The Council of the Hand

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

Where most who walked into the meeting took the route of an inconspicuous seating arrangement, the Sith Lord with the silver eyes took another approach. She walked right up the side of the room and stood against the wall behind [member="Alen Na'Varro"] and [member="Ashin Varanin"]. Hey, how else would she get such a good look at the reactions in the crowd? Better yet, from her angles the holo projections were backward. Easier to read.

One finger found its' way between her teeth, she bit at the nail and watched [member="Jared Ovmar"], [member="Torill Holgor"], [member="Jared Starchaser"] sitting in his seat. A glance to [member="Inkara Liet"]: what was her own right hand seeing? The Grand Inquisitor watched as she would always watch.

"I'm here to make th-them k-keep to th-their choice." Ahani said. After she'd spoken it, the Echani wasn't sure if she'd said it whispering, normal or in her own head. She rubbed the side of her head, her hair was itchy. Pushing off from the wall, she held up a hand and walked her way up the side of the room.

"Empress, High General. Ah. . . what do we kill f-f-ffirst? Ships, Vong, w-what's our f-first military objective? Saving Haladen sure."

 

[Tarok Vassket]

Gethin "Dirge" Jones sat with a small delegation of Hand military personnel. The officers sat on the second row, whilst the warrant officers congregated before them. He'd met the naval yeoman to his left a few years back. A good man, who understood the technicalities of naval intelligence gathering. So far the speeches had been eloquent, but aimed at a different audience. They were swaying the newcomers to their cause. Gethin had hoped these people would have been organised, and ready to deploy. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, perhaps they would move onto the details of the plan soon.

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Felicity Simmons"]

"Six-Seven Three-Six," The Sergeant major said over the comm, "Report to the Lab levels and consider yourself assigned to my direct command at the empress's request."

"Aye, Sergeant Major." He said as he walked past his quarters, an old tool room with a cot, and toward the turbolift. His boots clacked on the deck making a rhythmic sort of music that he remembered so well. He fough the urge to whistle while he walked. The satisfaction over the idea of not having to listen to idiots whose greatest skill was wearing armor and standing still was nearly impossible to contain. A song by the famous Gavin and Jared Ovmar popped into his head and he clinked the helmet to silent again.

"You can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a woman's man, no time to talk." he began as he stepped into the turbo lift. " Music loud and women warm, I've been kicked around, since I was born. And now it's all right, it's ok and you may look the other way We can try to understand The Holo Times' effect on man."

The door closed and he stood singing to himself as he went to the lab level. The door opened and he stepped out and took his data pad off his belt as he moved toward the sanisteam and into the lab to meet the Blood lady who seemed to be in charge of the egg heads.

 

[Skyler]

"Excuse me, Simmons?"

"Sarah, I told you. I'm not going to that meeting upstairs. Too many unknown variables."

"But Simmons."

"I know, I know," without looking-up, the blond scientist continued to squint at the slide beneath the scope, making the necessary adjustments. "You really wanted me to shake that bearded guy's hand. Na'Varro something, the one who writes our paychecks. Or was it that other woman that you had a crush on, Jacobs or Varanin?"

A harsh throat-clear met her ears. "Simmons. I'm trying to tell you that someone is here to see you."

Blinking, Felicity straightened in the stool with wheels, eyes behind glasses tracking to the rather large, faceless stormtrooper.

"Oh my leptons and electrons," her discomfort and nervousness was evident. Palms immediately began to get clammy. She clutched the sides of the stool she sat on, tightly.

But this was her lab.

"Trooper. Do you have clearance to be here?" She began to wheel over to him. Screechy-screech-screechy-screech-shuffle-shuffle.

Is this what micromanagement felt like?!?!

[member="IC-6736"]

 

[Ket Van-Derveld]

The Deceased Star
Kad System
Proximity of Kad V


Within visual range of the Star Destroyer Gorgon

You just stood there screaming,​

fearing no one was listening to you.​

they say the empty can rattles the most...​

the sound of your own voice must sooth you.​

Hearing only what you want to hear,​

and knowing only what you've heard.​

You, you're smothered in tragedy,​

and you're off to save the world...​

There he sat, staring into the endless void of space. Once bright sapphire blue eyes now seemed darker, filled with a torrent of emotion that he had not felt since he was a small child. Thoughts of home came back to him, of his mother and his younger brother Cat. Thoughts of the night he met his mate, Curupira, and the carnage he wrought just to be alone with her. Of the pounds of glitterstim spice he'd shoved up his nose over the years, wasting away within his own personal hell. They said he was schizophrenic, that he was insane, but was that really the truth of the matter? Was he honestly as far gone as everyone had been led to believe by his actions? Was he really the Big Bad Wolf, or was he just scared little boy that pretended to be much more than he was? Even he didn't know anymore.

Naboo had done something to him. What started out as a personal vendetta, a fulfillment of a promise turned into something so much more for him. He saw the suffering first-hand. He saw what the galaxy had become, and maybe it struck a chord. Seeing that little girl, deep within the abject misery of a war she never asked for, to still keep hope alive, it was like a slap in the face to him. Some say he'd snapped long ago, but maybe, just maybe, this was moment where he finally did. It felt like he'd modeled his life on the words of others and the reputation that came with them. Curupira loved him, beyond measure. But why did she love him? Because he was completely insane? That seemed to him to be the reason, yet, he didn't feel like he was. They say those who are truly insane have no idea they are. But he was fully aware of all that was wrong with him. So, what was he? These past nights, he had no idea.

Perhaps that was why he was out here, in the middle of nowhere. He'd kept tabs on all the people he'd known from the past. Former allies, enemies, interesting people, the lot. And very recently, he'd intercepted a transmission sent from a former enemy to a former ally. [member="Alen Na'Varro"] had sent word to [member="Ahani Najwa"] that the time had come. There was more, but he'd dismissed it. He didn't need to know more. His web was weaved throughout the galaxy. It's why he'd shown up on Naboo in the first place. It's how he kept abreast of all the things that went on in this galaxy. But he'd heard rumblings. Of a new Empire rising like a phoenix from the ashes. And maybe that's what this galaxy needed. Order. Yes, there he sat, deep in thought, thinking about order. Those who knew him would think that he was pulling their leg, that was for sure as the twin suns setting on Tatooine. For now, he felt drawn to Kad V. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was the Force. Force knew he'd become intimate with concept of maybe these past few months. For now, he had an idea, and he'd follow it.

Dropping from Hyperspace, the Star hovered near the Gorgon, a tiny speck to it's massive frame. He sent out a message, and it read simple and to the point;

"Gorgon, this is The Deceased Star. Ket Van Derveld, Captain. Requesting permission to dock."


[member="Alen Na'Varro"], [member="Ashin Varanin"], [member="Spencer Jacobs"], [member="Ahani Najwa"]

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

The message had been simple, near routine and meaningless. A ship asking permission to dock with the Gorgon. If there had been anything simple in the cosmos today would be the day it curled into itself and ceased to exist.

Ahani Najwa felt a familiar chill crawl down and bite at her spine. "Old wolf." What colour had been left in her pale, Echani face had silvered out like her hair had silvered. The Grand Inquisitor's shoulder shook. In a flash of faster-than-natural momentum Ahani Najwa ceased to exist in the Council's room. She ceased to be the octocentarian Master, whose muscles and sinew and bones had turned to beskar or some finer less Mandalorian alloy. The woman ceased to be a mother of three and grandmother of thousands, she ceased to be a Master of Shadows and became a lonely, traumatized apprentice locked away in the treacherous bowels of Munto Cudro awaiting her Master's return.

The only Master Ahani had been allowed to admit existed: Her Echanar. Her torturer. The Betrayer's bride had been a conglomerate of spite and terrified agony in the halls of the Sith in those days. An angry, tempestuous student who bit and scratched and heaved at any and every shadow.

[member="Ket Van Derveld"]'s shadow was deeper and more expansive than them all. It was from him Ahani learned the art of striking first and hard, to him she owed many a scar. As she raced through the Gorgon's corridors to the docking bay, her lungs sucked at a vacuum and her face grew hot as the magma floes she remembered before her youngest child had been born. '[member="Inkara Liet"] stand-by. Be prepared.' Preparedness had been a costly debt in the coils of her madness.

The unfortunate Lieutenant at the docking bay console had put his finger on the comm button to deny passage when Ahani swooped in and clamped her hand around his jaw. "Shut. Up. Empty the docking bay. You will leave to your barracks." She whispered to the young officer. "Deceased Star, you have permission to dock." What did Ket want? Was he there to tear their limbs from their sockets or was he there for a more nefarious partnership?

Ahani's fingers and arms shook, her knee felt weak and she clasped it. The memory of his last day before she encased herself, her son and her Echanar in crystal. Her knee had burst like sodium in water. Teeth clenched until she felt a splitting crack in her jaw, Ahani watched the umbilicals ascend and the doors woosh open and flung herself at the stairs. The docking bay crew was rushing out of the area, an electric buzz hit the air. The fear, the all encompassing fear, the exponentially growing terror pushed into the air until every piece of equipment was rife with it, every atom in the air consumed by it and in the centre stood Ahani, guardian of her house who had spent eight hundred years growing to a point where the fear in her heart was irrelevant.

All Ahani felt was the cold distain of Ket Van Derveld's constant reproach. "Ket!" She yelled at the docked ship.

"K-k-kuh. KET!!" She screamed again, the floor panes shook and for rights the woman had made a Master of her time since last she'd seen the Wolf. "Stop! S-s-st-state y-yuh-your purpose, or I'll have you. W-w-wh. . wh. . ." The Echani's body shook, her presence in the Force a tempestuous storm meant to level planes and legions and battle fields.

She'd gone up against dragons and killed them with naught but her storm, her sword and her broken will, but one sight from the Master Van Derveld, and Ahani's once damaged knee knocked. Would she bow it again, or would the Grand Inquisitor of the Empire of the Hand stand her ground?

"Wh-wwwhat d-ddo you want here?!"

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Felicity Simmons"]

The trooper stood looking at the blond lady as she wheeled over. He lifted the data pad to the black eyes od his helmet to double check.

"Yes." He said checking his orders again. "I am here to..."

He paused reading and read again and again before he realized he was getting messed with, hard. He deserved it. For all the things he had done he deserved it more than anyone but that didn't take the sting away.

"I am supposed to and I quote this 'obey ypu as if you were my personal star queen and not forget to clean the lab and" gulp, "rub your feet."

He stood silent and stoic as a rock while he handed her the data pad. This was turning into one shabla good first day on the job.

 

[Ket Van-Derveld]

The Deceased Star
Gorgon Main Docking Bay


As the ramp lowers

Misery. ​

You insist that the weight of the world,​

Should be on your shoulders.​

Misery.​

There's so much more to life,​

Than what you see.​

My friend of Misery...​

The Star made it's way into the gaping maw that was the Gorgon's docking entry. Force have mercy, he'd forgotten just how massive a Star Destroyer really was. It made him feel almost insignificant. Almost. He still kept himself in a mindset of just who he was. The problem with that was that he didn't quite know who that was supposed to be anymore. As the Star settled down on the bulkhead, Ket cut power to the engines, and made his way to his personal quarters. A tap on one of the bulkheads, and a closet opened up. Within it, relics of a time so far forgotten that no one would have any idea exactly how much the things within it meant.

He stripped himself of the tattered brown robes he'd taken to wearing, donning new garb that was older than most on board this ship by centuries. Worn black leather pants that had been faded by the suns of countless worlds. Knee-high black leather boots that had tread upon the surface of more planets than entire armies. A white button-up dress shirt that had seen more use than any weapon on board this hulk of a ship. A black leather coat, whose hem kissed the ground of more cities than even the most world weary traveler. Identical twin lightsaber hilts that had severed more appendages than a decade of war could hope slid into their respective spring loaded holsters on his forearms.

Ket made his way to the ramp of the Star's main entryway. It hissed and released some steam as it lowered, it's edge hitting the bulkhead of the Gorgon's docking bay with a simple and bass-filled thud. One by one, heavy footfalls made their way down the ramp, until he stood upon the Gorgon proper. He could see dock workers scampering like ants, racing out of the hold like they had been set on fire, and that's when he saw her. Perhaps he'd blocked out the FOrce for the moment. Maybe the voice inside his head was louder than anything the Force could possibly call to him. Whatever the case may be, there she was. A Face he'd not seen since the days of his apprenticeship to Rama Sha. One he'd made his personal stress relief. The four knuckles on his right had had seen her left temple more times than Empires and Republics had risen and fallen.

He could feel her sheer power radiating like thermonuclear wildfire. She was unhinged, and even more far gone than even he had been in his worst days. Was this truly his doing? Had he let her fall this far? Had he been the one to subject this galaxy to yet another as far gone as he? YEt, was he that far gone? So many questions flooding his mind, so many things he could not answer, that he closed his eyes for just a moment, trying to call upon the Force to center himself. And after what seemed an eternity to him, he opened them once more, looking upon Ahani with sapphire eyes, and he spoke.

"Ahani. Still just as brash and as reckless as I remember."

Ket took a few more steps toward her, and as he did, the Force almost whined under his influence, as he gripped upon it like he was holding on for dear life. His presence within the Force was like a juggernaut, one who did not yield, who did not back down. Yet, as the smaller ships in the bay began to vibrate and implode upon themselves, he closed his eyes once more, and let go of the notion that he was the almighty Sith Lord, and remembered: He was here for reasons much more important than just to show off. He was here to try and answer his own questions, no matter how long it took him. The Force let out a cry of relief as he opened his eyes yet again, and looked upon Ahani.

"I seek [member="Alen Na'Varro"] and [member="Ashin Varanin"]. I've come here to find answers."


[member="Alen Na'Varro"], [member="Ashin Varanin"], [member="Spencer Jacobs"], [member="Ahani Najwa"]

 

[Skyler]

[member="IC-6736"]

Jaw dropped. Eyes bulged behind glass-lenses. Snatching the datapad, she abruptly stood, sending the wheeling-stool shooting across the immaculate-floor.

Her lab assistant snickered and attempted to disguise it as a cough from the other side of the room.

"Take this," she said as she handed him the datapad back, not knowing where to look or whether he was making faces at her. Was this even a he? Those filter-modifiers made them sound them same. Although this would've been one rather large woman. A sample of those kind of genetics would be...

Felicity, you're rambling.

She pushed through a silence she didn't pick up on as awkward until it was way past the awkward-level.

She pushed the black-frames of her glasses up the bridge of her nose, trying to make her 5'3 height have as much authority to this soldier. "First and most importantly, you will not come near of or think about touching my feet. Secondly, the lab. Maybe that should actually be first," finger tapped her lower-lip before her eyes snapped back into focus.

There was another snicker from the lab assistant.

"What am I supposed to do with a," hand rose to gesture the length of his height, "large, armor-wearing soldier?"

The flustered-level was rising.

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

"Old wolf."

Ahani began to giggle.

Her ribcage shuddered and clambered to the concussive sounds of the giggle, the laugh flittering out of her throat like stuttering fire out of a repeating slug thrower. "You're not in it, Old Wolf! Your mind's sliding I tho-th-th-thought that w-was mmmy job! Mmmme. Me! Your hapless Omega, I woke up, Ket. I woke up and grew. Wh-hh. . M-manu told me he'd s-sseen you on Ruh-roon. I didn't believe you lived as long. D-don't . . . don't come closer." The concussive, shuddering giggles peppered the air with enough telekinetic force to send lesser sentients sliding backward but oh, not [member="Ket Van Derveld"]. Not Ket. Her face contorted, she stepped closer to the dark Master. "Brash I may be, but purposeful! I fight for my kin, here Van Derveld! My bloodline is on this ship and you will not harm it!! I will break down every bone you've made quiver until t-t-thhhuh."

Her fingers ached for her sword, which lied proud and cooing at her belt. She craved the feel of Sith alchemical steel singing like a Prima Dona across the remaining space closing between her and Ket Van Derveld. What a battle! What a greeting it would become, to wreak havoc on the war ship known as the Gorgon. The survivors would sing legendary songs of the continued battle of Van Derveld and Najwa. Oh how she itched for it, as her spice habits itched at the back of her eyes, she waited for one more sign that he meant the Gorgon harm.

But none would come. No sign but Ahani and her wailing fits. No cause but the bile growing in her estranged, wicked stomach.

"Answers! What answers you seek ought to be fitting, but I do not allow you to pass until you mean my Empress n-n-nnnno harm! Join us, or feel the vacuum of s-space before I let you take one more step!" The docking bay jittered, Ahani felt the shriek of metal enter her ears and she clenched her jaw harder, balled her fists and pushed back.

"What do we need of answers, Ket!? Wh-wh-wh-whaat answers did you need? What question plagues you, beyond the quest for your own true face? I lost mine! You stole it! You all stole it and now my lonely lupine drifts aboard the Gorgon with the intention of asking what we cannot ask ourselves." A shiver. Ahani's gaze swept the hunter's body, every inch an inconceivable threat to those on board. As his eyes shifted to cerulean, Ahani saw the shimmer of herself in them. Her fingers shook loose of their fists, lips parted and the voice which echoed across the docking bay was an echo of whispers. That self-same whisper with which Ahani spread before the legendary Van Derveld when her belly began to swell with her youngest child and she drifted without her Echanar in Munto Cudro seeking what safety she could for the child. "H-how? Did the Force lead you to this place? Must I prove my mettle in the belly of the Gorgon before feeling the worth of those who wait upstairs? What questions can bring you and I to these places, M-m-mast..." It had been a weakness in the time past, a whisper which waited unanswered for the longer haul. She hated her own voice. The disquieting whisper died before she could complete the word she vowed never to say in the presence of this man.

Ahani felt the heat of her own bellowing fires strike and bite at her face. She slammed her foot on the ground and a swelling gust of power flooded around the body of Ket Van Derveld. Swelled, circled and died. Her knee quaked, eyes losing their ferocity in the chasms and histories of his face. "Do not cause me to loose on this place. W-ww-walk in peace to enter the halls I've been charged to protect and you shall have every question available to ask. Make me itch with your villainy and I will release upon you the battle of ages. I am no Padawan to beat on, Rama's Boy."

 

[Allyson Locke]

The Inquisitor seemed to be the type to not be able to sit still, but that seemed to be the least of her worries. Spencer watched as the woman quickly left the room after speaking to the two leaders, making a mental note she figured it would be best to just nod and agree with whatever the GI suggested. Spencer didn’t move but continued to listen to those that decided to speak to this little Empire’s leaders. The girl remained in the background until it hit her. Something shifted within the Force, it wasn’t a ripple or something small it was a massive shift.

Every hair stood on the back of her neck and her mind quickly went to what she heard in the small bud in her ear. Whoever just landed was a powerhouse in the Force. Her nose twitched and she turned on her heel and headed towards the hangers. Moving quickly she continued to move through the faces she had seen in the conference room along with names that Ashin had spoken of while they were together. No one that she could remember registered like this. She could hear the muttered stutters of the Grand Inquisitor – how lovely.

This power level has to be over 9000…just has to be.

Catching the last bits of the conversation, Spencer stood a few feet behind Ahani and this man she kept stuttering on about. Seemed there was history between them and Spencer decided to relieve the Inquisitor. “You’re looking for answers? I doubt the stuttering of the Grand Inquisitor will be of much use.” Spencer looked at the woman as she walked forward with her arms crossed in front of her. “There won’t be any fighting here, the last thing we need is the ship to be ripped apart from the center. If you want to prove yourself to him, do it on your own time not during a meeting.” Looking back towards Ket the blonde tilted her head and smirked through her red painted lips. “What sort of answers are you looking for?”

[member="Ahani Najwa"] [member="Ket Van Derveld"]

 

[Ket Van-Derveld]

Star Destroyer Gorgon
Main Docking Bay


Hold thy tongue, Ket Van Derveld.

Why are we never satisfied?​

Grass is always greener on the other side.​

Fear of never having enough,​

Dreams that turn into rust.​

Sometimes it's better to leave things alone,​

The road to success is hard and cold,​

I'm turning into something I don't wanna be.​

I've got a feeling something is changing me​

I cannot let it all slip away,​

It's driving me insane,​

​

I don't want to be nothing...​

Ket listened as Ahani went off on her rant, stuttering like she'd always done so long ago. He remembered the little girl. The one who nipped at his heels, the one who once called him Master. She nearly did so again, so far from those days on Munto Codru. She was always an annoyance, but one he endured because he'd always felt she'd become more powerful than most. But he'd had no idea within his mind of minds she'd turn into this... This quivering, shaking lump of a girl who held more power than she knew what to do with and not a damn thing she could do to harness it. He felt as if it were all his fault. Perhaps coming here was a mistake. So many questions tore through him like a hot knife through butter, and now even more regret flooded his barely beating heart. Yet, something inside still spoke to him. Who was she to speak to him like this? Did he deserve it? Of course he did. Yet, would he take it.

Then those words let slip her poisoned lips...

Rama's Boy.

The last time anyone had the gall to say that to him, he'd snapped their back like a toothpick and left them to die on Geonosis, baked by the hard sun. Without thought, running on pure instinct, his hand shot forth and grabbed her by the throat. The Force had nothing to do with itself at this moment, as on pure and utter hatred he lifted her up with one arm, the muscle within him nearly tearing away as he held her up without regard to himself or his surroundings.

"Should you call me such again, I will make you cry like the little girl I remember."

And that's when Spencer Jacobs showed up.

Looking to her, he released his grip upon her throat, letting her fall to the floor. He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose with index and thumb. Looking to Spencer, his head fell and he spoke low, with regret and with sorrow.

"Apologies. I've not been... myself, as of late."

Spencer spoke of answers. She spoke of what answer he sought.

"To find out who I really am." was the only answer he could give.


[member="Ahani Najwa"], [member="Spencer Jacobs"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

He felt unwavering yet so wild in the Force. Spencer couldn’t put her finger on it, there was something about this man and her curiosity was growing. He answered the best he could, she assumed. He wanted answers to who he really was. Spencer sighed softly and nodded understanding somewhat where he was coming from also it wasn’t the first time someone sought answers from Ashin about who they were. Looking up towards the ceiling, she wondered if Ashin just attracted those types of people.

Spencer felt her nose twitch slightly, the emotions were high in the room and she did her best to calm the area, just enough so that they could possibly talk like civilized beings.

In typical Spencer fashion an eyebrow raised as she questioned his question. His answer was so vague leaving her to want more out of him. She was the last line of defense for the Empress and despite her vows as one of the inner circles, her vow as the woman’s wife to do whatever it took to keep her out of harms way was the driving force behind the woman in the black dress.

“Answers to who you truly are? Seems you know enough to have history with this woman.” Taking a few steps forward she lowered her guard allowing herself to be felt through the Force. Ket wasn’t the only one that could cause waves. Standing between him and Ahani, she took in his frame and processed it for later mentally. She would figure out who he was and why he had this odd familiarity about him. “How can Ashin and Alen help you find who you are? I apologize for the slight interrogation – safety protocol you know.”

[member="Ket Van Derveld"] [member="Ahani Najwa"]

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

"H-hey. It's r-rrude to m-muh-make fun of a so-speech impediment." And there in the Docking bay, amongst the warped metal and old 'friends' came [member="Spencer Jacobs"]: Ahani's sole reason for joining the Empire of the Hand. Although [member="Alen Na'Varro"]'s offer was tempting, it was the prospect of going to constant war for the idea of family that brought the Lady Najwa to the bower of the Gorgon. "Th-th-th-this man is danger and death, Spencer. I came to discern wh-what he wwwanted."

And perhaps in truth the building panic was a ghost calling her to arms, calling her toward a time when her mind was a portion of the fractured mess it was now. A gifted tactician & master of the weapons of war, Ahani Najwa couldn't be called the smartest in terms of when to stop talking before taking the talk too far. The words were out of her mouth before any withered check or balance could halt them.

Rama's Boy.

Ket became a blur that burned upon her throat. Suspended by her neck, Ahani's hands grabbed at Ket's thumb and shoulder. She kicked and pushed both her steel-booted feet against his ribcage, craning her knee back and kicking again in an attempt to claim some form of breath. The universe dimmed to all but Ket's breathing, his seething words scalded into her cheeks and down her tightening gullet. She would feast on his words and they were of bitter constitution. "What else could you do to me?" Ahani billowed and stuttered in his hand, her foot slipping off his ribcage before cranking back to kick him again. She'd broken walls with those kicks, would Ket even feel them?

Dumped at the Master's feet, Ahani sputtered and coughed, shoulder-rolling away into a crouch. "Worth it." She wheezed. Eyes watering, she felt the sensations of the room begin to filter back in first with the steady roll of Spencer Jacob's voice.

Ahani picked herself up still holding her throat with a hand. "What you are is [member="Ket Van Derveld"], an ageless legendary warrior with a penchant toward sadism many'd call obscene. Ask a better question. Y-y-you want to know what your purpose is, you are who you are. We all are who we are when fighting for those w-ewe love. W-wh-who you are hasn't changed. What you're doing is the difference."

Ahani glanced over at Spencer and felt her hackles raise. Should they have? Spencer was only doing what she did to protect her wife. Ahani couldn't fault that. She paced back and forth, wanting to close distance but knowing better than to pressure Van Derveld into a fight that could get them both spaced. "Spencer, what we have here is one of the strongest warriors the universe has ever known. He could have throttled Palpatine himself in days gone past. I have been tormented by this man. Beaten and brought low by him and yet I trust if he is here to do your wife good, we can do no better than bringing him to our fold. But be wary. Be wary, and leave his past and future to me."

 

[Ket Van-Derveld]

Star Destroyer Gorgon
Main Docking Bay


The real inquisition begins.

​

I'm searching my mind,​

I can't seem to find what's happened now.​

I'm frustrated, and short for time,​

Life's a mystery, won't you agree with me?​

'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'​

I don't believe in that anymore...​

Reach Out, and Regret,​

Run for your life,​

I feel it's pushing me to the edge.​

He listened quietly to Spencer's own questions, aimed at his intent. He could not fault her for such things, as everyone had something to lose. He could feel it radiating from her, her mind, her heart, they belonged not to herself, but to someone else. Someone much closer to her than perhaps she'd ever let on. He'd not press the matter, merely, he mused of it in his head quietly. Before he could speak, Ahani decided to ramble on once more, and yet every single word she said held truth within them. He was much more than just a man behind blue eyes. He had tormented poor Ahani in centuries past. She was to Ket what a well-worn ball was to a dog. A plaything, to be discarded when it's usefulness had ceased. And truth be told, he felt utterly guilty, and hopeless for the things he'd done. He could justify every last one of them, oh yes he could. And they were justified. But recent times had shown him one simple, undeniable truth; Just because you were justified, did not make it right. Those you harmed did not hurt any less because you felt justified in your actions. Force knew he was far from an angel, and even further from any sort of redemption. No, this wasn't about redemption. This was a reckoning. This was one's man's quest to find out exactly who he was, and why he was still here, roaming the galaxy unchecked when by any and all rights he should have been dead a hundred times over.

"Ahani, while blissfully unhinged, speaks many a truth. I am dangerous, even to myself. But that's not why I've ventured out here this day." he said with a pang of disbelief at his own words. He really was taken back at his own motives, even if only for a moment.

"I seek something more than power, or knowledge. I seek more than revenge or bloodshed. I seek purpose. [member="Alen Na'Varro"] knows me all too well, and if his hand-picked figurehead is worth as much as I've been led to believe, then perhaps here I will find that purpose."



[member="Ahani Najwa"], [member="Spencer Jacobs"], [member="Alen Na'Varro"], [member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

'I will know you, [member="Ket Van Derveld"]. I will find your answers, and you will know contentment before the end.' It was the single greatest blow she could deal him, not one of violence for violence but a modicum of compassion for the creature who had filled her younger days with nightmarish domination and frequency. Ahani would be the one to discover him the most, know him the best of any but his mate and then he would see what he had wrought: the weakling he took by the throat had become the cornerstone, and into his troubled brow she would bring her own forbearance. Ahani swallowed hard and nearly choked. Would her voice be less of a rasp than the whispering wind of decompression aboard a small ship?

The endless cycle of dominance and submission would fissure with the crashing down of Ket Van Derveld's knee before the once-Shadow Master. And then... oh and then the Empire of the Hand would wreak such a war across the galaxy that no other occupation but 'ally' or 'friend' would survive it. The justification of Ket Van Derveld would cost him his toy. He who was and is mighty would taste the sting as she made herself mighty.

Even stars go out, and in their dissipating carcasses new stars were born. What was another hundred years to accomplish such a task? What was such another hour? Once upon a time Ket Van Derveld met an Echani apprentice who had been on the run from Palpatine for eighteen years. Ahani had made a lifestyle of running, of keeping her son Manu Xextos safe from all harm. Broken in the torture cells below Kashyyk, her blood and dignity were all but spilt when she was deposited on Munto Cudro, but the broken thing survived. She pushed off the floor with her broken bones and damaged pride and came back the next day. That indomitable will was all Ahani Najwa had, and it was the weapon Ket forged within her. Look upon your work, mighty wolf. Look upon her and shiver. And quake.

"The Empress [member="Ashin Varanin"] gives purpose to us all, the Empire of the Hand will not ft-falter. [member="Spencer Jacobs"], shall we escort him to the Council meeting?"

 

[Torill Holgor]

[member="Alen Na'Varro"] [member="Ashin Varanin"]

Torill watched as people walked in and out of their little meeting with a fairly care free attitude with a slight frown before going back to a rather stoic facial expression once again from the triangle of quiet contemplation. After all even though he had no hope for success with the bunch so easily distracted from the task at hand but it was not his place to say so. After all he was a guest and it would rather rude to scold his hosts for such bad decorum.

Instead Torill just sat quietly watching and waiting.

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Felicity Simmons"]

The big trooper rolled his eyes behind his faceplate. This lady had things a bit screwy and he decided he would make his stance clear.

"Ok lady. First the last thing I want to do is be anywhere near your smelly feet. Second, your lab already looks clean and as pretty as you and ypur assistant are and as tempting as doing shots from a beaker maybe, I am not a lab rat."

He held up his E-11 by the under barrel grip and shook it.

"Let me put this in a way that maintains your view of us lower lifeforms." He said before clearing his throat loudly, "I go pew pew pew wit mah gunny gun. No understanding da you smarty peepers, savvy?"

He put his weapon down to the side and gave a heavy audible sigh.

"Now the deal is I'm under orders. So you know who is going to ask me for a report on what I did? My CO. You know who's gonna ask you for a report? My CO. If the stories don't jive, he is probably going to keep giving me jobs like this and your going to have to see me again, and again, and again, and again. So why don't you drop ideas of experimenting on me and tell me where the cleaning supplies are." He looked over at the lab assistant who was slowly reaching up to poke his heavy shoulder. "it's 100% farm grown man sweetheart, no touching."

 

[Allyson Locke]

Spencer tilted her head slightly as she listened to the two, the woman beside her seemed to continue her babbling so in time she turned her out for a moment. She didn’t need Ahani constantly going on and on about how powerful this man was. The power was felt, but he had an odd control over it. That was enough for Spencer, nodding she shrugged. “Seems like it’s time to take him to the room.” She walked away, pausing briefly at the entrance of the hanger she looked over her shoulder.

“Grand Inquisitor, since you know so much about this Wolf, until he finds what he needs to find he’ll be your responsibility. Any trouble, you’ll have to answer to me or the Empress.” Waving her hand, she continued back towards the conference room. While she walked through the hallways towards the conference room she pondered the man, his name sounded familiar as if she heard it in her youth. Frowning she’d have to write to her mother about this.

[member="Ahani Najwa"] [member="Ket Van Derveld"]

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

Ahani Najwa, Grand Inquisitor & Darth Gyaumchem could do but one thing.

Ball her fists, keep her boots firmly on the ground, bite her tongue and quench down an inner scream. Her eyes tore over at [member="Ket Van Derveld"] and she put a wicked grin on her face. "My responsibility." Her eyebrow twitched as she let the syllables out of her mouth. Maybe she should have spaced all three of them, maybe she should have gotten to Ket's ship before he docked. . .

Maybe this was the best thing the Force threw at her yet. "Ket Van Derveld around my Inquisition. . . . Yes. Okay. He'll have his answers."

She'd be steaming all the way up to the meeting, but [member="Spencer Jacobs"] had given Ahani a gift: How better to watch over the Old Wolf than to have it be her head to watch?