Ask Dromund Kaas When the Dust Settles

[Renfry]

So kill them, take the title, and rebuild your family name, she said as if it were simple and obvious. Or perhaps Hapes was different than Dathomir. Well, she was certain it was. She'd killed her Clan Mother and taken the title when the other woman had faltered in her responsibility. It didn't seem so different.

She shrugged. It wasn't really her business or responsibility, she supposed. She wasn't even sure why she was helping the other woman - or if she was helping her - but it served to sate her curiosity.

And what is Hapes like? she asked. She had never been to the world, but it sounded a bit cutthroat. Perhaps it was a world of interest to either her or the Sith. Or Charlotte.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

Kill them, take their titles, and rebuild. Easy. Charlotte almost laughed. When presented that way it did seem easy. There was still a part of her that hesitated. What was holding her back? She had never confronted that feeling before. Was it fear? Embarrassing if it were, and a fear she needed to quash before it could poison her heart. Charlotte almost asked for help…stopping just short. She felt oddly comfortable with Andruil but she did not know the Sith Lord that well.

“My people are much like your own, my queen…perhaps not at first glance, but dig deeper and you see the truth.” Her mind reached back to her childhood. “They cover themselves in glitz and jewels, but the heart of the Consortium is ruthless brutality.” They were a people of backstabbing and power grabs. Beyond even what some Sith might expect. “The original matriarchs realized long ago a woman makes far better decisions than a man. No man will ever rule on Hapes or lead their family.”

She clicked her tongue again. “The Consortium is as dangerous as any wilderness, just different dangers. They’ll smile while they cut your throat out.” It was all true. The political games of the nobility were deadly. Families could die by the droves if the mood struck. “All of this behind an advanced military.” Saying the words out loud seemed to lock everything in place. Why had she not seen the value before?

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Much like the people of Dathomir? Interesting. As she listened to Charlotte's explanation, she began to understand what she meant. Yes, there were similarities to the Nightsisters after all. It only piqued her curiosity more.

And what would it take for you to reclaim your family's titles? she asked. Charlotte seemed like a sharp woman, and she would be able to see where this was going. Andruil had assets and resources, but nothing in the Sith was free.

She drained off the remainder of her wine and stood from her seat, not breaking the conversation as she did so.

Sounds like too good an opportunity to pass up, no? she asked, poking through additional cupboards before plucking free a box of caf and beginning to whip it up. Of all off-world substances she had encountered, none had drawn her in in quite the same way as caf.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

Charlotte’s eyebrows raised slightly. The conversation was headed in a very specific direction. Dreams she had never truly considered started to dance in her future. She sipped her wine…thinking. “Our royal lines pass down mother to eldest daughter.” They were a traditional monarchy in that sense. “I was never renounced despite my separation from the family.” She supposed her mother wished to lay claim to any success Charlotte managed in the Order. Damnable woman. “I am her oldest daughter, she dies, and what is hers becomes mine.”

She took another ship, watching while Andruil rummaged around the kitchen again. “My father would need to die as well, least he try to gin up some resistance with my sisters.” Charlotte had two younger sisters who had avoided her fate. Assuming they could be properly manipulated, they would not need to die.

“A tremendous opportunity…but to truly leverage the Hapan royal bloodlines would take resources I do not posses alone.” She needed to rebuild a fallen nobility. Charlotte had very little in the way of manpower to accomplish that task. She needed power behind her, power to build her own. Power that Darth Andruil could offer. She knew it would come at a price and Charlotte was likely ready to pay that price.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Andruil assumed that meant that Charlotte was the eldest daughter of the family. She could also tell from what Charlotte said that she wouldn't have any qualms about killing off what remained of her family. Good.

She started up the caf machine and turned back to the other Sith woman.

What kind of resources? she asked. The Sith Lord had resources, and if there was one thing that held true, using resources to get more resources was the Sith way.

But I don't do halfway, she said. If we're doing this, we're taking the planet. Putting your family in a place of power over the whole planet, she said. It was a tall order, but one that Andruil wouldn't have stated had she not believed it possible.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

The caf machine whirred to life. It was oddly symbolic of the plan that was forming between the Sith. Charlotte finished her wine and set the glass lightly on the table. She had a general idea of what would be needed to secure Hapes. The capital world would just be one step. A part of her hungered for the entire Consortium. What came next did cause her eyebrows to rise. Truly, she had not expected the night to turn this direction. Her tongue ran across her teeth. Fascinating.

“No half measures.” The Darkness required absolution. Partial victory was no victory at all. “The Consortium will resist any outward invasion, it must come from within.” Hapes was extraordinarily warry of outsiders and they would resist any Sith rule gained through military force. “The Queen and her heirs must die by Hapan hands by a family positioned to replace her.” Charlotte clicked her tongue again.

“I must kill my mother, my father, and restore our House.” A shiver ran up her spine. “They have nothing, and I will need loyal soldiers and credits to rebuilt what they have lost.” She cocked her head to the side. “What do you require of me, my queen?” Was this a partnership? No. Andruil’s station was far above hers, but it did feel like the beginning of something.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Andruil started cycling thoughts through her mind. Resources she had as Queen, others she could temporarily acquire as a Sith Lord, and what she had gained from the worlds she had taken over.

Assassins then, she said. Standing military forces weren't what Andruil had a great deal of and it was why she was interested in Hapes. Unlike the other Sith whose family they were planning to murder, Andruil felt nothing. It was a means to an end, nothing more. She had no pleasure in it or any hesitation about it.

What did she require? That was a complicated question. The Sith were a backstabbing bunch and loyalty could never be assumed or taken for granted. The strong kept their servants in line via brutality. She had begun studying the relationship between Sith Lords of old during the Rule of Two. Enough rope to hang oneself.

Loyalty, she said after a moment. We all have people who are above us. People who help put us in power. A sponsor, if you will, she said. She had them. Raze was perhaps the person she was most loyal to in the galaxy. He had helped put her in power and maintained his own hand in it. Of course, the Eternal was above them all. Everyone answered to someone.

She stopped to watch the other woman, waiting for her answer. It was a steep price to pay, but it was one they all paid in their own ways.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Charlotte Le'Anna]

Loyalty. That was the ask. Charlotte did not need to waste much time considering the offer. Sith could be deceitful, terrible, ruthless operators…but the Order survived because of some shared bonds. The Lords of the Sith did not ascended alone. The Council did not rule alone. There was trust among the Sith if you knew how to use it. Charlotte felt a strange kinship with Andruil. A feeling she thought would never settle over her again. The Sith Lord seemed committed to aiding in conquering Hapes. Of course, it would benefit the Dathomir queen…still. A wide smile spread across Charlotte’s nearly perfect features.

“My hands, your will.” She stopped leaning against the counter. It felt improper for the moment. Although, they were in the middle of a kitchen having just murdered many of the cultists who ran it. What a strange contrast. Charlotte looked down at her hands. “I am yours, my queen.” Her face grew serious for but a moment. “The Consortium will submit.” The Force rang with undeniable finality. This was the Dark path she was meant to walk. The moment her life had been striding towards. The Consortium would be hers and she would serve Andruil faithfully. It was time.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

And there it was. They had an accord that would benefit them both. It was the way of the Sith. Both grew in power based on a delicate thread of "trust."

It's settled then, she said with a nod. She turned to grab the caf from the machine. It was an interesting turn of events. One she had not anticipated at the start of the night, but it was why the Shadow had brought her here. This was its will.

I will assemble forces and message you when they are ready. When you've devised a plan for overthrowing your family, we will meet on Felucia to stage and sort out the details, she said.

Her mind traveled back to her own ascension. This would perhaps be a less thorough purge than the conquest of Dathomir, but it would ultimately be no less violent. Her family would be killed, and she would be left with the memory. But truthfully, Renfry felt no shame for what she had done. She felt no grief over killing her matriarch. It was simply the way.

Until then, I take my leave, she said, taking her caf and pouring it into a cup she had no intention of returning.

Steel yourself for what's to come, she warned. There was no turning back now. The plunge into darkness would not be stopped.