Tabloid Sith Efforts For Killik Not To Be Trusted!

[The Storyteller]

HoloNet has been buzzing with news of the significant victory the Jedi have had in winning over the alliance of coveted militarized Ailon Nova Guard. However, further details have emerged from the diplomatic session that bring alarming news for the rest of the galaxy.

During the discussions, the Sith representative made it abundantly clear that citizens within Imperial borders would have priority access to any potential cures. This was used as a bargaining chip in an attempt to win over the High Marshall. The High Marshall rejected this offer on the grounds that it’s unethical to cherrypick who gets the cure first. This is a blatant deviation from how AMS cures were handled and brings into question whether the Sith ought to be trusted with this effort. Should a cure be established in Sith space, it is almost guaranteed that there would be some levels of gatekeeping and triaging done on who receives aid. Given their threats of violence upon any worlds that harbor Jedi, small wonder that cures would be withheld from any worlds not meeting their every demand.

Another point of concern is the address made by the Sith Sol Kenuk. This Sith man claims repeatedly ‘not to be a doctor’ and yet has apparently dissected enough brains to derive a hypothesis on how the Joined are affected. Media all around the galaxy is questioning the credibility and the schooling of this former Jedi that supposedly has access to a multitude of Joined individuals to perform exploratory surgery.

Citizens, the Joined look like you and me. The Joined could be your neighbor, cousin, sister, or child. How is Sith Sol Kenuk verifying that anyone is a Joined at all before killing these individuals and opening up their skulls? What ethical and health practices are being utilized if Sol Kenuk is, in fact, not a doctor? While the efforts attempt to be heroic in nature, the thought of how the ‘research’ was conducted and how the conclusions were drawn sound ghastly. Given the Sith and their history of violence and disregard of the average citizen, one can only imagine very little was done to distinguish a Joined from an average unruly civilian before they were killed and experimented on. And we only hope they were killed before experiments were conducted.

Citizens of the galaxy are urged not to put stock into any Sith study of the Killik and to boycott their practices conducted by ‘not Doctors’. Even if a cure is established, it is certain it wouldn’t be available to any citizens outside of Sith space. If the High Marshall of Ailon was turned away at this notion, the rest of us should as well.

 

[Maura Starwalk]

 

[Kaisa Vanloa]

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

 

[Maura Starwalk]

@Logan​

 

[Jasnah Atreides]

Hounded by reporters since the news had broken out, Jasnah found herself preparing a statement to ensure that the Empire did not suffer for her own carelessness with regards to Sol's announcement. She had received more than one self-satisfied smirk from members of the Diplomatic Corps who had long questioned her place among them. She was too young, too inexperienced, only given her place because she was Sith. The whole situation had been a big, fat, "I told you so." from the Galaxy. And as much as it hurt her pride to admit it, they were right. She had messed up, made mistakes that someone more experienced than her might not have made. There was only one thing to do, own up, and rebuild. She would learn from this, and come out stronger because of it.

"Earlier today a HoloNet report went out questioning the validity of the announcement made by a member of the Sith Order regarding advances towards a cure for the joining process used by the Killiks. I myself was involved in sharing reports regarding that discovery, and as such, I owe the people of the Galaxy my sincerest apology. While I too lack the medical knowledge to ascertain the validity of the announcement, in my eagerness to help discover a way to rescue those lost to the Killik threat I did not carry out the due diligence required before making such claims. The research carried out by Sol Kenuk was not representative of the Empire's commitment to finding a cure to the Killik condition, and he acted alone in carrying out such tests without appropriate medical accreditation."

Refusing to mention her own role in the matter, she said what needed to be said for the good of the Empire. And for her own good as well. She liked Sol, at least as much as one Sith could like another, but that did not mean she was going to put her own neck on the line to save him.

"This is not what the Empire stands for, and I can assure you that said individual will play no part in any ongoing research being carried out by the Empire. As and when any advancements are made by the numerous medical professionals we have working on this matter, the Empire vows to openly, and freely share that knowledge with the rest of the Galaxy. To be reviewed, verified, and taken through a thorough vetting process to ensure their validity. Despite reports to the contrary, the Empire upholds its commitment to a cure being freely accessible to one and all. The Empire will strive to make sure such mistakes do not repeat themselves in the future, and all we can ask is to give us time to make things right. I promise you, we will do better. I will do better."

 

[Sol Kenuk]

He really wouldn't have normally made an address to some sensationalized Tabloid. Sol doesn't care about the distrust toward the Sith, or the Empire. In a way, the rest of the galaxy had a right to discount what they had learned from the Kel'dor. It was coming from a face they had never seen before, not a man of medicine, but of war. His features bore the scars of battle, not the callouses of surgical tools. That was, of course, until Jasnah decided to make her address, calling attention to what was little more than a minor news article, and for what? Did she feel threatened by some reporters? What had compelled her to make such a strong response to what amounted to little more than a single article in the galaxy's many reported news? Such was the way of the Sith, Sol supposed. Power struggles, paranoia, hostile ambition.

Jasnah was all too eager to shred the skin of her allies in order to save what little remained of her own. It was a selfishness that Sol could share. But even still, it wasn't something he would openly allow to slide. Taking shots over the holonet was a coward's game, but nonetheless, if that was how little Jasnah chose to play, then so be it. Truthfully, had Sol only been a Sith, he might have let it slide. But he didn't just speak for the Empire, Sol spoke for Aspiretech. He had a bit more skin in this game than Jasnah had perhaps realized. And so, the Kel'dor would dutifully begin his own damage control, sending a live address across the holonet.

"My, I see how far we have fallen back into the swing of things. Here we stand behind our screens, locked in senseless squabbles. Is this what we want, or is it what the Killiks want?" Sol was no diplomat, but he was a snake, all the same. He knew how to speak when he needed to, and so his words were akin to honeyed poison. "The news out of Ailon is as shocking to me as it is to the rest of the galaxy, but nonetheless, the damage is done. It is true, what is being said. I have admitted to you all that I am no doctor, and therefore, why should I be trusted? I am a Sith. I am a killer. I will not lie, I am no hero. I am not a good man. But the Killiks threaten us all, yes, even the Sith. Even me."

"The galaxy has the right to reject any findings of the Empire, but I ask you this. Did I claim to have the cure? Did I address you all with full certainty that what I was saying could very well lead to a restored life, for all of those that were Joined? I did not. What I offered you was information, as genuine as it could have been. What you choose to do with that information, whether or not you intend to try and use it to find a cure... well. That is up to you. All of you. Because no matter what side you might be on, good, or bad, light, or dark, the end will be the same for us all if we cannot stop the Killik swarm."

Sol pauses, his face is that of serious contemplation, and grim acceptance.

"Disbelieve. Hate. Look at me and narrow your eyes in rage. Now ask yourself, do you reject the information out of pure emotion alone? Do you have no genuine interest in saving the lives of those lost to the hivemind? Why not try? Why not put your differences beside you, for just a few weeks. Try. Look into the knowledge I have given you freely, and see it for yourselves. You cannot claim it to be a lie if you are unwilling to even look for the truth. But I do not rule this galaxy. I am no Emperor, not of the galaxy, and not even of the Sith."

The Kel'dor lowers his gaze with a thoughtful brush of his talons against his palms.

"I am a man. I am a man who bleeds. I am a man who, for once in his life, dared to see some glimmer of hope. I am a man who, just like the rest you, can be beaten. Broken. Killed. I am a man. And The Joining threatens me too. It is not a threat to the Jedi. It is not a threat to the Sith, or the Free Worlds, or the Republic. It is a threat to us all. So I ask you this; are your emotions really more important to the lives that are at stake? Have our fallen friends and family died in vain? Will we continue to squabble until the Killiks destroy us all? And if we choose instead to hate one another, rather than face this threat, are we willing to accept the death that would come? Are we willing to look upon each other with that last glimmer of life within our eyes, and feel rage, not for the swarm that has destroyed us, but for those who also lay dead upon the ground?"

His eyes glow with intensity behind his mask, because a part of Sol was still simply churning words to tame the damage that Jasnah had done. But the other part of him was heavier. Burdened, perhaps. Perhaps the Kel'dor was finally feeling the weight of the Killik threat upon his mind. Perhaps, at long last, the idea that the swarm could overwhelm them was enough to spark some sensation of fear. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Something broken. He could have brought up the Jedi's repeated breaking of the cease-fire. He could have continued to try and twist things towards the Empire's favor. He could have dragged Jasnah's name through the mud, as he had originally intended. He could have ruined her.

Sol doesn't, though.

"We are different, yes. But in the end, we all bleed the same."

He ends with the weight of a tired finality that he had not felt in a very long time. Sol is quiet for several, vulnerable moments, his expression unreadable behind his mask, and then the feed is cut. Quite frankly, he's not even sure where the manipulations had stopped, and where the honesty had began. He supposed it didn't matter in the end. Either someone would create a means to combat the Killiks, or they would all die the same deaths, on the same battlefield. Enemies in life perhaps, but all victims of the same game.

Was any of it even worth it?

 

[Samara Draven]

​

 

[Maura Starwalk]

@Nevermourn​

 

[Tahiri]

 

[Yazz]

 

[Amira Din]

​

 

[Tahiri]

 

[Kaisa Vanloa]

 

[Tahiri]

@Logan @lizziie

 

[Maura Starwalk]

@Logan​

 

[Ruzaan Kai]

 

[Darth Tiamat]

 

[Tahiri]

@SlagathorTheUnknown

 

[Maura Starwalk]

@SlagathorTheUnknown @Wit​