Things In The Night

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

Again he suppressed the feeling of amusement that he felt flowing through him. The effect of his words was obvious. She would never admit it of course, but the way she had reacted, the odd sort of recoil, it was more telling than anything she could have said. Satisfaction bloomed within him, though Vrak didn't let an ounce of that show. Instead he remained impassive his hand slowly moving to his knees as he pulled himself back a little.

A deep breath flowed from him as he relaxed slightly. The line that had been drawn in the sand had just been pushed back a tiny bit. Everything was still in her favor, but the longer he played this game, the more he pushed and prodded, the better the odds began. He shifted slightly and looked up at her again, gaze settling on the language of her body for only a moment before returning to her eyes.

"I'm sure you will." There was no mocking in his tone.

In truth though, he doubted that these people had the answers she wanted, at least all of them.

"What if they lied?" She asked her. "What if they know, but can't help?"

It was a good enough question, and likely one that she had asked herself before.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

True enough. She had considered the possibility that they knew but couldn't, or wouldn't help her. Perhaps they planned to simply have her killed once she had accomplished their goals for them. All of it were possible. The simple fact of the matter was this was her only chance to see the truth. She would see it through regardless. And should they refuse her in the end?

"Then I will find them. And when I do?" Her nose twitched, one lek twitched slightly. "I will kill them. All of them."

What else was there to do? They would find death come for them. And then like all the others, she would disappear into the darkness to find another lead.

Somewhere out there, someone knew what was wrong with her. She would find the answers.

"Then I will continue my search."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"The Jedi would say you will find answers within yourself." Pointing that out was, of course, a bit silly. She wasn't a Jedi, at least he was fairly certain she wasn't, and he most certainly wasn't. He highly doubted that any Jedi would help her anyway, not after all that she had done.

The murder of thirty nine people was abhorrent, even in these days when certain Jedi slaughtered with reckless abandon.

His eyes searched her for a moment. He wondered briefly where she had learned to use the force. It was clear that she had studied for some years, even had a Master likely. It was clear that she'd encountered more than a few Sith, but where, when, and who still remained a mystery. He frowned for a brief moment and then shrugged, deciding that such things ultimately didn't matter. Vrak didn't care if she found her answers or not, as long as he got what he needed.

Either from her, or the people she was looking for.

"I suppose we shall see." He continued. "At the end you will have you answers."

One way or another.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

It dawned on her that she had shared an important aspect of her life with a man that literally held her life in his hand. That discussion was now over, she decided. He knew enough about that. His success in part would ensure hers. Perhaps there was something in this for her after all. It may bring her a step closer to her own answers, while giving him whatever it was he was actually after in the long run. Maybe she wouldn't have to kill him, assuming he kept his word. Or perhaps he would stumble along the way and she would need to re-educate him on her place. Perhaps he would try and press that button at some point and she would have to simply end his life.

There were a great number of outcomes now possible.

"Yes."

The single word was her only reply. She would have used the word I instead, but that might infer that she intended to kill him at some point. And while he likely already assumed that, rightfully so from her previously lashing out, at the moment it wasn't on her mind.

"Where is your..." She hesitated for a moment, searching for the proper term in Basic to place with it. "Tribe living?" Perhaps the word was clan? She wasn't entirely certain what sects of Sith called one another, or if there was even a term for it. Still, she was curious all the same.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He smiled.

The quesiton was not one that he readily answered. A padawan had recently interrogated him and tried to get that same information, after that another Sith, not it seemed she also wanted to know. He couldn't help but smile slightly. "What makes you think I have one?'

Vrak asked.

"You've seen only myself and Ryal." That was obviously the name of the Pureblood Servant who had conducted the surgery on her spine, something that she would be able to infer from context clues. "Thats hardly an entire 'tribe'."

By the way he had said the word it was obvious that he didn't think it a proper term, though in truth he didn't actually know one either. Whenever he referred to Athiss and it's people he simply called them his Kin, or his kind. It was odd to him that he had never used anything else, but now was hardly the time to think about it.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

She held up a hand, using her fingers to count while she spoke. "Where there is one. There is two. Two, four. You see where I am taking this." Her arms scooped around her legs, pulling her knees to her chest to rest her chin atop them. "Surely you don't expect me to believe there are just two of you? Or maybe you do. Perhaps you still think I am as foolish as a mere child?"

The thought crossed her mind to choke him again. Instead he would sense the darkside beginning to surround the Twi'lek's form, as if she were about to do something rather harmful to his state of health. Though after several seconds of tense breath, and shuttered eyes, she would release the energy, allowing the dam to free the energy from within her.

Green eyes opened again, staring towards him. "I've seen a great number of planets. Even species that tear one another apart congregate somewhere. You surely came from somewhere. Therefore there are at least four of you. Six if Ryal is not your sibling. This has the makings of a tribe."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He tensed slightly, but again he kept still. It was difficult, more difficult than he remembered. Being subservient, being kind, had never come easy to him even when it had been other Purebloods. With a Twi'lek? It was all but impossible. He could only thank the force or whatever god his ancestors prayed to that she was not human. Had she been one of those genetic mongrels he might have found himself with bile already in his throat. His head shook from side to side, as if he were disappointed in her resorting to thoughts of violence.

"There are more of us." He admitted with a smile. She had at least deduced that much on her own, but he still wouldn't give up the location of Athiss. He doubted she would find the information all that useful, but things were in a crucial stage now. He had built everything up almost perfectly, he just needed a few more months for the army to build up, just a bit more time to allow the planetary Defenses to be moved into place.

Then they could reveal themselves.

"We reside in Sith space." That would be enough detail for her probably. "Where the Ancient Empire of my people once laid it's claim."

That was still a significant portion of the galaxy, nearly every world around Korriban for several million light years. Detailed enough that she would get a general picture, but nothing that would damn him. It would take months to find Athiss, longer to find his people hidden among the sands.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Seraphina didn't particularly care about where exactly his other crimson skinned narcissists called home, but being carted around by the hand while being spoken to like a toddler was not going to fly. The only reason she hadn't lashed out this time was because she decided to offer him that statement and gauge his response. Had Vrak chosen to continue down the path of playing dumb she would have strangled him until every breath in his lungs was removed.

He was learning. A smile formed on her lips.

She nodded. "Unsurprising." Sith were the type to prefer remaining in the same stretches of the galaxy, only to be discovered and further exterminated by the Jedi over time. Twi'leks? They were just about everywhere. Her people were spread so far across the cosmos that any genocidal attempt against them would be an impossible task.

"And what is your role in this tribe?" She knew the word was incorrect, but it was the only common word she could think of to call it.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Middle-management." He said the words with no small amount of amusement.

Vrak wouldn't pretend that he was some sort of big shot back on Athiss, not when it wasn't true. He had his fair share of power, controlling nearly half of all industries on the world and a fourth of the mines, but that didn't really mean much. He was not a Master, and therefore not a member of the Council. He couldn't do anything with the resources he had unless the Council agreed to it, and that meant he was stuck doing what was assigned to him, and of course...his little side projects.

Why lie to her?

She knew already that he was not the most powerful force users, and telling her that he controlled the entire world would only serve to further his own, as well as his peoples, standing in her eyes. He didn't particularly care what she thought of course, but for the purposes of the game that they were playing he needed to at least maintain some of her respect.

For now anyway.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"You aspire to lead." Her words were more of a statement insinuating that it were a fact and not a question, or a debate. "That's why you came to Coruscant. It's why you needed my target alive. And it's why you are holding me in his place, isn't it?" It wasn't too difficult to discern. It also helped that she had an incredibly remarkable mind. Most all Sith shared some commonalities. They all aspired to be the greatest. They all believed they were. And while a number of them were truly remarkable in their own way, many, many more found themselves scrounging for the scraps left from the table of those great ones.

Was he actually destined to be one of those great ones? Or just another beggar after the scraps of his superiors?

"Wherever this leads, you hope to gain power in your tribe." Her hands released her knees, allowing her slender pinkish limbs to lazily fall back to the floor, instead bracing herself with the palms of her hands behind her as she craned her neck to stretch. "Understandable. Your social position relies on the economical, physical, and theoretical power you each possess. It makes sense."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"Indeed." He said with a smile. She was smart, he would give her that. "Everything is a means to an end."

He had learned that lesson from his father at a very young age. Lord Nashar, as most had called him, had always aspired to be something greater than himself. The Nashar line came from ancient lineage, but not as Lords of power or great kings, no, as historians. They had been keepers of secrets for thousands of years, watchers, observers. Sometimes they had been spykeepers, other times they had been simple librarians, but always one thing stuck to them; knowledge.

His father had wanted more, he had wanted power, and that want had been passed down onto his son. Purebloods weren't much for genetic lineage, but they were for Legacy. Vrak wanted power, he wanted strength, and he knew that he would receive it. "Even you."

It wasn't an insult, but in the end she was simply another path for himself to gain more power.

"Our society places value on merit more than lineage." He told her simply. "The more I do, the more I plot, the more I scheme and display what I am capable of, the more respect I gain."

And with respect would come leadership, the thing that he truly needed.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"Then I suppose you do need me more than I need you." She let the smile on her face widen, her teeth baring just a little. "How fitting."

He needed a Twi'lek, widely considered the galaxy's standard when it came to slaves, to help him achieve some measure of influence on this little journey. Whether he liked to admit it or not, and whether or not she found her way into his story in the end mattered little. Both he and she knew it was the case. He needed her, and even if he didn't like their arrangement, he needed her where she was, next to him, regardless of whatever leverage he felt that little explosive inside her gave him.

It was almost touching, if not for the fact that she could still very well end up dead when all was said and done, if she wasn't careful.

"Suppose then if one of us succeeds then we both in some measurable way do." It seemed at least somewhat mutually beneficial.

"Assuming you don't betray me."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

He chuckled. "Perhaps."

It was true that for this venture to succeed he needed her alive. The information he currently had wasn't really enough to go off of, and the Banker might not be all that he hoped to find either, but in the end this was only one scheme. One plot. Vrak had many of them. This would have seen him raised to new heights, yes, but it was not the end of all things if he did not succeed. That was why he was still willing to kill her in the first place.

"But." He began. "Don't overestimate my needs."

He smiled at her, it wasn't a threat, nor was it really a reminder of the leverage he had over her. It was more a statement of exactly what he was. Though he had agreed to this 'partnership', he wasn't about to start seeing her as anything more than a tool.

Vrak couldn't. "I have no intention of betraying you."

The Pureblood went on.

"As I said, the barbarity of your past encounters does not reflect upon me." Some Sith were fools. They thought only of their own pleasures rather than what the denial of them could gain in benefit. Vrak wanted what was best for himself, nothing else. Right now that meant keeping Sera alive and happy, in the future? They would see.

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Silence hung in the air for several minutes. There was little need to respond to his comments. They were mutually understood. The only sounds were the low vibrations of the hull as it traveled through space, rocked by the engines that roared beneath the deck. A bit of chatter as two servants spoke with one another, passing by the empty chamber on their way towards whatever it was they were assigned to do.

"What are you looking to accomplish with this tribe you want to lead? An isolated existence in Sith space? Another Sith Empire that spreads across the galaxy? What?"

Curiosity was blooming within her. She had no intention of stopping whatever it was Vrak was up to, and if he chose not to tell her she would hardly press the question. But she did find the idea a curious one. Though she did have a difficult time believing in the possibility of a return to a Sith Empire, given the fragility of his species' numbers, and the lengths Jedi would go to exterminate them. That, and if his tribe had yet to be discovered in the slightest, even through the network of channels she had access to, they likely weren't all that vast in number.

"Or maybe your goal is smaller, more focused. Perhaps a star system? A repopulation of Korriban maybe?"

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"What do all Sith want? Crave?" He shrugged.

Vrak hardly claimed that his intentions were the most original, in fact they were downright cliche. That fact didn't really bother him, after all this wasn't some fanfiction written on the holo-net, it was life. Conquest and the Rise of the Sith were as inevitable as two Suns on Tatooine. No one could stop it.

"Power." He said flatly. "Control. Conquest."

He gazed at her, a small smile touching his lips. "I want it all."

Greed personified.

"I want everything I want." He continued on as he looked at her. "And still more."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

"That's not what I was asking. That is a bi-product of what you accomplish. I was asking specifically."

Wanting power and control and conquest was all very vague. "Do you want to conquer the Allliance? The Mandalorians? The First Order? Or stars and systems like Coruscant itself?" Her pink hand pressed and rubbed momentarily against the muscles in her neck, rolling her head to assist in relieving a few of the knots that had formed from tension. "Everyone wants power. Everyone wants control. I was asking what you planned on accomplishing to achieve that power and control, and where you would exert that control."

Since he wanted to lead his people, that meant by extension he wanted power and control over them. To a Sith, they were one in the same really.

Finding she no longer felt comfortable sitting up she laid back on the floor, her head tails resting over the tops of her shoulders above her chest. Her eyes closed for a few moments, though she continued to speak.

"Don't want more than you can take. Else temptation will be your undoing."

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

"I am aware." She might have outclassed him when it came to the force, but Vrak had a keen strategic mind above all.

His plans were simple really, slow, but simple.

"My people have been stagnant for millenia." The explanation came. "They are not used to war anymore. Fighting among themselves, yes, but not war. My ambitions lay in returning us to the glory we once had. Conquest, control, power. The things that we used to hold in the highest regard."

It was odd that he was explaining these things to her, but then again she had told him about her own 'condition' so perhaps it was simply tit for tat. "I will reclaim our Ancient Throneworlds first. Korriban, Kaas, Ziost. I intend to rebuild them."

A process that would in it of itself take years.

"From there?" He smiled. "I will have what I want, and what I want is everything. Piece by piece I'll take the galaxy. Starting with those closest."

He was no fool.

Vrak knew that when Athiss emerged they would be no unstoppable juggernaut, he knew that he would have to move carefully, gather allies and friend, do what it took. He was committed to this, it was the cause of his entire life time. The question was did he do it for his people, or for himself?

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

Her hands clasped together on her belly, thinking aloud.

"It would take your lifetime to accomplish a galactic conquest. Assuming you even succeeded." Her nose wiggled before she continued onward. "You'd need incredible overwhelming numbers."

The odds were stacked so against Vrak she was partially wondering if the man was actually insane, or if he just painted a picture that he would rule in an ideal setting.

"Even then, you would all need to be strong. You require more training. If you are the current prime example of your tribe, you will not succeed without a miracle of the Force on your side."

Perhaps that would bruise his ego a bit, but it was a fact. If he could not brutally and swiftly bring Seraphina to her knees, he would find himself at odds with the best of the galaxy. He did say that he was somewhere in the middle of their social ladder, so perhaps others were his better, or perhaps they had earned their way through something as simple as deception and betrayal. That hardly would prepare them for war on a galactic level.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]

 

[Vrak Nashar]

[member="Seraphina Shel'tah"]

His lifetime? Purebloods could live for centuries. Few had, either due to their own egos or their children, but it was more than possible. "Longer."

Vrak had no illusions about just what he wanted to accomplish. Conquering the galaxy would be a slow, and painful process. It would take decades to ever even conquer half of it, not to mention the countless rebellions and uprisings he would have to quell. He knew that this task would not be the easiest.

"I know." He said simply, the smile still on his face. Surprisingly it was a genuine now. This talk reminded him of the ones he used to share with Siedra before she had betrayed him. "I am not the most powerful of my kind."

He told her simply. "Nor will I ever be."

It didn't bruise his ego to admit that. The strongest Purebloods in the galaxy had one thing in common, their use of Sorcery. For Vrak that was not an option.

"I will get stronger in time." He told her. "I am not fool enough to think I have reached my limits. In the end however it won't be my strength that leads my Empire. It is my cunning that will allow me to rule."

 

[Seraphina Shel'tah]

The Twi'lek lifted herself up, looking towards Vrak. "Well. This has been enlightening." She had learned a bit about his motivations. That was something.

Using her hand to brace against the floor she picked herself up to a standing position, eyes glancing down at Vrak, still siting. "My task seems far less daunting now. Thank you."

Conquering the known galaxy or recovering a lost memory? Seraphina felt the former was an impossible task, not simply difficult. She was more than skeptical of his ability to do as he sought. The moment that the Alliance, or the Silver Jedi got wind of this Sith Order they would hunt them again, an endless crusade to rid the galaxy of the breed. It would be like a purge of the dark side again, an endless crusade until every one of his people were dead.

She needn't tell him any of this however. It was not her problem to resolve.

"I will return to my room to rest. If I am needed, you will fetch me." The statement served as a reminder not to send another servant to get her.

[member="Vrak Nashar"]