A Step Up

[Onrai]

Arch-Magus Vanessa Vantai.

On one hand, she appreciated the lot in life she now held. Her position of influence, a guiding hand in the pathway of the Sith's various technologies, rituals, and more arcane devices, was certainly something she did not fail to relish. The last time she had wielded this much power was decades ago, during the time of the original Sith Empire. A third of the Empire had been within her domain then, and she was certain that in time, her power now would rival even that which she once held.

But on the other hand, the name was so... tacky. So unnecessarily arcane. She preferred to just be Vanessa Vantai, the little old Sith who didn't draw attention to herself and instead only quietly exerted the level of power she had - power that a select few within the Empire knew she possessed. A select few like the individual she was coming to visit.

Her entry into the Imperial Palace was... humble. Quite normative, all things considered. As she arrived, a new set of attire was under her personal care - extruded, fine metallic fabric, made from the wreckage of the Star Forge. It was a bit more impractical than what she normally wore, but she still wore a robe over it, the first of the perpetual lightsabers at her waist. The relationship between the new leader of the Dark Magus and the Emperor of the Sith Empire was due for a little bit of refurbishing. As well, Vanessa needed to update him on the path she intended to take them on - a path that she was certain he would approve of. There were some things she needed to keep silent about - that a plan was a contingency in the event the Empire ever fell, for instance. But the general intent of things was... hopefully to be sound.

As usual, she stood before the doors to the throne room before eventually being guided in by a Crownguard. She looked upon Kaine once more, feeling more confident about her interactions with him - albeit curious. Had Jorryn relayed to the Inquisition her work on the SMD Project? And if so, had the work been favorably received by the Emperor?

"A pleasure to serve from a higher position once again." She opened.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

​

​

The Emperor's Sanctum
Imperial Palace, Bastion

The throne room of the Sith Emperor was dark and foreboding, sparsely illuminated by several phosphorescent panels around the throne while the rest of the chamber was kept dark and gloomy. The throne itself was raised on a gradually sloping plinth, which afforded the Emperor's seat primacy against any who would treat with the ruler of the Dark Side. Four crimson Nerean Crownguard flanked the throne, their weapons inactive yet held in a way that they could be easily primed for combat. These guards were always on edge, eyes ever vigilant for any sign of danger against their liege; whom their obedience to was unquestionable and unwavering.

Above the throne was a marvelous contraption of foreign metal and oblique glass called the Dark Oculus. This device was unique in its ability to peer through the Force itself to conjure images of distant locations, people, and events. It had been built for the Sith Emperor by the mysterious Attendants with the aid of the Royal Oracle, Tammuz-Ra, combining the power of hyperspace navigation, far-seeing, and the Dark Side of the Force.

Several other similar devices existed on the Emperor's flagship and other hidden strongholds.

Emperor Carnifex regarded [member="Vanessa Vantai"] as she entered the room, his garb not dissimilar from what he had worn during their first meeting several months ago. Much had changed since then, Vanessa had risen to command the Dark Magus while the Emperor's hold on his Empire had grown ever stronger as the latter grew and grew in strength and size. The Alliance had tasted his wrath, and the Free World Coalition had crumbled beneath his fury.

Where next would his sword strike?

"Lady Vantai, your arrival here is welcome. I see you are acclimating to your new power rather nicely, though I hope it does not plague you with delusions of grandeur."

 

[Onrai]

“Why I’m hurt that you would even think I would do such.” She gave a false look of sadness for a moment before slowly coming closer to the throne. “In all sincerity, I consider my loyalty to be directed towards the Empire and the continued dominance of the Sith.” She said. “If I ever have such thoughts of seizing the throne, it will be when you and half the other potential Emperors and Empresses are dead to the hands of the Jedi and our territory is under successful siege by the Alliance and their Silver friends. Irrecoverably dead beyond even my level of sorcery to repair, of course. And while my foresight is not as good as it probably should be, I don’t see that happening any time soon.”

She continued forward towards the throne, her voice more quiet as she approached. “I have dreams, you know. Desires of where I wish to see the galaxy under the thrall of the Sifh. I want to see the light snuffed from the heart of every pure and righteous Force user and replaced with a twisted darkness. Such blasphemous and unrighteous nature is at home within a heart long corrupted by the Dark Side.” She stopped at the base of the steps leading to the throne proper.

“I have built you tools of terror to spark fear throughout the galaxy. Fear will always stimulate the paranoia of our enemies. Resurrected weapons of war, rituals long recovered from musty tomes... and now I have an entire organization to assist me in the goals of further polluting the galaxy with the touch of the Dark Side.”

She looked up at him. “Is there anything specifically that you wish from me?”

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor chortled, a throaty gurgle in the back of his mouth. "I summoned you here to reaffirm your loyalties, Pandeima."

He gingerly waved his hand, a casual motion, and wispy tendrils of translucent white energy were drawn towards his fingertips. These strands of vitality came from a previously overlooked Human male affixed to the plinth's base by a spiked metal chain wrapped around his neck. He convulsed, muscles spasming as his life force was violently siphoned from his eyes and mouth, the latter of which had opened impossibly wide in a silent scream of unfathomable agony. With each second that passed, the skin grew tauter over his atrophied muscles and brittle bones until all that remained was a wheezing ghoul, unable to move or speak yet still trapped in the realm of the living.

Conversely, the stolen energies seemed to add a certain color to the Emperor's complexion. A smile split across his features, "And to ascertain if your projects have accumulated any merit. The Empire's strength grows daily, and so too does its ability to create greater engines of war."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

"Well, consider them reaffirmed." She replied, watching as the Emperor performed an act of Drain Life upon a sacrifice. "I see you've become a vampire of a very different sort - perhaps more emotion has flowed into you. I can't think of the last time I ever saw you smile." She stepped a bit further forward until she was a few feet from his throne. "I've heard rumors that your new dreadnought is receiving a beam weapon of Sith design. If you wanted a bigger gun, I would gladly have provided it." A frown crossed her lips for a bit before it dissipated to a more neutral expression.

"I'm working to devise new weapons of war for the Sith regularly. Assets for... emergency use, should things get truly, egregiously bad for us, though I don't see that occurring any time soon."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Joy isn't something one considers when bringing order to the galaxy. But this..."

The Emperor gestured around him, the grandeur of his throne room, the massive Palace complex that stretched for kilometers around it, Bastion itself, and the grand Imperium he was constantly working to build. "Does put a smile on my face from time to time." Carnifex rose, his robes spilling out to drag along the floor as he descended the dais upon which his throne was raised. Not much about him had changed over the days since their last meeting, he had acquired no new noticeable scars and still dressed as regal as he always had; his opulence still as magnificence.

"And I will oversee the production of my own weapons, Vanessa. Your contributions are noted and appreciated, but I have a certain method to my madness that I cannot ignore. Besides, a Sith must always strategize on the grandest scale. These machines of destruction my Empire churns out with every rotation is but a temporary measure, for one day my power will be absolute and I will no longer need to meet my enemies in the flesh. I will stretch my hand across the heavens, and turn all who oppose me to ash. Then I will remake the universe in my image, and rule it through the Dark Side of the Force. It is all inevitable now, the faltering of the light has given me dominion over the Throne of Balance."

Now he stood before her and reached out with his right hand to gently cusp her chin, his thumb slowly rubbing over her lips. "But tell me of these contingencies you have devised, Vanessa."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

“Yet it brings you joy to impose order.”

Vanessa listened to his continued monologue. “Frankly, Kaine - I don’t see you succeeding. I know that a chorus of a billion throats will cry your name in fear and hatred. The stars themselves will run red with blood. You will ride upon the storm of darkness and send discord and terror throughout the corrupt, faltering Galactic Alliance.” She paused for a moment. “But what you seek... dominion over everything, over all existence as though you will be some sort of god - that is inachievable. We Sith may become immortal. Even nigh-invulnerable. But godhood... that is impossible.”

She sighed for a moment, bringing a hand to his own. “Kaine... my precious, darling Kaine. You’re still going to try, aren’t you?” She looked into his eyes, seeing an unfeeling, uncompromising gaze that sent a shudder down her spine. “You’re going to walk so far down a path that for better or worse, you will never return from. So long as the Empire is not threatened, the dominion of the Sith not laid asunder by your intended actions... you have my support, for whatever it’s worth.”

She thought for a moment. “Even now, as I stand here, my forces have been spreading throughout the Sith Empire and beyond. We have been working tediously to build hidden infrastructure, consolidate resources for emergency use should the worst of scenarios come to pass - should your plan fail and our damnation as a galactic power become assured. When this happens, all the assets I have garnered, the portions of the army and navy brought into my fold, will begin the process of refortifying a region of the galaxy with our military might. I will rule over them, my company’s technological terrors combined with the power of the Dark Side to keep whatever carrion birds seek to strip the flesh from the corpse of our Empire. And when the time is right, when the Sith cease their inevitable warlording, I will support the installation of a new Emperor - one like you, who is strong and able to keep the agenda of the Dark Side at the forefront of everyone’s mind, who prevents pointless warring between those who desire the same thing.”

Her eyes closed, her head lowering as she continued. “You may think I have aspirations of power. That I intend to use whatever forces I have to overthrow you. I don’t want that. You are unlike any Sith that has arisen to the position of Dark Lord before you. I want you to remain in power. I want to continue supporting you with the full might of my resources. Know only that if you are slain, or if your plan results in death, I will make my move and forge the Greater Maldrood out of whatever fragments of the Empire I will claim, preserving them until the day of resurrection is at hand.”

Her head raised back to face him. “Please know you have my loyalty.”

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"And that is why I am Emperor, and you are but another servant."

She couldn't understand, she never would. Vitiate had understood, Palpatine had understood, and even Krayt had understood to a degree. The Dark Side of the Force would lead him to the heights of power previously unimagined, and then he would know no limits. Legends had spoken that the young Jacen Solo had peered into the Netherworld of the Force, and saw a dark armored man sitting upon the Throne of Balance, ruling over the entire galaxy. It was theorized by many that it was Darth Krayt himself, but through his own divinations into the Dark Side, the Emperor of the Sith began to see himself sitting upon the throne.

And he was determined to make those visions reality.

"You possess some foresight, Vanessa, but you lack true vision. But through your service to me, you will begin to see what I have seen and will realize that these technological terrors you've constructed are insignificant next to the power of the Force. As I said, they will be supplanted by true might, but that time has not yet arrived."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

Her neutral look once more transformed itself into a gaze of what could only truly be described as disappointment. “Another servant? That hurts, Kaine.” She said. The sort of power she knew he desired, the power to essentially become the god of the galaxy, to take his title of god-king and truly elevate himself above all beings - above the Sith. “I have vision - merely a pessimistic one, but a vision nonetheless. You are an optimist - assuming that nothing can go wrong with your schemes. You assume that your ascension to godhood is effectively all but assured. I merely prefer to plan for what happens if failure occurs - because failure of such a mighty scheme would have far-reaching repercussions for the Empire, for the Sith...” the slowly brought a hand to his chest.

“For us.”

Her expression once more grew neutral. You say the time for my creations to be replaced by your might of the Force has not yet come. So you do need me and what I have to offer from a materialistic view. For now, at least.”

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"What us, Vanessa? Do not presume that your forward attempts at intimacy put us beyond the level of master and servant." He reached down and grasped the hand that Vanessa had lain over his chest, not so harshly that it would cause pain, but firm enough that the intent was understandable. It would also be prudent to notice that the Crownguard in the room had tentatively taken a step forward, their hands slipping closer to their vibro-weapons as their gaze fixated on both Vanessa and the offending hand.

"And do not presume that I need you, there are few that I truly require by my side in the Empire. Perhaps that can change, but perhaps it will never change." He relinquished his grip on her hand, and the Crownguard relaxed in their stand as they took one step back into their original standing positions. "It all greatly depends on what you can provide for the Empire, Vanessa. These passing curiosities are nothing but that, fleeting fantasies. Our people need something more real, something more tangible to use against our enemies. Faux superweapons will only go so far, Vanessa, they will only go so far."

"Tell me what you can deliver as the new Arch-Magus."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

She frowned. "How enigmatic." She said, lowering her hand. "Ritual is going to take time to deliver. I have veteran soldiers waiting for conversion into supermen, to fight your wars and bring more skulls for whatever skull throne you are likely working on. Undead technobeasts await as well as virulent plagues based on ancient Sith biological weapons. If you wish for the creation of arcane artifacts, I can do that as well." Vanessa continued. "Even rituals of planet-altering significance."

She shrugged. "My limitations are your creativity."

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Your limitations are only that, your own, Vanessa."

But he did enjoy what he heard, she was suggesting some truly tangible projects that could better serve the Empire. Supersoldiers, technobeasts, and arcane artifacts were what the Emperor was most pleased in seeing his underlings create. "Still, I am interested to see what you're capable of creating, you have a talented mind. Even if it is a mind that wanders, gets distracted by the shapes of men and women. But that is only natural, we all have that desire buried deep within us. I distinctly remember how our last meeting devolved into you splayed across the floor, naked and broken."

He laughed, "There are few who can survive such an encounter, save for my wives. A position you desperately covet, no?"

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

"Spending twenty years alone in the void, with not a single soul for company, is maddening." She said to him. "You profess to not have that desire within you. How strange that you imply you do." Vanessa pondered for a moment. Perhaps such an important sensation was in fact still within the otherwise emotionless and cold shell of the Emperor. "I certainly would not be opposed to becoming one of your wives." Vanessa answered. "I have dedicated myself to you and furthering your influence since returning to the Sith, after all."

The Greater Maldrood was proof of that.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Perhaps."

The Emperor didn't completely trust Vanessa, he was rightfully paranoid about many Sith in his great Empire. This consolidation of hidden assets was also unsettling, though she had been completely forthwith in her confession of her actions. One could still never be too cautious when navigating a den of vipers, and already there had been whispers of a breach from within the Saaraishash themselves; leading to the disastrous incident at Jaminere.

"Perhaps," the Emperor reiterated, "But I am still not convinced, Vanessa. This behind-the-scenes meddling and accumulation speaks more of treachery than it does dedication to my work, preparing for my downfall while my reign still remains steadfast and strong. Relinquish yourself to the authority of the Saaraishash agents I am sending to monitor your activities concerning the Maldrood, and let them discern where your true loyalties lie."

"Should you be proven capable and loyal, I may yet grant you what your heart desires."

[member="Vanessa Vantai"]​

 

[Onrai]

"Not convinced?" She frowned. "I have no desire to commit an act of treachery against you. You are the singular cog within the grand machine that is the Empire that keeps things in order. If you are ever removed, whether through the treachery of another power-hungry Sith Lord, through a ritual gone wrong, or through circumstances truly unattributable to any cause, then the Empire will crumble. The Jedi will do as they always do - sense weakness within us and summon their puppets to assail us from every conceivable direction. Your subordinates will squabble amongst each other, each vying for control of what you ultimately have been responsible for artificing, and the Empire will die. We'll be back at square one, and I don't particularly want to see the progress we've made in the last twenty years to go to waste."

Upon hearing that Saaraishash agents would be overlooking the plans for the Maldrood, Vanessa sighed. "I don't think they'll really be that helpful, but fine. If you want your agents looking over my shoulder constantly to ensure the Greater Maldrood isn't some kind of triple-layered ultra-convoluted scheme to overthrow you, I have no problem with that." She said. "I also have no issue with providing you usage of Crimson Command, the Silencers, the Dark Troopers, and my many other creations."

[member="Darth Carnifex"]