Relationship Status: It's Complicated
WEAPONS: Ferrum Solus | Blodmåne | Strømafbryder
SHIP: Úlfs Reiði
ALLIES: Srina Talon | Darth Carnifex | Jarek Voss | Kaila Irons | Darth Ultramar | Darth Nefaron | Kasir Dorran | QK-2510 | Velda Nar-Donna | Teresa Zambrano | Darth Pellax
ENEMIES: Connel Vanagor | Lt. Bren Alazar | Gress D'ran | Jonyna Si | Varys Amun | Tarw Rhyfelwr | Vulpesen | Zaiya Ceti | Jenn Kryze
His mistresses reply was factual. Gerwald had stated something she already knew for the entire room, but today it was his to say such things. Each of them held a task in the conflict which they were about to enter. Darth Carnifex would provide a covering for their operatives, a semblance of some kind of shield to the pain they would inflict upon the unsuspecting city. The Battle Meditation he would provide would allow those under its influence to use each other to bolster their mental faculties.
It came with a risk.
The weak among them would still fall prey, and the strong among would not be promised immunity.
Gerwald’s lips formed into the wolfish grin the Dread Queen had seen on his face many times. Carnifex’s address to their host was near verbatim a truth he had once shared with the wolf. Sith acted because they could. It was simple. What they would do on Echnos in order to keep it was not based on some kind of moral superiority or rights they possessed. They would do because they could, and they would keep the moon because they wanted to.
The lesson ended with an execution. It was not for the governor as much as it was for those under the Dark Lord’s tutelage. He made a point, and it was with the life of their puppet.
“He was withholding funds that belonged to the Emperor,” Gerwald said to the Lieutenant Governor. “Be a good little boy and remedy this, now.”
If the Butcher King had not killed him, the Dread Wolf would have.
His gaze turned to the young apprentice which followed the Dark Lord. A nod was given in her direction. She would learn much from the Epicant if she managed to not upset him. If not her head would likely be just another in a pile of many. Still, if she was this close to him, he found her useful. Gerwald acknowledged one of the many brides ( Teresa Zambrano | Darth Pellax ) Carnifex had about him. The wolf was convinced he saw him with a different spouse each time they met.
“It will be.”
The Lupo nodded. If the Dragon gave her assurances, they were certain. Gerwald had never known her to state her intent and fail to see it through. She was powerful in her own right, and the Echani did not hold her position simply by marriage. Srina Talon , the Dread Queen, did not have rival or equal.
Her voice rose. She spoke to the room, and yet she spoke to the device. Even as she spoke Gerwald found the irony in her words. Her words spoke of an enemy seeking peace, the same enemy which was bombarding and shelling a city. They were the aggressors. The citizens would not see the Galactic Alliance as agents of liberty, but rather they would see them as the heralds of death.
Their FEAR would feed the machine.
They would find salvation through what they sacrificed.
Gerwald could feel it as though it were the drumbeat of his own heart. The device thrummed and hummed in time with the rhythm of several heartbeats. As though it began to synchronize itself with every living thing that called Echnos City home. He could hear it pounding in his head. It was hypnotic in a way, captivating. For a moment Gerwald closed his eyes and appreciated the raw, wicked, beauty of the thing.
What Srina said next pulled him back to reality.
He bowed his head. While the Empress needed to remain with the device, Gerwald would move to the room which had been established as their war room. Reports of enemy engagement already filtered in. @Gress D’ran was positioned at the seventh airlock. His forces had been engaged by Festerruman Sachiel . Hopefully he would hold them at bay until everything was ready.
[ “Take out the strongest of that firepower if you can. We don’t need a hole punched into the dome before we are ready.” ]
Others, such as QK-2510 , were en route to the eight airlock where they would engage with the enemy upon arrival.
The stage was set, Echnos City was the theater, and the play had begun.
Kasir Dorran and Jarek Voss were in position as well. His mind went to his own children for a moment. Gerwald was glad they had not come, and that the academy would not allow them to leave. The wolf would not have permitted it anyway. Naedira Darcrath would have never forgiven him for it, and Gerwald was firmly of the mind they were not prepared to see war. A hunt was one thing. The duels they faced in the academy were not enough to prepare them for what they would see when they finally were permitted to fight.
Losing them so young, that was his nightmare. Knowing that truth would prepare him for what the device may use against him. Gerwald prepared himself for it as best he could.
His mind could feel the battle meditation, the shield, which Darth Carnifex and his cultists prepared for them. They had begun, even as the countdown on the machine began. He had heard it echo as he left. It reverberated through the stairway, carrying its sound up though the winding passage. With each passing moment the inevitable grew closer. Soon all of Echnos City would experience their worst nightmares become reality. At least it would seem that way.
FEAR WAS THE WEAPON
FEAR WAS THEIR SALVATION
…dyis…
FEAR WAS THEIR SALVATION
…dyis…