The Second Judgment

[Darth Kravos]

The last time he and the War Master had been in this room, the two of them had stood to either side of the Empress and over those who were to receive judgement. Today was not that day, and now it was the War Master's turn to report for his actions and the actions of those under him.

Kessel had cost the Empire more dearly than any battle thus far. They had taken the planet, but at a high cost. A pyrrhic victory, and Darth Kravos wanted to know why. He'd read the briefing already, but that wasn't the same as questioning the Council member who had been in charge. In part, the Empire was so effective because the repercussions of action rolled uphill as well as down. Kalla would have to answer for the actions of those he chose and they would in turn answer for their own actions.

Darth Kravos had summoned the Sith War Master here to Korriban, and he'd not left room for argument or declining. None of them - not even the Dark Lord himself - was free from the repercussions of his actions, and when the Council erred, they answered to their sitting chair.

There were guards outside the room, but none were invited inside. The Dark Lord was the first enforcer of the Empire, and he was more than confident enough to handle his own protection. And so he awaited the arrival of the War Master, viewing the datapad with the operational report from behind the steel face of his mask. @Rexx

 

[Kalladrrl]

Korriban - the crucible of the Empire, where it was forged and reforged in the heat of the desert that gripped the planet. Here he had been made Sith even before he had realized his ability, here he had seen Essia Contarias laid low and Serie Fond laid even lower. Here he had been anointed Champion of the Empress. And now, here he was to account for the spaceborne disaster above Kessel. By all accounts, the battle had started well but the finishing had been messy. Messy enough that the custodian of the Sith fleet and first among the Council had summoned Kalladrrl for a reckoning.

Four Blackguard elite, two on either side, flanked him as he walked, determined and not afraid of what might come to pass. As he approached the chamber, he raised his hand in a clenched fist and dismissed those who walked with him. The settling of accounts would be between him and the Dark Lord alone. He steeled himself with a single breath and entered the chamber, Lord Kravos seated and seemingly reading from a datapad. The War Master stepped forward, kneeling before the seat of judgement, looking up at the human before his hands went to his hips, pulling both lightsabers from his belt and setting them on the step before Kravos. It was only then that he spoke.

"My lord.”

He said nothing else for now. He knew why he was here, and Kalladrrl would wait for the Dark Lord before further explanation.

 

[Darth Kravos]

Although the Dark Lord's eyes flicked up from his datapad when the War Master walked in, there was no evidence of this from behind his mask. His fingers seemed to continue to scroll through the datapad for a moment before he set it down a moment later. The fact that his sabers came out was not lost on the Dark Lord, but he made no move to react beyond staying alerted to their presence. But they were presented rather than drawn.

After a moment, the Dark Lord set the datapad down, the faceplate of his helmet looked up and locked in on the Wookiee. The size difference was almost as comical in proportion as that of Andraste and... pretty much everyone else. The Dark Lord wasn't even a full six feet compared to the Wookiee's over eight feet.

Kessel. What happened? was all he said. The War Master wasn't stupid, and he no doubt would have already prepared for this question. It was the only logical reason for the two of them to be meeting under these circumstances, but Kravos wanted to hear it firsthand. He wanted to know what had gone wrong, what they had lost, and why. @Rexx

 

[Kalladrrl]

The War Master was resolute in his consideration, a moment passing as he pondered how he wished to frame the outcome of the void assault. But there was only one way to frame it that would be truthful, and he spoke after that moment in an even, measured tone.

"I failed, my lord. I failed in my scrutiny of those who were to carry out my will. One Lieutenant.” He could not help but snarl those words, his disdain apparent for the corpse that was now orbiting Kessel. "One Lieutenant was all it took. On paper, his qualifications were suitable for the task I had set. Specialization in air-ground coordination that I thought would serve well once the attentions of the fleet could be turned from the system defense forces to the planetary defense. But I was wrong. I relied on a fresh-faced officer and it cost the lives of dozens of Imperial assets and countless credits in hardware lost.”

The War Master waited for one beat before continuing.

"But he has received his comeuppance; the Head Warden made sure of that.” Kalladrrl's last statement was left open. He knew he would be receiving his in turn and hoped his accountability would save him from an early grave at the hand of one to whose house Kalladrrl had devoted the last four years of his life. Nothing, however, was ever certain with the Sith.

@Phoenix

 

[Darth Kravos]

Darth Kravos said nothing as he listened to the recounting of events. It was more or less as the Dark Lord had heard them, though as usual, the perspective of the officer in charge was more insightful than a datapad readout. He had a certain interest in the outcome for the Lieutenant, but he could already sense the answer. He'd heard the reports, and the Lieutenant would not be blundering his way through a campaign again.

He paused for several moments, letting the failure linger in the air before standing and speaking. He walked closer to the Wookiee, no doubt enough to make him nervous about might come next before he spoke. I picked you personally as the victor of the Gauntlet, he said, thinking back to the day the Wookiee had won. He'd shown exemplary ingenuity, skills, and teamwork. They were attributes Kravos had thought would carry over into his position as War Master.

You took up my old seat on the Council, he said, recalling that he had been the War Master before Essia and before he was Dark Lord. He'd built the Imperial military from the ground up, and there would always be a portion of it that was his child. You were an exceptional Sith who had a bright future in the Empire, he said, intentionally using the past tense and letting the thoughts linger within the mind of the Sith Lord while he paused.

And then you launched the most costly battle the Empire has fought thus far as your first major act as War Master, he reprimanded. This on the heels of Master Vex kneeling right there for her own failures, he said, pointing to the spot that the Sith Lord would remember all too well as the area Vex received her penalty from the Empress herself. The tension in the air that day between the two had been palpable. It wasn't at all difficult to see what was going on. Since that incident, the Empress has not been as forgiving as I am, he said, letting the idea sink into his head that this could have gone even worse if the Empress herself handled this. Sith were where they were because they didn't tolerate failure.

I certainly hope Vex is not proving a distracting or poor influence on you. It would be a shame if something were to end that association, he stated in a tone that was both flat and laced with menace. There was no need to go into greater detail as to what that meant. The Sith Lord was smart enough to make it this far and the threat wasn't all that veiled. The Dark Lord was a brutal man whose tolerance for failure was limited.

His left hand reached out and within an instant, blue lightning burst forth, fueled by a master of the Dark Side and enveloped the Wookiee. It would be agony, and leave him to wonder if he wasn't going to be killed for what happened. In all his years this would easily be one of the most horrendous things he had ever experienced, and the Dark Lord didn't let up until he was on the brink of death. And through it all, Kravos didn't even wince.

It ended and he stood for a moment, senses alert for even the slightest hint that the Wookiee would lash out at him. It would be a most foolish endeavor, but when anger and impulse took over, there was no predicting what a man would do. Do not fail me again, he growled.

The Dark Lord wasn't one to provide a long tongue lashing or a detailed list of ways that the War Master had failed. He knew those things already. A simple threat - and one to be followed through on - could go far further than all the yelling and screaming in the galaxy.

He moved back around to take a seat once more, saying nothing as he did so. I will not have infighting on my Council. The assets lost were largely those of the Judgment. You will make restitution as Darth Evandrus (@Nefieslab) sees fit, he said. He was sure that the High Judge would have a just restitution requirement. He certainly hoped his Councilors were able to handle such matters between themselves.

That is all, he said without further comment. It was only the track record thus far that kept the Wookiee's head on his shoulders. Another such incident would not be so well tolerated. @Rexx

 

[Kalladrrl]

Kalladrrl listened as one whose footsteps he had trodden excoriated him and well-deservedly. Each of his crowning achievements, laid before him. As the Dark Lord spoke, Kalladrrl knew that it was merely to twist the right areas to make Kalladrrl's failure all the more poignant. Anger surged within him, but it looped in on itself; he had no reason to be angry at Kravos and instead he was angry that he had let himself fall from his superior’s favor and the path he had forged for Kalladrrl to walk down.

But his anger ran cold as the Dark Lord mentioned Vex. He was unafraid, but the time for self-excoriation was over.

To protect her and them, Kalladrrl would never fail his lord and his Empress again.

He did not flinch nor move at all when Kravos moved, even in the Dark Lord’s moments that almost invited his anger and hatred, but those were emotions for the training yard or the battlefield. Here, in the chamber of his penance and Vex’s before him, was forged within him an iron core of determination and he was steeled against the desire to lash out but also the fear of his death. Kalladrrl knew better than to doubt the implicit threats offered to him, but fear was not what he felt.

It was lucky for him then, that Kravos chastised his person at that moment. Perhaps he did not know Kalladrrl’s history, or perhaps that was why a torrent of electricity was embracing him on all sides. He was thrown back as a yell of pure rage shook the floor that Kravos stood on, the Wookiee’s left leg launching back to brace him as his muscles tightened in a snap from the effort of not attempting to shred his attacker limb from limb. The Dark Side suffused him more than ever from his own drawing and from Kravos’ attack, and under his helmet, two eyes containing a ring of gold blazed to a solid burnished brass sheen as his bellows continued to be wrenched from him as the storm enveloped him. His claws would have bit into his palms had it not been for his mismatched gauntlets. Teeth pressed against each other until his jaw muscles locked up even as he screamed, rivulets of slathering spittle dripping onto his chin, collecting wetly in his helmet. All of his willpower was concentrated into resisting death but damn it, it would not be Kravos who killed him this day!

As suddenly as it had come, the Dark Lord’s attack ceased, leaving Kalladrrl to struggle to restrain his own rage, threatening to burst from the center of his being. Every instinct was magnified by the power of the Force, and yet he clung to it to maintain his comportment, hearing but not registering the words as he panted, equalizing his breathing as the instinctive reaction faded, leaving him drained and yet more connected to the Force than ever.

The War Master was dismissed with his life intact, and he rose slowly, not exercising his muscles to loosen them but willing them to move as he stood at his full height, towering above the Dark Lord in stature.

“My lord,” he rasped in his basso voice as he placed his Gauntleted hand upon his chest and inclined his head, not letting on to the agony that still rampaged through him at every moment.

The Sith Lord took a step back, his right hand gingerly reaching out for both of his lightsabers with the Force, the simple gesture summoning the weapons to his hand in a flash, both emitters pointed so that as he gripped them, the blades would threaten him and not his lord if ignited. He blinked slowly inside his helmet at the speed of their flight, marveling privately for a moment before he turned on his heel and strode away as decisively as he had entered, his willpower forcing his body to operate as if he had not been tortured to the edge of his life.

As he reached the edge of the chamber, he stopped at the door to affix both lightsabers at either hip before he opened the entryway, Blackguards blinking at their lord in bemused surprise. Kalladrrl stopped for but a moment before proceeding on his way.

The work continued and he would more than make up for his error.

/exit thread