Tombstone

[Jairus Starvald]

​

Scillal, the Centrality​

Vigor Base​

​

The aftermath of the Magrail Crisis was quite profitable for certain individuals.

Distan Ravoon was appointed the new head of the Erilnar Security Forces, Xuxi was increasingly more likely to assume the position of Scrivinir in the next election and Lord Fa? Lord Fa was quite happy to start fostering new relationships within the military of the Centrality, both navy as well as regular army.

The Vigor Corps was the next step in this.

There needed to be some measure of security for the magrail and it had become increasingly more clear that the Centrality itself was incapable of providing it -- especially with the client-worlds being on opposite sides on so many issues. So, Vigor Base was constructed after a contract was established. Fa Holdings would keep a well-protected security base on Scillal, the main shipyards world of the Centrality and the HQ of their Navy (which was admittedly quite small). In return the Vigor Corps would aid in the security of Erilnar, receiving the backing of the Centrality government and supplies.

Coincidentally [member="Maleagant"] and his Helix Syndicate were in the progress of consolidating their security forces themselves. It was for this reason that contact had been made between the two.

A meeting was set for today, to discuss the specifics between the two Sith, right here on Vigor Base.

 

[Darth Osano]

It's lonely at the top. Whether they were keenly aware of it or not, the combined growth of Fa Holdings and the Helix Syndicate had launched them over a hurdle precious few even arrived at. The two companies were now on the short list of corporate powers: the top fifty, as opposed to the bottom six hundred and twenty seven. No small feat, and they had one another to thank for it. Maleagant thusly arrived at Vigor Base accompanied only by a pair of Helix Syndicate Specialists, leaving out the gargantuan, lumbering form of Rahgot, the Mandallian Giant that worked for him. Maleagant considered them both to be past the previous displays of minion-measuring contests.

This was despite Fa selling him out to Ri'shajirr and taking one of his puppets away from him. Indeed, Maleagant seemed to be in a friendly, forgiving, and some would dare say, accommodating mood. The fact that he had received his first cuts from the spice trade and Fa's magrail enterprise might have weighed in on that. Tough to say. If time heals all wounds, money is bacta.

Without much fanfare, Maleagant's shuttle touched down. It was nothing very fancy, the Dupre-Class Transport was built for discretion rather than luxury. The Shi'ido left his guards by the ramp and was quickly brought before [member="Tai Fa"] with little incident. Maleagant inclined his head with due reverence. "You wished to speak with me, Lord Fa?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

They were on one of the landings pads of the military installation.

It had twelve of them in total, each one of them capable of housing either six moderately sized troop transports or one corvette that was on the small side of things. Lord Fa was quite proud about it, all in all. They cooperated with the military in the construction as well, sub-contracting certain parts out, all in an effort to keep the secrecy up as good as possible. Secrecy in terms of specifics, of course, because that would hopefully reduce the number of incidents.

When hostile individuals were unsure what to expect... they'd be more cautious about their approach and pick a different target.

"Yes." Lord Fa responded. There was silence for a while after that, as that singular word filled the cold air between them and were left hanging as an afterthought. No further words came for a quite some time, before the Thirriken inclined his beak in a token amount of respect and gestured with his wing.

"Walk with me please, Maleagant."

No explanation for the lack of haikus.

 

[Darth Osano]

He immediately wished he had brought more guards.

The absence of haiku from [member="Tai Fa"] sounded less like casual conversation and more like the calm before the storm. Maleagant did not expect he had been brought here to be executed, otherwise Fa would have just tried to blow his shuttle out of the sky. He imagined that was how the Thirriken would have done it: just a few turbolaser shots into the sky. The majority of the corpses would disintegrate either from the turbolasers themselves, the resulting explosion, or from being dashed at the bottom of the canyon. Have some drones clean out the wreckage and incinerate any remaining body parts and no one would have known any better. Maleagant, at least, was not unarmed.

A lightsaber clung to his belt, eerily similar to the one formerly carried by a certain Pureblood. Maleagant had gutted the innards and replaced them down to the crystal, but the case was the same. A nice trophy. Maleagant was not particularly good with it and still carried his disruptor pistol somewhere in his jacket, but he was getting the hang of it. A Sith, even an acolyte, ought to know that much.

Not feeling threatened, but not feeling entirely safe or at ease either, Maleagant walked quietly alongside Fa as they wound their way deeper into the fort. Having seen it on approach, it appeared more or less the same size as the Helix Syndicate's base on Dantooine: Fort Aurbis, give or take a few meters. If that were the case, Maleagant wagered he could look forward to quite a bit of walking.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

Tittering accompanied them, as his little feet ticked against the durasteel flooring of the path. It was strange how such a little bird could be intimidating, but then maybe it was specifically because of that, that Lord Fa could invoke such feelings in the first place. You didn't expect that much from a Thirriken.

They were small, light-footed and even at adulthood they barely reached any respectable heights.

It was not a strange thing, then, that they were usually accompanied by guards of various heights. Vnut of Garnib, for example, who was positively huge. Or the Golden Guards, who rivaled Vnut in size both vertically as well as horizontally. But none of the aforementioned were present right now.

"We have accomplished much in the past few months." Lord Fa finally said after a while. He had never been that good at mentalism and what came with it, blocking out outside interference was one thing, but trying to listen into other minds... no, that was not his forte. Otherwise, he might have tried to soothe Maleagant's worries. But as it stood the Thirriken was blissfully unaware how anxious his partner in crime was right now.

"But we can accomplish more."

A few moments later they entered a courtyard where a training was in session.

Big burly sentients of multiple species, most of them humanoid in form, doing their best to excel in every task that was set for them. It was target practice right now.

"I assume you have started the recruitment for more men?"

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Tai Fa"] led him into a courtyard filled with recruits engaging in target practice. It was a good thing that blasters were not as loud as slugthrowers, otherwise it would have been terribly difficult to hear Fa over the noise. True to his assumption, the Helix Syndicate had been engaging in a newly invigorated wave of recruitment. Training standards were being brought back up to standardization. There was too much disparity between the Specialists and the Enforcers, too much being considered. Things were going to have to change, and a third division would need to be formed. The organizational process was still ongoing, but it was now far enough along that Maleagant had no issue answering Fa's question honestly.

"I have." He answered simply, observing as one of Fa's men quickly ejected a power cell, replaced it, and resumed firing. "Projecting power within the Alignment has become a priority for me."

Very few organizations, excluding planetary governments, now existed to rival the Syndicate within the confines of the sectors that comprised the Pentastar Alignment. That being said, the Syndicate's capabilities in deploying troops en masse to capitalize on their newfound ascent was lacking. What good was power and money if one could not readily seize it at will.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

For a good few years the Sith Empire had swallowed the Centrality whole.

The 111th Legion. Those were the regional forces compromised of the various client-worlds of the Centrality, who had fought for the Sith Emperors, Empresses and Councils of the Empire. After the fall of the last Emperor and the dissolution of the Empire itself, the 111th Legion was called back home and home they came. Some simply returned to a civilian life, while others joined the Navy and Army of the Centrality itself.

It were Lord Fa's connections that allowed him access to that same 111th Legion's assets. Assets in the form of experience, tactics and strategies. The men and women of the 111th were now training the Vigor Corps.

Good training was often overlooked when it came to security forces... or armies. Equipment could only carry you so far, before it would fail in the face of inexperienced or downright inadequate personnel. No, what the Vigor Corps needed was being given to them right now. Veteran trainers who knew exactly what a war was like and how to survive, even better: how to win it.

"I understand." Lord Fa acknowledged it, because it was the same for him. The Centrality was smaller in scope, yet, it was more centralized in power. This meant that it was more... challenging to dismantle the power-structure and supplant it. Difficult to point one client-world against another, in an attempt to weaken them all, when in the end you wished to join them back together again. "Our association has had its difficulties, but it bore its fruit as well."

Not simply an idle thought.

The realization that together they were more effective.

"I propose joint training sessions, once both groups are farther down the road."

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Tai Fa"]

Despite its location and history, the Pentastar Sectors had never been part of the Sith Empire. Instead, they had only known more repugnant factions: the short lived Galactic Imperium, the Fel Empire, the Shadow Dynasty, the Mandalorians... And finally the Primeval. These had not been reputable or disciplined factions. The latter two had wrought only destruction and mischief where they went, failing the constituents of the sector. The rest of them had merely been incompetent, accomplishing nothing either good nor bad. It was laughable, really, to think that the Helix Syndicate was responsible for more positive things in the Alignment than all of those entities combined.

Which was even more staggering when one considered that the Helix Syndicate was not an organization looking out for anyone or anything but itself.

That didn't mean experts couldn't be found elsewhere. Maleagant simply had to look abroad. As of the new regimen, his Enforcers were being trained to have similar skillsets to law enforcement officers. The aim of soldiers was to kill, the aim of law enforcement to detain. And since the Enforcers mostly (you guessed it) enforced, it only made sense. Killing debtors was not good business practice. They were worth more alive, either as miners or as members of society- paying their debt in an orderly, timely manner. There were more than enough runners that the Syndicate dealt with on a daily basis, so Enforcers had to be trained in subduing them non-lethally. Despite the regions relative disparity, the strong Imperialist cultures of planets like Bastion, Dubrillion, Yaga Minor, and Borosk meant law enforcement were easy to come by.

Trained soldiers and special operations personnel were acquired from other regions, like the Tion Cluster or the Tapani Sector. Remnants from governments like the One Sith and various mercenaries. Despite the annoyance they had wrought in Alignment Space, Mandalorians were also employed. Typically the ones on poor terms with the rest of the clans. They were not especially hard to find either.

"Interesting." Maleagant commented. Training was all well and good, as was using pirates and bandits on Dantooine for fodder.

Pirates and bandits were only such a challenge, however. If the Helix Syndicate were to turn into a proper fighting force, they would need to have their mettle tested by worthy adversaries. Not just unorganized rabble and constant drills. Real soldiers versus real soldiers. No one in the Alignment had a worthy martial force, no one that Maleagant was not already at war with, anyway. That would make Lord Fa that optimal choice, despite the distance between the two regions.

The best allies were the ones you didn't have to worry about moving into your territories.

"And where would we hold these sessions?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

In truth the Centrality was at a point of contention these days.

The sudden insurgency from the Renatasians had caught all of them off-guard and made them suspicious. What if some other client-world would rise up and try to break unity again? What if their world was next to be ravaged by criminals and terrorists? It was... beautiful, to a degree, and it had come at the right time as well. It made Fa slightly sad that he hadn't been behind it. Because it would have been a page out of the classic Sith's book to power. Divide and conquer. Put yourself on both teams at the same time and simply watch, guide and wait, until the opportunity came to strike.

Right now Lord Fa found himself on the lawful side of things.

Not that there was any other choice. His first instinct had been to take things slow here, slowly and carefully build up influence. Start gaining more contracts to repair or build infrastructure and other necessary commodities. Become indispensable to the sector, while filling the government and other political systems with your people at the key positions.

It would have been a process spanning years.

"The Dilonexa system." The Thirriken responded, before revealing a little holo-projector device on the span of his wing. A click sounded and then its position within the Centrality was shown. "Thirty-nine worlds incapable of sustaining life as we know it."

From its position to other relevant information and more specifically, to infrastructure being build on Dilonexa 26. One of the colder worlds of the system.

"State-of-the-art training facilities build in cooperation with the Centrality's military. They will have everything we need for... war games."

 

[Darth Osano]

Thirty nine worlds? In one system? The Centrality certain was a dense region. A company could have projected itself into the upper echelons of corporate power without ever leaving that system. Provided they could figure out how to strip mine those worlds easily enough. Despite its position on a hyperlane, the Dilonexa system was large enough that the twenty-sixth planet would be considered remote. Remote enough to ensure that no one would be bothering them for the duration of the war games. A mixed blessing, since it looked like Maleagant was going to have to dress warmly for the trip.

How fun.

"Very well. When do we start? How many men?"

Maleagant did not imagine that [member="Tai Fa"] would want the full bulk of both of their forces to converge on the planet at once. Ignoring the logistical problems, it just wouldn't be prudent. Taking away too many men from where they were needed would undermine the Syndicate's position in the Alignment.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

"The training facilities will be completed within the next two weeks."

That was the long margin.

They should be ready within a week, but if Lord Fa had learned one thing, it was to always leave yourself some wiggle room. Otherwise, you really looked like a poodoobird, when your promises didn't come through. In truth, he wouldn't have called for his associate, if it wasn't almost time to initiate the plans at hand.

"A quarter of our current recruits." This was a reasonable enough number, allowing them to simulate a realistic trial without actually draining their levies from all their manpower.

It was all good and well to organize a war game, but at the end of the day they weren't playing games. If they pulled away too many men for training, that would be fewer men protecting their interests in the Galaxy. It was marginally easier for Lord Fa, because the Centrality was more... centralized and denser, with the Penta territories being far more spread-out.

But the risk was there regardless, for both of them.

"After which we reassess the situation. If it was helpful, we can continue by switching out teams, so our operations are never threatened by lessened security."

 

[Darth Osano]

Two weeks would be plenty of time to sort out the recruits suitable for the training session. Maleagant was dubious on dispatching a quarter of his new recruits to the other side of the galaxy, but there was no reward without a little risk. Then again, if a portion of his recruits were out here, more could be housed at Fort Aurbis. This, in effect, would increase the amount of Enforcers and Troopers he could train up and deploy at once. Truly, it was a miracle of modern power plays how nicely everything worked out in these regards.

Besides, both [member="Tai Fa"] and Maleagant had a happy talent for never wasting their time. Almost everything they did ended with some measure of success, even after a few notable setbacks. Maleagant's shadow war against Dynamic Automata and Galentro Heavy Works was a good example. Plenty of friendly casualties, but also plenty of reward. A nice new string of luxury locations, all set up throughout the Alignment. Unless Fa was somehow working to sabotage him and delay the training of only a quarter of his recruits. Yet that would have been a byzantine scheme, even by his Lordship's standards. Maybe at some point Maleagant would finally trust his allies enough to stop imagining every way they could be, in reality, trying to undermine him.

It was getting tedious, not to mention unhealthy.

"Agreed." Maleagant replied. "The Syndicate will send its recruits as soon as the facilities are finished. Was there anything else you required?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

"Knowledge is power."

Ancient old wisdoms or not, there was truth in it. Ancient truth. But Maleagant was deeply aware of this wisdom, because otherwise he wouldn't have been primarily an information broker... or had been one, until he decided to evolve into something different. The point was that Lord Fa was keenly aware of Maleagant's deep sadness when it came to the trust broken between the two of them. Fa felt terrible about it, marginally so.

And if the Thirriken was anything, it was a bird who believed in the karmic value of good deeds.

Also the karmic value of bad deeds, but that was less relevant right now.

"I am aware you were unhappy during our meeting on Erilnar." The Sith continued simply, before folding his wings behind his back and inclining his beak. "As an apology- my agents have recently uncovered a site that can be of mutual interest."

Wings returned to the front and the same holo-projector now showed some ruins.

"Sith in nature, they have determined a wide stretch of space was dedicated towards libraries."

 

[Darth Osano]

Maleagant was at first puzzled by what appeared to be a non-sequitur from [member="Tai Fa"], but became pleasantly surprised when he finished. Truly this Peacock's kindness and generosity was unmatched, not just by Sith but by most people. Who else would have voluntarily shared a trove of Sith knowledge with another? Certainly not [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"], who Maleagant often suspected of being wholly illiterate. The feline subspecies did not strike him as the type to take readily to the process of reading- there was not enough honor in the written word for him. Either that or he was busy running amok, confiscating the labors of other people...

...And here Maleagant thought he had been past all this.

Plundering an ancient Sith Temple, however, would put his mind at ease. Even if all of the effort to soothing over the previous tensions was undertaken by Lord Fa. At least someone cared enough to make amends, to bury hatches. As a result, Maleagant spoke reverently. It was the least he could do. "You're very generous." Unless it was an ambush waiting for him in that library. Exploding books, maybe. Wait, he had promised he wouldn't do that any more. "Does anything remain within?"

Important line of questioning. Maleagant was unsure how far Tai Fa's agents had gone into the structure. It would not be very fun, or consistent, for them to waste their time scraping dust particles off of empty shelves in pursuit of knowledge.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

"My agents have managed to penetrate the outer defenses." The Order of the Feather was a cult he had established after being birdnapped himself. It was an organization that was focused around the gathering of knowledge, sith runes, alchemy and magic, they were experienced in those areas. It were those same cultists that stumbled upon this Sith Temple, seemingly undisturbed by anything other than the hostile (and quite possibly darkside mutated) wildlife.

Sithspawn were found within and it had taken quite some time to put that threat down, before actually trying to break through the ingenious webs of magicks that protected the Inner Sanctum of the Temple. Spells and enchantments that caused people to grow disinterested the closer they came, illusions that made the temple look nothing more than a simple stretch of jungle in the middle of nowhere.

Things like that. Sith could be quite amusing and full of humor, when they were really motivated, it seemed.

"They detected even stronger defenses the closer to the libraries." With the logical conclusion being that there was treasure at the end of it. Why would there otherwise be so much protection made around the areas?

"No signs of looting outside the inner defensive perimeter."

No signs of interference whatsoever actually.

 

[Darth Osano]

Outer defenses. Stronger defenses. Inner defenses. This did not bode well for what Maleagant would have hoped would be little more than an archaeological dig. Sith philosophy demanded more, he supposed. The unworthy could not be allowed access to such eldritch knowledge without their mettle being tested. That and such places needed to be protected against the Jedi. The Jedi were too weak to understand the power contained in Sith scrolls, tomes, and holocrons, so they sought to destroy them instead. Maleagant did not have the respect for history and culture some individuals had, but he did find it wasteful and pointless to destroy or lock up such items for no reason other than that they were scary.

Simple minds. Maleagant would never allow himself to be intimidated by inanimate objects, no matter how much they were allegedly "cursed." Not that he had ever encountered one to begin with.

"​I can have my men secure a perimeter until we have time to look ourselves, if you wish." Maleagant recommended to [member="Tai Fa"].

He would not bother sending in any of his men. No Enforcers, no Specialists, certainly not even his lieutenants. Maleagant had never encountered Sith Spawn, zombies, technobeasts, or any other number of abominations that usually stalked Sith ruins. There could have been cultists there as well, coupled with insidious traps. His men lacked the Force Sensitivity to handle such things. Maleagant felt no personal attachments towards them, but he would rather not have a morale problem on his hands by sending them to their certain deaths.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

"No need. My men have been guarding the site for quite some time now." This would presumably tip off Maleagant about the activity of his soldiers, but nothing could be done about that now. Lord Fa was a paranoid bird, true. But at some point the time comes to lay that to rest and start trusting individuals. It can be grudging trust. But as long as it was functional, there was no issue.

He trusted Maleagant to a certain degree.

To the degree that the Shi'ido would always look out for number one, first, second and third. Which was acceptable. It was the Sith way and nothing could be done about that particular essence of their religion. But they could work within the confines of that system and make it better than what the layman Sith attempted. No assassinations or high-paced betrayals at the eve of their victory.

There was no sense in that.

No profit. None without a lot of risks, at least.

"First, the war games. Security is critical for the success of our continued operations."

 

[Darth Osano]

As long as someone was safeguarding the site, aside from the horrors that still lurked underneath it, Maleagant would allow himself to rest easy. Or at least try to rest easy. He had been unable to rest easy ever since throwing that Pureblood into the waiting jaws of the Naboo. Maleagant insisted to himself that nothing could ever come of it again, that his escape was impossible, but there was still that gnawing feeling. A sense of doubt lodged permanently in his gut. This kind of irrationality should have been beneath him. Whatever. It would go away once word reached him that the trial had been concluded and Lady Pyne had executed the man. All in due time.

[member="Tai Fa"], meanwhile, had no such irresponsible worries. He was a smart bird, certainly. "As you wish."

Maleagant was not in a position to debate the exact sequencing of events. Even if he were more obsessed with collecting knick-knacks than expanding his power base. Hokey religions and ancient trinkets could only get one so far. Paramilitary power was far more... Tangible. And applicable on a wider scale. This was something both Sith understood, otherwise they would not be here.

"I can depart now and begin preparations. Will that be all?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"]

He briefly wondered about the status of their soon-to-be acquired ill-gotten Sith knowledge.

It was not often that the Thirriken got ahead of himself in these affairs. Usually he was better than that, but today was special. Today his mind went to what there could be behind ancient sith magicks and runes, what would they find after they finished executing every last Sithspawn protecting their treasures? Would it be knowledge beyond any borders?

Surely there was no other explanation.

But it was almost as if by sheer proximity to Maleagant, that Lord Fa was infected by troubling worries. What if it was a trap? Some ancient trick played by even more ancient Sith, picking a place to erect a Sith Temple and protect it keenly. Just so people thought there was something there-

No.

Lord Fa shook his head slightly, almost as if to shake those same worries out of his head.

"Yes, thank you for meeting me, Maleagant." Tai replied smoothly, as if there wasn't an existential crisis within him just a mere moment ago. "Safe travels and I will see you again soon."

 

[Darth Osano]

-----​

​

Time came and went, as if often did. In the spheres of movers and shakers, three weeks was virtually nothing. For those Sith with nothing but time and blood on their hands, it might as well have been an eternity. For Maleagant, it felt as though it had only been ten minutes since he last spoke to [member="Tai Fa"] at Vigor Base. One moment they were discussing ancient Sith burial sites, and the next Maleagant's shuttle was lowering itself into the atmosphere of Dilonexia 26. The training facilities had been completed on schedule and Maleagant no longer had to worry about his shuttle and the shuttles of his recruits being shot down. And provided they survived the explosive crashes, they could expect to freeze to death in the unforgiving, icy wastes of the planet.

Well, no use for that line of thinking now. Maleagant's shuttle was the first to land. As he marched down the boarding ramp, he was accompanied by Deglarch the Morgukai in addition to his usual escort of two Specialists. It had recently fallen onto Deglarch's plate to take part in the supervision of training, largely because the Enforcers played a key role in defending and policing all of the Helix Syndicate's properties. It was Deglarch's job to ensure the integrity of these locations. Otherwise, any old psychopath could bomb them.

It would be another few minutes before the shuttles ferrying the recruits landed, so for now Maleagant simply waited around, hands clasped behind his back, for Lord Fa to make his appearance.