We Are One (Dominion dom of Bimmiel and Gravlex Med)

[Jairdain]

Not totally so lost, Jairdain felt the comforting hand of [member="Cedric Grayson"] on her shoulder. She didn't have to look at him with her eyes to look at him, but turned her face as if she was. No words of sympathy or even the shadow of a smile. This she understood fully and did not expect anything of the sort from them. Right now, all she knew was they had rescued her and have offered her care and healing until she is better.

Her tears dried up eventually and the shuttle fell into solemn silence. Only the sounds of the engine and pilots moving around. Eventually, she sensed the change in altitude as they came into landing.

Cedric gave a short statement, his told set firm.

"Are you suggesting I smell?"

Having been held captive for days and starved, of course she smelled. She blushed at her own statement and felt mortified at her current condition, even though she had no control over it.

[member="Dunames Lopez"] [member="Grace Darkson"] [member="Dune Rhur"]

 

[Grace Darkson]

Post 13

"How can we stop something so powerful?" She managed to mutter as she stood, walking away from the cramped interior. She needed to forget, needed to make some distance. The sight of a barren, force-forsaken wasteland had shaken her to her core. What could they do to stop something that could wipe out half a planet and reduce it to ashes?

"A shower sounds heavenly." She shook her head, heading for the base. "And all of you need it." She flashed a weak smile as she began to walk, only letting out a sigh and letting her shoulders sag as she did. Had to be strong. But what was her strength compared to this?

[member="Cedric Grayson"] [member="Dune Rhur"] [member="Jairdain"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Any semblance of feeling had been reduced to hollow pangs for the Archlord. He simply shut out the pain of the void and its terrible promises. Whatever had happened to Gravlex Med was out of his control. He could only learn from it, and make sure it never happened again.

Even still, he found himself snickering at the two women.

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting," he offered [member="Jairdain"] a grin as he rose from his seat. His spirits were most certainly not restored, but a bit of humor could brighten up even the darkest of days. A gesture of his hand pointed toward the base.

"You going to be alright?" He asked of Grace as he stepped down into the dirt. "We can talk if you need to," he paused, turning to [member="Jairdain"] and [member="Dune Rhur"]. "That goes for the both of you as well."

[member="Grace Darkson"]

 

[Grace Darkson]

Post 14

Grace paused at [member="Cedric Grayson"]'s question, turning towards him. "I just saw half a planet's destroyed ashes, while the skeletons that remain seem to praise whatever killed them. DO YOU KARKING THINK I"M OKAY?" Her voice rose to a roar, turning for a moment almost bestial. The flare of anger scared even her, and she shrunk back, shuttering. A hand rose to the bridge of her nose, and she pinched it, as if she wanted to squeeze her eyes closer to each other. "I'm sorry." The words were meak, almost timid. A tone the Sith almost never showed. "It's just..." Her voice broke, and she swallowed. "If the Arch Enemy can do something like this, how is anyone safe?" She shook her head, a small chuckle escaping her. "What defence do we have against this?"

[member="Jairdain"]

 

[Placeholder 0128]

Despite her noise, the camp did not seem to notice Grace's outburst.

It was only Cedric that seemed aware of her frustration: her fear. He turned bodily to face the woman, his arms folding behind the small of his back as he regarded her. His mask gone, one could easily read his expression. It was hard, but there was a softness to his eyes; a look of sympathy one might say.

"To submit is to die," he stated clearly, "If we consign ourselves to failure, then we have already lost. If you lose the belief that there could ever be victory, then you will only know failure. By accepting that fear into your heart, you do exactly as she wants. We saw this today because we were meant to - to frighten us into submission."

His voice was steady, unmoved. Almost inhuman in the way it regarded the absolute destruction of so many.

"No one is safe. Not until we have achieved victory. That much you must understand, Grace Darkson, for I did not make you a Knight to be consumed by damnation, nor did I give you worlds so that you had places to hide. I expect you to rise to the task. The Sith are weapons, and you know how to control them. You must lead them: forge them into the blades we need them to be. You and I are not permitted to doubt."

[member="Grace Darkson"]

 

[Grace Darkson]

Post 15

Not permitted to doubt? How could one not? The simple scope of this was far beyond what she knew anyone could do. Even Atrisia had been better than this. At least there had been rubble in the carnage they'd made. But that's what she wanted, wasn't it. She wanted them scared, running to hide, more prey to slaughter. Her mind flashed back to the cultist on Bimmiel, the one that reminded her of her lost brother. They had always been running. Always fleeing to a new home. She was sick of it.

The woman swallowed, nodding. Even as he was ten years her junior, the Archlord always seemed to be far wiser than she was. She supposed he had to be. "Right. Of course." nodding slowly, she turned, heading to the shower.

A long, hot shower would help her unwind. After that, she would have work to do.

[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Adron Malvern]

The White Nova dropped from the realm of hyperspace to be placed only a few leagues from Gravlex Med.

Nothing more than a cleanup. Adron mused, referring to his duties during the operation. Where others had been allowed the honor of combat he was forced to stay in the rear as a reserve force. With the fighting all but done his men were here merely to set up a military presence and see to the wounded.

Needless to say this struck the Count's pride, but he felt no need nor reason to complain. As his ship breached the planet's atmosphere Adron activated his comm unit, searching for the mission's commander, [member="Cedric Grayson"]. "Lord Grayson. We are preparing to collect the wounded and begin garrison duty, standby for our landing."

 

[Dunames Lopez]

Post: 8/25
Location: Gravlex Med

"Outer equipment is away"

"Really? Now? That was fast"

Dunames had to grant it that the business partner was expedient in getting the orbital waste processing station built. That was going to be the one major bit for Star Tours on Gravlex Med, that is, until the spaceport is built down on the surface. Gravlex Med is going to be another attempt by Star Tours to build and operate orbital waste processing stations after what happened on Quintas. Which is part of the four boondoggles of Star Tours in First Order space: the ski resort on Hoth, the dark side nexus on Jiroch-Reslia, the black hole waste dump on Quintas, and the spaceport on Kaeshana. But the main reason the Dominion is happy with is because they are rebuilding every spaceport they could in what used to be Primeval space, and they were in the thick of it.

 

[Grace Darkson]

Post 16

The base's water cut out after a mere half hour of showering. An irritated Grace tried her best to fool the system to start again, but to no avail. Sighing, she gathered her things, cursing under her breath. Outside the stall stood a guardswoman, wrapped in a robe.

"Miss Darkson?" The woman asked the irate Sith as the latter passed her.

"What is it?" She wasn't wanting to talk right now. She had enough to figure out on her own.

"Is... Is it true what they're saying? That the enemy killed Gravlex Med?"

The Sith paused. "Yes." She looked the guardswoman in the eyes. "But that will not stop us. As long as we give our all, they cannot stop us. We fight for those we leave at home, for those we stand beside, and for those we've lost. Whatever happens, we do not back down, and we do not give in. Not even hell can survive us then." The woman nodded, and Grace walked off, a look of grim determination on her face.

She had work to do.

 

[Adron Malvern]

Destruction of this magnitude deserves it's equal as retribution.

The thought plagued Adron as he saw what had become of Gravlex Med, a waste, a shadow of it's former life that had once been. Though there was no time to consider such things, as he strode down the landing ramp his eyes took to The Dominion garrison that rested before him. This would be his home for the next several months, a less than comforting thought.

"Get the supplies to the base, we don't have all day!" A lower enlisted man behind him commanded, urging Adron's men to start loading the supplies to reinforce the base. The Count crossed his arms and watched from the top of the ramp as the supplies were loaded onto skiffs and prepared to transport. "Commander." Adron called out to his second in command, uncrossing his arms as he spoke. "Let's get this over with."

 

[Dune Rhur]

Dune looked over to [member="Grace Darkson"] at she made her outburst. He found himself agreeing with her at least in part. [member="Cedric Grayson"]'s speech about not giving up was all well and good. But they'd still have to convince the people of the Dominion that this wouldn't happen again.

"We're going to have to reassure the beings under our protection that this will not simply happen to them. Then we will have to go about living up to that, Cedric."

He'd caught the young man's eyes as he told him this.

"If we don't they will simply break away from us and I cannot blame them. Wrong as they'd be, as vulnerable as isolation would make them, beings are often irrational in the face of mortal danger."

The Bith sighed and leaned his head back against the wall for a moment.

"Yes," he said after a time "A shower is in order."

He stood as made his way off to the refresher.

[member="Jairdain"]