Silver and Dust

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Eddard detested parties like this growing up.

And now?

Well now he still mostly hated them but it was for entirely different reasons. Most of the time he hated them because they were a total waste of his time - there were usually a hundred better things he could be doing that he suddenly wasn't able to do because he was at one of these parties. The only difference today was that this party served a purpose.

He had heard talk about a Sith who was worth the time it took to get involved in this party, another member of Imperial Intelligence who was both a Sith and an Alderaanian noble. But they might also have more in common than that it seemed. He had heard whispers and rumours that this Sith might be just the kind of man he was looking for.

He had put the word out amongst the crowd that he was looking for him and had collected a glass of water and a glass of sparkling wine before stepping out onto one of the balconies away from the rest of the crowd.

This way he would be easier to find once the chattering crowd had informed the man who he was, why he was here and the rest? Well the rest would be between the two of them.

Time to see if Allerius Katress was worth his time.

@Lazy Swordsman

 

[Allerius Katress]

Allerius wasn’t happy despite outwards appearances. He smiled and nodded as he made meaningless pleasantries with vapid strain of Humanity that appeared to make up 99% of the Empire’s inbred nobility. Usually he tried to avoid these sorts of functions but he’d been attacked on two fronts with forceful invites. The first had been a barrage of constant screeching that passed for communication from his parents who were growing sick of their son’s disinterest in socialite affairs. The second, and the one that sealed the deal, had been his superiors in the Diplomatic Corps. Such high ranked officials were aware that his role there was simply a cover but as long as he was passing himself off as a Sith Officer in service to their branch he would abide by their rules. Which apparently meant really, really boring parties.

There had been one bright spark about attending the party. He had purchased a rather risqué dress for Talik’ru and had even managed to trick her into thinking that wearing it was mandatory along with her attendance. Then she'd vanished and he'd been unable to find her. Maybe she'd worked out that her presence wasn't required and left already. The universe was out to rob him of all joy in life it seemed.

Dressed in a simple Imperial Uniform, with the insignia of the Alderaanian Embassy on the arm, he navigated the crowds easily enough. He wore only a single lightsaber today, having left his shoto back home. Partially because he usually hid the second blade and such a thing wasn’t possible in uniform but also because this was a party, a single lightsaber was a status symbol and appropriate but a second was a little too heavily armed in his opinion.

Lifting a glass of red wine from a tray he entered into conversation with a trio of particularly old and dry gentlemen who started blathering about something to do with off-world business interests. He was starting to worry that he’d fall unconscious from sheer boredom when someone tapped on his shoulder. Turning to the man he listened as he said that Lord Eddard Thul-Drast was looking for him and gestured towards the balcony where the young nobleman was waiting.

Allerius thanked the man and made his way towards the balcony doors. He couldn’t help but wonder why the other Sith was seeking him. He’d heard of the man of course but he’d never had cause to speak with him. He came from a far loftier lineage than a simple son of House Katress.

Stepping out into the fresh air he smiled pleasantly. “You were looking for me Lord Eddard?”

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

And the man didn't keep him waiting either.

Smiling very faintly, Eddard took a sip of the water and purposefully poured the wine over the edge of the balcony. He only ever had alcohol on rare occasions and just another part on Alderaan was not enough of a reason for him. He'd be a lush within a week if that was all it took. He set the glass down on the edge of the balcony railing and turned to face Allerius.

"Indeed I was." he agreed, "You are Allerius Katress?"

He looked the man up and down, in an instant assessing him. The man was definitely an assassin. There was just something about the way the man carried himself that marked him as such and Eddard, an assassin himself, immediately caught it. Likely the other man might have caught the same but maybe not.

His typical Drast looks tended to convince people he was a vapid pretty boy rather than anything else.

"May I call you Allerius?" he questioned with a small smirk, "Acolyte Katress sounds so dry. You can call me Eddard as well - let us not stand on ceremony here because right now? We're the same."

He gestured between the two of them.

"You and I are killer, Allerius. Daggers in the dark for the hand of the Empire as a whole." he paused for a second, "But there is a difference between us as well... I have seen the hand that wields us and it is rotting. People within the Empire threaten it every day, doing more damage through corruption and carelessness than our enemies do with bombs and blasters. Tell me Allerius... have you noticed this as well?"

He wasn't wasting time or mincing words - neither of them would appreciate it he was sure.

@Lazy Swordsman

 

[Allerius Katress]

Well the man looked like a Drast, from the pictures and Holo-feeds that Allerius had seen of the royal bloodline they all seemed to carry the ‘ridiculously good looking’ gene. Glancing at the man’s glass of water he silently admitted that it was the smarter choice. Allerius’ wine was largely untouched and he’d mostly taken it so that people would stop asking him if he needed a drink. There was something about the other man that immediately but him on edge and his intuition warned him that this individual was extremely dangerous. ‘I think I’ve found someone with a shared professional interest.’ he thought to himself, pondering just show closely their roles in the Empire aligned.

“That would be me.” he confirmed.

Moving over to stand near the man and leant against the railing in a manner that portrayed his demeanour as casual however, as always, he made sure to be in a position that meant he could leap into action at a moment’s notice. Alderaan might not be Korriban but it paid to be cautious at all times, not paranoid, just constantly vigilante.

“Allerius will do fine Eddard.” he said as one side of his mouth quirked up in amusement. “We are not Coruscanti after all.” The constant “Acolyte this” and “Acolyte that” on the Imperial Capital was one of the worst parts about visiting Intelligence HQ.

The other mans’ next words almost drove him to action, a slight flicker in the force was the only sign of his aborted instinctive response. He had almost called his lightsaber to his hand and acted rather rashly. Striking down a son of the Thul and Drast bloodlines wasn’t going to exactly cover up his nature as an assassin anyway was it? It was these urges that had drove the man to restrict his use of the Dark Side, to feed on his passions but cage them at the same time when utilising his powers as a Sith.

He smiled, a pleasant expression that hid the severity of their conversation. The bluntness of it made him uneasy but Allerius took the risk, it was too much like what he’d been pondering on himself lately.

“Indeed I have. I have seen a misuse of power at all levels of both the Empire and our own Order. I have seen decisions made that divide and weaken us rather than bind us together in strength. Such actions weakens Imperial Authority throughout the Galaxy… against the best interests of the Throne.” The truth was Allerius felt no real respect or loyalty towards the young man sitting on the seat of power but the authority of the Throne itself was everything. The title of Emperor had to be absolute or else the Empire, whose power brought order, would be destroyed. They were seeing it already, the terrorism of the Mandalorians and even worst the rebellions of the Old Empire. Things had to be put right.

His luminous yellow eyes met the other man's gaze. “It’s enough to make one weep but really Eddard, what can men such as we do against such things?” Obviously Eddard had something in mind and wanted to know what such a thing was he wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

It seemed that Allerius was a little on edge and coming from someone as paranoid as Eddard? That meant a lot. He noticed the aborted action and there would be no mistaking between the two of them that he had seen it. He didn't make any move to acknowledge it aloud however so they could both just act like he hadn't seen a thing. Instead he listened as Allerius spoke and he nodded along in agreement.

Sometimes you found someone who just understood and it seemed that this was one such occasion as Allerius seemed to be very much in agreement.

"Indeed, the authority of the throne cracks little by little from the actions of men and women across the Empire to advance themselves by whatever means possible." he shook his head, sipping his water, "They fight to advance themselves and it poisons the Empire because they do not care for it's people, it's stability or it's authority."

His own yellow eyes met Allerius' own and he just smirked ever so slightly.

"The same thing we do to other issues in our path, Allerius; we kill." he told the other assassin with a smirk, "We kill them because they are a cancer in our Empire, a blight that needs to be removed. We kill them, we seize their ill-gotten gains and we use them to help repair the damage they have caused and... correct... the course of the Empire."

He turned to face Allerius fully.

"If this sounds like something that might interest you, it might interest you to know this... you would not be alone in this belief or this endeavour."

@Lazy Swordsman

 

[Allerius Katress]

Allerius’ smirk remained on his face as the other Alderaanian spoke; his finger traced a ring over the rim of his untouched wine glass. He wasn’t sure who had poured the drinks and he never did like sipping at a cup filled by an unknown source. He briefly wondered if his education on Umbara had been all that good for his mental health, the shadowy academy really had taught him not to trust.

“I can’t say I really disagree with anything you say my friend.” he sighed with a slight edge of annoyance to his otherwise light and border-line sarcastic tones. “I’ve no doubt killed targets because of political disagreements, the ambition of others, paranoid of threats where there are none and out of simple spite.” His respect for the higher ups in Imperial Intelligence was negligible; he was certain that the majority of his missions did nothing to advance the Imperial cause and only served to advance those in power. He still recalled the last death he’d dealt which proud him true pride, it had been years ago… Talik’s former master in fact. Although the reason for his elimination had never been provided Allerius could guess, he could sense the corruption in beliefs during the short duel and he had no doubt the other Sith had been following heretical teachings and failed to resist the temptations of the Light Side. His Twi’lek friend would never know her luck that he’d covered for her, lied about her origins and got her access to a Sith Academy before it was too late.

“I think it would be a nice change of pace to know that my work was actually going into making things better… of course I’d like to know a bit more about who my new like-minded friends would be.” he added meeting the man’s eyes.

Pausing for a moment he added. “I may have another friend for you in mind... tell me how do you feel about non-Humans?” The Republica was Human-centric to a fault. Allerius didn’t particularly care about the plight of Aliens but he also wasn’t stupid enough to think just because a Sith wasn’t Human that they were somehow weaker. Treating the members of their Orders who came from the other Species as lesser was a mistake and Allerius feared it would be why the Old Empire may win this current conflict. He believed that, when all was said and done, victory over one another was going to come down to who had the most, the strongest, Sith.

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

It seemed that Allerius had experienced it the same as he had.

The corruption within the Empire, making it so that the true servants of the Empire were sent off to do tasks that advanced only the men and women who ordered it. The Throne and the Empire itself were weakened because men and women were using it only for their selfish gains.

It was like worms eating a fruit from the inside out.

"Of course." he understood with a small smile, sipping his water before setting the glass back down again, "The order... is named the Venatori. You may only enter by being sponsored by another member - I would be your sponsor. If you were to turn out to be a traitor it would be up to me to end you."

Simple warning right off the bat - not need to sugar coat it with another assassin.

"We are an order of Sith, Imperials and... others." he eyed Allerius significantly at that last part before continuing, "And when we see corruption within the Empire? We remove it. We act to ensure that the vision Andraste had for her Empire isn't lost. In a way... we are like what the Jedi Order could have been. Had they the stomach to do what was necessary to provide peace, order and justice to a galaxy that would never accept their idiotic teachings."

Non-humans?

Eddard's position on non-humans was actually rather progressive on the one hand and not at all progressive on the other.

"I see non-humans as being no different, as Sith or Imperials, than humans. I see them all the same way."

And by that he meant, under careful mental shielding, that people of all colours, shapes and sizes were all the same to him because to him they were all tools. They were tools to be used to shape the galaxy to his will and there was nothing else to it. All peoples were equal to him - because until they proved otherwise, he looked at everyone as being almost worthless.

@Lazy Swordsman

 

[Allerius Katress]

‘The Venatori.’ Had he heard that word before? He could have sworn he’d heard the name used to describe a group before, an instructor on Umbara at the espionage Sith Academy right? Allerius had assumed it was used in a historic sense to describe a group… well he assumed Assassins or something because, well, Umbara. If what Eddard was saying was true then perhaps the ground had simply been better known once upon a time and was now more covert. Either that or the instructor had a slip of the tongue.

When Eddard mentioned that he would be responsible for tracking him down if he turned traitor the man couldn’t help but smirk. “Well then I’ll have to make sure to remember to remain loyal.” It was barely worth considering. Treachery was a long honour held tradition amongst the Sith and one that Allerius despised. It was something the antiquated Sith of the Old Empire considered important and such old fashioned ways of thinking where why their so called rebellion would soon fall apart.

“Others? Well that certainly sounds interesting.”

Allerius nodded slightly. Much like the current Emperor he didn’t care what a long dead Drast’s plans for their Empire was. He cared about the current state of affairs and he cared about order being retained throughout Imperial Space. If that happened to align with their views then all the better.

After Eddard answered his query about non-Humans the man nodded. That was good enough for him, he was simply looking for anything that wasn’t open hatred. Despite what his partner thought and how she obviously hated him Allerius didn’t want her to get hurt by a speciesist fool.

“Good well then in that case there is someone else at the party who might be of use to you. She’s new to our ranks as a fully educated Sith, she graduated from the Academy only weeks ago but I’ve had my eye on her for years since I brought her to Coruscant.” he explained. “She’s skilled and holds a fire like you wouldn’t believe. She shouldn’t be difficult to find, she’s a Lethan Twi’lek and… someone dressed her in rather eye catching clothes.” he said with an undercurrent of amusement in his voice. “Her name is Talik Kru. She’s around the party somewhere, I think she ditched me out of spite earlier.”

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

It seemed that Allerius was interested on many levels.

The principle of the group appealed to him in some ways and the more that Eddard had mentioned, the more interested Allerius seemed to get. Of course eagerness was both potentially good and potentially bad so he would be keeping an eye on Allerius in the future. If he was eager to get started then he would see about including the man in some 'capers' as it were. If he was eager because he wanted to become a traitor?

He hoped not - he rather enjoyed the other man's company.

"Well then..." he nodded once, "I'll make arrangements to see to it that our organisation extends a hand of friendship to you, Allerius, and see what work we can't do together."

Oh so he had someone else for him to recruit did he? Well that was an interesting prospect it had to be said. Their relationship with each other needed to be touched upon he felt.

"Tell me - what is your relation to this Talik?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, "Lover? Suitor? Friend?"

He doubted it was any of the aforementioned but it paid to be informed.

@Lazy Swordsman

 

[Allerius Katress]

“Excellent I look forward to it.” Allerius just hoped that he wasn’t disappointed. He hoped these Venatori turned out to be worthy of his loyalty and not just a group of madmen with no coherent purpose. Still if the organisation was filled with the likes of Eddard then he could at least hope for something worth his time, and the time of his partner of course.

Allerius’s grinned in genuine amusement at the question. “Hmmm… lover, in her worst nightmare perhaps. A better descriptor might be tormentor although she has yet to learn that it is for her own good.” he informed the other man with a chuckle. “No she’s my partner, assigned by my superiors. She only graduated from the Coruscant Temple relatively recently and I think she’s just stuck with me until she learns the ropes, although considering how our Order treats aliens it’s quite possible they just don’t care about her progress.” he admitted, losing a notable portion of his mirth. “I brought her to the Sith in the first place so I suppose I’m responsible either way.”

Leaning back he folded his arms. “She might be... troublesome to deal with. She’s spite and bitterness made manifest. I imagine she’ll be resentful when you approach her, you are like me but only worst for coming from a greater Noble Family. However she understands the need for a logical and firm hand in the shadows to help deal with issues in the Empire. I am still in the middle of her… further education but she shows great promise.” He didn’t go into details. Her education was more like a re-education, Aurelian sought to teach her how to harness the Dark Side not like most Sith but like a necessary tool. To seize its power but to implement restraint so that she controlled her passions and they did not control her.

A wicked smile appeared on his face as he leant in close. “If you do decide to seek her out I only ask that you rile her up a little. Trust me she’s more honest when she’s angry.” he revealed although it would also amuse him, which was almost equally important in Allerius’ mind.

@Nefieslab

 

[Eddard Thul Drast]

Ah so it seemed that they had something of an antagonistic relationship with each other... that was something that was useful to know. It was fairly common for people within the ranks of the Sith to hate each other or deliberately egg each other on and that was fine - it made perfect sense to him after all. If you had something, or someone, you hated on hand then it was easier to call upon your anger and your hatred and, therefore, easier to use them all as well.

He didn't imagine that this twi'lek woman had much issue finding some hatred to focus on when she was around Allerius.

"Seems like an interesting relationship - I look forward to seeing it in action." he assured Allerius as he raised an eyebrow at the man's assessment of the woman known as Talik, "Promise and potential will be nurtured and she will grow. I imagine you will find that incentive enough to grow faster than her."

You never wanted to be behind after all - especially behind a woman who likely wanted to kill you.

"Oh I'll find a way to make her see truth." he paused before offering a hand to Allerius, "This has been fruitful but this is where we part for this evening Allerius. Do enjoy the evening."

He bid farewell to Allerius Katress.

Spoiler: OOC

Feel free to end it here man

@Lazy Swordsman

 

[Allerius Katress]

Allerius grinned at the other man’s response. He was right. Invoking fury in the other woman, frustrating her at every turn, was more than just for pleasure or to see her advance in the ways of the Dark Side. It was for his own growth as well. If he ever let her strength eclipse his then that would be the end of him. A need to be stronger, to be the dominant one in their relationship was what drove his own need for power. Well one of the needs anyway. He had so many after all.

“Good luck my friend. You’re going to need it” he said with a gleam in his eyes. He waited until the man left before sighing and picking up his untouched glass of wine.

Turning he returned to the party, placing the glass on a table as he passed by, and traded a few meaningless words with some of the dull attendees of the party. Allerius was certain that his time at the event was enough to fulfil his duties.

Slipping out he returned to the secure parking zone just outside the building. Taking his personal speeder, the one he and Talik had used to get here he drove out of the parking space. Once out on the roads he accelerated towards his estate. Grinning he pondered just how his partner would find her way home and the idea of her swallowing her pride to ask someone else for a ride was all the amusement he needed.

//Thread End