Past & Future[TRE Dominion of Yavin IV & Gromas]

[Placeholder 06]

[member="Vrak Nashar"], [member="Antherion"]

"I think I understand things at this point."

Dilbert stood a little straighter.

"Any further dealings will need to be made with the Archlord or the united senate. My presence here was to see if it would be wise to open up talks. I deem that it would be," the senator turned. "I will return to inform my people, and we will see what will come of things."

With that, the Bothan would turn to make his leave.

(Got no muse for this dude, gonna get out of your hair for a later thread.)

 

[Ao Xian]

"Reptiles are unpleasant to hunt anyway," she replied with a dismissive flick of her tail.

Kuraii padded around the antechamber as [member="Kala Maedrin"] studied the door.

"More writing over here," she grunted, wiping her paw over a series of scratches on the far wall.

"One of them is the same symbol as we saw outside, I think."

Indeed, if Kala's translation was correct, here again was 'fire'. Golden eyes flickered around the room, thoughtful in a different way now. Whatever was.... nesting? Lairing?.... here, obviously hadn't been able to get into the temple proper. It also ate it's meat raw, and there were no ashes, no charcoal to indicate it had kept a fire in the room at any point. She didn't need Kala's brains to figure that could be related. Of course, she had no idea what the *rest* of the inscription said here.

 

[Eugen Aker]

Gromas definitely wasn't known for its culinary offerings, but Arisa managed to make due with some little old diner within one of the several mining communities that dotted the planet. Grubby miners would pass in and out as Arisa quietly enjoyed her cup of Sapir tea at the counter. The collective feeling of the other occupants all around her was one of weariness. Even with all the gizmos and gadgets available today, mining was still backbreaking, dangerous stuff.

She flicked her brown eyes forward toward one of the cooks behind the counter as she felt their attention on her, just before they laid a plate down before her. Grilled cheese, with a large helping of curly fries. A safe order in the midst of a strange land.

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she set down her cup. Quite famished, she didn't waste any time digging into her lunch. Stringy cheese oozed down the sides of the sandwich half she had raised to her mouth to munch, but she was disappointed to discover it wasn't the real deal, just that rubbery "cheese-like" grain product that was a staple of cheap Spacer meals and military cafeteria's the galaxy over. She had her fair share of the stuff over the years as both an investigator and soldier.

Still, it was more than edible, and the Watchman wasn't a picky eater. The fries turned out to be much better, perfectly crisp with a nice golden hue, a satisfying crunch with each bite.

"I think I could go for another round of fries," she told the cook after she had cleared her plate. "Those were quite lovely."

It was hard to read the Gomorrean's puggish face, but the Empath could feel a small dose of pleasure from her compliment to him.

"Aye, I still have some left from my last batch. Next serving the house."

Arisa beamed. She wouldn't have mind paying, but she wasn't about to turn down freebies! Unceremoniously, he grabbed her plate and just began to heap it with large scoops of fries. Much more than 'some' as he had described it, but that was a non-issue. As a Force Adept, on average she required about three times the caloric intake of a normal female her size. As a wise master had once told her, the Force was infinite, but an individual's capacity to wield it was not. The physical and mental strain upon the body by the manipulation of Creation required extra sustenance as fuel.

After he set the plate back down, she would drizzle the small hill of fries with lines of mayonnaise and honey mustard, then dug in with much glee. Already, her business trip to Gromas was going much better than planned. No burning settlements or mountains of corpses found upon her arrival.

Not yet at least, these Sith were more cunning than the usual bunch she had been facing off against for the past year. That's what had her worried.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Tai Fa"]


"Complete ownership of prime mining sites. Leased economical zones along the cost near the mining sites. Taxes and tariffs paid accordingly to keep your own business ventures from the prying eyes of the new 'government'."


Judah didn't mind playing the game either. He was fairly certain Mr.Fa had more to lose than himself.If he had ended where they couldn't reach agreement he would do exactly as planned - put his holdings into a trust and let someone else handle the liability. However....didn't mean the new government was keen on recognizing his landholding rights. Essentially they didn't have to. However, Judah had seen enough governments rise and fall to know his investment would be back....eventually.


He had time, wasn't incredibly old yet. If not there was also his son to take over the family claim.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

In truth Tai didn't stand to lose much.

After all he hadn't been planning on buying Yavin IV to begin with. His original plan had been to simply involve Judah and convince him to set up a mutually beneficial trade relationship between the two of them. Before the Thirriken found out that Dashiell wasn't planning on paying the Remnant Empire any tarrifs or taxes, before he found out that Judah was going to try and sell his assets. It was a safer solution, of course.

But that would take ages and this was an operation that needed to be handled carefully and decisively.

"Partial ownership of the prime mining sites. If nothing comes of it, ownership will revert. And I retain the right to buy them out, if you ever decide to pull out of Yavin entirely." Once again countered. In truth, Tai had no issue with Judah operating on Yavin alongside him.

But the main point was that he wouldn't be hit with surprises in the face.

It would be complicated if the man decided six months from now that his profit margins weren't high enough to consider staying within the Yavin system, then went and sold it all off to a third party the Thirriken had never met.

 

[Yidhra]

4
Location: YAVIN IV > Jungles
[member="Vraukt"] | [member="Neesa"]

The sorceress scowled in turn. “They are not my Massassi,” she corrected, brow-ridges pulling downwards. Her tendrils curled to emphasize her displeasure even as she turned her eyes away from the Hand.

“And even if they were, I would still hold no sway over the nature of their brutish approach.” At least not yet. But soon, perhaps – she had some… experiments on the table. (It was a cold metal slab in reality, tucked away in the very depths of her palace.) The results hadn’t yet returned positive, but the developments were firmly underway.

“Perhaps you should recruit more of your kin if you desire fellows in stealth?”

Her words were for the nagai, but her bright gaze followed the warrior Pureblood. Their first encounter all the way back on Korriban had been a curious one, and now he’d taken to following her around. Certainly one to keep an eye out for.

They advanced towards the temple through the swath the Massassi had torn through the thicket. Each step took them closer to the remnants of the Temple, and with each step the dark presence on the horizon grew. It was full of whispers, icy hands reaching out through the Force and clawing at the approaching party.

Yidhra was at once exhilarated and wary of what they would find, but – as ever – her thirst for knowledge won out over caution.

 

[Arage Bao]

No markings on the door outside of the scratches and no possible levers or anything else that would designate a way for this thing to open itself.

The gashes also implied that the door was far more sturdy than it looked like. Kala doubted they would be able to get through it with only force beckoning them. Only after a moment did the Devaronian approach the wall [member="Kuraii"] was standing by, looking past her and trying to figure out the markings. It was strange... they didn't seem like the Massassi languages she had studied, the syntax was strange and archaic.

"Open?" A few seconds of reading and trying to figure it out through context brought that word up. "Fire opens this door?"

But where did they need to do it?

It would be strange if it was simply anywhere in the room... maybe- Kala's expression suddenly lit up, before she spun around and strutted back towards the doors. There the little girl went on her knees and started studying the fringes of the door, the walls and steel and metal.

After a moment a smirk started tugging at her mouth.

"Literally fire opens the door. We need to figure out a way to blast it with fire."

When one looked closely enough they would notice the small specks of soot and grime still clinging, where the cleaners (whoever they had been) failed to clear it out properly.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

"No deal."


Judah wasn't trying to be a hard head. Personally he didn't prefer partial ownership unless it was with a close business associate. [member="Tai Fa"] wasn't considered one he could easily trust. He slowly stood up, walking over to a sideboard holding an array of refreshments. Glass of water was poured and he stretched a little.


He drifted over to the viewport, peering out at the black, taking a small mental break.


"I've stated my terms. You'll get no more flexibility from me at this point.You either accept it or walk away."

 

[Ao Xian]

"I have no fire."

It was a simple statement, simply put. The big cat had no need of it.

She rocked back on her heels, tail behind her as a counter balance and studied the door. Then the chamber. Then the door again. Back and forth and back and forth, as if looking hard enough would give her the answer. Interestingly....

"There is a hole in the wall," she rumbled suddenly. "Across from the door."

The Trianii lifted a paw, indicating it's location with a claw. Indeed, to the right of where they had entered, across from the closed gateway, was a small, round hole just below the corner of the ceiling. The edges were pockmarked and wavy, the barest trace of black ash on the wall just around it. It lay in shadows which had made it difficult to spot at first. It was above the carved symbols [member="Kala Maedrin"] claimed were 'open' and 'fire.'

"I have no fire," the great cat repeated. "But perhaps the temple itself does?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

A finely-shaped eyebrow rose itself against Judah's retreating back, before restoring back towards careful, diplomatic neutrality.

In truth Tai had not been expecting discourtesy such as this.

Not when they were amicably negotiating and basically enjoying themselves in the mettle of minds. But perhaps the Thirriken should not have been as surprised as he was, was Judah not a human after all? They were xenophobes - if Lord Fa had been a human, he probably would not have dared to treat him in this regard.

But he was an alien and a newcomer on the corporate domain, so it mattered little he had come here with good intentions.

By the time that Judah turned around with his drink and put down his line on the sand, Tai already regained his composure and simply inclined his beak.

"I see." Wings gestured slightly in acceptance. "If this is your line, I will respect it."

Little head cocked slightly to the side.

"I accept."

At the end of the day not every human could be as respectful and filled with grace as Saffron. It was simply something that Tai had to accept, especially if he was pushing himself further into the galactic scene. He would only be meeting more rude humanoids from here on out.

Such was the way of the Galaxy.

 

[Vilaz Munin]

Location: Gromas
Allies: Sith peeps
Enemies: None, lol
Objective: TBD
Post: 1/20

Back when the Clans were united and a dominant force, they had control of Yavin and Gromas.

But those times were now over. Those were the glory, golden days of the Mandalorians. Memories that depressed the Munin at times. It made him feel humiliated. He felt some of his pride and dignity be reduced significantly just because of the incompetence each Mandalorian had in not cooperating with each other. Now it was either just clans depending on themselves and their resources, or sects of Mandalorians comprised of different clans all working for a common goal; one fine example being the Aka'liit.

And now here was Mand'alor the Exiled with a small unit of warriors, wanting to have some presence on the Gromas system to benefit his people due to his contributions to the Sith.

"Land the ship on this moon. This'll be the place for our mine," he said to the Mandalorian pilot who complied to the wishes of his Sole Ruler. They had no access to beskar unfortunately; however, they simply had to adapt.

 

[Darth Empyrean]

~
Post: 5
Objective: Quell the Dissent
Location: Gromas 16
Nearby: N/A
~

This smell… toast?

Was he dead?

The Slave groaned and slowly opened his eyes. It was slow, and would have been peaceful if it weren’t for the massive pain he had pulsing through his entire body. The room was blurry, unfocused for a few moments before he adjusted and witnessed just where he was.

In front of him was two men, neither facing him. They were messing with a radio, desperately trying to get a message through by the looks of it but they couldn’t seem to get a connection. Likely due to the recovery ship, thank goodness. In these few moments, he’d have to salvage what he could out of what he only assumed was a poor ending to an otherwise good mission.

He sighed, just loud enough to gain one of their attention. The man looked back at him, anger obviously in his eyes, “What’s the meaning of this? You and your bantha-fodder men killed five of us before we were able to subdue them.”

“I have… No clue what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play stupid.” the man responded, obviously annoyed.

“Stupid? I just woke up here. How am I supposed to know anything?” he said with a grin, lowering his gaze to the obviously aggressive man.

And instead of a continuation of their wonderful conversation, the man returned with a swift right hook to The Slave’s jaw. Blood flew from his mouth in a small shot, filling his mouth with the taste of copper and a wide laugh.

God above, he loved pain.

“Careful, Soldier-boy. You’re getting me rowdy.” he said with an even more odd tone, aggression tinging every syllable. Blood crept down his chin and onto his lap, both hands stun cuffed behind a durasteel pole behind him.

 

[Vrak Nashar]

Gromas
The Tyrant [7/20]
[member="Dilbert Zambino"] | [member="Antherion"]

Vrak bowed his head as the Senator departed, his attention following the man for a few moments before Vrak slowly regarded the viewport behind himself once again.

Things were moving quickly now.

The Empire had taken its place within the Caldera, and they were slowly expanding elsewhere, but it seemed The Dominion was bent on growth in similar directions. Vrak didn't care much for them, but what he had told the Senator had been truthful. The Pureblood didn't particularly care about what The Dominion did, nor did he care about what they wanted. Perhaps they would move against The Empire in time, but for now there were other matters that concerned him far more.

The Jedi among them.

The Silvers were still the greatest, and most known enemy that The Empire actually had. Though in the past they were not supremely active, they had moved against the Sith Triumvirate at one point, and that was enough to concern Vrak himself. The Empire was still in it's infancy, and a coordinates strike from the Jedi could cut them off before they even started.

Vrak simply couldn't allow it.

So he would have to strike first, take Kaas and make his intentions clear. Though he would have to convince the Council first.

 

[Arage Bao]

Kala was getting mildly impatient as she watched [member="Kuraii"] flick her ears and her eyes moving back and forth.

There were a lot of positive things about the little Devaronian girl, but she was still a little youth with a lot of energy right beneath the skin and creativity just wishing to be let out. So, the fact that she had to wait was almost killing her, part of her thought that her friend knew this as well. But was keeping her progress just a little bit slower than it should be, simply to teach her a lesson in patience and how to handle herself in a wait.

A worthwhile lesson.

But not one that Kala really cared for, at least not now anyway.

They had a temple to explore!

"Oh? Oh!" She blinked and tried to pierce the veil of shadows, it took a moment before her irises refocused themselves and allowed her to see the hole.

With a brisk strut the girl managed to get right on top of the wall, where she looked up and tried to figure out how this would... actually... work. It was all good and well that there was a hole there, where presumably fire would erupt from, but how do you turn that into actual living fire?

No buttons or anything else here either... Kala frowned, before closing her eyes and trying to... feel outward as Locks had taught her in the past.

"Wait. I think.." Something in her mind clicked as her presence hitched itself to something in the symbols. Then. Panic. "DUCK!"

She immediately dropped herself to the floor as fire burst through the air and almost burned her face off.

 

[Vilaz Munin]

Location: Gromas
Allies: Sith and Mandos
Enemies: N/A
Objective: Mine
Post: 2/20

Luckily no schematics or blueprints would be needed today. The place where they had landed was in front of an old mine that belonged to the Mandalorians. Which clan specifically? Vilaz didn't care. One thing that had changed Vilaz ever since the collapse of the Clans, the decimation of Mandalore, and the progression of the Aka'liit was that he held a radical, unique perspective on those that didn't follow his footsteps. He took the Resol'nare seriously and would always have his blade ready for his Sole Ruler. He expected the same out of the rest of his Mandalorian brothers and sisters. Of course, he did believe that if a Sole Ruler was acting incompetent that one had the free will to challenge their regime and would follow whoever was victorious.

But that wasn't the case in this age of the Mandalorians. Oh, no, many thought that they had more power than the mantle of Mand'alor and didn't had to obey his commands. Those that did follow those blasphemous ideals were viewed as dar'manda to the eyes of the Concordian and to the Aka'liit.

"Spare anyone that wishes to become part of the Aka'liit, but kill those that do otherwise," the Munin said coldly with his warriors acknowledging his decree.

He would make the title of Mand'alor relevant again and not be a mere figurehead.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

[member="Tai Fa"]


Sometimes one had to draw a line in the sand and stick to it. Judah had no problem negotiating a deal. When the deal kept getting smaller and less in favor to his original plans....well....it was time to get aggressive. Often times business clients would underestimate him due to the backwater, laid back farmboy nature that he usually possessed.It wasn't something he typically liked to do, the situation called for it in his opinion.


"Excellent. I'll have our legal teams draw up the details. Shouldn't be long now that you'll have possession of the planet."


Judah moved and put the water glass back on the sideboard, now empty.


"Anything else?"

 

[Darth Empyrean]

~
Post: 5
Objective: Quell the Dissent
Location: Gromas 16
Nearby: N/A
~

The Slave was bound and bleeding, beat repeatedly by his captors as they attempted to get information out of him on why they couldn’t get ahold of the other stations, and why they seemed to be in a dead spot. things about why they his men were there, even who he was himself.

Apparently, “Nobody.” wasn’t the answer they were looking for.

Still, as the last punch hit him square in the jaw, it incited his rage. His body shook for a moment, tensing after release like every muscle he had contracted at once, and with it a massive shockwave ripped through the room. The guard closest, the one who hit him, was blown back instantly, the clothes he had on ripping at the front from the sheer air pressure while the other was snapped against the wall.

The chair he was on broke, but the cuffs remained tight. Not that it mattered to him, he stood and slammed their weakest point against the pole he was caught around. Blood began to seep from his wrists, forming a small pool on the ground as he fought for freedom, but as the survivor of the blast began to get up, he let loose another cry; this time in the form of a scream.

The man had only a moment to react, his face switching from anger to pain, as if his soul begged for mercy. There was none to be found, and as his eyes began to bleed and his ears gave way, The Slave finally broke free from his bondage. No doubt there were men on their way to where he was considering the symphony of destruction he just let loose in the room, but he could always prepare for them.

He loved to fight, after all.

With a grin, he picked a blaster off the one who punched him, a man who died from a neck fracture after the initial shockwave. He had some minor experience with firing weapons before, but it was hardly his preferred method of combat… Perhaps he could try and turn it into something more close quarters orientated?

Now that sounded fun… With a press of a door lock, it sang with a pressurized hiss before giving way to the hallway outside. Time to play, he supposed.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Judah Dashiell"]

Tai pondered about it for a while.

Was there anything else that they needed to discuss right now? The main portions of the meeting had gone relatively smoothly, but right now the Thirriken could not really think of anything that had to be discussed right away. Most of it could be done through missives and holocalls after all, after their accountants had drawn up the papers and the lawyers had taken their stab at it.

Regardless of what some Sith thought, Tai fully believed that you had to make established contracts for your business dealings and ensure that you follow them to the exact letter of it.

Otherwise it was chaos.

"I think we are done here for today, mister Dashiell." An inclination of the beak followed in respect. "We will keep in touch through holo if more questions arise."

It would be a busy few days if not a few weeks.

The transfer of a planet was not an easy thing, even if it was a moon. There would have to be precedent, authority would have to be fixed on the ground level and Lord Fa would have to start pondering about corporate ramifications. Even if it was only 80% of the entire world, that was still enough territory that Tai suddenly found himself with a whole lot of additional responsibilities.

 

[Ao Xian]

The smell of singed fur filled the antechamber. Kuraii looked up, the tips of her ears smoking. She flicked them and winced.

"Perhaps..... a little more warning in the future? Would be appreciated."

Picking themselves up off of the floor, it was clear that they had succeeded where the former occupant of the chamber had failed. A cold, damp breeze filtered out of the open doors- which surprised the Trianii. It meant that there was possibly another entrance somewhere else? Then again, the scent was stale. Whatever was down there, they would find it.

She paused in the doorway, scanning the darkness ahead of them. She could see at least marginally, but she wasn't sure of [member="Kala Maedrin"]. Unclipping an electronic torch from her pack she held it aloft.

"Why build stairs up if they were only going to go back down again immediately?"

It was a genuine question, rather than grump. Peering down the stairs just past the initial landing, she frowned.

 

[Soeht]

The Slave Mines

​

The group that used the mines [member="Vilaz Munin"] landed on utilized slave labor.

A foreman with several guards directed the slaves to work. Many forced to do so until death. Their jobs were mostly to haul the phrik mined by automated equipment to transports.

The foreman and his gang wore Mandalorian armor. They spoke the language.

The slaves – they were dar’manda in rags.

One alien slave pushed a cart full of phrik toward the entrance of the mines. She saw Vilaz’s group approaching. One of the Mandalorian thugs approached.

The thug refused the offer to become a part of the Aka’liit.

The Aka’liit executed Mand’alor’s decree and killed the thug.

The slave ducked down – using the phrik cart as a shield. Her body began to shake. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as a fight broke out.