Ask Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

[Renfry]

Andruil didn't want to use Dathomir as a staging area for Sith operations, but Felucia was perfectly suited to that purpose. She was on good terms with the natives from the jungle and even with the farmers. The Sith rule had been profitable for almost everyone involved.

The staging area was just at the edge of the jungle. A small spaceport that had often served as her landing zone now had a small path leading from it to the village she had stayed at long ago and the small Nightsister and Sith enclave that she and Tiamat had established.

Now, the port was bustling with ships and the forces that would accompany Andruil and Charlotte to the Hapes Consortium. Not that they'd travel as a large convoy, but each freighter housing a handful of soldiers could arrive independently if needed. This was a covert takeover, after all, not an invasion proper.

Nightsisters, Sith agents, and even Felucian natives moved around the port as Andruil awaited the arrival of the woman of the hour. The Sith Councilor sat at a table outside one of the local cantinas, sipping a cup of caf as she studied information about the consortium on a datapad. Knowledge was power, and though she wouldn't admit it aloud, she felt she knew woefully little about this people and the world they were going to conquer.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

Felucia bristled with life. A world covered nearly entirely in a living jungle. The Jedi would call the world a true representation of the life the Light could provide. Charlotte knew differently. Felucia was of the Darkness, for in that jungle life began and was just as easily snuffed out. Death was abundant on the planet’s surface. She smiled broadly as she walked down the shuttle ramp. It felt good. Charlotte managed to hope a ride on public transport to Felucia. While she doubted anyone tracked her movements, it was better safe than sorry. They were about to embark on a galaxy shifting path. The Hapan Sith would not leave that to chance.

She scanned the port while she walked. Andruil had sent ahead their meeting location. Charlotte knew the Dathomiran queen already was preparing her forces. However, those forces needed direction. Direction she intended to provide. Her eyes snagged on a table outside one of the cantinas in the port. Ah. The Sith Lord looked perfectly ordinary sitting flipping through a datapad and drinking caf. Charlotte could not help but shake her head. If only the people around them knew the power the Queen possessed. Perhaps they would not pass by so closely.

Charlotte tucked her hair behind her ears and approached the table, quickly taking a seat opposite Andruil. She nodded her head respectfully. “My queen.” She caught just a glimpse of images of Hapes flashing across the datapad. “What information can I share?” Her parents sold her as a child, but those years had been more than enough to immerse Charlotte in Hapan society. The training started early and she had excelled at the ruthless dedication Hapan nobility required. Such a pity her parents failed to see that value.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Andruil looked up from her datapad as she saw the woman approaching, taking another sip from her caf. She motioned for the other woman to have a seat across from her.

I assume you have a plan for how to do this? she asked. The Nightsister was a quick study, but she was sure she didn't know even a fraction of what a woman who had grown up at least part of her life there new. Also there was a gap between "knowing" and "understanding."

My Nightsisters are ready to assist with infiltration and I have commando teams on standby if we require fire support or a heavier hand, she said. It wasn't really what they were looking for, but not being prepared was not an option.

I assume we'd rather avoid using that aggressive of a force, she said. Whether Charlotte was planning a true infiltration, social stealth, or something else altogether was what remained to be seen. If necessary, Andruil would dictate the plan, but she preferred to let someone with more of a sense of the world make that decision. After all, it was Charlotte's operation. Andruil was simply supplying the resources.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

Charlotte nodded along thoughtfully. “Yes, I have a plan.” She pulled out her own datapad and tapped a few keys, sharing her screen with Andruil. “The less visible force we use, the better.” She began pulling up a few recent news articles on House Le’Anna. “Hapan society thrives on familial coups but frowns on them being seen.” The shadowy backstabbing games were much more their style. Poison your mother in bed versus stabbing her in the street.

The datapads reflected House Le’Anna throwing a lavish masquerade ball, the kind she knew her family could not afford. What had her mother leveraged this time? “My mothers latest attempt to regain favor with the Queen Mother.” Invitations had gone out across Hapan society. House Le’Anna was poor, but they were royal, that meant something. “It will fail as all other attempts have failed. She will have found some other poor sap to lend her credit just long enough to cover the collapsing estate in finery and employ sufficient staff for the night.” Charlotte’s hands danced across the datapad. Gossip magazines flipped past the screen.

“The Queen Mother will not be attending but the other Houses will come to see my mother’s embarrassment…again.” She frowned. Her mother really was the worst. “Separate my mother and father from the crowd, kill them, and secure the estate.” She shrugged. “What little staff remains shouldn’t contest my ascension once my parents are dead.” The plan was simple enough and oddly poetic. Andruil and Charlotte had met at a ball, it was only right their next step involved one.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Andruil picked her datapad back up to look at the articles that Charlotte had shared with her. She scrolled through them, looking at the photos of the elaborate banquets that had been put on in the past.

Poison? Strangling? Stabbing? Whatever fits the moment? she asked. These "rules of engagement" were foreign to her and seemed pointless, but she wasn't about to screw up the operation just because of that. If they needed bodies without marks, then that was important to know.

Just the two of us, then. My guards can remain on standby, she said with a nod. Another ball. The last had ended in bloodshed and this one would as well. Her hairpin might be seeing another exciting evening.

Sounds simple enough, she said. Not easy, but simple. How does Hapes feel about Force-users? Will the people require... pacifying? she asked. Some of the things she had heard implied a distaste for the Jedi, which may mean needing a forceful hand at some point during her ascension. Or perhaps the silent assassination would work for that as well.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

“Whatever fits the moment, my queen.” Charlotte failed to prevent the sly smile that began to spread across her face. She still faced some ambivalence about returning home, but she hated her mother. That monstrous woman had made her life miserable as long as she could remember. Then, when opportunity struck, had cast her aside without second thought. “As long as the bodies are not found, and the tabloids read natural causes, no one will think twice.”

Charlotte was forced to consider the second question more carefully. The Hapan relationship with Force user was complicated. They hated the Jedi for abandoning them to male captors centuries ago. That did not mean they universally despised force user but there was no easy answer. “The Consortium deeply distrusted the Jedi, even despite historical ties.” She paused for a moment. “They have no inherent bias of Force-users but are extremely wary of outsiders.” Charlotte met Andruil’s eyes.

“Much like Dathomir, the Consortium is fiercely independent. Force user or not, if they feel this is an outside annexation…” She frowned for a moment. “They will fight back twice as hard.” That was the key to all of this. This needed to appear as nothing more than spinning of the violent Consortium wheel. Only when it was all over, would the truth of the ascension be visible. A difficult tightrope to walk.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Ah, disappearance, then, she said. That was important to know. Public poisoning may still be negative "press" for them even if it wasn't clear who had caused it. She supposed it was all about the ability to deny involvement.

I suppose it's a good thing that you're no outsider, then, she said. It did mean that perhaps Renfry could be more openly involved as well. If there was no inherent hatred of Force-users, then there was no inherent need to hide who she was. Perhaps she could even come as a Queen. Perhaps not.

There is one final thing I require before we begin, she said. It was the crux of the transaction. The real currency she collected. She placed her hunting knife on the table between the two of them.

A small tuft of hair. Nothing to ruin your lovely haircut, of course, she said. She offered no explanation of why, but Charlotte was smart enough to know that Andruil wouldn't be requesting it if there weren't a serious reason for it. The voodoo of the Nightsisters was a closely guarded secret and one of her most potent tools. With fortunate and favor of the Twin Spirits, she would never need to use it. Simple insurance.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

A strange request, but one Charlotte dare not deny. She had known Andruil would require more than just pledged fealty. The Queen of Dathomir was a powerful ally. She must accept the consequences that came with such an alliance. Legends of the Nightsisters magics permeated even the Sith Order. Whatever Darkness Andruil wielded was likely beyond Charlotte’s comprehension. Nightsister power was not truly working the Force in the way she understood, it was something else…darker perhaps.

Without hesitation she reached across the table and grabbed the hunting knife. Charlotte was Hapan. She was vain but vanity came in many forms. Her desire for power and to rule eclipsed whatever her desire to remain beautiful. She harnessed two inches of hair beneath her shoulder and slide the knife through. The sharp blade easily cutting through her luscious locks. She placed the knife back on the table and held the hair out to Andruil.

“As you command.” A wide grin spread across her face. She could not understand what she offered the Sith Lord, but she suspected it would bind the two of them. Betrayal would never seem like an appealing option. “Haircut intact, I wouldn’t want to disappoint the partygoers.” Charlotte planned to make an entrance at the ball. It was a homecoming after all. It would be rude not to dress for the occasion.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Andruil was glad when the woman went through with the cutting without argument. She'd been uncertain, but this seemed to be working out quite nicely. Even to both women's advantage. She took the hair and placed it in a small bag before placing it in her pocket. She replaced the knife as well and stood.

Excellent, she said, standing from her seat.

Are you ready to head to your new world, then? she asked, heading in the direction of the ship ports unless the other woman objected. She saw no reason to delay, and she even felt a hint of excitement as they proceeded.

She motioned to one of the Nightsisters who was seated nearby, signaling that the operations were underway. She immediately started radioing the units on standby. Although they weren't likely to be needed, Andruil had decided it never hurt to be prepared.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

Charlotte nodded as Andruil stood. There was no reason to delay any further. The plan was set, the Nightsisters appeared ready. Only one step remained…the actual carrying out of the plan. She had dreamed of this moment for years but never possessed the courage to take those steps on her own. Despite all her bluster, Charlotte had needed the push. Andruil had proved the perfect catalyst. She quickly followed behind the Sith Lord. “It feels as if I have been waiting all my life for this moment.” The Darkness hummed happily in her heart. “I am ready, my queen.”

Their ship was likely ready, her feet carrying swiftly beside Andruil. “All that remains is getting dressed.” A shiver ran up her spine. She could picture the moment already. The look on her mother’s face as Charlotte arrived at the Estate of her childhood. Oh, if only they knew what was coming. All those years of her life that her family had traded away. The suffering she had been through. She smiled. They would feel every ounce of that pain when she reclaimed what rightfully belonged in her hands. Her mother had floundered about long enough.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Because you have, she said. This will be an important moment for you. One of your defining moments, she said. She knew what it was like from firsthand experience. Andruil hadn't changed completely that day, but she hadn't ever been quite the same again.

You're welcome to come with me, she said. Her own ship was far from the nicest ship in the galaxy, but it had been modified in recent days to give it a far nicer feel. A near-total renovation. There were perks to being in positions of power.

Will you require a dress when we get there? she asked. If the other woman hadn't brought one, then it was likely they would both need new ones. Granted, Andruil wouldn't have been opposed to using the same dress she'd worn at the Dromund Kaas ball. You couldn't really see blood stains on black, right?

The Destiny had only Andruil's pilot droid aboard and one of her guards, Carnitine, to fly copilot. Charlotte would be able to find a room for herself in the far right side of the ship while Andruil's was in the far left.

Although nice, the inside of the ship was relatively spartan with only a few books here and there and some amenities to make the trip nicer. Decorations were a bit unusual with several carvings and unusual native art pieces on the shelves.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

Charlotte’s smile grew wider at Andruil’s encouragement. She felt as if everything was falling perfectly into place. The Sith Lord seemed to be the perfect guide on her journey to find true power. Darth Andruil seemed to have walked a similar path to the one Charlotte sought to walk now. She of course would take the offer to travel with the queen. “I will, thank you my queen.” The Destiny was not the finest ship in the galaxy, but she guessed it served the Sith Lord’s purposes just fine. There was a time and place to revel in your position. That did not mean everything needed to gild with finery. Malacia learned that lesson the hard way.

Charlotte laughed lightly at the mention of the dress. “Yes, unfortunately our last party ruined my best dress.” Fighting Malacia’s cultists had left more than a few irreparable rips and stains. Her night with Aadya had taken care of the rest. Marauders were not a wealthy lot and that dress had been one of the few nicer things she owed. It would have been an opulence she could not afford to have a second.

They finally arrived at the Destiny. It was much what Charlotte expected. In perfect working order, with a few enhancements fitting Andruil’s station but nothing ostentatious. She nodded. There was wisdom in that. She would need a little time to get properly ready once they managed to find the right attire. Thankfully, Andruil did have a room set aside for her new companion.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Andruil moved to the cockpit to tell Carnitine and Chex they were ready before moving back into the common area and taking a seat. She would wait for Charlotte to join her. The ship shuddered and thrust her back into her seat as they leapt into hyperspace.

This would be a complicated operation, but for the moment, a glass of wine.

She poured one for each of them, not unlike the night they had first met one another. She took a simple sip and a deep breath. The calm before the storm. There was something nerve racking about it. Her heart was beating harder than it should have been in both anticipation and excitement. Opportunity.

What's our worst case scenario? she asked. It was always a good idea to have that in mind, though she prayed it wouldn't happen.

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

Charlotte was quick to unpack what scant belonging she had brought. It was little more than the pack slung over her shoulder. The Force shifted with anticipating. She knew Andruil would be waiting for her. The Hapan Sith gave the quarters one more once over and hurriedly made her way to the common area. Andruil waited with two glasses of wine. Fitting. Charlotte took a seat and the offered wine. She took a small sip before answering, her mind riffling through the possibilities.

“Worst case, my mother quickly suspects the reason for my return.” Elizabethia Le’Anna was not an intelligent woman, but she had survived Hapan society for nearly 60 years. That required some measure of skill. “She’ll have hired guards for the night but nothing boarding close to an elite force.” They would be run of the mill mercs, hired to keep things civil for one night only. “The greater concern is she tries to revel our intentions to the gathered nobles…they won’t recognize outright murder. They consider themselves too civilized.” Charlotte tapped the side of her wine glasses. “And it would turn my sisters against me, which would further complicate matters. The less dead family members, the easier for Hapan society to swallow.”

Dealing with the guards would be easy enough if it came to that. The deadly political dance they needed to perform was far more difficult. Kill a woman everyone expected her to kill but giving the gathered nobles enough reason to turn the other cheek and welcome her with open arms.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Andruil took a small drink from the glass of wine and considered what Charlotte said. She could tell relationships were "strained" there, but she wondered if the mother would be able to guess what was going to happen. Or would she welcome her daughter back with open arms?

Either way, Charlotte needed deniability, which meant that perhaps that was where Andruil would come in. She was a relative nobody, and thus may be able to strike the killing blow while providing her partner with the deniability she needed.

Add to that the fact that the Nightsister was better at killing than politics, and it seemed like the ideal scenario.

I can deal with her while you have deniability, she said before pausing in thought.

Unless you'd like to do it yourself? she asked. Perhaps she needed the satisfaction and closure of doing it herself. That wouldn't be unheard of. @Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

The thought of squeezing the breath from her mother’s lungs had crossed Charlotte’s mind innumerable times. She had dreamed of watching the woman’s eyes bulge, fingers scratching for air. Satisfaction. The Sith had given Charlotte a tool her mother had always lacked. Pragmatism. She yearned for the sweet call of the Darkness, but she knew when to best leave such matters to others. Andruil was a hunter. The Sith Lords power dwarfing whatever strength Charlotte could muster. She would be a fool to ignore that advantage. The line of succession did not demand she be the one who delt the killing blow, only that she was the last Le’Anna standing.

“Oh, how I would love to see my mother’s eyes when she realized she was taking her last breaths.” Charlotte clicked her tongue in satisfaction. “But you are right my queen, it will be simpler if she dies by your hand.” Far easier to explain some terrible accident had occurred if the entire party saw her being very visible when it happened.

“My father…I would take great pleasure in ending his sour life.” He had been a spiteful man. Filled with hate because of his inferior position. He had felt a great need to express that hate to his young daughters. Trash.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Andruil could sense the pure hatred within the other Sith. She wondered if perhaps when the time came, Charlotte should be the one to do it. However, that un-resolved hatred could bring her great power in the Sith. It was one of many routes to power.

She nodded.

Soon, she said.

She felt a shudder as the ship dropped out of hyperspace and made her way to the cockpit to see the planet. Hapes wasn't a world she'd ever been to before, but it wasn't one she considered very friendly.

We'll have to hide our affiliation here. You won't be able to rule directly as a Sith. What is your experience with politics? she asked. The other Sith may well be involving herself in a long-term, undercover operation to sabotage the FWA from within by taking on this path. It was only logical that she be prepared. That was assuming she continued on to try to become Queen rather than simply reclaim her family assets. Either path could provide advantage to Andruil.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

“Well…” A pang of uncertainty raced up her spine. Could she admit a weakness to Andruil? Charlotte had been dangerously honest with the Sith Lord. The Queen seemed to appreciate the honesty, but it was always a risk when dealing with the powers that be. “The finer points of Hapan politics were drilled into me as a child but my education was cut short.” Charlotte decided for the truth again. “I have navigated the politics of the Order well enough these past twenty years, I’d be dead otherwise.” She also probably should have risen higher.

“And I have devoured all I could over the years on the state of the Consortium and the lessons I may have missed.” She couldn’t stop running her tongue across her teeth. “In theory, I understand the careful maneuvers we will need to make to ensure the crown I hope to eventually wear is not overtly tied to the Sith.” The Darkness hummed in her soul. They played a dangerous game but one she was committed to seeing through. “I understand the dangers, my queen, of what we seek. I am prepared.” The Consortium continued to maintain their distance and autonomy from the galaxy at large. However, they still were very much a part of the FWA. Meaning, Andruil and Charlotte had to be extraordinarily careful.

These thoughts whipped through her mind as the ship slowed from hyperspace. It was nearly time.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

At least she was honest. Andruil nodded as she explained that her experience was existent but limited. Not that Andruil could blame her since the Nightsister had next to none at all. Political games - well, really people - were not her specialty.

Then you'll be in the deep end, she said. Andruil was confident that the woman would pick it up. Having an ally speaking in the senate could prove valuable to Emryc as well. More power in the galactic political ring.

Our work's ahead of us, she said. Good, she said as the other woman said she was prepared. Time would tell.

@Valen Pelora

//Thread