Beasts

[Darth Tagus]

Codia was a terrible place.

As a planet it supported life and that was alright, he supposed, but that was about where the positives ran out for the damned place. It was in the arse-end of nowhere and no one had bothered to come here in decades for anything other than big game hunting. Because the life that actually called this planet home?

Tended to be along the lines of big, brutish, primitives.

There was nothing to say about the terrible Reeks that hadn't already been said a thousand times so he didn't bother to say anything as the transport holding himself and the new 'Empress' descended to the planet's surface.

They had traveled light, with only the most loyal having any idea where they had even gone and with no official records that they were going to be here. No one actually knew that they were here so no one could betray that information.

If Aadya trusted him not to kill her of course.

"The site we're looking at as base camp is currently Reek breeding and pride grounds." he explained as he made sure his weapons were strapped in place as the ship checked the atmosphere of the planet for toxins, "Research suggests that Reeks stay away from places they can smell are the site of large numbers of Reek deaths."

He glanced at her.

"You didn't have to come, Empress."

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

Aadya had remained relatively quiet during their trip to Codia. It wasn't the absentminded sort of silence that you generally ran into; she didn't have her nose buried in her datapad to surf the holonet or have headphones in or anything like that. It was more like the deliberate kind of silence, where the frigid wind blowing off your cold shoulder could make a Wampa shiver.

"Needed someone here I could trust," Aadya quipped at Tagus, the first genuine words she'd spoken to him since the meeting between her and the other Darths.

As the ship's scanners returned negative readings as far as toxins went and said the atmosphere was breathable, it began its descent towards the surface of Codia and landed a couple hundred meters outside of the reek nesting area. Aadya highly doubted that there wouldn't have been somewhere easier to set up the workers camp. She wasn't looking forward to having to slaughter a bunch of creatures just looking to live their lives, but as usual when it came to Sith dealings - you gotta do what you gotta do.

Feeling the ship shudder a bit as it made its full landing, Aadya headed towards the exit ramp, her hair flipping sharply as she turned to go. She was carrying her standard gear with the addition of her lullaby heavy blaster on her thigh. She'd yet to use it since getting it with Zandrali and she figured that a reek would be a big enough target that she probably wouldn't miss, getting to see the full effects of the heavy blaster.

Sighing, Aadya figured that continuing to act like an angry teenager probably wasn't going to be that productive. If her reign as Empress was going to last longer than a week and actually make a positive impact on the Empire, she probably needed to get along with the Council.

"Tell me about what you saw on Korriban," She said abruptly, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Tagus as they walked. "Must take a lot to genuinely spook someone like you."

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Tagus was glad that the flight hadn't dulled her wits, even if it was only in throwing barbs. There was nothing wrong with throwing barbs in his opinion; it built character. He raised an eyebrow at her response and the corner of his mouth tugged up a little bit in amusement.

"And what, you didn't want to bring your Deucalian pet?" he shot back before adding, more seriously, "Be careful with that attachment. Take it from someone who knows; an attachment can be your ticket to power or it can be a chain and anchor around your throat."

He did say he would give her advice and assistance after all - if she chose to ignore what he said then that was on her and he would accept that and move on. Letting her get herself all sorted, he made sure all of his own equipment was in place before drawing a weapon he had never actually used before.

His disruptor pistol.

Which he had gotten from the corpse of someone Aadya had known. Someone she had been related to and, if the rumor mill was right, she had had something of a fling for. He shrugged once as he descended down the ramp onto the planet proper.

"I was above the planet itself so my interaction was limited. What I saw was total lack of self preservation to focus on true objectives; I saw ships literally fly in front of shots to sacrifice them to keep the stronger ships from taking the damage." he glanced at her, "I saw a cruiser ram itself into the planet and kill thousands of it's own men just to get a shot in on the Emperor. Not much rattles me, Empress, but seeing so many flayed so deeply in the minds so as to not recognize their own lives any longer?"

He flashed a grin but it was a dark expression.

"The Sith in me admires the technique to break so many so effectively." he frowned, "The man in me fears he may be watching the building of the end for the Empire he had sacrificed everything to serve."

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

Aadya wasn't particularly enthused by Tagus' recollection of the invaders. It suggested they were dealing with beings that wouldn't play by the normal rules of war, even by Sith standards. An enemy willing to sacrifice itself to achieve a goal was not one to be taken lightly. It meant that the invaders had nothing to lose and everything to gain, and it made sense why they went to so much effort to convert the beings that lived on the planets they conquered to the cause. It was a never ending supply of bodies for their war machine.

"Seems likely there's more going on than simple mind breaking the conquered into slaves," Aadya said idly. glancing out of the corner of her eye towards Tagus. "I've seen thoroughly broken slaves. Even they would hesitate before throwing themselves in front of a blaster to protect their masters."

As they walked through the wilderness, Aadya began to notice changes and disturbances in the foliage around them. It was more than just broken branches, in some areas entire swathes of young trees were completely knocked over and flattened. There were large depressions in the damp earth, footprints likely. They even came across the most obvious of clues that they were nearing the reek nest: giant piles of dung laying in random places.

Doing her best to keep her movements light and silent, Aadya pushed her way through some of the underbrush until it was quite obvious they were in the thick of the reek nesting grounds. A few dozen meters before them were several of the large beasts, a mixture of the young and elderly. Likely the rest of the herd was out looking for food currently, but the death throes of their friends should draw them back soon enough.

Leveling her lullaby, Aadya fired off two powerful rounds directly in the face of one of the older reeks. It's head essentially exploded in a fine mist, sending the others into a confused frenzy as they tried to understand what just happened.

Hopefully Aadya and Tagus could get this over with as quickly as possible.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

Tagus knew more than enough about slaves, thoroughly broken and otherwise. When she glanced at him, Aadya would be able to see his stern expression in return. His time as a slave before his days as a Sith weren't exactly hidden but they weren't something he advertised at all. If she was trying to make a point about his past then he would be rather pointedly upset with her about that but he wanted to give her the benefit of a doubt.

She might not even have read the files that Imperial Intelligence kept on him yet.

"They were not in control on any level." he agreed with a scowl, "I think we might need to focus on killing the controllers. If their control needs to be reapplied then killing them should end the control at the source."

He didn't want to think about it if the control continued beyond the death of the Masters.

Instead he focused on their prey, the reeks. They were definitely not the prey of any natural predator here but today they would be the prey of the Sith. Taking a breath, he steadied his aim and opened fire. His disruptor was slow to fire due to it's cool-down time but when it hit, it did enough damage to kill the creature stuck almost immediately.

It was all too easy.

"So what do you intend to do?" he asked her bluntly even as he noticed one of the surviving Reeks charging towards them, "Will you keep up the war against the Mandalorians and the Jedi? Or will you sue for peace?"

Reaching out with the Force, Tagus held the front two legs of the charging reek, causing it to crash to the ground so that Tagus could tap it's skull with a shot from his disruptor.

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

Aadya had been pondering that particular question for some time now. The direction of the Empire was now hers to decide. When you weren't sitting at the top of the pyramid everything seemed to simple, so straightforward. Constituents always had the perfect vision for how they wanted their government to work, always quick to spout off seemingly ideal roads to take to get there. It was only when you finally were able to actually make those potential choices did you realize that no one knew what the kriff they were talking about. Not even a little bit.

"The Jedi will always be our enemy, though I'd hardly qualify what we've been doing as war." She said flatly, drawing her saber as another reek started charging towards her. Aadya leveled her blaster at its front right knee as it reached top speed, causing the reek to loose balance and fall onto its side, still sliding forward towards Aadya thanks to its inertia. With a quick swing of her saber, Aadya carved off the front of its face and killed it. "We fight them because tradition and instinct tells us we must - but the Jedi and their rebellion haven't been a legitimate threat to the Sith for quite some time."

The other reeks that hadn't been close enough to sense their presence were now becoming keenly aware of the intruders in their nest. Tagus and Aadya had only killed a few reeks so far, it seemed they'd need to murder more before they'd abandon the area. "When the Invaders reach Mandalorian worlds, they will forget about us and turn their attention to the new threat. Things have been idle between us for awhile now, and you know how those barbarians thirst for battle when things are quiet."

Aadya spotted a much smaller reek than the rest, likely just a calf. It would be perfect for drawing what reeks were left in the immediate area to the nest, hopefully it would be enough. Aiming her blaster, Aadya shot the reek calf in its back flank. She had no intention of killing it, but she wanted it to be greatly injured. It began bleating loudly, calling for its mother likely. The rest of the reeks should hear it and coming lumbering back.

"My plan is to turn our eyes inward," Aadya said frankly, looking at Tagus. "We cannot have a repeat of Korriban in the Core worlds. The people will panic and the entire Empire will start spiraling into its death throes. Under the guise of reinforcing our borders and military against the invaders, we also strengthen ourselves against Jedi and Mandalorian aggression without drawing too much attention. It's a win-win, I think."

Aadya wasn't entirely sure of her plan but it was what she had come up with so far. She would welcome the opinions of her Council, though among the others she would probably hold Tagus' thoughts closer to her heart than the others. Quite frankly, the other members of the Council did not impress Aadya. If it weren't for the potential annhilation due to the Invaders, she would probably have both Inheris and Victress killed.

Oh well, perhaps when things died down.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

The fact that Aadya didn't immediately start spouting off her plans would be a bad sign to others but Tagus rather liked it. It meant that she had something in mind but she wasn't so blindly confident in it as to announce it to one of her subordinates. Instead she was almost tentative speaking about it but she retained her conviction in what she actually said.

It was a fine line to walk but she straddled it well.

"I think a Sith philosopher once said "The greatest insult that can be delivered to an enemy is to be ignored" - if that's true I think we can afford to ignore the Jedi and their peons for a time." he agreed, "They were a threat to us when they tied themselves to the Mandalorians; because the Mandalorians were a threat and for no other reason. It may still be prudent to probe them from time to time, just remind them that we know they're still there."

As for the invaders?

Depending on what they wanted, they could be turned towards the Mandalorians rather easily. Unless they wanted something Force related, in which case they would need to change plans. He nodded once.

"I'll see what I can do to... make sure that happens."

Plans within plans were the way to go forwards.

Dodging back out of the way of a charging reek, Tagus opened it's side up with his lightsaber, using the Force to blind another with the guts that spilled out. With the second reek distracted, Tagus charged forwards. Vaulting over it's head and it's instinctive headbutt attack, he landed in a crouch on it's back, thrusting his blade down deep into it's spine. The creature moaned pitifully as it died beneath him.

"If I may speak freely, Empress..." he paused as he stood atop the reek, "I believe we suffer from being an Empire. Let it never be said that the work of Andraste was not great; but in the centuries since her life the Empire has become more and more of a burden to the Sith. The Empire is visible; it is constantly under attack. The Empire is needy; we are constantly beholden to the people."

He frowned.

"Whereas the Jedi are an Order. They are like mist. They have no true bases or strongholds of their own that are visible to the Galaxy - they hide and can strike when and how they please. That they don't is just confirmation of their weakness. We, would not make such a mistake."

@Logan

 

[Aadya Drast]

____________

"Not everyone would be so content to live a life like that," Aadya said with a shrug. "There are consequences to being invisible. Simply being a Sith and existing is not enough for me." Aadya paused for a moment, eyeing Tagus up and down. "Shouldn't be enough for you either. It's wasteful."

The herd of reeks was becoming noticeably thin now as the bodies piled up around Aadya and Tagus. There seemed to be just a few bulls left but despite their bulk and menacing appearance, Aadya found it unlikely that they'd put up much more of a fight than any of the other ones had. One of the bull reeks started charging towards her and with an almost bored look painted across her face Aadya jumped up into the air, landing gracefully on the beast's back as it became confused as to where its prey had went.

With a swift flourish of her own lightsaber, Aadya stabbed the beast through the spine at the base of its neck. It went limp almost immediately, letting out a low languishing cry as it died mere moments later.

There wasn't much left to do now.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Tagus]

He could see her point of view.

Tagus might not like what the Empire had become but he could accept that there was no reasonable way for the Empire to simply dismantle itself and for the Sith to become a shadowy organisation much in the same way as the Jedi had. Still, there may be some mileage in adapting some part of themselves in such a way.

"And spending more and more of our power, time and effort propping up a bloated system isn't wasteful?" he countered verbally even as he fired at one of the reeks, blinding it in one eye, "We carry far too much dead weight - half of your council is dead weight."

He didn't name names but his opinions were well known.

Staying on the blindside of the reek he had injured, Tagus lashed out with his lightsaber, cutting it open along the side of it's hide. The flesh was tough enough that it didn't spill the creature's insides all the way out but that was never the plan. Sticking his other hand inside the now exposed internal organs, Tagus channeled the Dark Side of the Force and unleashed a torrent of lightning inside of the creature.

He began making markings on the ground around the site of the settlement they were making, using the blood of one of the dead reeks.

"By your leave, Empress, I shall complete our work and we may be gone."

@Logan