Ask Dromund Kaas What the Future Holds

[Renfry]

In much of her pregnancy, the Empress had relatively retreated into isolation. She maintained a presence just enough to ensure that the Empire wasn't falling apart, but she knew that brief hiatus was not sustainable. Despite her now-advancing pregnancy, she had returned to her duties in stronger capacity.

One of the many things that needed addressing was the current state of the various Lords and Councilors. Many had grown in power, taking on the mantel of Sith Lord and some had stepped out even above others. Some had done little with the power they had seized.

Lord Draugr was no longer a stranger to her, and she had ultimately decided she wanted to meet with him again. The meeting had been set on Dromuund Kaas. The planet had become a center of economic power within the Empire and because of that it was as critical a world now as it had always been.

She walked along the upper levels of the city's infrastructure, enjoying the overcast afternoon that was one of the rare days when it wasn't actually raining. She knew that Draugr would catch up to her soon, and she took the last few moments to gather her thoughts. The galaxy was shifting, and with it would come many changes in her own life and within the Empire. The Shadow told her as much, but the exact form it would take still remained to be seen. Nightmares haunted her sleep but they were of pictures she could never quite make out. Dark shapes that seemed to threaten forms she still couldn't guess at. Despite her training in the arcane, she had never been an expert in oneiromancy or fortune telling, and she was beginning to wonder if that was an oversight in her training.

Leave me and secure the other end of the bridge, she said, addressing one of the ever-present Imperial guardsmen. It had taken her a long time to adjust to traveling with a constant retinue, but now she barely even noticed their presence. Perhaps it was her adjusting to life or perhaps it was a testament to their skill at their job. Always close enough to protect, but not to hinder.

 

[Darth Draugr]

It was not usual to receive an invitation to speak with the Queen, Empress of the Sith. She was a busy woman and he knew that if she wanted to speak then it must be an urgent matter. So of course Draugr accepted the invitation to Dromuund Kaas. The last time they spoke in person was on Dathomir when he came to speak to her. This called for Draugr to dress to impress, though he knew he never needed to, he wanted to. It was respectful to show that you want to look good for the other person.

Arriving on the Sith storm planet Dromuund Kaas, Darth Draugr would be dressed up in a well kept suit of armor. It was not for the sake of combat, but to show he is a leader of soldiers. A commander worthy of the title, at least in his mind. He was successful in his conquering of Wayland but he was also present when Denon was lost to the Jedi. Many things have happened now with him present, and he looked to redeem himself as much as possible. Failure should never be tolerated, but of course he had a lot to deal with that day. He knew one of the higher ranked would want to speak to him about it, and if happened to be the Empress he knew it would only end badly.

"My Lord, the Empress awaits you're arrival. Continue down the path and you'll meet with her."

Draugr looked at the guard and nodded toward him acknowledging the direction. Then he would turn to walk down the path of the bridge. The humidity in the air made the air thick, and heavy. Draugr had to adjust to the climate change compared to Dathomir. He had been here before, and knew how the weather faired on the planet.

Finally meeting with the Empress he would arrive behind her and announce his presence, even though she would have noticed his presence through the force.

"Good evening my Queen. You wanted to speak with me?"

He would lower his head with a slight bend forward at his waist to show his respects to the Queen, Empress. She looked quite dashing, and seemed to be fairing well in her medical condition, that was clearly pregnancy but he would be rude to open with the notice of her bearing a child. A topic for later.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Lord Draugr was an interesting one to the Empress. In truth, he was one that she would have liked to get to know better for a variety of reasons. It hadn't escaped her notice that he had been making moves to advance the Empire recently. Perhaps not all successful, but success deserved commendation. Likewise, failure had consequences.

She was looking up at the Imperial fighters zipping across the sky as he approached. It wasn't often that she found herself on the battlefields of the Empire these days. Even in her younger days the battlefield hadn't truly been her specialty. It meant she seldom truly saw the might of the Imperial military in action. Even all these years later, the tribal girl within her was somewhat awed. Awed by the efficiency, the power, and the realization that it all bent to her will.

It is a nice evening, she agreed with a nod. Her mind mulled momentarily over what they were here to discuss. She had read extensively about the reports, but she wanted to hear about it from the commanding officer for good and bad.

Yes, I did want to speak with you. I wanted your reports on Wayland and Denon, she said.

@Scoobert

 

[Darth Draugr]

The reports on Wayland and Denon. The time would come for this, he knew that but it never made it easier. The Sith Lord was a man of pride and admitting failure was hard but he knew it was necessary. The Zabrak nodded as he would respond to the Queen, Empress and inform her of the events and details of Wayland and Denon.

"Yes my Queen. I have good and bad news."

The Lord would stand in a parade rest position as a show of respect to his superior and then would continue,

"Bad news first. Denon was lost to the Jedi by surprise. I was awaiting orders with my fellow Sith, when all hell broke loose. Bir Vuul had an outburst, which is not uncommon. He has been through a lot. Then after that I thought I had recognized a couple of individuals and my attention was drawn away from my apprentice, who had tossed what we could only guess was a bag with a bomb or bombs. I had our soldiers surround her and prepare to detain and imprison her for treason, as I walked away to make it to the terminal room I believe she attempted to flee and was shot down by soldiers. From my understanding she is alive and held by our own. As for the terminal room when I got closer I recognized two Jedi in the building and before I could make it to them I was hit by a surprise attack. They made it to the terminal and called off our troops and they reclaimed the planet. I was not paying attention to my team of Sith and I had a lack of awareness in the force. This failure was no ones fault but mine. I take full responsibility for what had happened that day."

The Sith felt his heart sink as he had spoke. This was hard to do. To stand in front of the highest ranking, and most powerful person in the Sith and tell them that you failed. That you were not setting the standard any longer, that you were completely lacking in every department possible during an infiltration. Now he awaited to hear what the Empress had to say about his report.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Denon had been a point of contention between the FWA, the Jedi, the Republic, and the Empire for years now. It had been taken and lost, taken and now lost again. She listened to his report without a word until he was done. It was a scathing tale for his apprentice, and the same report she had received from the various members involved. She had scoured those reports to find out what had gone wrong and to keep it from happening again.

Jedi infiltration without any reports from the ISB. Acolytes throwing bombs, interfering with operations. Ships dropping directly out of hyperspace onto the Sith defensive fleet. She had seen the holorecordings of the ships being torn apart and driven back. The battle had been rough, but the Jedi had emerged victorious along with their FWA thralls.

Your command, your apprentice, she said. Perhaps he was wise to get the bad news out of the way first. Success was rewarded and failure was punished. This was the way of a meritocracy. This was the way of the Sith.

I'll be waiting for you to bring me your apprentice's tongue as proof of execution, she said. The apprentice had either committed treason or shown incredible incompetence that had cost the Empire an entire planet. Either resulted in the same outcome, and as the CO in charge and the Lord of the apprentice, it would fall to him to carry it out.

And Wayland? she said. While it may not be the end of the discussion about Denon, she wanted the whole picture of recent events before things went further.

@Scoobert

 

[Darth Draugr]

He knew what he needed to do when the Queen, Empress had given the order to have his apprentice executed. This was going to be hard for him to do as he believed in second chances, but orders were orders and good soldiers follow orders. So as the Empress commanded, he would have the deed done as soon as he can.

"Yes my Queen. I will see to it that it is done."

Then when she asked of Wayland, Draugr was relieved he wasn't being entirely punished right now. He still expects there to be a punishment aside from having to execute his apprentice, but for now he would focus on giving the report over the invasion on the planet Wayland. A glorious battle for the Sith as the Jedi were clearly out of hope and caught by complete surprise. Draugr, Wiley, Aziz, and Darrand had all conquered the planet successfully and brought it under Sith control. One Jedi in particular put up a fight before dropping, but she didn't match the strength of the Dark side.

"Wayland is of better news my Queen. My launch of the invasion was successfully off the start. When we arrived one of the Jedi ran off scared, the others fought but were too weak to handle the strength of the Sith forces. Task Forces were sent to infiltrate the building as we drawn the combat from the control rooms and turned off the defenses allowing more Sith vessels to drop in and attack. Wayland was ours before they knew what hit them. I want to give credit to Champions Wiley and Aziz, as well as Officer Darrand. Without them the attack would have been a longer and more painful fight."

He knew when others had helped and wasn't afraid to give out recognition. They deserved it, ass they were strong and capable fighters. It would disrespectful to have them fight and not receive the glory of victory. The Zabrak remained in his parade rest stance and would keep his eyes on the Queen, Empress. Victory is always good news, but in this instance Draugr had provided a ying yang, a fifty fifty report if you will. It is improbable to win them all but of course being the attacker as opposed to the defender is far easier in almost every way.

"End of report my Queen."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

No argument and no objection, just a quiet resolve to get the job done. She could respect that. She only hoped he followed through as well as he claimed he would, but time would tell the answer to that question.

Her thoughts moved on to Wayland next and the work that had been done there. A much better success story, and not only that, but an excellent crossroads world from which to strike deeper into the heart of enemy territory. With Mandalore at its back and the Mandalorians recently - at least temporarily - brought into alliance with the Empire, it was a great opportunity for a multi-pronged attack on the FWA and New Republic.

I think Wayland will be a valuable staging area for military operations, she said. I'd like you to oversee its fortification and offensive operations, she went on. It was a reward for his success and an additional responsibility.

And to make up for the loss of Denon, I would like you to launch an assault to take Ithor. It's medicinal supplies, terraforming equipment, and bridging point between the two Northern halves of the Empire will all work to our advantage, she said. More expansion would need to happen as time passed on, but in the meantime it would serve well as a launching point.

@Scoobert

 

[Darth Draugr]

She wasn't wrong about the planet being a great military operations base for the Sith. The mountains will be able to hold the arsenal of the Sith very well. Draugr would be glad to oversee the operations being ran on Wayland, and he had already planned for expansion but his next ideal target would have been a plant closer to the Hydian Way. Aiming more so for Ploo. When the Queen ordered for an assault on Ithor, Draugr was caught by surprise. Now he had to either launch two attacks or order another Sith in charge of the attack on Ploo.

"Yes, my Queen it will be done. Ithor has a grand position for expansion. I will gather a team and prepare for the attack."

The first thing he needed to get done was the execution of his apprentice. Not his ideal choice but it was the order given, who was he to question it. Besides she had chosen fate when she put the lives of the Sith at risk and lost an entire planet. The Zabrak would need to inform Senin and prepare for the invasion to come. Then the Sith Lord would wait for any further instruction before leaving. Many things were tasked out and he needed to get started on the job, but it is always nice to have a relaxing conversation and get to know your leaders better.

"Would you mind company for a little while? I have yet to explore the outside of Dromuund Kaas."

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Things were on the right track, and she hoped for his success. It was good for the Empire all the way around when the Lords were successful, and Wayland offered many opportunities.

She checked her chrono as he asked her to walk before nodding. I have a few more minutes, she said, agreeing to accompany him. She did want to get to know him better, and this was a perfect opportunity.

How goes your work with the Nightbrothers? Like herding lothcats, no? she asked, knowing that he almost certainly had to be struggling with some component of it. It was simply an inevitability.

She headed down the walkway, taking a deep breath that the worst part of this meeting was over at least. He would have his work cut out for him, but that wasn't directly her problem for the moment. She had a few moments to simply breathe and rest.

@Scoobert

 

[Darth Draugr]

A curve would form at the corners of the Zabrak's lips as the Queen had agreed to take a short walk and speak. Definitely an intimidating woman but it was easier to speak with her as they shared the same soil. Same roots. Same planet. Something about it had brought an unspoken comfortability though he knew to keep his customs and courtesies when around someone of a higher rank.

"Ah yes the Nightbrothers. They have shown some promise. Some show more promise than others, but there is still promise. I have allowed the sisters to oversee the training, but have only shown hesitation and disinterest in teaching. So things are slow for now, but it only takes a little to go a long way."

The training sessions were long and exhausting but the brothers after some time are showing progress. Not a drastic amount but enough to show that the next couple generations will have brothers capable of the magic. Draugr was proud of the progress even if it was just ever so slight.

"How about the preparation to be a mother? Are you ready for that?"

He was genuinely curious. He hasn't had kids or ever thought of it until now. Thinking about being a parent is terrifying and yet also exciting, and he wondered how Andruil felt about becoming a mother.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

She nodded, glad to hear that there was at least some promise. She imagined it was probably fairly few, but they weren't without potential. Yes, the Nightbrothers had their vicious tendencies because of genetics, but also because of how they were brought up. They weren't taught to be thinkers, and those who were could often excel.

She nodded as he mentioned that the Nightsisters had been dragging their feet. It was, unfortunately, not shocking. Even with her frankly extremely progressive approach to Dathomir for a Nightsister, she still struggled with the idea on some level. Bias that was rooted there from childhood and a doubt that the Nightbrothers could actually overcome their own upbringing. But still they would try.

You're fighting against a lot of ingrained history, she admitted. And yet, she had hope that at least some would find success. Her hopes for the group as a whole were low, but she was confident he could pull out at least a handful of elite warriors to train in the art.

As he asked about her child, she nodded.

It will be a big change. I'm not sure anyone can really know that they're ready until it's here, but I think I'm about as ready as I can be, she said, though how she was going to balance with her already overcrowded schedule was still a running concern.

@Scoobert

 

[Darth Draugr]

After what she had just said, Draugr just nodded with an agreeing smile. He liked the challenge, and wanted to overcome the adversity but of course in due time. She was right after, history was not on his side whatsoever. It wouldn't shake him though, slow and steady wins the race and he knew that to be true. Just cause it's not a major success in the beginning did not mean it would turn out to be a major disappointment. With more practice the Brothers can show they belong as well.

Then she answered his question over the child and becoming a parent. It was an interesting take. Listening to her words only sparked an interest in being a father one day. Though he found himself avoiding emotions for others as much as he could. Attachment only brought pain and sorrow. The man felt he was incapable of being loved by someone. Hrist definitely didn't boost his confidence any. A critical piece of his past he refused to ever explore again.

"Children are fascinating.. some are adorable, others are.. radical. I suppose one day having children would be ideal, but of course I have quite a few steps to make it through before I get there."

He gave a slight couple quiet chuckles. It wasn't the funniest thing, but maybe it was a nervous laugh. He was after all speaking to someone who could him right now if she so pleased. Maybe he was trying to make a relatable comment, but it wasn't very relatable in this moment. Clearly she made it through all of the steps there were.

"One day though.. The father, he must be an incredible man. Takes a lot to gain the attention of a Queen, let alone an Empress. I wish the both of you the best in your parenting."

The Zabrak would smile as he finished speaking as he walked to the left of the Empress. He was grateful for the opportunity to speak with the Empress individually, and freely. She is a worthy leader, and has the full respect from Draugr. The night could have ended very badly but thankfully the two were able to make it shift to nicer setting.

@Phoenix