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[Darth Tiamat]

New Alderaan

It was rather a beautiful day despite the fast approaching storm of widespread war on the horizon. Corellia would only be a start, and Tiamat knew the ISC president would undoubtedly keep his promise to see that the Empire would crumble. This of course would bring an uncomfortable position of the Empire to the rest of the galaxy and Tiamat could already see the headlines now and the quick deterioration of support for an Empire - simply because no one wanted to be involved in war, the average civilian just wanted to carry on with their lives, and not be involved in the petty ego play of space wizards like herself.

Despite her position as a sith, the woman still felt the importance of knowing what the people wanted, the Empire was in a delicate position and giving the right people support would be key to seeing it not collapse upon itself. Thus, she was meeting with another member of the Din family: Amira. The tiefling woman had been involved in a few key negotiations and she hoped she would be more involved now in either bringing others in or keeping them united, an area Tiamat was not as familiar as she would like.

She had picked an uncommon meeting place, a winery, and away from prying eyes and ears to talk in confidence. On top of it, it was some of the best wine in the galaxy, and the view over the vineyard brought a temporary peace to the chaos that surrounded the rest of the galaxy. Tiamat decided to forgo her more traditional apparel and went for something more relaxed; her red hair let down, feeling the strands shift from the cool New Alderaanian breeze. She had already picked out a bottle of wine, glass full as she waited for her guest to arrive.

@llamallove

 

[Amira Din]

The whispers in the wind had been true after all. War was no longer brewing, festering just beneath the surface between the Sith Empire and the Independent Systems Consortium. It was already here. The news had broken across secure Sith channels days ago, and real time footage of star destroyers over Corellia was splashed across the monitor on every news channel. Life as they knew it was about to change within the Empire, from the shop keeper down to street to the lowest ranking private within the Imperial Armed Forces to the Sith Lords that sat on the council. The few that were left, anyway.

On principle and pride, Amira would have avoided New Alderaan altogether after its senator tucked tail and ran at the first sight of danger on Ruusan, abandoning her to face the Killik and the joined alone. The Tiefling had no time for men with white livers and pudding for hearts—senators or otherwise. If it hadn't been for Altair and Soleil, she wouldn't have made it out alive.

Fortunately—perhaps for both of them—the Tiefling was not here to see Arcturus Alkaios. It was a different invitation that brought her to the outer-rim world, and one that could not be refused. To rebuff the bidding of a Sith Master was folly, and Amira was no fool. There was an uncharacteristic empty feeling in the pit of the Champion's stomach as she climbed the stairs to the vineyard, the afternoon sunlight on her hair.

Amira hadn't been summoned by a Sith Master in a long time, not since she'd trained under Darth Roth. Briefly, she lingered at the top of the stairs, plucking a pink lotus in full bloom, one of many in the winery's large and beautiful garden, and tucked it into her hair. Like Tiamat, the Champion had dressed casually. Even within the borders of the Empire, Sith robes in a chique winery was strictly taboo.

"Master Tiamat," Amira addressed the Sith Master in a low tone, bowing her head as she approached the table. Cow tailing to her superiors had never sat well with the Tiefling, a woman who liked to say and do whatever she pleased on her own terms, but this was the Empire. There were rules. Expectations. Codes and consequences, and Master Roth had coached her in them all. @GABA

 

[Darth Tiamat]

Tiamat waved her hand as the woman bowed, "None of that, I feel rather informal today." she said gesturing to the empty seat at the table before picking up her glass and taking another sip of her wine, sitting back in her chair. She had decided it was too much energy to go with formalities in an environment like this, besides, if she wanted more formal, she would have chosen to be at one of the temples. The redhaired sith preferred this better.

"I hope you didn't have too much trouble making it here, check points have been terrible since the launch of war on Corellia. The Empire mobilized quickly, which great, but we'll see when they start getting sloppy on those checks." she hummed, her eyes leaving Amira briefly to watch the hostess prepare a glass for the tiefling. Tiamat waited for her to finish before she carried on with conversation.

"I'm sure you will start to find yourself busy, what do you wish to acquire from this war?" she asked her.

@llamallove

 

[Amira Din]

Informal. That was encouraging, and a statement that helped to quell the emptiness that had settled in the Tiefling's stomach. The possibility that she had been summoned here today for formal discipline or as the first step in an inquisition drastically reduced with that statement. The Sith Master's choice of locale helped, too.

Since Amira had attended the Joining of Minds summit on Ruusan, her proactivity within the Sith Empire had declined drastically. Between breaking her leg and several ribs in that nasty fall on Utupau and being shot in the arm at point blank range by the joined Governor of Ruusan, Lars Omah, she had been out of commission. Political and private pursuits had fallen behind, and the Tiefling had only recently made a full recovery from the injuries she had sustained. Just in time for the Sith to declare war on the ISC. Now there would be no end to the work she needed to attend to. The time for taking one day at a time was behind her.

"Personally?" the Champion clarified, buying time to formulate an answer. They spoke of the Empire's acquisition of course, not of their private lives. Amira's personal plans would probably bore the Sith Master—a farm on the outskirts of the galaxy packed to the brim with animals to tend to and a few children to rear. Cow patties and runny noses was hardly a topic of conversation in a winery.
Over the wine the hostess poured, from a vintage bottle of full-bodied cabarnet—handpicked by Tiamat no doubt. Amber eyes settled on the Master that sat opposite her, interest piqued as she studied her. "Public relations will be the focal point of my work going forward," she answered. Unless she was told differently, of course. "Between that Killik cure fiasco and warships over Corellia, we'll need to be the authors of our own narrative."

Otherwise the bleeding hearts of the galaxy would paint their own narrative, and not in the Empire's favor. "We need to save face." Dangerous to admit to a superior, perhaps, but there was no denying it. Then they could begin to rebuild the Empire's image. It had been finely crafted, by key players within the Empire such as Wraith and more recently Jasnah Atreides in the latest assembly of the galactic senate, but outside forces had begun to eat away at the foundation, and cracks had appeared.

The Empire's attack against the ISC had been unprovoked. It was logical, to strike out at the other key player on the galactic playing field while they dealt with a refugee crisis and the Joined dilemma, but it was still unprovoked. And sudden. These were the stories the news media liked to devour. If the Empire wanted to come out on top, they would need to spoon feed their own narrative to the media. @GABA