Chronicles of Kuat: Web of Lies

[Ereza]

"It's so cold here."
"The Drive Yards don't enjoy soft summer breezes, M'Lady."

No, they certainly didn't. Amorella shivered as she watched the black void of space pass her by. The young woman had spent very little time in space during her infrequent travels. Most of which had been taken on luxury transports that were well-suited to keeping land-bound citizens comfortable. The drive yards were really no place for a spoiled Aristocrat child, Amorella thought, and promptly reminded herself she was no longer a child.

"We've arrived. Are you ready?"
"Yes," she replied to the Assistant. No, she thought as she slowly peeled herself away fro her seat and stood to follow, can't we just go back home?

It was her first visit as an official member of the Council of Kuat, and as heir to House Shamalain she had a big role to play. One day she would be expected to do this alone. Today she was lucky enough to have her mother's Hand guiding her along the way, though she wasn't sure that guiding was the proper term. More like babysitting. The thought grew a frown on the girl's face as she stepped after the woman, pausing at the gateway and giving it a dubious look.

"My Lady, we mustn't be late," the Hand quipped as she paused to wait.
"Aren't we early?" Amore queried, still eying that gateway.
"You're only on time if you're early. You're late if you're on time, come now or your mother will be cross."
That's all the gentle persuasion she needed. Holding her breath the young Kuati Aristocrat crossed the threshold with one large step, stumbled slightly, gave one last longing glance back to her departing transport and all those carefree years of childhood was suddenly whisked away. Amore fought the urge to puke, turned and strode off after the woman.

"DiVanca," there had been a long silence between the two as the Hand lead the way through the bustle of the Kuati Drive Yards Station, "what's that structure there?"
"That's the Headquarters of the Kuati Guard," DiVanca returned as she stepped onto a lift, "we don't have any business there today."
"There's an awful many ships out there..." Amore watched through the glass as the lift drove them up through the levels.
"Naturally. It's not every day the entire Council of Kuat meets with the Heads of Departments. Speaking of which, I do hope you've been studying the Book of Names I've given you. Politics is such an unforgiving game - don't play it if you can't name all the pieces. Are you listening?"

"What?" Amore looked over, pulling her eyes from the expansive sea of black dotted by gleaming ships before her, "Yes, you're right of course. Mother said to simply smile and look like I know what I'm doing."
"Oh darling," DiVanca gave a dramatic role of her eyes, "stick to what you're good at and just smile."

Amore smiled, though it failed to reach her eyes. When DiVanca fell silent she turned her gaze back to the viewport. Somewhere out there was a certain Captain with a peculiar breathing apparatus. She wondered if his day was going any better than her own.

 

[Xander Starkiller]

He'd call himself a mainstay.. one of the people one could expect to see when it came to the Kuati Drive Yards. While some might not understand why the man that was seeing the Lady Shamalain would lower himself to actually working for the Drive Yards. The answer was simple, his brilliant mind needed a place to prosper, with the most expensive materials and the money for the research.. it was easy to come up with invention after invention. Hard ware, soft ware, you name it and he could come up with it. The only thing that held him back was time and his ability to do only so many things at a time.

Alexander Stark was just fine with the life that he lead and underneath this guise he and Silencia had quite the life between one another. Their daughter would even begin to get involved with the day to day operations as was expected of her. Xander would admit that he was a little worried for her, she didn't seem like the type of girl that would fit with the things that were waiting for her. Their daughter was not like them and quietly he wondered at times if perhaps something else might suit her despite all the things that were placed upon her. Still.. he trusted Silencia, things would be alright.

 

[Darren Brunswick]

Brunswick firmly gripped his coffee cup as his spaceship exited hyperspace. Kuat and the planet's artificial shipyard ring came into his view at once as his two pilots onboard his starship prepared the ship for landing. Normally, Darren would've been Senator Brunswick. But not today. Today, he was Councilman Brunswick of the infamous Kuat Drive Yards. Although his election into office as Kuat's senator had forced him to loosen up some of his control of the Kuat Drive Yards, he still had enough stocks and shares to keep his family's council seat. After all, Kuat Drive Yards had been partly owned by his family for the last several decades. The Kuat Drive Yards produced several trillion credits every year, and this year's shipment orders had been rather astounding, meaning that some workers would have to be working overtime to fill the shipment orders. As he had been notified only a few hours back in his office at Courascant, today apparently was the day of the meeting for the Council of Kuat. Being both the Councilman of Kuat Drive Yards and the senator of the planet, Darren Brunswick decided to see what was to be set in course for the coming months. Along with the Council of Kuat, Brunswick had also heard that the Head of Departments would also be there. Their pilots got the spaceship into the priority docking lane and within a few minutes, Brunswick's ship had landed in the Kuat Drive Yards Station. After a couple of handshakes, Brunswick was escorted by his security team and led to where the meeting would be taking place. It was big dome-shaped area, and he waited for the heads and the other council members to arrive.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"...yes, Ms. Lacroix, and it looks like Darren Brunswick has been added to the list, so you'll need--" Avadreia cut off her assistant in mid-sentence, pausing her edits to the Operations budget and lowering her bifocals to fix the young man in her steely blue gaze. "Who?" The assistant checked the list on his datapad. "Mr. Brunswick...?" he said, shaking his head as if to suggest he had no idea either. He consulted his list again. "The CEO, ma'am. Of, ah, Kuat Drive Yards, apparently." A quirked brow. "I've only heard the name bandied about in politics. " She tossed her bifocals down on her desk and then consulted her watch briefly. "I'm sorry, did I get blind drunk one day and miss a board meeting? That's rhetorical, Jav. Do me a favor and double-check that. It sounds like a typo. And for heaven's sake bring me a caff before this nightmare meeting."

Avadreia Lacroix was all business by the time she entered the conference room. She crossed the room to shake hands with the Head of Research. They spoke in hushed tones for several minutes about the promise of a new fighter shuttle hybrid design. Avadreia was quite looking forward to the prototype, why should be completed within the next several weeks. Perhaps she'd buy one for herself when they went to market. "And remember my five favorite words, Hartin, won't you? On time and under budget."

 

[Gideon Argos]

Gideon's day was going little better than Amore's. Standing at the back of a meeting of the upper crust of the officer cadre of the Yard security forces, he was obligated to stand, look impressive, and pretend to be interested in what was being discussed. Well, pretend as much a man in full armor can.

"No, no. The mess halls report a 1.24% decrease in incidents involving unsanitary conditions." All these percentages were driving him nuts; until he noted that his chronometer was telling him a certain Council had arrived. A single glance from one of the Colonel's elicited a salute from the Captain and he made his exit in a quiet but hurried manner.

No security officer would ever be caught dead doing anything but near double-time unless accompanying someone else. As he jogged his way down the halls, a fireteam formed up around him; the lowest rank was that of a Second Lieutenant.

Faintly, he spotted a mane of red hair going into a lift nearby, and he shook his head before drawing in a ragged breath.

By the time Amore arrived at the meeting... he and his men would be set up around the room.

 

[Quietus]

The first to arrive and quite normally the last to leave, Lady Lorelei Shamalain, Head of the Kuati Aristocracy and KDY Council and the CEO of the KDY itself was seated in her chair and pouring over new reports while she waited. While the Heads of Departments and Chiefs of Divisions piled in she did glance up and around to take note of the many important faces in attendance. Scientists swept in alongside Captains and Technicians, even the Heads of those remaining Aristocratic Houses were here. When the Senator found his way in she did finally put her perusals to rest with a growing, mirthless smile.

"Senator Brunswick," Lady Lorelei greeted him from her chair, unrising, "I'm so glad you could make it." Just how glad and for why, however, remained unsaid. The flame-haired woman smoothed her robes of white and gold absently, allowing her eyes to trail after the arrival of the guards. They followed, briefly, a man she recognized from some time before at her daughter's coming of age party, though she could hardly speak to knowing his name. The man had entertained the younger of the Shamalain Ladies, so aside from his curious garb and breathing mechanism she had nothing more to think on.

"We'll begin shortly..." leering green eyes migrated from the Captain to the doorway, seeming to search for something, or perhaps someone.

"Caffe, Senator Brunswick?" a Servant approached him, eyeing him quite intently. Perhaps a little too intently.

 

[Ereza]

"What are you doing?"

Amorella stopped short as they arrived at the large doors that marked the entrance to the Council Chamber. Heart hammering in her chest, the girl had taken to doing the only thing she knew of to help counteract the growing need to run away: smile. The greater her anxiety, the greater it distorted her face. DiVanca was eyeing her in a disturbed manner, leaning away slightly as though she might catch whatever it was that ailed the young Aristocrat.

"Smiling?" Amorella replied.

"Well," DiVanca blinked, wrinkling her nose, "don't."

The girl immediately deflated and began to fiddle with the ring on her hand with a long, drawn out exhale through her nose. I can't even smile right. What is it Mero says? I'm potluck? What does stew have anything to do with it?

"Let's go, they're starting," DiVanca nudged the girl and lead her through the doors.

The chamber was far larger than Amorella had expected and she visually gawped at the expansive table that greeted her. Nearly every seat had been filled by all those important people she was supposed to know. Amore became suddenly very aware of how little her hours of study had prepared her and could almost feel the pictures of faces and their matching names and titles escaping her brain through her ears.

"Lady Mae, how are you?" a man stepped by and she stared blankly at him, eyes wide in the headlights of reality.

"I... uh, well. You know?" she yammered.

"She is shellshocked, Lord Aramit, please excuse her," DiVanca ushered her along and leaned in to hiss in her ear as they walked the length of the table, "just stay silent. Watch and listen. Our seats are down next to your mother. Walk straight-"

POW.

"-don't make eye contact-"

POW-KRKOOOOOOOOOOM

A whining in Amorella's ears drowned out the sound of DiVanca's voice, and then suddenly the room went completely silent. From the entrance of the Council Chamber several armored individuals entered dressed in the garb of the Kuati Guard. But they weren't Kuati Guards - Kuati Guards didn't toss grenades and unholster their blasters. Amorella turned at the sound of a scream just in time to see several grenades lobby through the air. An explosion rocked the entrance doors where someone had rammed a transport trolley rigged for destruction. She felt electricity on the air as the room shattered into chaos and screams and smoke and blinding flashes of light.

 

[Xander Starkiller]

Danger.. a feeling that caressed up the back of the neck. The hairs upon it rising in response as something seemed off then of course came something he had not expected. His eyes turned to the view port a small fighter appearing in view and the sense of danger grew as a vast shadow over him. He didn't wait to run, sprinting towards the door way but it was far far to late for all of that. The sounds of a crash, weapons fire on the glass and with little resistance it gave way. Those in the walk way that weren't killed were quickly sucked out into the vacuum of space.

It was only by sheer luck that his hands grabbed hold of the exposed pipes in the wall that saved him from such a fate. His body hung in mind air, holding on for dear life. In response of the attack the metal shutters sprang to life, closing off the missing area where the view ports once existed as the doors into other parts of the corridors locked down to protect the other sections. When the area closed off, the section compressed once more and the Sith Lord hit the floor, breathing hard as his heart beat at a mile a minute. It was then that he rolled to his back, his body covered in a cold sweat realizing how close he'd come to his end.

When he finally sat up he noticed everyone with him had been sucked out of the hall. "How terrible," he said to himself as he turned for the doorway. He had to figure the rest of the shutters had activated and at the control pad it was a quick thing to see the doors opened and now the man found himself running through another empty hall, once teeming with life. He couldn't stop to wonder, he needed to find Silencia and Amorella.