Night of Confessions [Darth Vornskr]

[Nikolas Faselli]

Night Before the Fall of Arx Mortis

Maria sat on her throne in the citadel of Arx Mortis on that night. It was a stormy one, supposedly one of the most powerful storms the planet has seen in quite a few years. Nioks had already gathered resources for leaving the planet because of the "Apocalypse". Still, not a single native had left the planet by the time Maria was trying to contact her lovely cousin Kaine through a hologram.

It was safer.

While waiting for all things to be set up, she drank some coffee which was supposed to keep her away. It was sure she couldn't sleep that night and that the next day, she'd have to do something really crazy. Even the thought of that made her shiver.

The warm drink flowed down the body, she was able to feel it. The coffee tasted so good. She would start to miss the Crystalsong coffee, like some other things about the planet.

Life is hard...

She watched as the slaves made the required preparations for projecting the holograms. As time passed and the time for talking with her cousin came closer, the more did Maria start shivering. Her whole life would change after that one moment.

She could have never done that, but she felt like she can't keep it in secret. Better would have been to die than to keep a secret which could come out every moment.

Why did it take so much time to set up everything? Well, normally there wasn't anything in Maria's throne room besides the throne itself, so they had to bring everything needed to the room. And Maria, as a nobility, didn't accept using a simple Holocomm. She demanded major set-ups to be used.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

It had been quite a long time since Maria had contacted Kaine, let alone actually have a face-to-face interaction with him, but the tyrant himself had been exceedingly preoccupied with the war against the Republic. The day-to-day business of Panatha had been left to his council of loyal ministers in his absence, but even then he had been keeping a watchful eye on his subjects whenever he could. There would always be those that dreamed of democracy, even in the most efficient of totalitarian regimes, those that saw that their freedoms mattered more than stability and order. It was sickening, but luckily the Blackblades kept most of the rabble contained and eliminated before it could spread out to other aspects of the civilian population.

Why couldn't they see the simple truth that as a collective group they could not make logical decisions for themselves? That's why Kaine had imposed his regime upon them, to organize them from a chaotic constitutional mess into a sleek, and well-oiled machine of totalitarianism. However; it was the small things like calls from his most trusted and beloved cousin that put an ease to Kaine's worries about his Empire, and his failing health, which none but his doctors and his daughter Evelynn were truly aware about in the Empire. Now he waited, sitting upon his black throne in his castle high in the mountains of his ancestors, for his cousin's call with anticipation.

It would bring him joy to look upon her face once more.

[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

Finally seeing the face of Kaine, Maria forced a smile on her face. It didn't look too real, but she felt like it would be needed. She can't seem too worried in the beginning of the call.

"Hello, my lovely cousin! How have you been?" she asked, being as friendly and fun as possible. It was difficult. Her nervousness was noticeable, hopefully not through the transmission. She didn't know what time it was on Panatha, but at least on Crystalson, in the area Maria lived, was night. And after the transmission, she would have to run as fast as possible.

Would it have been easier if she would have lived on as a Lightsider and whenever the Emperor of Panatha had come to a visit, her would have sensed the Light and killed Maria? That would have been awful, considering how bad Maria was at everything.

@Kaine Zambrano

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"I have been better, beloved cousin." It was the truth, Kaine now looked far older than he was last time they met. His face was lined with marks of aging, his eyes sunken and tired, and his once flowing mane of black hair had been reduced to slicked back gray hair. He was wearing the dark robes of a Sith in lieu or his traditional noble garments or armor, but his body still possessed his considerable strength despite his premature aging. His crown, the symbol of his rule in the Pacanth Reach, sat snugly atop his head, it's square-cut rubies glinting even on the hologram. "There was a lengthy rebellion on Bunduki while I was away fighting the Republic and Jedi in the Core Worlds, but I have returned to quell the upstarts and remind them of who rules. Perhaps they will think twice of defiance."

Kaine sniffed slightly as he adjusted himself in his throne, "But tell me, sweet cousin, what have you called me for?"

[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"It is good to hear you managed to bring order back to your world," Maria said. "The main reason why I called was just to keep in touch with you. I must admit that I haven't come for a visit in a long time now and I can't remember when was the last time I called you. So I decided to do that." An obvious lie. Hopefully it wasn't possible to understand it through a hologram. It would have been awful if she would have got caught so early.

"Arx Mortis has been boring during these recent times and I am too far away from gaining any true influence on the planet. I fear my thoughts of trying to discuss things with one of the leaders over here will remain just as a dream..." Her voice sounded like she was really dreaming at the moment of ruling the whole planet. It looked like she'll never be that powerful.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

It was lucky for Maria that they were speaking through holograms, otherwise he would have sensed the deception rather quickly, but that combined with the fact that he trusted his cousin more than his own children blinded him to the subtle hints of betrayal. "A shame, dear cousin. If you like, I could send over my warships filled with my loyal soldiers to help you take the planet by force, I have an entire star cluster's worth of armament and soldiers, enough to overwhelm whatever opposition you have on Crystalsong." It was true, after he had unified the Reach under his banner, Kaine had his Graug create massive foundries and shipyards dedicated solely to building new war machines with the generous approval of Santhe/Sienar. At the drop of a hat, Kaine was prepared to lend his cousin a portion of his forces.

"But I sense that it was more than just the need to see your cousin again that compelled you to contact me, Maria." His eyes narrowed in determination coupled with traces of suspicion, but then again the Zambranos were suspicious creatures by nature, hardly trusting anyone other than their own family members, and even then most of them could not be trusted. Kaine had betrayed his parent's trust and murdered them in cold blood, but that was the way of the Sith.

[member="Maria Natalja"]

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

"What else would I want to tell you? I wanted to know how you've been and maybe ask if I would be allowed to have another visit to your citadel. What are you expecting from me?" Maria tried to sound confused. She knew her cousin was a powerful Sith Lord, but she had never thought he would be so good at Force Sense. Or maybe he wasn't but he was just a bit too suspicious... But he was about to understand what Maria wants to tell him. Kark.

She had planned to confess a lot later, maybe when the sun was already rising or something. Of course, if they were able to have a conversation for so long. But now it seemed like she'll have to talk about her fall a lot earlier.

The slaves around Maria were nervous, as well. Neither did they know why their lady had wanted to contact the tyrant, so they were shuddering. Maybe she wanted to kill them all, destroy Arx Mortis or even... the whole planet?

[member="Darth Vornskr"]