Gentle Echani Come Home (Akio)

[Manu Xextos]

Round and round the lullaby went, as rings became pockets full of posies. As Admiral Manu Xextos stood on the bridge of the Army of Light Star Destroyer Brynjar, he felt the ache of another planet filled with mental imprints, lives and emotions brushing against his cheeks. Atrisia felt like a culture of repression, darker lesions flickering amidst the gentle underlining lives of most ordinary people who hummed and happied about their business. A deep breath, and the empathic Knight let the host of voices slide off and dissipate for future use. 'Ahani. I feel you, mother. I feel you on the planet, find me.'

His executive officer came up and saluted, waiting in pristine silence for her Commander and Master to make his orders. Today Manu came with all the finery of his Echani entourage. The woman was dressed in her polished Echani armour, vibro lance tucked to her side. Manu brushed his gleaming white cape, dressed as he was in his armour of State, the last pieces he had of his existence as Consort to the Kae. The gleaming silver and white armour carried down to the military boots and greaves, coated in metal but for the soles of the boots. His long silver hair tied back in a thick leather strap.

"Transmission received and accepted. Our shuttle is clear for planetary entrance and passage to the Emperor @[member="Akio Kahoshi"]'s Palace. Sir?" The Commander's voice died, she glanced up at him and he saw the concern in her face. Were they all going down there to die? The Emperor was a risk, but as all major risks in his life, Manu knew to follow the lead of the Force. There was no place in the Galaxy for Manu Kae.

He would carve one from the bowels of the old Sith haunts and cleanse them, but he needed manpower, he needed affiliation and resource. The Army of Light wasn't enough. Against his childhood in space, against the pull the 800 year old Royal went to the hall of the Emperor to find advantage where fear once dwelt.

At the Palace
The entourage of Manu Xextos was escorted by Stormtroopers into a vast room inside the palace. Manu stood looking out the large transparisteel window on the Atrisian countryside. He let his mind expand, touching on all the beings in the Palace in an attempt to discern the inner mood of the Galactic Empire's ruler.

If the meet went south, what were the chances of his Echani warriors making it back to the Brynjar, and even then to free space?

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

The Army of Light had always had tacit approval from the Galactic Empire in its war against the sith. However, it seemed the Republic and Mandalorians had delivered fatal blows to the Sith Empire which even now seemed to be falling apart. The Emperor would have liked to have taken their territory for the Empire, but distance and the vast wall of the Republic prevented a standard assault.

While Akio was not sure what the Echani wished, he found himself intrigued enough to allow him passage. Now he entered the room where the Echani waited, blanked by his Imperial guards. He moved with the grace of a swordsman and the authority of someone who ruled hundreds of worlds. His hand held his fan lightly against him as he walked. At the head of the room was a chair, which he took.

"I welcome you to Atrisia," he said in his usual calm voice that gave little away. Though beyond mild curiosity, there was not much else to give away.

 

[Manu Xextos]

As the Emperor nodded and sat he would notice that before him was a seven foot stately behemoth who looked upon the Emperor not as an equal, but of a compatriot. Although his long deceased wife ruled worlds, they were not hundreds. Yet, the influence of the Echani had, in those antique times, been enough to warrant pause and discerning tidings.

"My gratitude, Emperor Kahoshi for allowing this lonely Regent his quarter of your time." @[member="Akio Kahoshi"] moved like a curious swordsman, a tactician inspecting the force applied against his chess board. In the eyes of the Echani present this gave the Galactic Emperor a modicum of respect. Manu saluted with a fist on his chest, a tilt of his head as if some noble prince had with a gentle baritone asked for naught but an acknowledgement.

"I have taken @[member="Kei Amadis"]' place in the Army of Light. The foul curr abandoned both Army and wife, and slunk back through whatever hole this Galaxy has given him. Yet, I have not come to the throne of the Emperor to speak of what your spies can already tell you.

I have a proposition. Before the crystal sleep into which my mother sunk our bones, I was Royal Consort to the Kae, Queen of Echani Erryn Kae. If any Echani royal claims entry into the House Xextos or House Kae and has not my blood in their veins, they are liars to be executed on the spot. Eight hundred years has passed and the pull of Palpatine tugs at my skill. For decades the Echani were the personal forces of Palpatine's security for reasons well known. I was born under that star, on Byss with the Crimson Guardsmen seethed in my veins.

My mother Ahani Najwa has been vanguard of this meeting, as she is already here working for your military, I believe. I want Chandaar. Munto Cudro. Lianna. I want them freed to carve a protectorate for my people taken from the belly of the crumbling Sith state. I can promise you allegiance and counsel. I am both military commander and gifted in arts which made my ascension through the echelons of the Echani secured.

No easy sleep takes the crown, I see you are kept well with advisors trained to aide a Monarch, yet do you have the advice of one who has held a throne? The Fringe are salivating on your borders, and there is ill talk in the Confederacy. The Empire needs allies, where do you think the sights of the Fel and Republic will fall upon once they've carved hell from Kraug's dominions? Let me be your ally, and I will protect the dominions of Galactic Empire. Noble to noble, converse with me, Emperor Imperial."

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

Akio listened as his visitor spoke, interested. Of course he knew of Kei Amadis because of Aditya, who he had hand picked. The loss of that connection has seemed like it would hamper the Empire's assistance to the Army, but Aditya had seemed to become even more relevant in it afterward. Not to mention she was skilled at the job he had given her, proving his choice had been a good one.

"You are asking a lot of me," Akio said finally once the Echani had finished. "You ask that I commit tends of thousands of Imperial lives to a mission across the Galaxy. At the same time, what you say bares merit. Lianna alone is a prize worth taking, if we could capitalize on it. I must ask, what guarantees do I have that you will carry through on your word and not simply turn the territory over to the Republic. I believe they control the Echani home world, do they not?"

 

[Manu Xextos]

"The Republic holds no sway for me. It may hold Echan, which I recognize my people have inhabited, but I will not throw my lot in with children playing at politics. The state of the Republic and the Jedi Order are worrisome to me. Too mutable. Too inconstant. Their minds are stirred with the Light yet they struggle with it. I have no such struggle, beyond the struggle for reclamation. Besides," @[member="Akio Kahoshi"]

Manu smirked, looking away from the strings clinging to his conscience. How odd that it would come to this. "You have my mother Ahani Najwa. She is in your Empire's keeping, and yet I do not know if you are cognizant to the incredible gift which has come to your Empire. My mother's a beast. A force like none other when it comes to the tactics of borders. In her past, entire planets bowed and quaked. If she awoke and found purpose with you, I must be the dutiful son."

And keep an eye on her. "I do ask a lot. I offer much, as well. Chandaar is ruled by Ahani's bloodline, the Royal Family of Chandaar was begun before me, but their ancient queen was my adopted daughter, her son my mother's son. The Chandaari have made myth of our lives. We hold a status akin to deity and they are a culture of Echani strength. There are other peoples in other places who will add to the Empire's strength if I can get to them… there is another more personal reason I come to the Galactic Empire.

Your scientists have maintained and perfected many of the genetic arts and sciences which in my day made soldiers of clones. Do your scientists still enlist the use of cloning technology? If so, there is a deal we can strike which will make me incapable of turning against you."

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

The name of his mother did sound familiar, another of the surprising number of individuals frozen for eight-hundred years. Certainly that fact helped support his claim, as outside the Inquisition no one should know of her existence. Of course that also raised questions as to how exactly he knew she was here, he had thought Mirien would have prevented any outside contact.

In the end the Emperor decided the risk was worth it. "You're assessment of the state of the Republic is not inaccurate. Not so long ago we considered them allies, but now they are in a constant state of flux and seem to consider no one but themselves an ally. A foothold past the rest of the core would be of great strategic advantage to us. To answer your question, yes. Khomm's entire population consists of clones, but its original inhabitats and perfected Fett clones. They are free to choose their path in life, but unsurprisingly many choose to enlist."

 

[Manu Xextos]

"Stability in Government is more important than intention, of which they have much. The Empire lasted this long, for a reason."

The Emperor seemed to have a modicum of agreement, and the meeting was agreement oriented. But was Manu putting his trust in this Emperor on such little faith? The caving need for planets and place in the universe went only so far. There was one more thing in which the Emperor could give aide and secure the allegiance of the former Kae's Consort.

"I want my wife back. The Echani kept DNA and blood samples of Erryn and our daughter. The entire Royal Family. We kept memory banks, and I have my own imprint of her memories. Clone my wife, give her back to me." His shoulders sunk, ribcage worked and a sullen want came to his cheeks, as if the soul of the man rested on @[member="Akio Kahoshi"]'s decision to grant peace or the sword. Manu's silver eyes bored into Akio's face, for all its honesty the Echani was heartbroken and clinging to the last fragment of his precious wife.

How terrible would this force of nature become if not sated and brought within the Imperial fold? Should he find the Echani loyal would it not be worth the price?

 

[Ashin Varanin]

One of the armored Imperial Guards, his Force presence expertly muted to match his fellows, shifted minutely behind the Emperor. The faintest whisper carried to Akio's mind as the master mentalist tossed in a comment.

If you want to buy time against the Republic, and galvanize support at home in the short term, a strike against the Tion Cluster worlds he mentioned would fit the bill. I know those worlds, and the Empire's assets there. What he proposes is feasible and well-thought-out.

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

When Manu had first raised the question of cloning, Akio had suspected it would turn out to be based off a personal relationship. How many in the Galaxy longed to bring back those they had loved and lost? Of course, very few of them had complete DNA and memory records.

Still, something about the idea felt... off somehow. Perhaps a bit to easy, when life was filled with so much hardship. When the thoughts entered his mind, Akio visibly showed no sign of it. Internally he frowned, not particularly fond of thoughts being pushed into his. The advise was sound though. After only a few moments of tapping his fan against his chest in thought, he came to a decision.

"Very well, you have the Empire's support. Lianna is of most strategic value, so we will start there. Once it is in our hands, you will have your wife back and we shall begin planning our next move. Are these terms acceptable Admiral Xextos?"

 

[Manu Xextos]

Lianna. The fate of his dear wife's rebirth hung in the balance of a world within Sith space. Manu hung in the balance of the Emperor's words, feeling a twinge in his soul that this was it, the final moment, this was the last second he could call himself Jedi. The peaceful healer who lived on the mountainous heights was gone for the ruddy coloured streak of conquest and Imperial control. He might as well wear Crimson, or the Black of the fabled Black Guard where once he had headed.

The things a man would do for love. As @[member="Akio Kahoshi"] dug into his thoughts about his decision, as Manu waited he felt the tension caused. 'There is no death, there is the Force' the drifting current came to Manu. He could do it. He could resurrect his dear wife. Erryn, whose life had been full and hearty without him. Still, Manu could not let go. Perhaps that was the core of how he could so readily chase after Ahani, join the very Empire that once Ahani had run from, her infant Manu in tow. After eight hundred and thirty five years, the Emperor - a different man, but how much so? - had gotten his prize. Manu bowed his head, eyes shutting to the wellspring behind them.

He had to take Lianna. His soul depended upon that once Sith world. Erryn reborn. What was Manu without his wife? A hollow, instinctually cruel thing given to the light by the force of it, not inward inclination.

"Yes." Manu raised his eyes, the silver controlled by the proverbial collar he put round his neck. "Your terms are acceptable, yet I ask that my personal force of Echani be trained under me, in the traditions of my people and that of the Crimson Guardsmen. I as the Regent Ruler of my House until my wife awakes. I also ask that once Erryn is successfully brought back to me that she be protected both as a Royal and an asset to your Crown. Her abilities as a governess and policy keeper will become apparent to you, as her historic record precedes her.

Also. . . I would like to see my mother. I haven't seen her, only felt her presence on your world. If we are to successfully take Lianna, Ahani Najwa will be one of the keys to the invasion."

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

And so the pact was made. An entire world, in exchange for a single clone. No matter how you looked at that, it was a bargain. "I will ascertain your wife's abilities when she has awoken, for it is to soon to discuss leadership of this new Imperial sector before it is ours. As you go though, remember that wherever the reach of the Empire reaches law and order go with it. You are conquering a planet, but you are also saving it from the Sith."

When Manu brought up seeing his mother, Akio nodded toward the guard that was really Je'gan in disguise. "You will be allowed to see your mother, and this guardsman shall arrange the meeting. However she does important, and highly classified, work for my government. For her own safety, it is best you do not learn the truth of her position. If there is nothing else Admiral, I wish you luck in your endeavors. And may it bring prosperity to both our peoples."

 

[Manu Xextos]

"It is that law and order I am counting on. As long as the Echani are allowed to maintain our culture and inheritance, and I my wife, I am content." One clone.

High price, for a Jedi's soul. Manu looked to @[Member="Je'gan Olra'en"] of whom he believed to be another Stormtrooper, and nodded, saluting in the Echani way of fist to cross-chest, a slight tilt to his head. "Sir, I thank you." As he turned to go, he caught the eyes of his people. Long had the House of Keth felt they owed a debt to the Echani race and now in the bosom of the once-overlords they would fulfill it. Eventually Manu would wipe their name clean and bring them all into the folds of the Royal House. Yet, not today. They had more work to do. The Commander looked to her Lord and Manu saw the conflict on her face. All this for a woman? Could he not find another bed, some might ask the question but to the Commander no such question came. Echani mated for life, the Echanar bond was sacred, divine and Manu was nothing without his spouse.

"May it be as you say, Emperor Kahoshi. I leave for Lianna the moment our forces are prepared." Nodding the Stormtrooper (and White Current Master, yet unawares) aside, Manu and his honour guard of Echani left the Emperor's presence.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

In four hundred years of body after body, life after live, one failure on another's heels, Je'gan had learned to be anyone he needed to be, and the key to that lay in simplicity. When simplicity was laid upon most problems of identity, they went away. Granted, in this situation, simplicity didn't mean a White Current-cloaked metric ton of baradium dropped from orbit, or a lightsabre through the gut all the way to the hilt. In this case, simplicity meant being exactly what @[member="Manu Xextos"] and his Echani honour guard expected to see.

"Ahani Najwa has been informed of your visit," the High Inquisitor said through the vocoder/comm that altered every stormtrooper's voice into homogeneity. "I've arranged a meeting point elsewhere in the Palace."

Najwa was, admittedly, one of the Empire's less simple servants, and Manu's conversation with the Emperor suggested that Je'gan needed to spend more time with the personnel files.

"Do you need anything, sir? Refreshment, data, resources?"

 

[Manu Xextos]

"Thank you, Trooper. Thanks a lot." Manu smiled at the Stormtrooper, continuing to follow where @[Member="Je'gan Olra'en"] took him. The climactic moment over, he found his path laid bare and plain. Manu wanted nothing to do but continue with the work until Lianna flew the Imperial Cog and his wife awoke from her deathly slumber.

"Once I speak with Ahani, I'm sure we'll need resources. Data on what we have for Lianna's defences would help. For the moment, if it's not trouble for you my Guard could use refreshment. I require nothing for myself." The Echani nodded and made a hand signal. Three members broke off from the Guard and saluted Je'gan.

"We will assist you, please." One of the women said, her voice thick with an accent foreign to the Empire. Manu found a place to sit down, and closed his eyes in concentration. A wash of the Force overtook him and he placed a palm on his own chest. Healing rays passed from his glowing palm to his body and colour seemed to return to his cheeks. 'I need to see my mother.' He thought to the Ether.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

Je'gan had led @[member="Manu Xextos"] to a well-appointed meeting room half a step below sumptuous. Pale ferns framed a glasteel window and a panoramic view of the mountain pass which repeated Fringe airstrikes had reduced to something obscene. Snow covered it again, but occasional rocky outcroppings with irregular shapes spoke of baradium, flame carpets, seismic charges. Something like twenty-five hundred thermal detonators alone had fallen on that pass. And it was down there that a man in a hat had confronted his granddaughter on her march to kill the Emperor.

Suffice it to say, the palace was still standing and the Emperor was still alive. Funny, he mused, how the most Jedi-like acts of his life had come after he left the Order. But many former Jedi found that to be so.

He found himself compelled to share this with the Army of Light representative, but the master of mentalism was not the sort of man to accept compulsion. He did, however, linger too long at the window, staring out over the snow-clad pass. He realized the Echani had spoken, and turned, the professional stormtrooper once more. Hopefully his Force presence hadn't peeked through in his moment of inattention.

"With me," he said, and led the three into a side room. They emerged with trays of drink and simple food for their fellow Echani guards. The refreshments had just been served when the door pinged, announcing the arrival of Ahani Najwa. Je'gan opened the door manually and stood aside. The ideal stormtrooper was to be invisible to those he served and unavoidable to everyone else.

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

The sounds of footsteps came at a full run to the palace room. A voice filtered in, first quiet then louder as the Echani (dressed in the uniform of an Infantry Commander, today) woman came rushing forth. The sound stopped as the door opened and a flush faced, yet prim and proper Imperial Officer walked in. "Manu."

Surrounded by the Echani guard of the House of Keth, her son sat gazing out a window. He looked worn and thin, enough to make the mother in her worry for her adult son. Ahani looked to the Stormtrooper still present, the others. Had he been brought in by the Inquisition? Surely not. Surely if he had… they would be at the Citadel and Manu would be screaming or dead. "Manu, what are you doing here? What's wrong? Have you come to kill me, or lay begging at my feet?"
@[Member="Je'gan Olra'en"] @[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

As Manu sat waiting, a Stormtrooper stared out a window. Perhaps it was the day, but a flicker entertained him. It was the flicker of a spark as if in some odd way the Stormtrooper was closer in compatriotship than Manu gave him credit. "What happened? An Invasion, or such? There were rumours of trouble on Atrisia, but I was on Bimmissari at the time. Did you lose many?"@[Member="Je'gan Olra'en"] He went to stand, but the doors crashed open and there after all those years was his mother in Imperial blacks asking if he came here to help her die. The Echani with Manu did a curious thing: The lot of them began to whisper in hushed tones, some backing up from the women, others taking a defensive position. All their eyes were on this Ahani, and none looked particularly at ease at this resurrected scourge.

Manu had his hand on his knee, rose up slowly and peered down at the wilting flower. A brief smile flickered and died. "Eight hundred years, and both mother and son come home. What does that mean for us, hmm, Ahani? That in the troubling waters of a new millennium we flock here?"

He shook his head and looked out the window again. "I'm here to join the Empire. We're going to take Lianna, and after Lianna, Chandaar. Munto Cudro. We're going to take the planets which held us then in sway and free them. Eradicate the dire diseases which laid waste to those worlds we should have loved.

The Emperor is helping me clone Erryn, and in return I will expand his Empire. Help me, mother. It was your tactical brilliance that gave waste to Thyrsus, Redessa, Byss. You levelled D'reida and brought Tipadi under the jackboots of the Sith. Help us take Lianna, and you can have your daughter in law."

 

[Ashin Varanin]

It occurred to Je'gan, in the aftermath of being unable to answer Manu's question in time, that Ahani Najwa could simply have made use of her own position in the Empire to make this cloning happen. He was, of course, presuming that she cared, that she had access to genetic samples, and that her position in the Inquisition rated favors like that. He wasn't sure about the latter, having lacked the time to call up her codeword-clearance file. Then again, the High Inquisitor wasn't sure if he rated favors like that from the system.

As a stormtrooper of the Imperial Guard, he said nothing and did nothing, immobile by the door. This was not a moment for him.

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

"Lianna!" Ahani scoffed lightly, "You trying to start a war, Ve'lo?" Her voice was an odd mix of tender and knife-edged. The sort of voice too used to battle cries, leaving lullabies for the whispers left over. She worked her hands behind her until she came up to her son. The woman was no slouch, at 5'11", but her head came up to Manu's collarbone. "What we wouldn't do for our Echanar, eh?"

She glanced over at the lonely Stormtrooper, wondering in her mind's eye what kind of escort the armoured man could be and sighed. "You want to take thousands of soldiers past Republic space and secure something tippy-toeing their borders so the Emperor will give your dead wife a second breath of life? Might as well take Chandaar and Munto Cudro while you're at it, hmm? Grand Admiral @Cyrus Tressegar know about this? I might have some people in mind who could help us for the ground assault.

Intel suggests there's half-made ships in Lianna's yard. Could use them to expand your fleet. Assuming you get to keep the shiny Admiral badge. I suggest sending a designation down to open diplomatic relations with the House Duke or Duchess, presuming the Sith haven't killed them all. That old House was a bane in our side back in the day, but they were shrewd. If they've kept their family blood in order it should be the same. So, enough to aide us while we watch our kidneys. You sure about this, Manu? Give your life's blood for an Emperor? For a chance at Erryn? I saw the Holocron, I know how she died and how she lived after you were gone.

Never married. She kept loyal to you, but how is she going to feel to wake up in the body of a twenty year old woman? Have you told them? We're not known for our Force Healers, son. I can feel how hard you're working to keep yourself whole. Don't let the past consume you."

The woman took her hand and placed it on her son's chest, concentrating as a whiff of her star fire and nebulaic force aura flickered from its containment. The energy wafted into her son, and then it was gone. Ahani folded her protections around her. "I suggest moving over there through the neutral zone containing the Republic and the Mando's. Move in from there, through Sith space.

The last place we need to be is Confederacy territory. Trooper! What's the Status of the Third Fleet?" She asked Je'gan.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Ahani Najwa"]

"Ma'am, Third Fleet is capable of rapid deployment from a staging point near Cioral. Peripheral elements can collect within three hours, and a long course past Schesa, Rysil, and Bosph could put Third Fleet within striking distance of the Tion Hegemony in four days or less, without crossing any borders. Alternately, a route through Ithor, the Hydian Way, and Mandalorian territory would put Third Fleet on site in two days."