Public Vows of Deceit [Ask]

[Alicia Drey]

Vows of Deceit

"To be strong in the Force is one thing. But to believe oneself to be all-powerful is to invite catastrophe. Remember, that even in the ethereal realm we inhabit, the unforeseen can occur."
-- Darth Plagueis.

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Tags: Darth Malum of House Marr ~ Xander Draith ~ Maldor Mecetti
Location: Florrum, The Slums of Shaltin.
Equipment: The Initium, Portable Dampening Field, The Cone of Silence, The Domestic Surveillance of Direct Threats, #3567-956-827, Curved Lightsaber Hilt, Slicing Unit.

The Slums of Shaltin are exactly what you first think when you hear the name. It's an area of Florrum: a sulphurous desert planet located along the borders of the Sith vassal state known as the Sith Holy Worlds, located within the Stygian Caldera, and the Empire of the Lost: a faction made up of several Imperial Remnants banded together by the mysterious Aculia Voland (who disappeared at the turn of the century) and now under the rule of the newly anointed Emperor Kilran, whose expansionist policies upon the ascension to the throne warranted the wrath of the Corpse Emperor and his legions at the Fall of Tion.

It is surrounded by sulphurous geysers which emit gases that are toxic to the Human body. This was why Darth Ayra wore a respirator as she traversed the desert landscape in the company of her Sith Apprentice: Maldor Mecetti . In the wake of Tion's destruction at the hands of the Butcher King, Darth Carnifex, the subsequent fallout of the Sith attack had put the entire Empire into a state of crisis. The Tionese were in uproar as the entire Tion Hegemony was placed into a state of panic, and those few who dared survive the attack were scattered across the Empire. Some had even found their way into the realm of the Dosuunian Commonwealth as chaos gripped the 'lost' Imperials of the Outer Rim Territories.

Things were looking grim for Emperor Kilran and his administration.

All according to the plan.

The slums themselves served as a perfect hideaway for criminal elements looking to escape the ire of the New Imperial Security Bureau, and something of a smuggler's haven in between runs into either Imperial or Sith occupied space. Darth Ayra knew about the Slums of Shaltin because of the Krykna Mafia: an infamous criminal organisation which operated in some of the 'lost' Empire's systems. So, now that the Worm had crushed the Empire; fortified the Sith Holy Worlds through the annexation of the Makem Te and Tion systems; and taught the dogs, who did not know their place before, but knew their place now. Kilran may have accomplished a small victory on Felucia but Tion was the sign that the Sith Order were not to be messed with.

Now the two people who had manipulated these events were set to meet again in complete secrecy to discuss their next move.

The Initium's hull glistened in the desert heat as Darth Ayra and Darth Triognus marched into the Slums of Shaltin to meet their target: Darth Malum of House Marr . The Bounty Hunter, Xander Draith , had been given co-ordinates of the meeting in order to provide the element of surprise for the Tsis'Kaar and their leader. Ayra had assumed that Malum would not meet her alone. Not after the Mors Mon incident. If he had met her alone then he was fool. Darth Ayra was untrustworthy. Deceitful. Cunning. Not only that but she wore it on her sleeve. The personification of the dark side at it's purest malevolence.

Betrayal.

"The man we are meeting today is a Sith Lord," Darth Ayra explained to Triognus as they walked together. "He is cunning, and ruthless. Above all of that he has just achieved a victory. But he knows that the victory that was won on Tion was an orchestrated event by me. He will be on guard. He will be dangerous and cunning. Angry and hateful because I betrayed him. So we must be the same. Hone your instincts and remain calm in this negotiation. Above all else our work together on Obredaan, Sojourn, and Lianna must remain obfuscated. The organisation that I am building, to which we are it's head, is a compartmentalized creation. It's actions are clandestine, and covert in nature. Obfuscated by our powers in the dark side. Where one hand reaches out in one way the other remains unseen, unknown and unheard of."

As the slums drew closer Ayra continued talking. Imparting a lesson disguised as instruction and insight into the mind of Darth Malum of House Marr while her voice was distorted by the mask that she wore.

"Above all else we are not yet ready to reveal ourselves to the Galaxy. Our revenge will take decades to accomplish. The contamination we are set to introduce into the ranks of the Sith Order shall be administered slow and painfully. Like venom the potency of our contagion into their ranks only gains strength when it has contaminated the entire vessel beyond cure. The Tsis'Kaar, Velran Kilran, his Moffs and others in positions of influence believe that we are useful servants in their designs. So we shall learn of their plans and turn them to make them our own."

"While we are only two against the legions of the Sith Order our paradigm- obfuscated by our powers in the Force- shall lead to their fall. I will teach you the ways of the dark side, my apprentice."

Silence followed as Darth Ayra and Darth Triognus walked through the slums to where Darth Malum of House Marr was waiting. The curved Lightsaber hilt, tucked beneath the dark robes that she wore, was a comfortable weight here. In the ethereal realm even the most powerful cannot foresee everything, and as Ayra drew closer to Malum, she did not know what to expect.

 

[Maldor Mecetti]

Darth Trigonus.

He still wasn't used to it.

But he supposed he was very glad to have an alias.

Trigonus listened as she spoke, casting his gaze briefly across the sulfurous fields and acid lakes that defined the wastes and slums of Florrum.

Before the rise of Velran to become Galactic Emperor, Trigonus had conducted an extensive survey of Florrum in anticipation of requesting the world to be part of his territory. To most, the acidic environment seemed like a ruin. To him, it had seemed more like a gold mine. He'd had plans. Big plans.

That was all over, now. He'd been given a fine strip of territory and then nearly immediately lost a third of it.

And, if his Master could be believed, losing it had been all part of her plan.

'How many things will she snatch out from under me,' he wondered.

But his face betrayed nothing, any dissatisfaction hidden under the breather he wore to make the local air less caustic.

He quietly followed her into the area of the meeting.

This place was a good one for an ambush.

It seemed entirely possible that her aspirations might die here, one Darth falling to another.

Of course, that would mean his own death, as well. So he'd be doing his best to avoid that outcome.

---

Inventory

Spoiler

Breathing Mask
Sith Lightfoil
Ginntho silk clothes and cape

Alicia Drey Darth Malum of House Marr Xander Draith

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

The figure of Darth Malum, turned at the sound of the arrival of the two Sith into this temporary abode, mask upon his face, his cloak billowing in his wake, as seemingly through the replica of the same face of his famous ancestor, the figure considered those that had entered.

One who had betrayed Malum.

The other who found himself a pawn.

The figure was incredibly still, it seemed in fact that he was not even breathing, there was no movement at his chest, more a moving statue than a man, he simply gazed forward. Yet a gaze behind a mask, it was a mystery what his thoughts were, what his feelings were.

"...I imagine you will be providing me with an explanation for your actions, Darth Ayra," A voice finally spoke out from the confines of the veil, a voice all too familiar to Alicia Drey , for after all it was a voice that she had heard quite a few times in the past, from the jungles of Felucia, to the confines of the Mors Mon, and some few moments in between those events.

It was a clear voice, crisp, and measured, with just a hint of levity that was contrasted by its lingering darkness, a voice distinct and unique that could only be formed out of his lungs.

Yet there too was something different about it, a mask's obfuscation, or otherwise simply the requirements and adjustments made to allow one to breathe on such a world like this.

"I hear you have made yourself quite the many foes not only among the Sith, but among this... Empire of lost fools, that you serve," The masked lord scoffed, presenting a Shikkar blade out from within his robes, "Yet betraying me... that was a bold stroke... a stupid one as it turned out, yet, before we address that, I am quite curious what your reasoning was."

It seemed the air in the room was snuffed out, as the Shikkar blade was twirled in his hand.

Maldor Mecetti Darth Strosius

 

[Xander Draith]

Xander had arrived at the co-ordinates given to him by his employer, Alicia Drey , and had taken residence in a small part of slums area where... whatever was happening was taking place. He didn't ask, nor did he feel he wanted/needed to know. All he knew was that he was getting paid. He sent a silent message to Alicia Drey to let her know he was where he was meant to be.

"Oh, Ms. Drey, if I survive this I will have a lot of numbers to tell you. What difference am I supposed to make here? No, don't think about that, focus on the credits. Now, let's think: cost of usual rate, plus dealing with force users, alongside paying for accommodation and travelling fees... oh, yes, Ms. Drey is in for quite the hefty sum."

With time to kill and the matter of how much he's charging his employer, Xander prepped all his weapons. Before he knew it, from across the way, individuals began to arrive. The first: a man with a mask and cape entering the building. A time later, two more appeared: one, his emplyer, the second, he didn't know but assumed it to be his employer's ally. He assumed a sniping position and awaited any signal to let him know he was clear to do his job.


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Maldor Mecetti Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Strosius]

Florrum, a world that had once been a proud member world of the last Sith Empire. A world that now would serve as the host for a meeting between two injured parties. To some extent Darth Strosius found it a fitting fate, to assist the Sith yet again in their mission.

In Darth Malum's mission to be more specific.

The full details on why exactly this 'Drey' had earned the ire of the Heir of Marr wasn't too important to him in the end. It was some convoluted tale that in the end resulted in the target having betrayed the Sith Order, and of course Malum, in particular with her dealings and true loyalties and that was all that he needed to know. For that simple reason alone was more than enough to set the Lord Inquisitor on the hunt, even before he had been called in to assist by Malum himself.

Unfortunately, as per usual, the Heir of Marr preferred an infuriatingly indirect method of dealing with this problem. Rather than deploy a task force to hunt down this spy and burn whatever world she was hiding on, instead a meeting between her and Malum had been arranged on Florrum. If this Alicia Drey had any sense at all then she wouldn't come alone nor unprepared for a fight.

And sure enough, accompanied she did indeed arrive.

Darth Strosius observed the slums that would host the meeting with his typical unseen gaze, ever critical and calculating as he idly noted potential avenues of escape. Well those that he could see from his shadowed alcove at least. Soon enough the meeting would commence and he would spring into action should their target, or her associate, tried to flee or call for assistance. But for now he would wait, he would watch, and he would simmer in his annoyance at the whole affair. Had he been the one to arrange this meeting, Drey would have never made down to the planet's surface.

Alicia Drey / Maldor Mecetti / Darth Malum of House Marr / Xander Draith