, the New Order does not allow that. If I surrender and I... I will allow you to leave the planet and go your way in peace."

"Peace?" She almost snarled the word. "I spit on your peace, for it is nothing but a lie created by a band of filthy humans with a thirst for power! I am Lunafreya van Solidor and ruler of this planet and master of my Destiny!", With a wave of his arm carrying his weapon, the tip of the scythe gleamed, pouring an orange ball of fiery fire, hitting the first lines of enemy soldiers, bathing a quartet of them in orange and red, filling the room with screams, which soon echoed throughout the castle as their forces now ravaged humans with weapons, knives, claws, fangs.

At the side of the hall, another wall was beginning to rise, revealing the huge shadow of Naasla, her pet Rancor, roaring and steaming hot, gooey drool from his mouth full of sharp teeth. The look of dread on the commander's face caused Lunafreya to break free, breaking the absurd control over herself and starting to laugh, first in a low and genuinely nefarious tone and then as loud as a dragon's roar.

Maybe 'evil' was where she belonged after all.

Darth Argentum

 

[Darth Argentum]

The Muun scowled at the intrusion of NIO forces. Apparently they'd breached the shield generator. He readied the weapon up his sleeve as the garrison commander spoke. They just couldn't leave well-enough alone.

Lunafreya Solidor began to laugh with a madness that made him step back. Her next action was even more surprising. But he recovered quickly and could only laugh cruelly as her rancor was revealed. Their terror pleased him.

"Betray me, will you?" Argentum asked with a snarl.

His lightsaber slid into his palm and came to life.

"No! I will not succumb to this treachery!"

He launched himself forward into the screaming mass of humans....