"For the present, the more covert we remain, the more influence we can have."
-- Darth Tenebrous.
Location: Stone Cities, Bogan.
Tags:
Ibaris Varanin
Aphon
Vorm
Sahar
Kaleb Sunwalker
Amena Kader
Sinestra
It had been difficult to secure a place at this meeting.
The
Dark Side Elite were a clandestine organisation in service to the
Galactic Emperor
Darth Solipsis
. In his bid for revenge and power Solipsis' had organized the Force-sensitives that served him into two paradigms. On one hand laid the
Dark Side Elite and on the other served the
New Sith Order. The latter were made up of the followers of the dark side who took up the maxim of the
Sith Code whereas the others were an assortment of different gathered sects and creeds brought together into one, indomitable organisation to serve as the blunt weapons, enforcers, or the number of other roles that their Master required of them, each unique and different to the
Sith who had also joined him on
Carlac.
Therefore, when
Darth Ayra had made efforts to gain a seat at this gathering on
Bogan, it had initially been declined. The matters of the
Dark Side Elite were only of the concerns to the members of the
NSO when they deemed it necessary. Although on the surface the
Dark Empire (as a collective faction) were fashioned beneath the indomitable will of the self-proclaimed
Sith'ari and his vision for the Galaxy there was also
the truth. Politics were always going to be rife inside any faction. Even one that served the will of the likes of Darth Solipsis. Indeed, it was only because most feared him, or were inspired by his message and cause, that the likes of Ayra and those within the
Dark Side Elite could come together under one banner in the first place.
But even Solipsis could not fix the under currents of hostility that existed in the ranks. To the likes of
Amena Kader
the
Sith were a liability: a selfish people who only served themselves. Ayra had felt the burning vitriol of the former
Imperial Knight turned
Inquisitor during their attack on a mining facility on
Ord Cantrell. She had spared Kader that day because she had bigger fish to fry, as the saying goes, and in Ayra's conceited mind there was no room for ego. But if Amena Kader was anything comparable to go by Ayra suspected that when it came to the
Dark Side Elite that was always going to be a level of scrutiny. Some infallible stereotype that was always going to be there no matter what was done, and it was deserved.
In the seventy plus years since the
Sith Empire first returned to the Galaxy- emerging from it's fortress worlds found in the
Stygian Caldera- over a dozen
Star Wars had come about only to falter and die. Whereas the
One Sith destroyed the
Old Republic the
Galactic Alliance would rise to take it's place. In between their invasions the
Sith had been dragged into more civil wars that had crippled the original paradigms that had been followed in the first place: the pursuit to destroy the
Jedi and to establish rule across the stars. If there were members of the
Dark Side Elite who saw the
Sith as
failures then it was hard to argue against it because in the mind of Darth Ayra she was in complete agreement.
The power of the dark side had been diluted by too many, and in this it had lost it's potency. It was why the
Jedi survived the likes of
Voracitos, Varanin, Ardel, Lussk...
...
Carnifex...
...Solipsis?
In the twilight of
Tython's star the cloaked figure of Darth Ayra traversed the
Stone Cities on the march to the
Dark Side Elite. So, how had the former
One Sith acquired a seat at this meeting if her original request had been declined? It was upon some closer examination that, perhaps, the Sith Lord who now walked the streets of
Bogan had more to offer than the usual narcissism, or psychopathy associated with her creed. Since
Operation: Absolution Ayra had been busy. Such had been the ferocity of her work that it seemed someone in the
ISB had tipped the group that bringing Ayra into this meeting- considering it's agenda- was worth the reward despite the fact that she was not a member of the
Dark Side Elite.
Not one of these
Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
The guttural, almost docile tones of
Vorm
echoed through the hallway as Darth Ayra continued her march.
Clack. Clack. Clack. Heels clacked along these grey, dark floors of the structure that the
Dark Side Elite had gathered in. Before she emerged from the darkness of the hallway and into the room Ayra pressed her finger against her left ear to
activate the ear plug that hung there. Purposefully, she then raised her palms to the cowl of her robe, and lowered the hood. Well practiced, and timed to disguise initial movement as the means to reveal her face while the ear plug situated in her left ear was concealed behind the long, flowing strands of blonde hair which hung from Ayra's injured scalp. It was still bloodied, and scarred from her duel with
Vulpesen
on
Tython.
There would be no underestimating this group. They were dangerous, and powerful. The selected few hand chosen and brought into the plans of Solipsis. Every word, and action taken here would have to be carefully measured. Which was why Ayra focused on the
Art of Small. In her public dealings on
Lianna, as the
Staff Director of the
New Imperial Security Bureau, Ayra often dealt with the Force-sensitive
Inquisitors and
Hands of the Emperor
Velran Kilran
while maintaining her disguise and it was the same here with this council of former Knights, Seers, mad-men and freaks.
The only difference, of course, was that they knew she was
Sith unlike their
Imperial cousins.
Or so Ayra was led to believe.
As Vorm finished his explanation and removed the
Ithorians head Ayra said nothing to the group. She merely took her place at the end of the table quietly undisturbed by the being nor the head in his hand. In her silence Ayra would be granted a few precious minutes, perhaps an hour, of careful and quiet observation of this group of freaks as they conversed, plotted and schemed together on
Tython's dark moon. Inevitably the conversation would turn to her, and oh boy, did Ayra had somethings to share with them. But until then they had a lot to teach her before they turned to see what Ayra had to
offer.