Small Steps

[Andraste]

Andraste was more than satisfied with the team they had gathered from Kuat. The design team consisted of some of the most brilliant minds in engineering, and she knew her visions would become a reality soon. As the design team consisted of the heads of their respective departments, they brought along the right employees under them. Many of them were miners, and they would help with the excavation project on Koratas, a moon of the planet Dathomir.

The Empress was currently in her quarters, the capital ship still a ways away from jumping out into the moon's atmosphere. She was exhausted from the journey and she had asked for Cregan to come join her in her quarters. Andraste may have put on a fierce face for the rest of the galaxy, but she did no such thing around him. She was curled up in bed, reaching out a hand to grasp his wrist to yank him back towards her, "No, I'm not ready for you to go anywhere yet."

She didn't care how needy she sounded. Hormones and the stress of running an empire weighed on her at once. Andraste felt more vulnerable than ever in her pregnant state, and she was extra needy with Cregan as a result. Kravos and Siris were both far away for months now, and she ventured into unknown territory throughout the pregnancy.

Thoughts of the mission were far from her mind as she all but pulled Cregan back into the bed, moving in to snuggle up against him, "If the galaxy fears me, do you think my child will feel the same?" She glanced up to meet his gaze, her yellow eyes showing subtle hints of fear only he would be able to pick up. She couldn't imagine her own child being afraid of her. As she felt the Force presence inside her, she couldn't deny how attached she had started to become. It was a weakness, and she knew it.

They still had time to relax before they needed to launch into their next mission, and she wanted to use all the time she had with Cregan. Andraste knew he would have to leave as well for his own expansion efforts like her other husbands. Normally, she had no issues with solitude, but lately it had been difficult for her.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Cregan had tried to follow along with some of the stuff that their design team had been talking about at the beginning but the education on Jedha really hadn't gotten anywhere near the principals of capital ship building so it had pretty much all gone over his head to be honest. In the end he had asked for the abridged version of any explanations and they had obliged him.

Apparently this new ship could make things explode really well.

Joining his wife in her quarters, Cregan hung up the outer layer of his robes and wandered on over to the bed. Smiling; he allowed himself to be pulled down onto the bed and into her embrace again... Not like he ever needed much convincing to wrap his arms around her. He held her close and kissed the back of her neck before whispering to her,

"As you wish." He reassured her with Her Smile, "If I could... I would never leave your side. Never release you from my arms..."

Yeah he was often rather clingy when it came to his wife.

Snuggling together on the bed, two of the most dangerous force users in the Galaxy were no longer Sith Lord and Sith Empress but were instead nothing more, nothing less, than two people madly in love with each other, wanting nothing more than to be together. Wrapped up together in their own little world of love and comfort, Cregan reached out with one hand to stroke her face gently, pushing a strand of her hair out of her face as he so often did,

"No - the child will not fear you. Do you want to know why? Why it won't fear you and how I know that with so much certainty?"

Holding her yellow eyes with his own clear orbs, Cregan smiled Her Smile at her without hesitation, without conscious thought. The presence of his wife just brought him too much... too much love, too much joy and too much of everything else he enjoyed about being alive,

"Love." He declared quietly, "This child is going to love you and love outweighs fear every time. You've seen it with me right? I should have been afraid of you when I was a Jedi... but all I felt was love. When you're angry people flinch away from you but... but all I can think about is how I want to hold you and let you know that it's okay. That I'm there and I will help you vent your rage, help you destroy the target of your rage and help lead you away from the anger after that with nothing but love. So you know what, Alais?"

He cupped her cheek and kisses her tenderly on the lips,

"That kid is going to love you as much as I do and you're going to love them... You're going to be an amazing mother."

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

Andraste couldn’t help but smile at him, especially as he recalled how he should have been afraid of her but fell in love instead. She brushed an idle strand of hair away from his face, “Yes, but you were a fool,” She grinned wider now, “You were always a terrible Jedi,” Andraste snuggled closer to him, savoring his warmth. Motherhood was not something she was prepared for in the least. In some ways it sounded more difficult than all her galactic accomplishments thus far.

For a moment she said nothing, simply leaning into Cregan and basking in the love and emotion they shared. He always had a way of releasing all her tension and anxieties, and he was doing the same now simply by being here. Andraste relished the kiss as he leaned in, each little gesture still as passionate as when they had first begun their relationship.

She closed her eyes and rested against him, emotionally and physically completely relaxed. It was very rare for her to be like this, and she was always on edge most of the time around others. However, right now she could simply forget the worries and the responsibilities she had. She was simply a woman spending time with her husband, not a galactic Empress that governed entire sectors of planets.

They only had another hour or so of relaxing before the ship lurched out of hyperspace, signaling their arrival. Andraste stirred and sighed, “Ugh we’re here,” She muttered grumpily, not at all wanting to get up.

 

[Darth Evandrus]

She had a point about both comments to be fair - he had been a fool and he had been a terrible Jedi. He wasn't sure if he had ever stopped being either of those things now that she brought them up again. Smiling idly, he just enjoyed their shared closeness for a moment longer,

"And now I'm a Sith Lord." he declared with a bright smile before kissing her gently on the lips. He broke away slowly so that he could whisper to her, "But I'll always be that fool - the fool who fell in love with the bane of his Order. And the fool who is wholly, inescapably, dedicated to remaining Your Fool until death."

Probably not something to be quite so proud about... but hell, Cregan wasn't going to take it back. He was proud to say that he was still her's and that he always would be. Come hell, high water, hot people, deadly beasts or whatever else the Galaxy had to offer - he would remain her's.

Holding her close to him and just enjoying being able to bask in the light of both herself and the baby in the Force, he blinked a few times as the ship almost lurched as it entered regular space again. He chuckled a little bit and kissed his wife on the forehead with a happy little smile,

"If I could do this on my own, I would my dear, but you know I can't." he whispered quietly to her before stealing another kiss from her lips, "The will of the Empress must be done... not the will of her annoying husband."

Pulling himself up out of bed, he held both of her hands in his own for a moment before giving them a tug, once again fully ready to help her up out of the bed but without drawing overt attention to the fact that he was,

"Come on... let's get going." he urged her before adding, "Otherwise I'll just carry you, bridal style, there and hold you the entire time we're here."

He paused before smirking deviously,

"I like that idea actually..."

He was mostly teasing.

Mostly.

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

Andraste grumbled and rolled onto her side, burying her face into a pillow at the thought of having to leave the ship, “I should be soaking up the sun on a beach somewhere,” She muttered, closing her eyes and pretending that she didn’t have anywhere to be. It only lasted for a moment before she finally sighed, feeling the ship descend down onto the moon. Andraste rose up, scowling at Cregan’s suggestion of carrying her, “Because I don’t have enough problems being taken seriously when I’m waddling around..”

She rose from the bed and got dressed, leaving her quarters and once again becoming Empress. The design team was already ready to go, and they were discussing things amongst themselves when Andraste arrived. They regarded her, and she joined them as the exit ramp lowered. In truth, she didn’t know what to expect, and for all they knew it could be a treacherous atmosphere and a pain to obtain the materials they needed.

Andraste let the men disembark first before she did, and she noticed they paused shortly after stepping off. Being shorter, she had to make her way past them before she saw why they paused. There were three tall women standing several feet away, and they all had their eyes on Andraste.

The Empress sighed, turning to look at Cregan, “What the hell is this?”

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Cregan just chuckled along with her and tried not to make it seem like he was laughing at her - merely laughing at the situation, which was what he was doing to be fair. He held up his hand in mock surrender in the face of her scowl. Cregan didn't have the heart to tell her that it lacked any and all or her usual intimidating nature because she had to rock herself slightly to get to her feet with the baby bump in the way.

He didn't say anything though because he knew it would likely get her more annoyed at him. So instead he just stole another sweet kiss from her before letting her get dressed and ready as he supervised the landing. Cregan was the one on the bridge when reports of a welcoming party arrived.

"Fantastic."

He hoped that the welcoming party had better manners than the one that had met them on Kuat... Andraste might not murder them in that case. If they were like that rep from the drive yards thought they were likely going to have to die just to improve his wife's mood.

Happy wife, happy life... he hoped that they were just polite.

Cregan stepped out and spotted the three women standing nearby, having stopped close to the ramp they descended from. He raised an eyebrow, noting that one of them seemed to be the leader while the others were stood like bodyguards. Cregan moved the designers to the sides as Andraste was preparing to emerge,

"Hello there." he greeted the leader with a smile and a raised eyebrow, "Any chance you're here to say hello and then leave?"

The woman glared at him before shaking her head,

"My name is Azbeth of the Singing Mountain tribe of the peoples of Dathomir... and you shall not speak to me." She declared haughtily, "Fetch me your Mistress, boy."

Cregan blinked a few times,

"Super."

Rolling his eyes, Cregan moved back to the ramp and took Andraste's hand as she descended down the ramp. Chuckling a little bit, he gestured to Dathomir in the sky,

"Seems a matriarch of the Singing Mountain tribe wants to have a word with my 'Mistress'." he told his wife with a smirk, "Thought this might be a good time to be diplomatic..."

As the designers and Cregan parted to let Andraste step forward, Azbeth grinned as she took in the sight of the Empress of the Sith,

"Ah yes... the rumours were true..." she cooed, "A woman powerful in the Dark Side and powerful enough in herself to walk the most dangerous places in the Galaxy while holding another life inside of her... you are respected by the people of Dathomir, Andraste Empress. This is the only reason we have not attacked your men. Explain yourself, respected Empress, and explain why you have come to our moon."

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

Andraste was hoping to avoid talking to anyone entirely. She was already cranky and sore, and she wanted nothing more than to go back to bed. However, she had to put up a front around the design team and other men that were risking their lives to travel with her on this venture. As she heard snippets of the conversation up ahead, Andraste couldn’t help but groan. This was going to be just great.

As Cregan and the others stepped back, Andraste moved forth to greet the woman. To her surprise, the dynamic changed almost entirely as the woman all but purred her words, practically gushing over Andraste. Was this what Rhea had been hinting at back when the old crone was on about Dathomir? As the woman said the words ‘explain yourself’, Andraste’s jaw tightened. There was a light flash in her eyes and she had to restrain herself from destroying the woman right there.

“We have come to set up a mining operation here,” Andraste looked around herself, “There are plenty of materials here to where we won’t get in your way. As Empress, I have a need to grow my empire, and I can’t do that without expanding my fleet. I want to exert my will upon the galaxy, and that begins with building something that will strike fear into the hearts of any who dare oppose me. That starts with the building blocks we hope to mine from this moon,” She smiled at the woman, “It will be a Queen the galaxy bows to, and your moon can help me get there. Won’t you aid in my cause?”

Andraste met the woman’s gaze, purposely speaking her language. Rhea had mentioned the nightsisters were matriarchal and looked down on men. What better way to appeal to them than the promise of a woman bending the galaxy to her whims?

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Cregan could tell, just by knowing his wife as well as he did, that Andraste was thinking about visiting great violence upon this Dathomiri woman and he honestly could see why... you didn't ask the most powerful woman in the Galaxy to explain herself to you when you were a back water tribal leader.

But hey, what did he know eh? He was the man who was here purely to serve at his wife's behest. Which... well it was true to be honest but it likely would have turned into a 'second class citizen' type thing if the Dathomiri woman had said it.

Cregan gave his wife a look... one that was merely asking his wife if she wanted him to do away with the witches right here and now. It might be a good thing for the negotiations and it might not be... but it would get that annoying woman out of his face. Azbeth listened attentively to Andraste as she spoke before scowling at the end,

"You were once a woman we could have followed without hesitation... but now you parade around with a multitude of men. Now we would understand if you had trained your brutes better but it clear from the attitude of this one - " she jabbed a finger at Cregan who had, pointedly, stopped smiling, "That instead of you taming them to your will, you are finding yourself weakened and manipulated by them. Oh there is much still for you to learn young woman... about how to truly control all, women, beasts and even the men."

Azbeth smiled with pointed teeth,

"You should spend some time with the clans - learn how to rule as a true matriarch should." the smile dipped, "You would have to collar your men so they did not attempt to interfere with the teaching process of course. Come, Andraste, learn from those who are your more experienced predecessors."

Cregan stood stock still for a moment as he looked as Azbeth before shaking his head slightly - he wouldn't be the one to try and soothe his wife's expected rage over this.

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

Andraste was losing her patience. She had tried to speak with the language of their people, and she had made it clear what she was after. Another time, she may have been more diplomatic, but the truth was that she was pregnant, hormonal, cranky and utterly out of kriffs to give. Before the woman had even finished speaking, the Force rapidly coiled around her throat to cut her off and Andraste didn’t even hear her offer to have her join them, “I don’t think I’ve made myself clear. I came here with a purpose. The fact that I even entertained speaking with you is a wonder. I’m going to get what I need from here, and I will do what I want with it.”

The Force constricted powerfully around the woman, the other two quickly rushing to her aid. Andraste didn’t move a muscle before both of those women were blasted back by the Force, falling in a heap several feet away. She kept her eyes locked on Azbeth, who was now forced down to her knees while gasping for air, “I know how to rule, and I will be happy to keep demonstrating to you how that includes you serving under my boot along with anyone else that tries to get smart with me.”

She didn’t stop the choking, the woman’s eyes bulging as she clutched at her throat. Andraste kept going until the woman was blue in the face and finally collapsed. It was unclear right away whether she was dead or not – Andraste didn’t care. The other two women looked utterly terrified, staring in horror at Azbeth’s collapsed form.

Andraste rubbed her hand over her belly before calling out to the men behind her, “Set up operations. We have a lot of work to do,” With that, she made her way back towards the ship, badly needing to take a tinkle. This far in her pregnancy, she was making frequent trips to the bathroom.

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Cregan didn't really need to act like he was surprised considering the design team had to have known by now that Andraste was cranky due to the pregnancy - it made perfect sense to them all. He'd actually had a lovely conversation with one of them swapping stories about when the man's wife had been pregnant with their first child. Being the attentive type, Cregan had lapped up as many lessons as he could from the man, happy that someone was actually able to give advice. One of the most important things, according to this guy?

Support them.

If they wanted something that was just silly? Support them and get it done anyway. If they wanted to do something you knew was going to go poorly like... like doing some water sports while she had a swollen ankle? Well you supported the hell out of her and you didn't dare say anything like 'I told you so' when it inevitably turned out that she shouldn't have done it.

Just like Cregan would support her decision to kill the Dathomiri delegation.

As Andraste was murdering their leader, Cregan reached out and seized the skulls of the two bodyguards in the Force, twisting them around entirely once Azbeth was dead. Nodding to his wife, he gestured to the design team and a few officers who were ready for instructions,

"Of course my dear - I'll be back on the ship with you shortly." he assured her with a bright smile, "Don't you worry about a thing... I'll make sure this gets done."

He turned back to the design team and listened as they pulled up some datapads and discussed the area before seemingly deciding where the best place to start mining would be...

They were the best at what they did so they found the prime location fairly easily. He grinned and nodded to the design team, who took that as their cue to began to deploy the guards and workers to start the beginnings of the mine. Cregan, in the mean time, ordered a guard rotation for while they were still here before going back to the ship, where he would fetch a few different types of drinks, not entirely sure what his wife was craving currently,

"Honey!" he called out to her as he looked over some of the flavours he had, "The design team are out doing mining things... we can oversee them if you want... but the Real Housewives of Corulag's new season is available if you don't."

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

Andraste was making her way back, beyond grumpy from the incident. However, she got to choke the life out of someone, and that always cheered her up. She was halfway through the ship before she ran into Cregan, spotting the drinks in his hands. Her eyes lit up at that and she immediately reached for the pink fizzy one, “Have I mentioned how much I love you lately?” She cooed at him, a complete 180 from the woman that was outside choking someone to death.

She snickered as he offered her two options, and she brought up her datapad, “I plan on doing both,” Andraste beamed, thoroughly pleased with herself. She had loaded up the latest season already and she intended to watch it while pretending to preside over the mining operations. Andraste slowly walked back out of the ship, making her way down the exit ramp and towards where the men set up camp.

Andraste found herself a seat on an elevated platform, using the Force to pull up a seat for Cregan next to her. She put the datapad on her lap, starting the first episode so they could both watch. Every now and then, her yellow eyes gazed up to look intimidatingly at the workers to make sure they weren’t slacking.

“You think this will all come together?” She asked after a while during Emila’s third tantrum about catching her husband cheating yet again, “We’re putting a lot of money into this. The expenses to keep it operational will be huge too. I hope I’m making the right call here..”

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Chuckling a little bit, Cregan had to admit that he enjoyed being able to turn his wife from angry, violent, Sith Empress to beautiful young woman in an instant with just a smile and a can of some strange drink. It made him feel warm and fuzzy in the chest area now that he thought about it. He grinned a little hit and leaned in to steal a quick kiss,

"You might have mentioned it." he admitted with a small smirk, "But don't let that stop you - you know I'll never get tired of hearing it."

Both huh?

Amused at this idea, Cregan followed his wife out to where the workers were beginning to map out the area they were going to start excavating for the mine. It seemed to be going well already so Cregan felt absolutely no shame in taking a seat beside his wife and keeping an eye on the work as he did so.

He did, naturally, spend more than a little bit of time watching the RHWoC with his wife though - the show was like Spice. It was bad for you, terrible even, but you just couldn't pull your eyes away from it for too long if it was on. It was like watching a speeder crash... you just couldn't ever look away.

Plus this season had a wife who had two husbands so it might very well be the first season to speak to Andraste on a personal level... or maybe she just enjoyed watching others fail in their love lives on reality holo-tv?

Sipping his own drink, Cregan raised an eyebrow slightly as she asked him about if he thought that this was actually going to work. Was it going to work?

"Yeah... yeah I think it's going to come together nicely." he admitted to her with a soft smile, "Credits and time are... well they're valuable commodities to be sure but we can't put a price tag on being able to dominate like we will be able to once this is completed. The will of the Empress will stretch beyond our borders..."

He winked at Andraste with a small smirk as he rested a hand idly on her stomach, thumb rubbing her bump,

"Besides... no price is too high for the security of you... and Cregan Junior."

Hey, so maybe those joke naming sessions they'd had before had stuck around, so what? Hopefully she didn't feel like choking him for such a bad joke.

@Sreeya

 

[Andraste]

“Cregan junior?” Andraste quirked an eyebrow at that, “You’ve come a long way from all those talks about half loving the baby,” She teased him with a knowing grin. Over their shared time together, she caught him fussing more and more over the development and growth of the baby. It was adorable and he was growing to care for the child more and more every day.

After a while, it became clear that the mining operation would take some time. They were digging into the moon, but only obtaining small yields at a time. Andraste hated that she would be stuck here for a while, but she would go to any lengths to see this operation through. She watched a few more episodes of the show before deciding that she didn’t need to sit out here to stare menacingly at the workers. The men had a good work ethic and were doing their best without anyone breathing down their neck.

“I’m going to go back to the ship. I think you’ve got a good handle on this,” Andraste leaned in to kiss him softly before rising and making her way back to the ship. They were one step closer towards making her vision a reality, and she couldn’t help but have a grin on her face as she walked away.

@Nefieslab

 

[Darth Evandrus]

Yeah... yeah she was right about that.

Cregan had thought that he would only be able to show affection towards the kid because he could rationalise that it was half made up of the woman that he loved. The idea being that he would need that reminder to actually feel something for the kid. But now? He wasn't so sure. He had spent so much time looking after Andraste and her growing child that he couldn't help but feel... well feel possessive and protective of the kid really.

"Yes well, I suppose that's what happens when I spend too much time with you, eh?" he suggested with a soft smirk, keeping her gaze, "I end up loving more than people say I should... oh well."

Ah... he had expected her to head back on inside to be fair. He smiled a little bit and leaned into the kiss, stroking her cheek with one hand and the bump with the other. He held her gaze for a moment before nodding silently to her. Kissing her again, he pulled back to let her head back to the ship,

"I'll be back in later." he told her quietly, "You get some rest - you're right, I've got this so you don't have to worry about anything here."

Watching her walk back to the ship, Cregan took the time to admire his wife... regardless of pregnancy she was still a stunning woman and so he was appreciative of the view before turning back to the miners,

"Back to work everyone!" he ordered them with a faux genial tone, "I'm missing time in bed with my wife for this... best everyone hurry up then huh?"

They diligently sped up.

/End Thread

@Sreeya