A Lost Queen(One Sith Dominion of Kuat)

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric stood onboard one of the One Sith's Wyyrlok class Star Destroyers.

The ship was the most aesthetically pleasing vessel that Titan Industries had ever designed, and that was because the Killiks had created it. The ship seemed almost like a living creature, an underwater animal of some sort, lithe, smooth, and quietly graceful. There were Dozens of Wyyrloks within this fleet, each one with a cloud of fighters and gunships already disgorged.

They moved forward, slow and lumbering, cutting through space towards their objecitve.

Kuat.

The galaxies greatest and largest Shipyard owned and operated by Kuat Drive Yards. Alric watched it on the viewscreen, the planet and the massive ring around it getting bigger and bigger. Internally, he salivated.

Kuat Drive Yards had the facilities to build more than two dozen Star Destroyers at the same time. It had the know how, the techniques, the qualified engineers, and the money to create an entire navy, and here the One Sith were trying to strong arm them with a fleet. It was to be expected really.

“Mr. Serin. I'm surprised you've decided to join us today.”

The Admiral spoke loudly, grating on his ears. “Yes. Not all of us want to invade things Admiral. There is opportunity here, beyond the taking of this world.”

Before the Admiral could speak again Alric was already off.

Kuat would be a part of the One Sith either way. They could join willingly, or by force. Alric Kuhn intended on seeing it become the former. Kuat Drive Yards was a valuable partner to have, and Alric was too smart to pass it up.

Spoiler

Objectives:
Occupy and Blockade the Shipyard - No Killing or Physical damage to the Shipyard
Find the Queen of Kuat and negotiate with her - Alric Kuhn heading this up
Stop Kuati Turncoats attempting to steal a Star Destroyer

 

[Cordelia deWinter]

Find the Queen of Kuat and negotiate with her - Alric Kuhn heading this up

Kuat; A jewel of the core worlds. Here the orbital shipyards were a bounty a plenty. The cog and wheels of the Republic.

The disappearance of millions of its population would send it into a panic.

Cordelia deWinter, a young noble woman was one of the few who was left behind. Pale lavender eyes would watch the holonews. What manner of interest would this be?

It was then that news of an approaching One Sith Fleet would also come across in the ongoing panic. What would this mean? Do? What about the Queen?

Had she also disappeared?

Emergency procedures would sure to be in effect. A thought would occur to the young woman.

Perhaps finding the Queen first and foremost would be to her benefit -- as well as the One Sith.

 

[Reverance]

Stop the Turncoats...

The Hand sighed as the Immortal broke free from hyperspace. Donning the war-torn armor he had become so accustomed, he shifted upon the built up throne. Of metal and bolts, it presided with a sense of something more visceral and carnal. He lusted upon his supping of blood and bone and sinew and the red entrails that washed cleaned from hands, but never really left. Metallic undertones resided within the nostrils as he lifted himself from the chair, prepared to act when needed.

The One Sith were here for one thing, the turning of Kuat over to hands of the warring nation. The universe riveted and burst outwards in tones and whispers of lose and abandonment, as if thousands and millions of voices suddenly screamed out and were immediately silenced. As the rank beckoned him, he would act about the notions that what were best for the One Sith were best for him. And in this situation, he would help prevent the fleeing of those who would run and help prevent stealing of what was now One Sith property.

Metal left glove clacked against a black painted metal dash as his crimson eye scanned the view-screen. He waited to hear the words, to the hear the treachery of those who were now being asked to serve.

 

[Quietus]

After 500 years of living, life still had a way of throwing a curveball.

Lorelei sat in the deathly silent hall of her office within the Kuat Drive Yards, watching through the glasteel bay windows the utterly dead machination beyond. It had been nearly 100 years since she’d last seen the Drive Yards in such a state, and that had been towards the end of the 400 year darkness as the Gulag Plague remnants began to clear out. For the next seventy years she’d pulled the strings of the remaining Kuatian government and people to get their planet back to what it had been only just 24 hours ago.
She’d foreseen this reaping, but still it caught her… not unawares, but merely stricken.

Millions of people - gone. Vanished.

Despite her knowledge base, the Sovereign of Kuat could not offer to the people that remained a single answer that would assuage their fears. Not for why, not for where, not for how.

It was moments like these that humbled a person of her station. Moments like these that reminded her there was still yet an overarching power to the galaxy not fully understood.

None had been spared. Every faction had suffered the same. Even the Sith.

“My Queen,” DiVanca Leonardi, still here - bless her soul, arrived to the massive chamber out of breath, “enemy ships have entered the system.”

“...who?” the Queen intoned.

“The Sith.”

Speak of the devils… the Queen's lips drew thin, her hands curled into fists at her front where they clutched, white-knuckled.

"My Queen," DiVanca approached, weary, careworn, utterly terrified, shaken from her stoic self, "what should we do? Shall I have them sound the alarm?"

Lorelei remained watching through the glass, her eyes turned to the distant black of space. A sigh pulsed through her lips, "No."

"No? But Your Majesty...they're Sith!"

"I will not place Kuat's people in peril in a vain attempt to rebuff them. We've lost too much already, Miss Leonardi. Sith they may be, but they can still be reasoned with if Coruscant is any indication."

"..."

"Let them come."

 

[Alric Kuhn]

Alric moved quickly through the massive ship, his feet stomping, his person followed by the pitter patter of a woman that was quickly searching for things to say to him.

“Find me the Sith.” He paused for a moment, looking around. “Find me the Sith that support my endeavors here. Ones that want Kuat and its Drive Yards peacefully drawn into the fold.”

He knew they existed.

“After you've done that, find me the Queen of Kuat.” That was a more difficult command. He kind of doubted that she would be hunted down easily, though so far no alarm bells were ringing within the fleet which was a rather good sign, perhaps Her Majesty had decided that standing against the Sith Fleet would have been rather foolish.

Alric frowned slightly.

Quick steps had taken him to the Hangar where his Lambda-Class Shuttle was already waiting. He was unsure if the Sith were on this ship or not, but he decided to wait just in case.

Alric needed to head to where the Queen was immediately. If she could be negotiated with, if she could be talked into simply allowing Kuat to be taken by the Sith, then everything would fall into place.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

It was as he had foreseen.

It was like the dreams that had plagued him for months, gnawing at his subconscious mind as the body slumbered, pitching him into cold sweats and muscle spasms upon awakening. An ill omen, indeed, but Kaine had been gifted enough in the darker natures of the Force to know that this was not some random mania that was afflicting him, but the Dark Side lashing out at him in warning. For weeks, he had been vulnerable to these night terrors, but had no real way of discerning them in the middle of a war with the Republic. However; now it was all so very clear, and it only took the sudden disappearance of billions to do so, and now the entire galaxy was thrown into an upheaval. Not even his Empire in the Fringe was safe from the chaos, but the provincial army had been dispatched into the streets alongside his other minions and the droids he purchased from Hegemonic Automaton, and they were upholding martial law while he was away.

He would have to return soon, it wouldn't be smart to let his people wallow in confusion and chaos while he was away. They needed to see their Emperor in person, and be reminded that they were warriors and now panicking children.

However; that would have to wait. Kuat was finally vulnerable, and one of the Voices of the Dark Lord wouldn't miss the chance to bring the shipyards of KDY under their control, once and for all. Then maybe he could get back to his people, figure out this mess, and then finally break the Republic's neck. Suddenly, the Sith Lord was roused from his contemplative thought by a hailing from beyond the threshold of his chambers about an Imperial Wyyrlok Star Destroyer en route to Kuat, and at first he was agitated that he was bothered in such a manner, but realized how close they were to the planet.

It was time to meet Mr. Kuhn.

[member="Lorelei Darke"]
[member="Reverance"]
[member="Alric Kuhn"]
[member="Cordelia deWinter"]

 

[Cordelia deWinter]

Find the Queen of Kuat and negotiate with her - Alric Kuhn heading this up
[member="Lorelei Darke"] [member="Alric Kuhn"]

What a strange thing. There were no alarms blasting across the planet -- well in reference to the approaching One Sith Fleet. Instead things were being focused on the here and now.

Things were chaotic. Men, women, and children were gone. The sound of cries and wails would fill the air.

Cordellia was stoic, unmoved. In her centuries of living, there was one thing she learned from her mother.

To move with the roll of the tides.

There were layers. Many layers. Whatever had happened here by whatever means it would be, did not matter. No, what did matter was finding the queen.

Corellia would move swiftly, moving across the din over to the small speeder car. From there she would make route to the palace.

One can't simply walk into it... but with what was going on already... well... one had to press the advantage.

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

Eventually, he had wound his way down towards the hangar bay, waiting there for the Sith Lords that his secretary had managed to summon.

To his surprise, the first to arrive was one of the voices. A man known as Darth Vornskr. Silara had told him of the man, though not much detail had been provided by her. She was always careful. Nevertheless Alric managed to find familiarity in the mans face, something that put him more at ease, something that would allow him to speak with more confidence.

“Lord Vornskr.” Alric said in greeting, bowing slightly.

Though he was the owner and CEO of Titan Industries he knew his place on the ladder of the One Sith very well. It was a good thing to show respect to these people, a good thing to show that he was willing to bow if necessary.

It was no blow to his ego.

“I understand your goals and mine are similar.” A flash of something appeared on his datapad. “Concerning Kuat I mean.”

 

[Darth Ayra]

Alicia Drey had the capital of Chandrila DataTech reviewed by the InterGalactic Banking Clan. Serj Sularis, the Muun assigned to the backing she had secured for the technological firm, had met with her on Sojourn. Their meeting had been of the direction of the company and how she would begin returning the investment made by the Muun's into the company. It had concluded in a positive light. Turnover was increasing per week. The profit margins were healthy.

It all pointed to a very rich, lucrative and beneficial relationship, which made Alicia Drey one of the richest women on Chandrila and the coffers of Muunilinst that much larger.

~​

​

Darth Ayra overlooked Kuat, the cowl of her robe raised above her head; and what she saw was a world aflame. Riots had erupted across the world, in particular it's capital, Kuat City. The Sith Lord was stopped on the balcony of one of it's highest towers, overlooking the plumes of smoke that had begun to rise from buildings on fire. The Niathal-class transport she had used to arrive laid in the background, the sounds of it's engines dying.

It reminded her of a metaphor. The death of the Galactic Republic's hold over the galaxies most famous shipyards, giving rise to the One Sith.

An opportunity had arisen in the chaos that had engulfed Kuat. One that would bring Chandrila DataTech to another level. Ayra turned away from the balcony to the door behind and begun her descent to the surface.

 

[Reverance]

Stop the turncoats...

"There..." he stated as his arm pointed out from the armorweave robe. The brown cloth lifted against his gesticulation as he pointed towards a star destroyed. The engines of the large and monstrous machination were firing on, the appearance of which alluded to intended departure. Odd, he thought, that they would try to leave as such a time upon blockade and capture. A smile formed upon face hidden beneath cowl, he approached the helmsman.

"Put the Right Hand in it's way, don't allow it depart. If it fires upon you, fire back...but don't aim to destroy." The helmsman almost spoke to the detriment of his own livelihood, a thing met with a stone cold stare of blood and anger and resolve. "Do as I say...or I'll find someone else to and perhaps I'll fling you into orbit."

He paused for one moment before patting the helmsmen upon shoulder and sending the figure upon his way. It would be a pretty unfortunate case for the star destroyer to fire upon the Immortal, considering the imbalance of weaponry. Mentally shrugging, he quickly found his way down into the hanger bay and approached a dingy old star viper. With an open and close, the engines fired on and Gabriel spoke quickly through the communications.

::Hail the star destroyer. Tell them we are sending technicians to help them...alleviate their stress::

Truth be told, he cared little for this process. But he would do it nonetheless, to assist with the blockade. A blockade wasn't much good if ships could just come and go as they please. With a sense of irritation and hunger, the star viper exited the vessel in high velocity towards the fleeing star destroyer. The wings shifted against the body as it danced in and out of debris, a showmanship towards the automated piloting and detection system and not so much the Hands ability to pilot it. After all, he was all thumbs.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Darth Vornskr, Voice of the Dark Lord, stood tall and imposing in the hanger as he awaited Mr. Kuhn's arrival. The Sith wore no armor, but rather opted for an ornate robe of gold and scarlet adorned with jewelry of all shapes and makes. While the robes came with a flowing, concealing hood, he kept it down so that all of his face was visible. One should not hide their faces when negotiating, for that was just rude and cowardly. One should also not be impatient as well, and Vornskr could be a patient man when he needed to be, and in such a fragile time as this it was important to keep a level-head. So, when Mr. Kuhn arrived he reciprocated the man's bow with a bow of his own, waving his hand for added effect, although with Vornskr's height he was still above the man even when bowing.

"You are correct, Mr. Kuhn. Kuat is a world of principle, of order, and of noble heritage. It had no business being in the Republic, who spat on it's traditions while raping their shipyards. Being a noble myself, I want to aid my brethren in their time of need, and show them that the Sith can be far more beneficial to them than the Jedi."

[member="Alric Kuhn"]

 

[Vrag]

Turncoats

The world was going mad, and somehow, she was still here. It had happened so fast that there wasn't really time to think, or to consider the repercussions of what had transpired; no, the nature of the Sith didn't allow for that. Allow! The Sith lacked the capacity for care as a whole, which is why they pressed onward without a moment's hesitation. Those who were lost were lost, and the ones who stayed behind would be free to consider themselves blessed once their order had subdued the Galaxy.

First we take Kuat, she hummed to herself, body thrumming and alive from excitement. It would be good, throwing herself into a fight. No time to think, no time to wonder about the what ifs that the exodus had brought with it. No time.

She glanced over to the Sith Lord beside her, his form armored much as her own — save for the quality of the materials, of course — and resisted a smile. She was here to be a tool; hammer, a scalpel, a shotgun, if need be. Paint a target, spill the blood and sic the dogs. That? That she could do.

[member="Reverance"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

Alica Drey descended the steps of tower to the bottom. The fire escape was full of those seeking lost relatives. "Where is my boy?!" screamed a woman, anguish and tears scarring her face. She had fallen to her knees, grief stricken.
"Drake? DRAKE?!" shouted a man, of mid forties. Human. He was frantic in his search for the missing Drake. Would he ever find him?
"PLEASE HELP ME! MY GRANDMOTHER IS SICK. I THINK... I THINK SHE'S HAVING A HEART ATTACK!" Alicia was stopped by a much younger man. Teenager in years. Not knowing what to do. "I cannot help you."
"But please! She needs a hospital!"
"I said I cannot help you." Alicia pulled her arm away from the boy and turned to leave. He tried to stop her again, such was his desperation for an adult to help him.

Unadulterated rage. Something that could be set off at any given moment. The chaos of the stair way, the flames that she had bore witness too on top of the skyscraper. It made the beast within sniff again. She could taste the congealed blood from the Battle of Kashyyyk six years prior.

Her eyes darted in all directions. Nobody was looking. "Please, I just need you-" A clothesline to the neck and he tumbled over the barricade, to the bottom. She turned quickly and continued to make her way down.

Just another victim lost in a galaxy engulfed in a galactic tragedy.

 

[Balaya Praelior Zambrano]

[member="Darth Arcanix"]

"Are you certain?" The voice looked upon the woman who was standing across from her. THey had been working hard on it and while Balaya checked over the crystal they were working. The initial subject had failed the first of many but she would find someone who could withstand it. In the wake of things they were working to find all they they could. Perhaps here among these Republic ones there would be something... or someone worthwhile. Her face held a small smile though while she motioned with her hand for Elara and the four behind her to come forward. "Elara go with Omega and round up stray republic members... leave the citizen's alone. We don't want to ruin the negotiations with the queen." The apprentice bowed her head and started moving off while Balaya put a hand on the back of the doctor. "We'll just have to find one able to survive doctor... and we'll ensure it is all worth it in the end."

 

[Reverance]

Turncoats...

His crimson eye turned to Vrag as his hands flowed freely across holograms, a unique form of piloting where really he was just pretending to do something. It was mostly automated. Leaning back against the chair, he cracked his neck and turned the communications on.

Whitenoise. The acceptance of codes. An eerie thing.

::They are allowing you passage into the particle shield. I've sent the codes to the Star Viper. It will sequence in proximity.::

Gabriel smiled as he turned off the vehicles direct line to the Immortal. The helmsman sounded raspy, he thought, as he looked over to Vrag. "I'm imagining resistance inside. Fear of the Immortal has likely convinced them that drawing us in for close fire is the more appropriate solution. Or maybe they'll try and capture us...that would be something, wouldn't it?" He turned his attention back to the viewscreen and worked the vehicle into the hanger bay, the particle shield dropping for the slightest moment to allow entry. As the Viper descended into the black star specked bay, men rushed through the large warehouse type room, armed with weapons of blaster origins and armor of duraplast. They were well enough equipped, for turncoats. As he powered off the engine, Gabriel smiled and cracked his neck, gesturing towards the door, at Vrag's leisure. He'd seen the woman work from afar on Kashyyyk, but now he'd like to get the full demo. "After you..."

[member="Vrag"]

 

[Quietus]

"The Sith Fleet is approaching. They've prevented several ships from leaving - we'll not be able to receive Republic aid, your Majesty. They're cutting us off."

"The word you're searching for," the Queen began stiffly from her position before the broad windows, "is blockade."

Leonardi's mouth opened and closed several times, but no words would be had.

Lorelei understood her silence, more than the very young woman could ever know. Silence truly was golden, no matter when it was had. The Queen breathed rhythmically, circulating a mantra of air and energy along the Force. She could feel things brewing, she could sense the chaos of her planet. It stirred within her old feelings that she had long since packed away. Now was not the time to regress, now was a time for progress. As much as would be had.

"Send word to what remains of our Council planetside. We must work to enforce martial law and a strict curfew as best we can. I need a status report on the riots in Kuat City, make sure my law enforcers are maintaining non-lethal measures."

"...what about the Sith?"

"I will deal with them myself."

"Your Majesty, I must insist-"

"That I run and hide? Let them rape my planet and kill my people? No, Leonardi, we do not run from opportunity. We seize it, for the greater good."

"Opportunity?"

"The Sith don't want to destroy Kuat, it's too valuable to them."

"How can you be so sure? What about you?"

"...Enact Security Code Ares. I want the system shut down and I do not want them getting anything from it without my clearance."

 

[Darth Ayra]

As she descended the stair way, Alicia reflected on her plan. [member="Avadreia Lacroix"] wasn't unfamilar to her. Of course, the Current Director of Operations for Kuat Drive Yards knew her as Darth Ayra. She had been careful not to mix the lives of Alicia Drey and that of the Sith Lord. Kuat was the closest that she would come to the two skimming each other since Pandeima had named her 'Ayra'.

Kuat Drive Yards had shares and Alicia Drey had money. The stock exchange was, of course, in a frenzy in the ensuing Chaos. But forgery was a tool that Alicia did not mind having at her disposal. She had lived a clandestine life style for many years, thus she had hatched a scheme in which she would buy into Kuat Drive Yards and procure the ability to construct ships.

To do this, she would need two things: capital to invest and an agreement. Reflecting on her meeting with Serj Sularis months ago on Sojourn, where they had reviewed the ensuing growth of Chandrila DataTech in the past six years and the investments that the InterGalactic Banking Clan had made had been returned, Alicia Drey had all the capital she needed.

It was the latter that was a problem. Hence why she was on Kuat, to procure it.

By any means necessary.

 

[Cordelia deWinter]

Find the Queen of Kuat and negotiate with her - Alric Kuhn heading this up
Enroute to the Palace to discover more information
Hope to not get shot in the panic.

[member="Lorelei Darke"] [member="Alric Kuhn"]

​

If there was anything to say about having a large population disappear from a planet is that traffic was fantastic. Well, in an airspeeder at least.

Throughout the ride, Cordelia would keep in touch with the news in the Holo. News from several other nearby systems were also suggesting that this mass rapture had occurred elsewhere.

That such a large amount of missing sapients meant that it could not just be a One Sith Plot; much the less one of the Republic. No there were other forces at stake here.

Cordelia would mull over this.

In the back of her mind, something would start to percolate.

I wonder....

 

[Alric Kuhn]

[member="Lorelei Darke"] [member="Darth Vornskr"]

“Good. I'm glad to have someone of your stature on my side.” Of course the mans talk of nobility and raping of Shipyards was utterly ridiculous and even comical, but he decided not to point that out on this particular day.

He wasn't ready to die yet.

“Mr. Serin. I've located The Queen.”

Alric whirled around on his secretary as he was half a step on his shuttle, eyes bulging wide and mind beginning to race. “How in the hell did you manage that? We have an entire army of agents searching on the ground!”

“I called the company directory.”

Alric paused for a moment.

“Oh.” Well that was certainly the way to do it, far easier then sending an army of agents to find the woman. Alric frowned for a moment, looking over to Kaine. “Send her a message, ask her if she would meet with the head of Titan Industries and a Voice of the Dark Lord.”

What more could he do?

 

[Vrag]

Turncoats

"Such a gentleman," the firrerreo offered her male companion a toothy smile. Humor was her way to cope, especially in times like these. "Are the stories all true, then?" A jibe — a jest, even — in the face of adversity awaiting outside. The hilt of her lightsaber lay firmly in her grip, an extension of the woman's self.

The Sith unclipped a grenade from her belt, pressing her armored form flush against the wall of their shuttle. A dangerous practice, cooking, but she was willing to take the risk. They lacked a height advantage, and the hangar was too big to bounce it around without risking throwing it out of range.

No time to ponder; the door hissed open, and her quick reflexes kicked in. She took a step forward, using the pivoting motion to put more strength into her throw, aiming for the bulk of the approaching group. As soon as the grenade left her hand, the Sith pushed off the back wall of the corridor, launching herself back into cover. Hopefully, the fuse had been burning long enough that the enemy would have no time to pick it up, much less throw it back.

[member="Reverance"]