SithLore

Kashyyyk
Mid Rim Territories
Grid Coordinates: P-9
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***In the chambers of Chieftan Trikk***

“I know your people are a peaceful one… But the time to act is now! If we do not prepare, we will be allowing the enemy time to prepare for their genocide!” Raphael pleaded with the Chieftan.

A moment passed as his protocol droid, B8-TE5 or “Bates”, translated his basic into Shyriiwook for the Wookiee. Raphael had already pleaded with other Chieftan’s of the planet Kashyyyk to add a little more muscle to his opposition of the Sith, but they all turned him down. It seemed to be a basic theme that the Wookiee’s wanted to remain in a peaceful time, now bringing war to their home. What none of them understood was that if they didn’t prepare, war would ravage their planet either way.

Family of the Chieftan barked out all around in their language as they added their thoughts to advise their wise elder. Trikk pondered a minute before settling upon and answer and relaying it to the peaceful pair standing in front of him.

Raphael turned to Bates, eager to hear the translation. “The Chief says he is unwilling to cause such a stir within this people for a rumor of a threat,” the droid relayed.

“There is no rumor! I have seen it with my own eyes… I… I have lived it! They will not stop till the galaxy is theirs! Please I beg of you to understand,” Raphael called out.

Again, Bates translated and the Wookiee’s reacted to the uproar. No more was said though. With a wave of his massive paw, the Chieftan signaled his guards to escort Raphael and Bates away from their Village. Raphael obliged and began the treck back to his transport ship.

He was losing faith in his cause, surely it was inevitable at this point that the Sith would soon rule the galaxy.

“No…” he though to himself.

He would continue the struggle to oppose his father and his armies; he knew what was truly on the horizon. Soon he would make his first move, and the galaxy would have to be ready. For now, he would visit more of the communities he knew of, surely someone would see the picuture.

Arthas was different than most Alliance representatives, because he wasn’t one. His reach was unlimited. He served the Alliance how he saw fit. Not the people. Not the politicians. Not the military. He answered only to the man in the mirror, and that man looked fine. (And death. It was hard not to answer to the end of your life. Or the tax collector, even ‘they’ had to answer to them. There were probably a few other exceptions, but it was beside the point.)

He walked out the transport on his least favorite world in the Alliance. Wookie World as he called it. It stunk. There were bugs. Every brush he’d pick up to tame his long blond locks would be covered in wookie. Then there was the everything of the planet. An entire civilization still living in wood huts. He’d need three baths.

The wookies were a valuable member of the Alliance, but Arthas saw past their fur coats. They’d never not be trouble. Quick to temper. Addicted to timber. And loud. Always so darn loud even when times called for a more reasonable silent tone. How one had risen to be Minister of State puzzled him like nothing before. They had their uses on the battlefield.

It was time to check on the wookies. It didn’t take long for him to hear about a doomsayer running around and calling locals to arms. This couldn’t be allowed. This was the Alliance, not a sewer. It took far more than rodents to scare the Alliance’s or the Empire’s citizens into independent crusades. Only one of those caused trouble he liked.

Arthas sought out this doomsayer, narrowing down the likely locals they’d visit based off where doom had already been spewed. He also took it upon himself to let it slip in those untouched areas that a man with powerful connections had come planet side. He’d find the doomsayer with honey or blizzard. It made no difference to Arthas.

Raphael watched as his pilot droid landed the transport ship lightly down on another wood landing pad of the world Kashyyyk. He would prepare himself to take more denials as he walked through the hull of the ship, scrolling through a list of names. This village in particular had a Chieftan named “Uggi”; hopefully they would be a little more hospitable than the ones in the past.

Summoning Bates, Raphael stomped down the ramp to make contact with the wood built community. A group of Wookiees stood near the ship ready to turn away the young man it seemed. One of them marches close and grabbed Raphel by the arm forcefully. Resisting in the slightest allowed for another Wookiee to come grab his other arm; he was way overpowered here.

One of the guards called out again in the language he did not know. Raphael turned around as he was being dragged away to see Bates being dragged as well. “They say a powerful man wants to see you,” said the protocol droid.

It seems this Chieftan wouldn’t be that hospitable after all. Raphael accepted his fate though and allowed the Wookiees to drag him off into a wood hut. After forcefully sitting him down inside the dimly lit hut, they propped his droid next to him and began to leave. One of the Wookiees turned to growl something at Raphael; it seemed to be a threat, before leaving the hut all together.

Turning once again to the aid of Bates, Raphael awaited a response. “He said wait here,” the droid replied.

Raphael sat back in his chair, crossing his arms in confusion of this situation. “Some planet this is,” he murmured out.

Arthas strolled into the hut like he was walking on his imaginary yacht. He wasn't so vain to have one of those. Too much maintenance regardless if it floated in space, air, or water. He was more of a nice chair guy. A cool seat with plenty of leg room. His father had the best chair, and it was only one death away from being his.

The doomsayer had a far less comfortable chair in the surprisingly and thankfully drafty wookie hut. Arthas had no interest in learning what the wookies used the hut for. It could be purged for greater nostril good for all he cared.

Still, he studied the man with only a slight interest. Appearances were so deceiving. Some often mistaken his deep naps for his passing, but it'd take more than lullabies to do him in. He always imagined his death would involve a lot of violent stabbing. It was a weird thing to think about, but he wasn't a paladin of the Jedi Coalition. He was just a guy with an Alliance to forever save.

"So. You're the one going around stirring the wookies up. Why is it that doomsayers never have any specifics? It's always some vague rumor they're peddling." Arthas spun a chair about and sat in from of his captive audience. "Well? Go ahead. Tell me of this coming doom that threatens us so... much? Much."

Raphael watched as a man with long blonde hair walked strut into the building he was being held. It was a surprising sight as he half expected to be beaten by a few furry friends in the near future. Still, he couldn’t count that reality out yet. It just seemed he would have to deal with this man first, this very confident man. It was almost if he was strolling across clouds as he walked in.

Propping himself up in the chair, Raphael worked to match the confidence of the man. He began to analyze the longhaired man just as he did to Raphael, it was an awkward situation overall. When the silence broke, Raphael listened carefully before choosing his words. How much would he really reveal to this man? Was it in his best interest to convince this man as well? It seemed now a days it was more the merrier.

“Its not a rumor,” Raphael murmured out as he straightened his robes.

Taking a momentary look over to Bates, he wondered if the man understood galactic basic. Most of the galaxy did at this point, so he would go forward.

“The Devil himself is coming sir… and he’s bringing the entire Sith Empire with him,” Raphael said motioning to a datapad within his hand.

Clicking a button a still recording of a demon popped up. The beast stood well over seven feat, legs that were massive trunks, claws that could shred anything to bits, the teeth to sink into anything, and even a massive tail to complement it. This beast wielded two crimson blades between his claws to add to the terror.

“These Wookiees don’t understand what is on the horizon. It will stop at nothing till It and the Sith conquer the whole galaxy. We need to prepare for an invasion in every corner of this galaxy,” he added.

Raphael would hold his comments there, waiting to dissect the reaction of the man standing before him.

Arthas yawned. He had seen many beasts. They were never something that couldn't be handled. If an arrow couldn't do it, he had a blaster. If a blaster couldn't, he had a rocket launcher. If a rocket launcher couldn't do it, there was an orbital bombardment. If an orbital bombardment didn't do it... Who was he kidding? Leveling an area always did it.

"The Alliance has an empire to deal with. A real empire, not some cult of personality and overly emotional children. Against that real empire, the Alliance is well matched. Essentially evenly so by some well respected estimates. The sith are space dust that could only get lost in a TIE fighter’s draft. Dust best left to the Jedi and others without Imperial concerns with."

Everyone wanted the Alliance to solve all their problems. Everyone wanted the Empire to chill out and be happy on the other side of the galaxy far from them. Everyone wanted the rest to simply be silent and know their place. Everyone tended to sound like him in his head. There was always thunderous agreement.

Pirates. Criminals. Sith.Termites. They were for others to bother with. Pests and nothing more compared to the awesome might of the Empire or Alliance. A sneeze from either would undo them.

The Alliance had to keep its eyes on the Empire for they its equal in many ways. In other ways, the Alliance was superior. In even others, the Empire was. There was a holochess game of the ages. Pirates and sith could only ruin it by getting in the way. Then they'd have to be scrapped off the windshields of the Empire or Alliance and reminded of their petty place.

Raphael shut off the holorecording almost immediately after getting no reaction from the man. He was baffled that it didn’t in the slightest, shake him one bit. Arrogance was the first thing that rolled through Raphael’s hand, it seemed to fit the man standing in front of him like a glove.

Sitting back in his chair, Raphael pondered the best way to handle this situation. How could he convince a man who sees this problem on such a small scale? Would it even be worth it to waste his time upon this man? But then a thought rolled by, he remembered back to his comment. “The Alliance”, he had spoken. Was he with the so-called Alliance, or was he just referring to greater struggles? The Wookiees did mention that he was a man of power; maybe it would be worth it to plea with him.

Leaning forward, Raphael made eye contact with it the man. “I’m sorry, I did not catch your name? My name is Raphael, I believe you just mentioned something about the Alliance?” he asked, probing for more information.

Standing from his seat, Raphael maintained a posture that demonstrated his confidence. “The Empire and Alliance can sit there holding blasters to each others heads, waiting for someone to pull the trigger all you want. But while you were focused solely on the Empire and the problems that come with that, the Sith were building an Empire of their own,” he barked out.

Adding some more flavor to his plea, “If you are with the Alliance, this should trouble you the most. The man who sits on the throne of the Sith is no fool. How long do you think it will take before the Empire and the Sith join forces yet again to wage war on the galaxy?”

Raphael would hold his hypotheticals at that, he didn’t want to insinuate any more than he had to.

"Proof. Facts. Specifics. Intelligence of a reasonable reliability." Arthas didn't move an inch from his butt enraging seat yet he was more serious and dropped the dismissive façade. Some agents cared about loyalty. Some agents cared about too much. Arthas was an agent of Division 31 with half a heart focused on the Empire. The rest could be swayed by his icy passions. He'd hear this Raphael out, but he'd need much more. "Wars can't be waged over they might's, but this sounds like a personal crusade."

Raphael assumed his seat yet again as the man was not swayed in the slightest. He sat forward in his chair, resting his elbows upon his knees. His head slumped over and his eyes fixated on his boots. The young man hardly had any further proof yet. Other than knowing his father and how he operates, since he left there had been no further intelligence from his operatives within the Sith Empire. What did he really expect? Raphael was trying to plea for these planets to prepare and put themselves on the line for a problem that might not reach its apex.

His head began to shake as he thought to himself. What was he thinking? He knew the fanatic his father had now become. The devil himself was coming and he will not stop until the galaxy was under its foot. That much was certain, there was not ifs or mights. As much as this nonchalant man sitting before him discouraged the young man, he would continue to do his best to bring awareness to his cause, even if it ended up just being a personal crusade.

Turning to his holorecording yet again, Raphael flipped through a set of images again. The first that rolled through was the Verpine of Roche, imprisoned to following to brutal bidding of the Sith. The next would be Sembla, the images of the Sith bombing a base on the surface rolled through and the aftermath. Finally, the next few images portrayed the Sith Navy. Its dreadnaughts were a terror to see in Sith space.

Looking up at the longhaired man again, “Does this not worry the Alliance one bit? Do you need further proof or reliable intelligence?”

Letting out a huge exhale, Raphael swallowed his pride. “What if I knew of a former Sith? One who spent his entire life within their emerging Empire? A man who knew what they were planning because he was apart of constructing said plans?” he added.

“The proof sits right in front of your eyes and the Alliances’,” he said sitting back in his chair. Raphael would let the man sit with that for a minute. He would allow the man to comprehend what he had just revealed.

Arthas stroke his nose hairs. Informants. Double agents. Triple agents. Asparagus. They all had things in common.

The sith being cruel was obvious. Their fleet on the other hand was outdated, slow, and easily crushed with hugs. It hadn't been too long since an entire sith fleet had been wiped out in some battle around some star he forgot the name of. Naval warfare was never their strength. Thankfully to cross the stars and command worlds a navy was required. Then again, they had control of Roche despite opposition. Data. It was lovely.

"But what if the insider spreading these rumors was the one trying to start the very war he foretold?" Arthas pulled out small pad and started taking a few notes. Most of it was a grocery list, but that was only because the details were so light in the present conversation. The good stuff always came later. "Still, I know the Alliance. It doesn't strike first without concrete evidence and all the eyes poked through and paperwork filed. As long as the sith remain over there, then the Alliance won't bother leaving here. Governments, as are people, tend to be lazy, and this is an election year. Who wants to run for reelection knowing they got so many of 'the boys' killed."

Arthas leaned forward. "Now, the question. The only question that matters, my dear sith, is why. Why are you so set on waging war against those you used to serve? Traitors are popular with no one, until they're useful."

Opportunity began to serenade Arthas. The answer to why would either light it on fire or slip on that sweet sweet jizz.