I'm alive! I promise that after years of it lying dormant, I will be reviving Legacy of the Shadow Born, but until then I thought I would tease what's to come with this little one shot
"En Romanos, rerum dominos, gentemque togatam!"
Talravin.
Prince Augustus, Crown Prince of the Sith Empire, allowed the force to swirl around him as the battle cruiser, Endless, entered the Talravin system. Such proud people on Talravin, a true Republic flagship world. Even at this distance from the planet, the Prince could feel the pride of it's people sting his throat.
"They will learn."
"My lord?"
Augustus sighed "Only musing to myself Moff Quinn. Thinking about pride."
"Did you come to any conclusions, my lord?"
Pride was a fickle thing. For example, his father had taught him that pride was the motivation for his people, the Sith to come out of a centuries long reclusion that returned them to the galactic spotlight. Pride could be a powerful tool indeed, but in this case it would be the undoing for the people of Talravin.
"It's a damn shame we'll probably have to burn most of the planet to the ground."
Ever since the ill-fated night of Kereniss Simon's bachelor party when he was maimed by the Jedi Grandmaster, his looks had taken on an almost roguish charm. His injured eye was permanently covered by a leather eyepatch, which was accessorized with his newly grown ginger beard. Beneath the points and hard edges of the human's Sith armor, Augustus could see the glint of his friend's prosthetic arm.
"Shameful in the sense of destroying a planet's beautiful architecture, yes a great shame indeed."
Augustus turned to Quinn, as the elder man was bent over a computer screen. "Moff? Is the fleet prepared to swarm?"
"On your command, my prince."
"Good. Come Kereniss, there is work to be done."
Raised alongside the Prince on Dromund Kaas, Kereniss considered Augustus to be his greatest and oldest friend, a brother even. But as he stood in front of the assembled Dread Force, Kereniss mused that his friend looked positively godly.
The Dread Force was a symbol for the Empire, although a more civilized Empire then in the past, symbols still mattered. Troopers of the Dread Force wore a dark armor that made them resemble walking skeletons.
"My dear friends." Augustus began standing on a platform above his assembled troops, using the force to amplify his voice. Kereniss stood beside him, in full battle regalia complete with a mask, which were usually not the ginger Sith's style.
"Let's talk about pride. Talravin, despite our best efforts has chosen to cling to the Republic, which we all know to be a dying beast. They cling to this, my friends. Despite the Republic showing them nothing but disappointment. Why?"
The soldiers turned to each other before one trooper removed his helmet revealing a man with short cropped blonde hair.
"Pride, my lord."
Augustus smiled with genuine pleasure. "Precisely my friend. Pride can be a man's greatest motivator or a man's greatest weakness. Now I must pose a question to you all...
What will it be for you?"