Pact of the Living [Primeval]

[Boethiah]

Aboard Order's End Anja was going over information pertaining to her agreement with Titan Industries and overseeing new developments of their fleet.

Many of the vessels they've relied on for so long now have become outdated; a disadvantage. Whilst some still bear impressive armaments and firepower, the technology behind them is rather vague and undaring. If they are to continue their war with the Imperial Remnant and prove the value of their alliance with the One Sith then they would have to provide unparalleled power in the eastern fringes of space.

Of course there were other needs too. The Primeval Fleet had no weapons production of any kind; relying strictly on the technology they brought with them and that which they could receive from Gulamendis itself. Land vehicles were needed too, that was something completely lacking.

They weren't totally obsolete as a war machine but they had problems that needed solving. Problems that would require delicate answers at best...

Information goes too and from the Host Lord and her warlords, one person in particular went by the name of [member="Ciara"] and seemed like a good fit. She had made deals with both The Queen and Dredge. If anything this should be a fruitful engagement if she would agree.

"Send a message out: Invite her to us.", the Host Lord said -- her ears then gazing in the direction of a robed servant; one of the many faithful whom pledged their entire existence to Anja's need. The servant nodded, having memorized the message by thought and went to alert the intercom. Anja was in her personal chambers and did not want to be disturbed. She only wished to be more relaxed lately from recent endeavors and study what she learned on Coruscant.

 

[Ciara]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

Within the cargo holds of the HSS Rebluff, Ciara gripped the walls of the pulsating yorik coral walls. Space travel was a weary activity, and Ciara abhorred the idea of remaining within the confines of a vessel susceptible of erupting at any moment and leaving Ciara's frozen corpse floating in the midst of the voids of the galaxy, which only has the purpose of haunting incoming journeymen and women. The ephemeral quantified amount of life was best spent on a planet, where one could be free of such concerns. Her second-nature aerophobia had erupted into fruition upon the literal eruption of her vessel due to a rival's sabotaging. Of course, that rival was hunted upon her return, quickly captured and tortured to the last breathe of their now extremely transitory existence. But that was a story for another time.

One of her Graug "servants," Ciara truly did not know the extent of the loyalties of the Graug that Dredge had given to her as a token of appreciation, approached her and she immediately stood upright and immediately changed her visage to one of absolute stoicism. The Graug cowered slightly, before regaining his composure, stating tersely, "A message from the Host Lord."

She paused for a moment and tried to search her mental recollections for anyone named the Host Lord. Failing to recall anything other than that she was the leader of the Primeval, a group of rumored terror and fear in the fringes of the galaxy, Ciara nodded and responded, "Interesting. What are its contents?"

"A single set of coordinates and the words, 'Order's End'."

"Set our destination there now." Ciara responded with a sense of urgency. It was rare to receive an invitation from a leader of any organization, but she knew the value of a successful relationship with an organization. An interesting proposition at hand. The Graug bowed respectfully before quickly striding to the bridge, with a greater sense of urgency. The ship lurched forward into darkspace, and Ciara grasped the side of cargo bay once again.

A few hours after the HSS Rebluff enters darkspace, the ship emerges a few thousand kilometers away from a large command ship. The Graug in the bridge initiate a series of standard approach procedures.

 

[Boethiah]

The starship Order's End , a Deliverance-class heavy cruiser, was surrounded by numerous other vessels but all off to a safe distance that made the Host Lord's flagship stand out.

"Initiating docking procedures.", the message went out to the vessel. Almost immediately following the starship's tractor beams locked onto the craft to help guide it towards the hanger.

As this was happening, numerous Gulandi Sephi warriors and Umbaran soldiers approached the hanger; forming up along the walls as they always do when a guest arrives. The Host Lord herself sat inside a small oval chamber, one she used to meet with people. The last being the representative from Titan Industries when they made a deal concerning a massive vong carrier. Inside the room a few pillow-like seats were laid out along the floor.

"Your Worship, the ship will be arriving: Orders?", the intercom turned on and the officer asked his commander what she wished. "Have her escorted to these chambers.", she said. The intercom clicked off and the officer sent out the orders to have one of the Umbaran in the hanger escort the newcomer to the chambers.

[member="Ciara"]

 

[Ciara]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

Ciara sighed as the ship decelerated to a ebbing lull as the tractor beams of the Deliverance-class heavy cruiser slowly brought the ship into its hangar bay. Ciara's aerophobia was mitigated upon expansive vessels, due to the fact that there was a greater amount of protection, space available, and likelihood of survival. Ciara mused at the extreme extents of her calculating, logical behavior and thought process, but the tempestuous, dramatic impulses of her biological mind. Perhaps a flaw in her cloning. A flat which must be rectified in the future. Of course, virally-loaded gene therapy was still an imperfect art, at least for the other scientists of the galaxy who were dull in comparison to the Arkanian knowledge that Ciara possessed. She required a loyal servant first to assist with the operations, or perhaps, a more perfect cloned vessel for her to occupy in the future...

As she was lost in her self-reflective thought, the Graug crew and personal guard of Ciara marched in a single line from the crew quarters and the bridge to the entry ramp. One of the Graug stepped aside and inserted his hand into an organic crevice, and the yorik coral pried open and revealed a metallic docking port. The Graug marched single file through the docking ring fanned out at the entrance, creating two files of ranks in order to protect Ciara from any incoming attacks. Ciara sighed, whether out of relief or exasperation is unknown, and exited the ramp. Ciara tersely commanded, "Yield."

The Graug immediately filed into two columns to her left and right, with the front row filled with the Graug soldiers and the second row filled with the armed Graug crew of the HSS Rebluff. Ciara nodded and waited for an escort to follow.

 

[Boethiah]

Out of the disorganized mess of Sephi and the few Umbarans, a small boy of seemingly human appearance approached; guiding what seemed to be a blind very elderly Umbaran man.

"You will follow me: Alone.", the older man said to [member="Ciara"] , the boy stepped aside.

If she did comply the two would guide her through the corridors and towards the room where Anja intended to meet with this person. The Sephi sloppily pushed themselves aside to create a pathway opening for travel, meanwhile the other ships of the fleet slowly closed in on their ship like a shell protecting a pearl. Warships of various sizes patroled the outskirts of the fleet, making sure that she was not followed on her journey here.

Few knew of Gulamendis, or Primeval space, and those who did weren't exactly the kind to go spreading that information. It was beneficial that it remained secret; for it meant greater opportunity to those given the pleasure to be invited at all.

A people who seek little for themselves tend to give greatly to those who do help them. This would be the case here. Just like all those who seek deals with The Primeval, there are great gifts to given. Knowledge, power, wealth, even the conquest of worlds. Things that for the most part they had no need for; their goal was to unlock the secrets of their past and discover the hidden truth inside the galaxy. Where are their Gods? Why have they stopped communicating? The answers lied out there in the dark depths, and it would be The Host that would find it.

There was much to discuss and inside her chambers the Host Lord waited, patiently.

 

[Ciara]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

Without stating anything in response, Ciara simply followed the fold man across the disorganized rows of the Sephi and Umbarans. She took note of this disorganization, "Messy," Ciara thought to herself as she slowly gazed into the depths of the souls of each soldier, peering into their pupils for a vicarious glimpse into their experiences, their lives, and perhaps, their futures. Despite not commanding the Graug in any fashion, they fell back to their fanned out, defensive formation, creating an eclipse along the entrance to the docking ring. Their weapons readied at the possible Sephi and Umbaran opponents, they snarled viciously if anyone attempted to advance forward, brandishing their bloodied and savage, sharp razors for teeth and the fiery anger with eternally burned in their souls: the murder and extermination of their kin, the unresolved revenge for the brutalities of war, and the genetically embedded sequences of heightened aggression. All of this were reasons for their vicious nature. Sight of Ciara faded as the Sephi and Umbarans slowly reorganized their ranks and created a formidable, opposing force to the Graug soldiers of Ciara.

She wondered as she traveled through the metallic corridors of the Deliverance-class heavy cruiser..."What is the purpose of my existence?" A question which panged, lingered and reverberated throughout her entire life. Of course, before Ciara could delve further into her thoughts she was brought to the interior of the chambers of the Host Lord. Seeing the Host Lord in front of her, Ciara bowed deeply and respectfully, waiting to be acknowledged.

 

[Boethiah]

Anja was sitting legs crossed on the pillow, and gestured her hand in the direction of one directly across. "Take a seat.", she offered. The room was rather quite plain, a few ceremonial possessions dotted the framework but were hardly worth mentioning or making much of a mental note of. It seemed as if they were little more than decorative and even that did not seem to be their purpose, they just sat there taking up space. There was plenty of it.

The blind man and boy quickly left the chambers, a sliding door shutting behind and leaving the two very alone together in the room. This was not the case when the representative from Titan Industries arrived, there were guards for both sides but that was a special arrangement. This was far more personal in respect.

[member="Ciara"]

 

[Ciara]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

Momentarily looking at the seat, Ciara bowed shallowly once again before taking a seat on one of the pillows. She was dressed in what you find closest to normal attire: a personally crafted set of ceremonial Gundark-leather huntress armor which was weaved with a composite fabric of silk and armorweave threads. Her breathing seemed slightly burdened, although Ciara seemed to have complete composure. She was unarmed, or at the very least, appeared to be, and the only tangible possession she seemed to be carrying was a holographic datapad. Turning to Anja, she stated succinctly, "Salutations. My name is Ciara de` Savona, Huntress of the North. How may I be of assistance?"

 

[Boethiah]

Anja thought for a moment; observing [member="Ciara"] before quietly exhaling.

"What is your relationship with two of my Warlords?", she asked.

Of course she meant Dredge and The Queen but to this person she may have not understood the question being asked. What the significance of this question, regardless, would remain a mystery throughout the response period.

The Host Lord's pale-blue eyes gazed towards her without any emotional context.

 

[Ciara]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

Blinking twice with a transitory blank expression, indicating a lack of acknowledgement of the Host Lord's statement, Ciara prevented herself from asking, "Are you referring to the Queen and Dredge?"

She paused, recollected her thoughts, and analyzed the data she possessed about both individuals. The Queen's ties with The Primeval were more apparent, carrying the title of Warlord to boot, but the Queen never stated directly she was apart of the Primeval. It was a rather simple deduction to make, but...deductions are simply factless inferences based on personal reasoning rather than concrete evidence. Dredge, on the other hand, seemed to be more of an anomaly. Sure, he fit the bill of being a gruesome and terrifying individual within the fringes of the galaxy, coinciding with similar claims made of Primeval. But, Dredge also never stated that he was apart of Primeval. Both seemed entirely independent from one another, and it was strange that they would be apart of the same general coalition. The Queen seemed more refined, regal, but twisted and insidious in a backwards method: representative of the sins of decadence, greed, and lust. Dredge seemed brutal, savage, and an outright atrocity, but it was a direct expression of this sin of bloodlust: representative of the sins of wrath, envy and pride.

Ciara deduced that the figures within the Primeval werenot representative of a single unified faction, but rather a collection of individuals who shared the crime of committing sin, just in different forms. The Primeval was in and of itself, a representation of the diverse spectrum of acts of sin and evil. She mused further into the idea, and wondered, "Then what does the Host Lord represent?"

Realizing that the long musings in her head transitioned into several seconds of awkward silence, Ciara stared into the Host Lord's eyes and stated, "I interacted with both The Queen and Dredge on two separate occasions, for two separate contracts. I have yet to finalize the details of both contracts, but it seems that the Dredge has withdrawn his bounty on the Cartographer, and thus my contract. As for the Queen's contract...I have received it via holocommunications, but I have yet to begin working on it."

 

[Boethiah]

[member="Ciara"]

Anja thought briefly on the subject; noticing that Ciara seemed to be in a deep trance of thought momentarily before she spoke.

"Oh? Quite familiar, then.", The Host Lord said; it was nice to see someone actually aware of things. Although The Primeval weren't exactly an open book to the rest of the Galaxy.

There was so much to discuss. "Tell me about the starship you arrived in.", she asked. It was a curious thing and she only saw it briefly as feed when it came into the hanger. Such a ship wasn't exactly foreign to them; vong-based organic warships were slowly becoming a common aspect of their fleet. Especially in the form of a carrier dedicated to The Primeval.

Maybe that wasn't the right question to start with; they obviously wanted something in return.

 

[Ciara]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

"Ah." Ciara stated in a mildly surprised tone. "I am surprised you ask. Few bother mentioning the craft, let alone ask more about it...It seems to that bioships are the wicked marks of pariahs..."

She paused for a moment to think, stating in a completely monotone tone, giving off an ominous vibe, "And rightfully so."

She took out her holographic datapad and placed it on the ground in between Anja and Ciara. Taking out a datastick, she inserted into one of the datapad's connector ports and initiated the activation sequences for the holographic project. Soon, a miniature, glowing holographic figure of the bioship, the HSS Rebluff, shuffled around the projection zone for the datapad. It seemed to be a miniature living model of the bioship, functioning as it would normally done.

"Now, briefly, the ship basic specifications are as follows: it the first of a design called the Umbrage-Class Dropships, designed and built personally by myself. It is forty meters by thirty meters by seventy meters in size, and weighs 378.2930 metric tons currently, although this fluctuates accordingly to its current metabolic state. It is classified as a dropship and has a crew of twelve, although the ship could easily be piloted by a single member, and fully manned to full combat capacity with three. It can hold up to forty soldiers and two speeders or similarly sized vehicles internally, and in addition, its external appendages can hold a starfighter or medium vehicle without burden. Due to its function as a dropship, it created to survive in a variety of environments, including oxygen-rich environment, and tolerate extended planetary deployment. However, its drawbacks are its lack of maneuverability, armor and heavy armaments and thus, require escorts in order to effectively be utilized in a military fashion. Of course, complementary suicide units will be created soon, although I will require a faction to do so."

"And thus, that brings me to what I could possibly desire from this encounter: access to the industrial manufacturing capabilities of a shipwrights company as well as the necessary infrastructure and biomass to create my own ship production company. Of course, you have to gain new technologies necessary for your conquests, while I gain a greater scientific understanding of bioships and the Yuuzhan Vong, as well as any other sources of biomass you have access to or conquer in the future. You see, credits are meaningless to me, other than the fact that it affords me greater access to better equipment and facilities to locate, extract, analyze, and study biomass as well as replicating and improving pre-existing biomass to reach the apex of scientific knowledge."

 

[Boethiah]

Anja almost skipped through her rather largely laid explanation upon the word, 'Vong'. "Vong?", she asked rhetorically. "I've heard this word wildly thrown around a few times, but if you mean their 'ships' then sure.", similarly Anja pulled out her own datapad sitting at the side; showing the nearly 1,000 meter Prim'ra Carrier , a Vong-based ship design that produced a dedicated carrier class for The Primeval. The Host Lord put it away after a few moments, only giving her some time to look.

"I can provide you with the means to build ships. Assuming we get them as well.", she said. "All of our warships are produced by us, except the one I showed you was produced by an ally.", she added.

She was interested in this person's services and knew how valuable having her could be.

"We have a shipwright in our ranks, a human girl.", her attention seemed to lurk elsewhere momentarily before coming back. "I'm sure an arrangement could be made.", she didn't seem to change her emotional visual queues at all. Giving off a rather blank stare.

[member="Ciara"]

 

[Ciara]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

Ciara shrugged off Anja's lack of attention to the conversation: it wasn't so important for Anja to have paid attention anyways, just a means of displaying her knowledge about the subject matter. Obviously, her casual usage of the slang term Vong indicated how much that was proven, and its subsequent brief implication of how much she was listening. Ciara stated simply, "No, I am not referring to merely their ships, but both their species and the entirety technology."

Vong-based, Ciara scowled in her mind, A mere derogation of Yuuzhan Vong technology. How did people of the galaxy not understand that the composition of the ships themselves was not the most important aspect, but cultivation of such technology by the Yuuzhan Vong Shapers themselves? Of course, Ciara was not referring to the pretenders of the modern age, but those of the Shaper Class. She simply tossed away the thought and moved on.

"That sounds delightful. Now, what do you require of me?" Ciara inquired.

 

[Boethiah]

"Yourself.", she responded to her last question.

It was quite a brief -- if not vague -- reply that lacked just about any valuable notion of a good deal. During that brief pause she did continue.

"Your loyalty.", she added as her pale-blue eyes glanced right through her; Umbarans were well-known for their unpleasant stares. Their eyes lacking completely in emotion but were far from apathetic. It was a piercing stare.

Her gaze briefly looked over her before wandering back. "All I ask is this: That you pledge your loyalty to us and use your talents to further our goals and in return you get what you want. The means to produce warships, all the resources you could ever need, and the boon of our intelligence gathering.", she finally spoke in a more coherent sentence.

The Primeval weren't in a lack of ships and if they did need more they could build themselves or make new deals with Titan Industries but it was always a good idea to diversify. Never rely on just any one source; if they were to succeed new deals would have to be made. Of course she wasn't asking [member="Ciara"] in the form of a partnership but rather so-to-speak an acquisition. She was interested in having her be part of them in whatever way suited them best.

 

[Ciara]

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]

Ciara paused for a moment before simply nodding in agreement. She didn't have much to state, and succinctly stated, "An interesting proposition. I accept."

She thought about the decision she had just made, and whether her faith had changed due to this simple choice. What were the repercussions going to be of Ciara's existence in the Primeval? How would the galaxy change? How would Ciara change.

She paused for a moment and mulled over the possibilities. She recalled the extensive history with the Yuuzhan Vong and pondered whether their reemergence into the center of the galaxy's attention would be for the best.

I guess we will find out.

 

[Boethiah]

Anja smiled a little. A rare demonstration of emotion.

"Good.", she responded.

That was it. "You may stay on this ship or go about our business. I trust you'll stay close and remain in contact for when we need to. I'll discuss arrangements at a later time."

[member="Ciara"]

 

[Ciara]

Ciara looked intrigued for a moment at the Host Lord's sign of emotion. It seemed that she was pleased with her presence. Pleasing the Host Lord seemed to be a rare sight, so Ciara smiled in reciprocation. It was an awkward smile as if it was forced and unnatural to Ciara, her face slightly strained in a concerted moment to express her own pleasure.

She sighed out loud softly and simply bowed, giving up on her expression of emotion and swiftly left to seek an adjutant of the Host Lord to arrange for her stay aboard the ship.