Private Next in Line

[Lirka Ka]

Fortress Imperious

It had seemed the train of visitors had become endless to Lirka's "little abode" that Fortress Imperious had become, worst of all it had become a growing line of Sith visitors: and in the Sephi's mind the longer the Sith stayed out of her machinations for the Borderlands the better, too much work to be done, too much work to keep secret from prying, ambitious, eyes. But unfortunately, denying such meetings had long been in the realm of impossibility and as such the usual theatrics had become well rehearsed.

The shuttlecraft lands, and an escort of Lirka's Legionnaire Battalion escorts the visitor to the Sephi's "throne room", it's great vaulted ceilings, equal parts great and bizarre tapestries depicting strange alien artwork and the might of the Empire all the same, and of course there sat Lirka in her throne of dark metal, adorned with the warped and twisted bones of the thousands dead in the final Eradication of Moridinae, the Grand Moff showed little of her features beyond the ornate and baroque plate armor of a similar dark metal as the throne.

This new arrival, one Onrai was unfamilar: so many souls in an Empire, it became so easy to lose track of potentially important figures. But regardless, if they were not a Grand Moff, or the Emperor himself, all were given the same crass question from the hulking metal suit, the words distorted by the helmet adorned on Lirka's head.

"What do you want?"

 

[Onrai]

"To perhaps bring you in on something beneficial to the Empire."

Vanessa had decided to, on one of her rare but ever-increasing excursions from Nathema, attempt to make a point of contact with a Moff who from her recollection was ardently pro-Imperial. Given the risks the New Imperial Order continued to pose to the Sith Empire, preparations for a potential collapse still needed to be further developed, and more allied needed to be garnered. Having arrived at the fortress Lirka called home, now was the opportunity to pitch her plans.

"Moff Lirka, what are your views on our current situation regarding the war between the Empire and the New Imperial Order?"

Lirka Ka

 

[Lirka Ka]

Oh how wonderful, a pitch. Lirka's eyes rolled under her helmet: the great and statuesque nature of her plate made such outward displays so effortlessly simple to hide. Shifting ever so slightly in her throne, the hulking Moff looked down upon Onrai , Lirka was a void in the force formed of metal and hate, not emotion was displayed for the blank-faced helm, only a handful of garbled and distorted words.

"Weakness has grown within the ranks. It must be quelled, lest the Empire die."

Crude, as so many things with the Sephi were: on the surface at least, Lirka had her own reasons for desiring a quell that ranged much further beyond a simple purge of the weakest links of the Imperial Chain.

 

[Onrai]

"True. Imperial unity is important, however - I was witness to what could happen to the Empire when the wrong people, the weak people, were given a position of leadership when a stronger one left power. Fortunately such is not likely to be a worry anytime soon given how stable our Emperor's position is, but I am always looking for people who wish to, shall we say, plan ahead." That had been Vanessa's aim for decades, and why she had such material possessions available to her.

"You understand, presumably?"

Lirka Ka

 

[Lirka Ka]

A distorted snort came from Lirka's helm, arrogance was a boundless when dealing with the self-styled Empress of the Borderlands.

"This sounds like the talk of which of you Cultist lot will take over when the day comes. Battle amongst yourselves, you already started one war. What's another? I care little for your affairs, despite what this "Circle" preaches. I speak of the weakness among the masses, the cancer that has grown with each passing day while so many of us simply twiddle our thumbs. Heads must roll. There is no place for weakness in this Galaxy, and we shall burn it's rot away."

She leaned back in her throne, always the opinionated sort: never showing fear in the skirting the lines of sedition, or simply leaping right over the line when the passions flared.

"I have lived longer than the majority of those within the Empire. Of course I understand. You're preparing for inevitably, if there is an empire left when the day comes."

Annnnd, the sedition line just got smashed into fine bits again. Lirka had her own plans in such an event, her Lords of Nihl that had steadily been growing like a plague within the worlds under her sway. Heartless devotees of the Way of the Dark, all swearing fealty to the Dark Made Manifest: or so that is what Lirka referred to herself as.

Onrai

 

[Onrai]

"Cultist?" Vanessa was very confused. "Certainly there were the schismatics that the Emperor's formerly loyal servant had as supporters, but they are long gone and no longer have any sort of influence within the domains of the Empire. The weakness will come to a forefront when something happens to the strongest component of our galactic power: the Emperor himself. None of his children are as powerful as he, and truth be told I expect that the infighting will begin then." Vanessa of course did not doubt the loyalty of Lirka towards the Imperial mission proper, and she was appreciative of the Moff's zeal.

"Inevitability is correct. The last Empire collapsed similarly and I was left holding the reigns of an ill-prepared remnant with fragile infrastructure and no reserves of critical resources. Considering the cyclic nature of Empires, I'd rather prefer for that not to happen again. But for such to not happen again, I need associates, ready to assist in destroying the fragments and shards attempting to seize power so a new leader, a strong leader, can replace the Emperor should something happen to him."

As she had told Darth Carnifex himself, she would never do such to him. However, that did not mean someone else would be unable to succeed were they to try. Precautions were important, after all.

Lirka Ka

 

[Lirka Ka]

Another distorted snort from the helmet, seems Lirka was amused with this whole thing. Though more so the confusion at her given name for the Sith and Jedi alike: albeit the latter had much worse parts tacked on since her days joining the Empire and being taunted with her conquered homeworld. Shaking her head ever so slightly, the goliath of a moff spoke.

"And what is to say the Empire deserves to live then? Without our Emperor it is but a shadow of it's might. You cling to survival: improvise, evolve, adapt. The Empire of tomorrow can not be the Empire of today, but I hear your concerns and I hear them well: I have prepared for the day this Empire dies since the moment I stepped into the position of Moff: charge me with sedition if you find your skin so weak, I am prepared for such things."

A grin formed underneath her helm, two sides of the same coin: she could respect the drive of Onrai , it was a noble goal: but ultimately misplaced.

"The day will come, and then you must let the past die. Do not cling to it's corpse, already I have laid the groundwork to pave the way for something new, a cancer to seep into the Galaxy when they think us defeated. Brawn will not win the Empire a place in the Galaxy once it's days are numbered, only cunning, and malicious guile will."

 

[Onrai]

"You are correct, at least for the time being." Vanessa responded. "Your triune of principles are precisely what I intend to do should such occur: crush the enemy swiftly and bring the conflict to an end. We will manage to successfully crush the warlords and determine a new leader for the Sith in the instance of such chaos occurring." She replied. "Now I would of course prefer to have your assistance in this so a future piece of the Empire may be yours more directly than it is now, but such is your choice to pursue."

She was not too sure what else to say to the woman, after all.

Lirka Ka