Welp, THAT got fun fast (Zaiden, Seth Shorn)

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Zaiden"]
@[member="Seth Shorn"]
@[member="John Harrison"]

The Empress of ten thousand worlds waited on the Obsidian Throne of Dromund Kaas.

She was not, to put too fine a point on it, pleased.

Three members of the Empire had been summoned, for purposes of defending their actions and beliefs. Well, they hadn't been told that. They'd simply been summoned and left to think what they would.

 

[Sal Katarn]

The doors swung open and a solitary figure strode through, garbed head-to-toe in the color of death. The footsteps echoed ominously in the silence of the throne room. Seth Shorn came to a halt several meters away from the Obsidian Throne and its perilous occupant.

Behind the faceless Royal Guard's mask, Seth Shorn's quiet intensity burned in the Force.

"Your Majesty."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Seth Shorn"] was the first to enter the throne room. Ashin did not rise.

"Praetor Shorn, you've done good work for me, and for the Empire, but there are several people at your level who have done so. It doesn't give them a free pass to flout my orders.

"Why, precisely, have you seen fit to place a bounty on one of my Hands? I do not share their orders with you, with the Dark Council, or with anyone. The bounty posting states that my Hand, Zaiden, has associated with Reyven Samoth. Considering you're not privy to their orders, who are you to question my Hands? What, precisely, gives you the right?"

 

[Sal Katarn]

Shorn waited in silence as Royal Guards so often do. Ah, so that was why he had been summoned. The Praetor stood amidst dangerous woods, but so did all who associated with the Empress.

"If this treasonous action is indeed upon your orders, you would simply have it rescinded."

The blank red helm stared at the Empress.

"Do you wish it rescinded?"

 

[Sal Katarn]

Delete

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Seth Shorn"]

"The bounty? Of course I want it rescinded. You've endangered one of my personal operatives, someone entirely outside the chain of command. What you've done is treasonous. My Hands are empowered to act as they see fit. If you have what you consider evidence of treason, tell me about it now. In excruciating detail."

She made no promise of explanation. This was entirely above Shorn's pay grade.

 

[Sal Katarn]

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

Of course, Shorn's job was to protect the Empire against internal threats. Very little was above his paygrade. The Praetor remained noticeably statuesque. People outside the chain of command. Yes. He had... feelings about such people. No one was above the law. Yet, if the Empress wished to let her Hands cavort about with treasonous individuals that was her prerogative.

"As you wish, Empress."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Seth Shorn"]

"Let me be clear, Praetor. At this point, you are a bigger security concern to me than Zaiden. I inherited you and your organization. Your loyalties to me are unproven. You're an ideologue, by all accounts. Meanwhile, @[member="Zaiden"] has worked extremely closely, in numerous crucial operations, with a man whose loyalty is above question -- my senior Hand, Eldoc Quasat. My Hands are thoroughly aware that attaining actionable intelligence on Reyven Samoth is of benefit to me. Personal benefit. One of my closest operatives travels to Kesh, and you think I didn't know? Praetor, their ships are traced -- by me and me alone. I've marked most of them with my Blood Trail. Zaiden's closest friends answer and report to me.

"You had no right to do this. None. It's presumption on a grand scale, and it's treasonous to the core. Rescind the bounty. This was your Gravlex Med, Praetor. Your one free pass. Tirdarius and Kisep both used theirs up there. You used yours up today."

 

[Sal Katarn]

"As you wish, Empress," he repeated.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Seth Shorn"]

Ashin waved in dismissal.

"Stand with me as my bodyguard for when the other two get here. I've summoned @[member="Zaiden"] and @[member="John Harrison"]."

 

[Matreya]

Zaiden stepped through the doors for once not clad in his armor. Wrapped in a black cloak that draped slightly behind him on the floor, Zaiden showed his respect for his empress. Bringing his gaze to meet hers, he bowed low, "Empress @[member="Ashin Varanin"], I received your summons." Righting himself, he brought his gaze to the man nearby.

Instantly he visibly tensed, it was@[member="Seth Shorn"], the man whom had placed a bounty on his head. The man clearly thought he wasn't aware, or else he would not have been standing there.

"If not for the empresses presence..." He growled, hand twitching near his Darkestnite Longsaber.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Zaiden"]

"Calm yourself, Hand." Ashin's voice could have cut durasteel.

"You're aware, of course, that I keep very close watch on my Hands. You've travelled to Kesh, the world of Reyven Samoth, a Sith heretic and my personal enemy. You know this, and you know that actionable intelligence on him is extremely important to me. I've given you a great deal of freedom and separation from the chain of command, and with that freedom I expect results.

"What have you learned from Reyven Samoth? What have you learned of Kesh, and the numbers of the Lost Tribe? What is your report?"

 

[Sal Katarn]

Wordlessly, the Praetor moved to stand beside the Obsidian Throne. The thought crossed his mind that the Empress hardly needed a bodyguard. However, no one was invincible.... not even the Empress of ten thousand worlds.

The comparative silence of the Force was broken as a raging individual stormed in. Things had returned to a state of normality. The Empress ruled. The Royal Guard protected. And the Dark Jedi raged.

Seth made no reply to @[member="Zaiden"]'s outburst. The faceless red helm stared silently. A statue. A very dangerous statue.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Ashin's voice whispered in @[member="Seth Shorn"]'s head.

You wonder, perhaps, why I kept you around? Because I can't afford for the Hands, the Dark Council, or anyone else to see my displeasure with the Guards. The show of unity creates unity. The proper place of the Praetor is at the Empress's side.

 

[Sal Katarn]

This too previously crossed Seth's thoughts. He suppressed his displeasure at the intrusion to his thoughts and made a mental note to seek out Shady for training in protection from telepathy.

You build up illusions around yourself, Empress. Take care lest they come crashing down.

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Seth Shorn"]

All leadership is illusion, Praetor. I'm twenty-eight years old and I rule ten thousand worlds because I know how to play the players against each other. I have no political or economic education. I'm merely good at lying, and I happened to be lucky enough to acquire the power to open a hyperspace wormhole with my brain. Which is, in itself, a lie, because I would never use that sort of power if not for the good of the Empire.

Praetor, my very identity as a Sith is a lie. I've done what Ulic Qel-Droma attempted to do, with the addition of judgment, discretion, strength of purpose and willingness to humanize the enemy. I have been taught the Sith arts, I have mastered them, but in my heart I'm here to bring order and stability. I conquer worlds to stabilize and preserve them. I fight the Republic to unify them by giving them a common enemy, and to prepare them to handle all manner of insanity. I restrict the frankly disgusting excesses of the Sith in my care. I am Empress to protect the people of the Empire from the Sith.

I am a sleeper agent, the finest ever. Just objectionable enough to defuse most of the real inquiries. Hence my self-identification as a Dark Jedi when I arrived here.

I am very, very tired, Praetor. But I will see order and stability take hold of this side of the galaxy unless it kills me.

You are currently the only person alive who knows all this. I haven't even revealed it to my First Apprentice, not quite yet. I tell you this because, in the event of my death, I want my work to continue. Your function is to protect the Empire's leadership. If I die, this Empire cannot fall to some ambitious loner. There'll never be another one of me. If I die, you must ensure that the Dark Council takes control.

Welcome to the inner circle, Praetor. Consider this a leap of faith on my part.

Of course, if I sense betrayal in your mind, you'll never remember this.

 

[Matreya]

Zaiden put his hands behind his back, "Reyvon Samoth has no clue behind my motives. He believes me to simply wish to learn. It does benefit me, but I have not deterred from my goals. The numbers are small, they are powerful but so underwhelming it is ridiculous. Reyvon however..he is a threat. He should not be under estimated." With a sigh, Zaiden looked to his empress, "If you wish I can leave? i hate making you have to use telepathy."

He thought back to his encounters with the Lost Tribe, they were not powerful enough to pose a threat. But they could prove a powerful enemy if aligned with the proper enemies.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Zaiden"]

"Well, I suppose I don't need to warn you to be wary of Samoth. At any moment, he might discern your true loyalties, and I'd hate to lose you. Your devoted service has stood you in good stead, Hand. Rest assured that, whatever telepathic conversations you sense, you have my full attention." She smiled without humor. "Carry on, Hand. Be careful. Prioritize your own survival. Dismissed."

 

[Sal Katarn]

Behind his helmet, the Praetor's adamantine gaze shifted. In many ways, they were alike. Through political maneuvering Seth managed to set himself up at 22 years old as the youngest Praetor in history - strange, he felt so much older. He twisted interpretation of his genetic construction, originally intended to make him loyal to the Moffs, to make his loyalty lie in preserving the Empire, much as the Empress manipulated her appearance as "Sith." And they both believed in ensuring the stability of the Empire. Yet, that was where the similarities ended.

No thoughts of betrayal stirred within Seth... save misgivings about the Dark Council. They were a three legged stool, with all the feet of varying heights. Mismatched and ill proportioned. A poor support for an Empire. They would try, oh yes, for a time they would try. But in the end they would go the route of so many triumverates before them, each consumed by greed. Their struggle for power would rip the Empire to pieces.

And were you not, once, an ambitious loner, Empress? The Empire cannot survive with so many reaching hands at its head. Especially when they are Sith. You would dangle absolute power and expect them to ignore their nature? I will do as you ask, Empress. But when they begin to crumble do not expect me to continue blindly. I too seek the stability of the Empire.

He watched Zaiden carefully. If anything, his initial actions only furthered Zaiden's cover. Though the rescinding of the bounty would do much to harm it. Perhaps he was in error, or perhaps Zaiden merely made excuses for his actions and the tool planned to turn on the master.

 

[Matreya]

Zaiden bore his eyes on@[member="Seth Shorn"] imagining how many ways he could kill the man before being stopped, "Yes empress. I will keep you posted." Slowly backing out, he strode down the hall. He would return to Reyvon to finish his task.