Darth Daiara
Metamorphosis
"Thank you for joining me,Darth Daiara . I'm happy we could handle this face to face."
The cavernous training room stank of smoke and cleaning chemicals. The place had a deep chill, an aura of the Dark Side. Aradia would have trained here more than once.
Ashin walked up to the central platform, which was large enough for a duel all by itself. Around the platform, steam hissed up from vents fed by alchemical furnaces elsewhere. She wore the sword Jentaral at her hip - her usual daily carry, not an explicit threat or invitation to violence.
"You made the cut to stand among the knights and masters who study in this...non-denominational academy of the Dark Side. You've grown since we met at Lake Krul. And you understand, I'm sure, that my friendship with your first teacher earned you no special consideration. You are here because you deserve it.
"Sadly," she added without the slightest indication of sadness, "other than you, how many of the Zambrano dynasty's loyalists have dared to apply, let alone succeeded? The answer is three, as it happens, none of them currently studying here. At the moment you are the sole representative of the Sith Empire in this academy.
"I'm no ethicist, Aradia, but I do find value in one principle: if an action is contemptible, I generally don't do it. I would submit that the Sith Empire is not good enough for you. Its principles and practices don't deserve your loyalty. Can we discuss?"
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Aradia stood at the edge of the room, not claiming the center of the platform with Ashin. She had no reason to mistrust the woman, even if the two empires did clash lightyears below their feet. The word friend wasn't easily given out by Kaalia, but when it was used, Aradia didn't easily forget it.
It was wise to know who might lend a hand in a world of deadly absolutes. Still, Aradia didn't approach the Sith Lord who had summoned her. The chill of the room reminded her of the secrets she held. She took in a deep breath and listened to the Ashin's address.
"I'm no ethicist, Aradia, but I do find value in one principle: if an action is contemptible, I generally don't do it. I would submit that the Sith Empire is not good enough for you. Its principles and practices don't deserve your loyalty. Can we discuss?"
Her rigid spine slowly released, her hands falling amicably at her side. "Usually it's the Jedi trying to convert me," she mused, no smile on her lips as she looked Ashin over.
A beat.
She tipped her chin and stepped onto the platform. "If I'm a loyalist though, the Empire is screwed." As Darth Pollix could contest... She grimaced and folded her arms around her front. "I'm just trying to keep the keep the Imperials back."
"It's the right thing to do."
THE POMOJEMA
DEEP SPACE
"Yes, I suppose it is," Ashin said. "I do have one more principle, you might say: punch up, not down. There's something deeply contemptible about the way the New Order and the Galactic Alliance have combined to crush the Sith Empire relentlessly. Not as contemptible as the Empire's many atrocities and cowardices and petty vanities, of course - but still. This war is no contest of equals. I appreciate an underdog. If not for the Empire's abject and irredeemable worthlessness I'd back it to the hilt."
She smiled thinly.
"I believe the Empire's leaders thought they were seizing the opportunity to punch down for once when they crossed us at Ninn. A planet where we, the Warlords, had just finished crushing our second consecutive New Order incursion. The Sith Empire is by no means the New Order's most committed and promising enemy.
"I won't say we're paragons of honor - but the Warlords have earned my loyalty and respect. I want that authenticity for the ones like you, the next generation doomed to die so the Zambrano cult can perpetrate its last few aimless, flailing genocides for sport."
"Or--" Aradia countered, "The Empire was trying to shore up their territory to prevent the Imperials from cutting the it off at the neck."
She bit her own tongue and considered Ashin. Self-expression wasn't an easy trait for a once-was slave. The Academies certainly hadn't encouraged it either. It was one thing to open up and speak her mind, it was another to disagree with a superior.
Come to think of it, it was easier to duel a jedi than was it was to hold Ashin's gaze and elaborate further. But she did, speaking with slow intention as she explained her perspective.
"They will be back for Ziost. I haven't seen any sign of their resources showing strain, it's unnatural. They want that territory, and if they get it? The rest of the Empire falls dark. All of those worlds--
"Purged."
Her fingers tightened on her arms, her words flowing freer as passion entered her tone. "Ninn would stop that, wouldn't it? They could establish secure trade routes, move troops-- continue to fight back. Which you should want. Master, the more of us there are out there, the safer we are. They're not going to stop at the The Empire. Imagine, the full force of the Imperials and Jedi coming down on your little warlords-"
A short, pained laugh escaped her.
"There's no honor out there."
THE POMOJEMA
DEEP SPACE
"What I should want, hmm? Understand, Aradia, there's no circumstance where I'd piss on the Sith Empire leadership if it was on fire. I hold contempt for the New Order as well, for their stupid waste and hypocrisy and most of all getting my wife killed, but the Sith Empire is who actually killed her. These are many of the same core people who served the One Sith - who turned a blind eye when their lords kidnapped and tortured Spencer. There was betrayal, both then and thirty years ago. It's all the same cadre, all the same faces, convincing the best and the brightest of each generation to waste themselves. Their best interests are not yours."
Ashin spread her hands in a disarming kind of way.
"But let's focus on what matters to you: defeating the New Imperial Order. Let's consider Ninn a microcosm of everything wrong with the Empire, and why I believe you'd find more success with us.
"The Empire moved to take control of Ninn through economic talks - veiled pillaging to feed the war machine and the next great Zambrano palace.
"Meanwhile, our forces - the 'little Warlords,' as you put it - defeated a major New Order incursion both groundside and in orbit. We beat them in two more engagements at Brosi just before that. I'll always remember taking and holding the Nihun Bridge as real Sith Lords drove back the Imperial Knights. In a couple of weeks, we've had more solid victories against the New Order than the Empire's past year. Why? Because the leaders you follow are clinging to their thrones for a little reprieve before they're average Sith again. And they will throw your life away for that reprieve."
"Meanwhile, our forces - the 'little Warlords,' as you put it"-- Aradia grimaced, shifting her weight onto her back leg. She opted to fall silent, half absorbed with facts she hadn't known and half enticed, yes, with the news the Imperials were being beaten back.
"...I dont care about the Empire," she finally stated, her voice nearly hushed. She might not be a loyalist now, but she had been raised as one-- schooled as one. She did not find it so easy to out right disown the entity that had once made up her whole world. "I know it's flawed. I know it'd sooner step on my back to keep ahead.
"I understand how this works."
She looked around them, then stepped forward again, confiding, "They don't have my loyalty anymore. But I don't see how that changes anything. Tell me, you've seen empires fall before. What will those nations do once they've won?"
The Pomojema
Deep Space
Ashin shook her head. "I don't know the future. I'm no prophet. I do have a good imagination. Here's what I picture."
Illusion wasn't her strong suit either. The rough galactic map that took form above them was a thing of static and sparks, controlled little webs of discharge like lightning flickering inside a thunderhead. The air grew heavy. It stank of ozone. The galaxy of lightning filled the gigantic chamber above their heads. The map took different configurations, territories marked in light and darkness and all the hues of lightning. The Warlords' territory was a sizzling red, for one.
"I imagine the New Order will overextend. Perhaps they'll clash with the Silver Jedi at Eshan or in the former Sith worlds. Perhaps those tensions will be the backdrop for wars against the Worm's faction on Korriban, or against the Warlords, or all of the above. You know far better than me that the New Order are uncompromising fascists just like most of their enemies. That forces them to push too long and too far, or risk crippling deflation once the war is ostensibly won. No matter how the next year or two shakes out, the New Order will struggle to justify its own existence. It'll lash out in hopes of rekindling old glories, but its long decline will already be in motion."
The map vanished, grounded out in the phrik walls.
"So I've joined the Warlords, not because I care about territory but because they're successfully chipping away at the New Order. The weaker and more fatigued our mutual enemies become, in any degree, the quicker their well-earned collapse."
It all made sense. Aradia couldn't deny that Ashin had a rather thought out prediction on the path the imperials were bleeding themselves down. She didn't care for news or politics, she was naively convinced that wars could be fought off battle plans alone. It made Ashin's rendition sound that much more plausible to her inexperienced mind.
Perhaps it wasn't wise to trust the woman who would stand on the other side of the field, but she was sure that if Ashin meant her harm it would have already been committed. This was a recruitment after all.
Aradia crossed her arms, her posture relaxing as she let out a heavy breath.
"And what happens to those that don't join-- that don't believe-- that get left behind when the Empire fails. They will be left more vulnerable than ever. They will retreat here. Maybe with others. When they come knocking on these doors, what will you do?" She questioned, her voice growing hushed at the implication.
