Another Day in the Empire (Warvanus, Rahab)

[Raphael Xandir]

Raphael sat alone in the dining hall by the windows overlooking another one of Sojourns courtyards. The outside breeze rushed through them, brushing his hair aside with the wind. He had been enjoying a few of the fruity cocktails, the dining hall had to offer while he scrolled through his datapad. Pages and pages of information throughout the galaxy was there to be scrolled through, as information never stopped coming in. His operatives functioned at all hours of the day throughout the vast galaxy.

The young Sith had been told to wait on Warvanus to provide him with his next assignment. The young wolf was doing a tremendous job working from his information as of late. It was an interesting tandem, as Raphael provided the whereabouts and Warvanus acted on his drive for aggression.

This particular assignment had to deal with a group of locals causing trouble in a nearby territory of the Sith. They began to rally under the notion that they were against the Sith. Raphael’s operatives quickly sniffed this out and reported it back to him. He couldn’t have an uprising on one of the Sith’s vital planets, they needed to hold this territory firm as they were looking to expand.

Upon Warvanus’ arrival, Raphael didn’t even attempt to greet him. He just kept analyzing the datapad, typing away orders and confirming leads. When the warrior had finally reached him, Raphael sent the information to the acolyte’s personal holowatch. A moment went by before the silver one realized he had to speak to the man.

His eyes met the warrior, “Oh yes… A small group of civilians have been gathering recently on Lucazec. They plan to revolt against us it seems. My contact will be at the provided location, he will fill you in on their whereabouts upon arrival.”

Focus turned to the tablet again, analyzing the endless information. Before the man left, Raphael would provide him with one more detail. His eyes still fixated on the tablet, “Ah, Warv. Lets treat these civilians as insurgents… We wouldn’t want people thinking they can continue to do this, would we?”

With that the young Sith had signed the death note for those unsuspecting citizens. Surely the warrior would meet them with merciless brutality.

[Kell Sangros]

Warvanus switched mental gears as Lord Blood addressed him in the language of the Sith, then switched as he switched
To basic. He bowed his head in acknowledgment

“Thank you Milord , my appetite is ravenous I could devour a full sized bantha” With that he bowed his head and took his leave First he went to the shuttle craft to remove the armor, it took just moments before he was dressed in a black tunic with black pants and boots his hair in a ponytail and emerged from the shuttle craft.

He made his way inside to where the dining hall was. He entered and saw Raphael seated studying something intently. The cool breeze that came in felt refreshing, as he went and grabbed a drink, the galley/kitchen staff knew that Warvanus was keen on a beverage called an Iced Mocha. He took the cup and made his way over to Raphael and took a seat before he was greeted.

He took a sip as Raphael began to brief him. Lucazec he thought to himself, as powerful memories bubbled to the surface. His infancy into his training, Tormentous had sent him to remove its overseer as he would not bend the knee. It was his first mission in the name of the former Dark Lord, and his first for the Sith Empire. He had also remembered he had installed another being who was loyal to the former Dark Lord. His name was Cam Pycellan, he had kept brief tabs in the beginning on him, but it appears he had gotten sloppy and lazy.

He reviewed the data that Raphael transmitted, after he had studied it. “I have a contact on Lucazec as well” he began then explained further with the one Blood called Silver. “When I first joined the Sith my first mission for Darth Tormentous was on this world. I personally had removed its overseer and installed a new overseer but It appears I have to clean house there once again” He paused and narrowed his eyes

“I will meet with him first” he began referring to Raphael’s contact then continued “Rest assured I will get to the bottom of this and that these insurgents will suffer the fate of all traitors to the Empire” With that last few words he had balled his hand into a fist for emphasis, he could feel his blood quickening his pulse elevated. The Battle lust was on him. He downed his drink and then rose.

“I will leave immediately” he nodded and then took his leave while he was walking “KL-PK1, ready the shuttle for departure, we are going to Lucazec”

The droid chimed back “Bloody hell, Leaving again? I don’t want to go”

“You will do as you are command or I will do a full wipe on you, are we clear Karl?” he snarled.

If the droid could gulp or stutter he was sure KL-PK1 would have. A pause ensured but Karl chimed back “Yes Master” he would need to go to his building, he had been expecting a new droid, this one geared for battle, he had purchased two of them. He would be taking one with him to test his new purchase out.

Short time later, Warvanus had everything he needed and had Karl load the shuttle, as the new droid powered itself down inside the shuttle awaiting further orders. He would go meet with this operative of his, then he would go see Cam, he would assess the situation and if it was deemed incompetence on Cam’s part he would do the same to him that he did to Jonah in what felt like another life time ago.

[Rahab Aapofi]

When Lord Blood turned his attention away from her to Warvanus, Rahab lost focus on the going-ons in front of her. She had heard plenty of strange tongues by now and was sensible enough not to gawk at others. And while foreign and alien languages (she was the foreign and alien one here, but Rahab's thinking was typically self centered) had become something of a budding interest for her, their exchange had nothing to do with her, and like all things that had nothing to do with her; she lost interest in paying it any attention. She wandered away; not able to do so physically, it was in this frame of time that she began to unpack this auspicious happening. She had been so tied up in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that Warvanus had taken his leave. The dizzying sense of relief she felt was just as much as his brutish energy moving away from her as it was the realization that she wasn't going to have to fight to the death for the Lord's favor like she had anticipated.

Rahab didn’t understand what Lord Blood was saying at first. Not literally, as she knew those words and what each of the words meant but she did not get the esoteric meaning behind his statement. As he continued, it did become a little clearer to her, but she was left with not understanding why he was saying all this to her in the first place. Not recognizing it for the Sith wisdom that it was, Rahab decided that she was being reprimanded. But O, those were things that she did want; to know herself, to be in a place where she could be who she thought she was; for better or for worse. And had that not been the very reason she had pushed aside her moral convictions in the first place? Rahab didn't know her own heart. And she was afraid of the things inside her mind. And what she wanted; hurt to touch. Being a nameless, faceless, cog in the machine of the Order; to be empty without want, was an easier thing to bare. She kept her head down in the silence that passed between them.


[Until you have freed yourself…]


For the briefest passing of a moment, she felt hatred. It receded as quick as it had rose up. Her expression had hardened for barely the time between her quickened heart beats. Having someone so high above her talk about freedom; her freedom; while pushing against things she didn't want pushed on, had almost broken through a wall that she had put up for her own protection. Dangerous thoughts, dangerous feelings.

Rahab straightened herself up, noticing only then that Warvanus was gone. She did a quick double take at the space which was no longer occupied by him, before setting her sight just over Lord Blood's shoulders. She was alone with the Lord.

If Rahab had been any tenser, she would have pulled a muscle just standing there. Was Blood taking an offense to what she had said? If he was angry, he would have struck out by now, she reasoned and that reasoning allowed her to relax; just a bit. She brought her arms into her over-large sleeves, so she could hold on to herself for comfort in the privacy they gave her.

She glanced at him quickly; before returning her line of sight back to the point in the near distance that she was looking at unfocused. Rahab assumed that this was some sort of test. The correct answer was clearly to forego those basic comforts and begin her training. She wanted to make sure the only part of his reputation that she was going to be on the receiving end of was his teachings.

“I am here to train—“ She caught herself. She literally just received a lecture about this behavior. Rahab began to fidget under her sleeves, picking at the scab that she had started to lift up while on Warvanus' ship.

She disliked groveling, she disliked bowing; anything that set people as anything other than equals to each other, she disliked all of it. But it was what she knew, and what she was good at, and outside of appeasing those above her, she really did't know how to put her needs first. She was hungry, though she doubted that she could keep anything down right now. And she was thirsty. But what Rahab wanted most of all was to lay down and rest a while.

"A-actually, i-if it is something that you do not mind, your Lordship, I am rather worn from my journey and I am eager to see my lodgings.”

[Slade Xandir]

Blood listened to her heart, the drum which beat almost hysterically, frantically pumping blood through her system. With it came the heat which fueled the distorted merge of hatred and tension. That hatred came quick, a flash of something vile and deep, something she held onto for far too long. Immediately after he was graced a taste of that hot and heartfelt burn, Blood began scheming up ways to get the ball rolling with Rahab, here. She was something much more of a challenge to the Sith Lord, and one thing he considered himself to be was a Master Tamer; he would not let this girl run in this pack, unbroken. She would be trained, brought to her right mind, just as they all were. One rule in the den of wolves was if you spoke not, you got not. She was already beginning to learn such, as she knew what grueling mess was going to unfold if she was ill prepared for Sith Training.

"Excellent choice," he rewarded her subtly. "Right this way."

With a raised and flatly pointing hand, he directed her eyes first in the direction of the resort before he began leading the way. Walking with a calm fluidity over the grass, it was clear he was in an element of calm demeanor as he glided over the moon's face. Bare feet padded over sandstone as they walked through the threshold of the resort registry building. The Omwati known as Fiona stood behind the podium desk, long and thing claw-like fingers manicured with a clear blue polish over each clawnail. An iridescent blue hue of skin covered the thin and ballerina-built body of the avian-resembling woman who had a crown of stark white feathers tapered into a stunning display of both elegance and neatness. A kind and intelligent look resided calmly on the face of his resort manager, and turning to the newly acquired Rahab, the girl a comforting smile from behind the white-tipped beak. Indigo eyes sat as eyes for the Omwati, genuine and responsive as she turned to her own boss, Lord Blood, who spoke.

"Fiona, see to Rahab here, and ensure she enjoys her bearings in Villa 4. Everything is stocked, yes?"

The Omwati gave a slight curtsy, her body sweeping with grace that was on par with that of the Twi'lek species. "Always, Mr. X. Food, drinks, and all manners of garments are available in all suites."

"Excellent," he nodded. Giving a tilted glance down to the petite human Rahab, the Lord spoke almost as gentle as though he were talking to his own children.

"Rahab, refresh yourself. New clothes and sustenance await in your suite, and will always be ready and at hand for you, here. The rest of the day is yours," he began to finish off. As his last words were coming to a close, he reached out with his mind, his influence rubbing over a strand of her own Force aura, and like that of sticky string, he wove a connecting thread between he and her. His essence was woven in a binding with hers, and in such a way, it tied them to each other. It was a bond he shared with all of his members. It simply made it easier to find each other, and grow used to each other's sense of feeling. It would be more pronounced after she began to undergo her training, as her Senses would tell her there was something lingering on her own holdings within the Force; but for now, she would more than likely be more or less oblivious to the thread between her and the Sithian, other than maybe a slight intuition of 'knowing' him.

"And tomorrow morning, find me in the meadow."

With such said, between the connection he bound between he and Rahab, it made it easier for him to deliver an image through his Illusionist tactics. A swirl of green was painted on the forfront of her mind, and after a slight morphing, it became a green and vivid pasture, dotted with a variety of flowers ranging from golds to scarlets, from navys to violets and emeralds. It was sided by a wall of trees, and would look familiar if she happened to glance around the planet any after she disembarked from Warvanus' ship. It had been a mile or two just before her.

With that that both done and said, he canted his head slightly as a farewell, and departed back out of the building, to attend to his own matters.

[Rahab Aapofi]

Rahab didn’t know what to expect, she had braced herself for a punishment that never came. Her mind was not eased and she didn’t feel emboldened by his praise. She still felt like she had done something wrong. Rahab, with her thoughts frantic, started to think that the niceties of the moon was nothing more than a mask and she feared what was behind it. She looked to where he was directing her line of sight and then trailed after him, though with a bit more speed than the gait she typically kept. The memory of Warvanus’ scars was still fresh in her mind.

She let out a small “Oh!” when the reception area turned out to be just that, a reception area. She was standing much too close to the Lord for her liking but she was just…dumbstruck by what she was seeing. This perfectly normal, clean, atmospheric room, after all she had been through, felt unreal.

There had been a time when Rahab thought all the galaxy would look as this moon did. There had been a time that she would share such thoughts with an other. Together, they dreamt of far away worlds with stately buildings and green lands; filled with advanced alien technology and civil alien people. This place; this room; this moon; this man; it was all making her feel very strange; very heavy; like something in her was finally buckling under a tremendous weight.

She returned the woman’s smile with a weary one of her one, but she caught herself and promptly turned her head to the ground. The thing she had been feeling just seconds prior became jostled. She felt her face go hot. She had never seen a woman like Fiona before; it hadn’t yet been a year in her reckoning since she had lived in utter ignorance about the real vastness of the galaxy. Sometimes, it was too much to take in all at once. But most of the time, like this moment, it was a wondrous experiences that unfolded to more wondrous experiences. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to really enjoy that and she didn’t understand why she was remembering that feeling right now.

“Ah-“ She made a sound to interject but no words followed. Rahab met the Lord’s look with a side glance before returning her eyes down to the floor. She didn’t know what to say that wasn’t mechanical or expected of her so she just nodded a slow and thoughtful nod.

She didn’t care for whatever it was she was feeling. She didn’t know. She didn’t understand. Rahab had stopped fidgeting in her sleeves, the dutiful plucking at her self that she did out of guilt. If she had known that he was entangling himself in her aura; which she kept wrapped tightly around herself, she would have resisted the intrusion if she could.

Rahab nodded again, she knew where he wanted her to go. She had seen it before, or at least her mind quickly took hold of the vision he was giving her and made sense of it in the only way it could. Rahab knew Lord Blood was a powerful and deadly man. But she, as she was, would not have been able to fathom the vastness of his abilities. Knowing that a man could send her visions with such ease would have shaken her religious beliefs to the core, so it was best, for the time being, that she couldn’t comprehend. She had enough for one day.

She turned slightly to watch him leave. The young woman then slipped a hand from out her sleeve and moved it in the near universal gesture of 'good-bye' and felt foolish that she had done so.