Dominion Toxicity || SO Dominion of Anoat Hex

[Darth Strosius]

Objective: Extract and Store the Poison
Equipment: Lightsaber, Sword, Dagger, Robes
Tags: Gerwald Lechner / Revna / Darth Malum of House Marr / Taeli Raaf / Fiolette Yvarro

Despite his attention and concern lying firmly with the newly arrived Lady Raaf, Gerwald's remark to Malum did bring an audible chuckle from the masked man. One slightly sinister in tone yet which neither confirmed nor denied the statement. Evidently the Wolf knew him far better than he thought, or perhaps he had simply made his stance in previous meeting abundantly clear. Either way he still chose not to comment on the little standoff between the Wolf and the Raven given how thankfully brief it was. He was far too consumed with his own anyway.

The masked man clicked his tongue in annoyance at how she addressed him so casually and without fear, as though she could indeed waltz wherever she pleased and treat him as an inferior. He couldn't wait to wipe that smug look off of her face. "You tried to bait me into a trap, and yet you've walked right into my clutches. I'd tread carefully if I were you, heretic. Your fleets aren't here to dissuade me this time." With a growl he reluctantly stowed his lightsaber back on his belt, but he never took his hand off of it.

"Make yourself useful here and I'll consider your interruption a one-time deal." A lie of course, he wouldn't simple forgive or forget her transgressions against him, but one that would keep him from having to lash out in mixed company. Were it not for the mixed loyalties of the Executioner and the Heir of Marr's hesitance plaguing him at the moment, he'd not have the same leniency. As Lady Raaf began to get into the specifics of her contribution however it seemed as though she wouldn't be the only unexpected, and furthermore uninvited, guest.

Darth Strosius felt one of his eyebrows quirk up in confusion as someone that he didn't recognize entered into the meeting room, seemingly some sort of admiral based on the uniform, and began speaking with a surprisingly casual tone. Thankfully she at least had the decency to introduce herself before he could gesture for the guards to drag her out of the meeting room, and it all clicked in place. No wonder she strutted about as though she owned the place, she was a Raaf of some sort.

"Oh there are more of you. Joy." A tagalong of Lady Raaf herself that she must have brought in for backup he supposed. Nothing that he couldn't handle if it still came down to blades and force of arms. "As I was saying, I believe the toxin on Anoat can be just as much of a resource as the world itself once its been cleaned of it. We could bathe entire planets in poison, or at the very least population centers, if we were to contain and harness it properly during the terraforming process. I have some gas freighters and more extractors on their way now to help with such a task."

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

It seemed, unfortunately, two different standoffs were to take place here, the perhaps far more concerning one between Ali- Darth Strosius , and Taeli Raaf , and perhaps the one with far less bad blood, but certainly was proving itself to be a consideration every time that he met with the man, Gerwald Lechner .

Malum's red orbs met his brown, tilting everso, for the man's position, his disposition, well it certainly was apt for his height.

Out of his peripherals, looking towards Ali- Darth Strosius, he considered the wolf's words, would his battle brother attempt to smite him down if he betrayed the Sith? It was not as if the answer was odd or strange or unbelievable...

He simply had not ever considered it.

Yet, now that he had, he could not truly find himself giving an answer.

Or perhaps he simply did not want to.

It would not matter anyway, they would never reach a point where it would even have to be considered.

And after all, it was Ali- Dar- Ali... he was more liable to attempt to assassinate Kaine, assassinate their Emperor, out of what he thought was the best interest of the Sith, rather than his battlebrother...

...He knew.

He knew.

Yet his chuckles did not provide him any comfort.

It was that Lord Lechner's head turned towards Ali- Darth Strosius, and spoke even more... certainly morbid, certainly deep staking words. What exactly was the relationship between them? They were not close, but there was a respect there that spoke of certain... begrudging respect. He had been told that they had met a few times in the past, but that such a strong impression had been made?

Would Ali- Darth Strosius, would his battlebrother so easily make concord to the butcher that had killed, had murdered, so many of their brothers and sisters?

As their eyes met again, Malum knew the time of this game was far from over, even if it had to be paused, as his hand drifted to the mask affixed his face, and with a hiss, red orbs were revealed to all, the attractive noble face of the scion of Darth Marr, all with raven locks framing his features, shaken back and forth to return to their natural state, uncovering his appearance.

"It seems always to be the interest of the hegemonic power to demand suicidal levels of loyalty, to demand transparency from their subjects, when none is ever so forthcoming. Are you so loyal to the Sith yourself, Lord Lechner, what do you even determine that to be? Is it the Sith you swear yourself, or to the ambitions of a single man..." Malum tilted his gaze to the side, raising his nose in dismissal, "...Or perhaps to the desires of a single woman..." He needed no mask, he had been trained his entire life to make his face the mask, "...I would sooner believe that Darth Strosius was disloyal to the Sith, then I would believe you would go against your Mistresses' command."

They were much the same in that way.

Though of course, Malum had killed his mistress.

She stirred at the back of his mind.

Still, he breathed out, allowing the conversation to return back to the matter of the purpose of this meeting, rather than this stand-off. Unfortunately, he had little to add, "There are some solutions that were tried on Alvaria to control and heal irradiated soil, bioremediation, chemical oxidisation, soil stabilisation, and soil washing are the normal methods," Not that he knew much of any of them.

Thankfully, turning towards Lady Raa- Taeli, it seemed more productive matters were going ahead, even if she was certainly needling his battlebrother needlessly, though as long as Ali- Darth Strosius would remain seated, remain from revealing the fact that he held ultimate advantage still, to remain as strange as it was to say... the bigger person.

They would survive this yet, if only for his, and Revna 's sake.

Still, his red orbs spoke of disapproval, as his lips actually spoke, "We are Sith, to strike foundation, to begin the construction of something that will continue, that will exist, far beyond our own lives, is what we have done for thousands of years, it will be an unfortunate wait, but I bow to Darth Arcanix's superior knowledge and experience on the matter." He offered with a nod.

As another joined their meeting.

A familiar face.

Though not familiar to him.

A well-built woman, donning an Imperial admiral's garb... though at least the flavour of Imperial that was on their side.

Or was on their side, anyway.

A pair of sunglasses donned upon their face, hiding underneath piercing blue skies, and a disposition that screamed of confidence and experience, all the while flaming red locks, framed her features out of a puff of smoke from the cigar she brought forth into their room.

He knew exactly who she was.

Despite the fact, he had never met her in his life.

Yet... something... someone... within him had.

He had thought Fiolette Yvarro , once wife to Taeli was dead.

At least, he assumed she was...

Unfortunately, he was in no position to look into the matter further, for she was here now, and though certainly after this meeting he would need to take a dive into the Tsis'Kaar archives, and their memories, that would not be now. Especially as... she was right in front of them, and thankfully, seemingly not to be a threat to them.

He offered a genial smile, "I have read about you Lord Admiral Yvarro, a pleasure to finally come to your acquaintance," That much was at least somewhat true, you rarely got to meet the people you read about in history books, let alone those which you found yourself cheering for when you were a child, and history was but the epic histories of two sides, good against evil.

The noble Sith Empire, brought down by traitors from within, and enemies at the gates.

Yet much had changed from his childhood, he had learned much more, learned nuances.

Learned that these certain people he had read about in their histories seemingly had a habit of living... far too long.

She had served as Admiral for decades, lived for longer than that, yet looked... this.

Another immortal tyrant?

Such was to be seen.

"Nothing much from the continued cycle of war... we have a new Emperor, if that much interests you," Darth Empyrean, marginally better than the others, Braxus who lost the Empire, and Kaine who had abandoned it, "I am certain, we would be glad to have your assistance," He said with a nod, truly wondering what was occurring between Taeli and Fiolette.

His attention turned towards, Ali- Darth Strosius, feeling frustration grow underneath his skull.

Malum clicked his tongue, his smile not removed from his face, but perhaps growing more fixed, silent warning as he focused more on the end of his words, "While I am not opposed to any weapon of war, for after all, war is brutal no matter in the manner we wage it, and in this galaxy, civilians are as much part of the war machine as the soldier, as the officer, or the general. I would hope we will not be waging it in such a manner to cause waste, to cause harm to the potential of the empire."

To cause harm to their souls.

"But certainly, if we are to clear the gas in any event, we may as well find a productive use for it."

 

[Darth Miraage]

Miraage felt the Spice weat off and she came to her senses and realized she had failed her mission. She had in point of fact realized she was a truly nothing.. not even capable of doung what an Assassin’s entire existence revolved around. She felt shame and there was only one way to remove it.

She descended over the rooftops and came to hover near rooftops where she saw Darth Fatalia. The view screen let Miraage hide the sheer collapse that she was undergoing inside. She extended the ramp to the rooftop, beckoning to the Red Twi’lek to board.

Her aim was to safeguard her lover and then go somewhere to preform The Rite, and end her misery once and for all. Nothing would stop the plan.

 

[Darth Fatalia]

[Wrote a longer version.. it deleted itself.]

Fatalia boarded the ship, and once on the bridge she let her lekku fall around Miraage’s neck, and leaned to speak in her ear.
“What is wrong my love?”

The ship having returned to space made the jump to hyper space.

 

[Taeli Raaf]

and THEN some
Darth Strosius Darth Malum of House Marr Gerwald Lechner Revna Fiolette Yvarro
​

An eyebrow quirked up as Alisteri responded. So, he had thought her invitation to meet was a trap? Just what sort of mindset had Ophidia been cultivating in this particular apprentice she had to wonder. And she was curious what he meant when he stated she had walked into his clutches? She didn't need fleets and armies to fight, although she had never trumpeted her combat skills. That had always been intentional. If her opponents did not what to expect from her, how could they truly prepare for her if they fought?

Which certainly seemed like the direction her and Alisteri were heading. Shame. He had shown promise when she met him before, back when he had needed ships and Alina had arranged a meet and greet. Zealotry and arrogance had shrouded his vision, perhaps even an unhealthy dose of paranoia, and he could not see a legitimate offer to work together, to let the transgressions he had done against her slide, as true. Well... there were other ways he could prove useful, and maybe in time he could be shown the error of his ways.

Or she would kill him.

The sarcasm, however, was on the tip of her tongue and was about to be unleashed when the tattoo on her right arm flared and the door opened. She had been focused on the conversation... no, that was a lie to herself. She had been keenly aware it was growing stronger, the bond with...

"Pardon me, I do apologize for intruding on what is likely a very, very important meeting." Fore finger and second finger on either side of the cigarra as it was delicately pulled from her lips. Smoke rose into the air, and Fiolette continued on in her rather thick, posh Galidraani accent. "I am doing my best to become, reacquainted with the Sith Order."

Her expression would not change as Fiolette introduced herself to the meeting. She was too practiced in the game, in controlling her body language from her upbringing on Lorrd, to show any sort of emotion or reaction that she didn't want to let out. But through the bond, through their link, Fiolette would be getting hammered with emotions.

There was, to her chagrin, the underlying joy she felt. Someone she had written off as dead, or long lost to never return, had reappeared. In her life, that had not happened. Parents, both birth and adopted, were dead. Sisters, dead. No chance for any of them to return. But here was Fiolette, casual as she liked, with one of those cigarras and the smirk that she had always given her before... trouble was about to start.

But beneath that joy, and what would be quickly changing the feeling of the tattoo from warmth to a coldness deeper than ice or the vacuum of space, was the immense amount of anger and just pain this woman had caused her. The anger was a cauldron threatening to overflow from the boil. How dare this woman, the woman she loved, how dare she just leave her with a note and a letter from her lawyer and steal two of her children? How dare she?! She had barely gotten the chance to hold Iaacen before she gone off to repulse the Alliance and New Imperials and Fiolette had made good on her disappearance. How long had it been since she had heard or seen Aerys?

She had done that, done that in a way she had known would hurt her so deeply. And it still hurt. Forty years later, a lifetime for some, it still hurt. Just as it still hurt when she thought of her sisters and the family she had never known. The family she had built and then was shattered... twice.

Only Fiolette would feel any of that surging through their link. The others, in the Force and in the material, would see exactly what she wanted them to see. A placid lake of expression and feeling.

"You're late," would come her response. The words would carry so much meaning, but she couldn't let her have it in front of current company. Perhaps that was why she had chosen the venue, knowing Taeli would have to keep an air of professionalism about her and not go Corellian on her.

"And harvesting the gas as a weapon would be counter-productive," she said, immediately turning to and seizing on the topic of discussion. "We're more dealing with a pollutant than something that could be used in warfare, although there are some stories that it was Palpatine's Empire that gassed the world instead of miners being careless. Regardless, there are better things to be used instead of Anoat pollutants for chemical warfare."

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

WEARING: xxx
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
TAG: Darth Strosius | Revna | Darth Malum of House Marr | Taeli Raaf | Fiolette Yvarro

Tensions seemed to fill the air between all of them as words with certain intent seemed to fly about the room. Gerwald picked up rather quickly that Taeli Raaf and @Darth Strosus did not like each other. Fortunately they seemed to keep their weapons sheathed…

…for now.

Blue eyes flicked back to Darth Malum of House Marr as his attention was leveled in rebuttal toward the wolf. The question he posed once again assumed knowledge that the young Lord simply did not have. There would come a day when such a thing would get him into trouble, possibly even be the end of him. For now the wolf allowed it. His mind was more occupied with the task at hand. He would answer the raven of course, but the time for debate was closing.

At least there was one thing Gerwald was able to observe. Malum’s pause indicated something of what the wolf said had shaken his usual calm countenance.

“And yet you say nothing of yourself, which was my point, Lord Marr. If there are any in this room who I do not doubt… Strosius would be among them.”

Gerwald would not dignify the rest of what Malum supposed with a response. He could continue to think he understood the nature of the relationship which the Dread Wolf had with the Dread Queen. Was he loyal to her, yes. Did he obey her every command? He would not have suffered at the hands of Darth Prazutis had he heeded her warning all those years ago. Malum would never learn of the life debt, nor the debt the following generation owed. As far as the raven was concerned.

“I am afforded the autonomy to do as I wish.”

Gerwald turned to look as the doors opened once more. Taeli Raaf knew this one, and Gerwald felt as though she were familiar. When she introduced herself, the wolf nodded. He had heard of her exploits, though was curious as to why she was here. That became clear all too soon.

With her entrance and a short exchange, it seemed they were back to the business at hand.

“Perhaps it is a pollutant,” Gerwald said to Taeli, “Perhaps it is useless and Darth Strosius will waste his time. I do think how he spends his time should be his to determine. If he succeeds then the Order has another weapon to use. If he fails, then Anoat is clear. You are an alchemist, a scientist. Trial and error is part of the process.”

His words to the woman were designed to make one point. Let Alisteri try. The atmosphere would be clear regardless.

Gerwald turned to address the rest.

“At the same time, we should not dismiss the help Taeli offers. The sooner the atmosphere is clear of this toxin, the sooner our forces will not require the use of breathing masks on the surface. Which… that leaves us with these mutants on the surface. They need to be dealt with.”

 

[Fiolette Yvarro]

That azure gaze landed on Taeli, and they pierced through the amethyst gaze that stared back at her. Fiolette's look echoed what she felt through their bond and then slowly, far slower than she should have. The Galidraani women drew her attention toward Darth Strosius and she remarked in a cold tone. "More of us than you will ever realize." She wasn't sure what he had meant by more of you, but she certainly didn't like his tone. Her attention was quick to cut toward Darth Malum of House Marr and she gave a nod of respect toward him. A more genuine, and polite tone, warmer than it was just a moment ago. "Yes, a new... Emperor. A rather intriguing being, might I say." Then a nod of acknowledgment toward Gerwald Lechner . "I see your loyalties remain to Srina," Fiolette set the cigarra between her lips, and added,good."

Death had a funny way of changing the way perception worked. Blue, calculating eyes, gazed fell to each in the room. Including Revna and then shifted away, she studied them each. The same way she would have studied a battlefield and then a smile started to crawl along her features. It seemed the politicking seemed to have grown much worse since she was last among the Sith. Just as the drum would beat, so did the hearts of those around her. Meanwhile, Fiolette's own heart was locked away in a pendant that was on the ship. What she bore instead was the Netherworld's cog, and with its mechanical motions she could always hear it the ticking of time.

"Don't waste your time," cut Fiolette into the conversation, her voice resonated in a tone that would have been unfamiliar even to Taeli Raaf perhaps the first hint that Fiolette had gone off and done something she shouldn't have. "Anoat's pollution will never serve your purpose." She took a long, deep drag from that cigarra. Its colors became an array of ember and orange hues. Slowly smoke wafted into the air as she exhaled, "but you can treat it, and clear it. Although..." Her voice traced off into the distance the deep timber, the texture of her voice continued to hint at the depths she had gone through to have clawed her way back to realspace, to the realm of the living.

"Allow me to stop you from wasting your time and credits," when her gaze landed on Taeli once more, she impulsed images to her, ones that told of a secret on Anoat. Breaking away from Lady Raaf's attention, Fiolette turned toward Malum, then Stroisus and Revna, then back to the Wolf. "If any of you had bothered to learn your history, which for someone who knows of me, I am shocked you did not dig deeper to know of this world." Her pointed tone toward Malum, rather it was one that carried a disappointed undertone. "The First Order once owned this world, defended it against the Galactic Alliance."

She took a quick drag from the cigarra and studied each of them again. She committed to memory, their faces, the way they appeared at that very moment. "They had technology that worked around the clock to purify the air, and when that became too expensive they simply began to build domes over the more... strategically important locations." Fiolette explained, as she let out smoke rings. "There was an old shadowport around here as well, but that one was not among the domed locations."

"I can show you where they're at, but you'll have to do something for me."