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p style="text-indent: 0.5in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #ffffff;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"Part XXII-/span/span/span/p
p style="text-indent: 0.5in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #ffffff;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"Over eight hundred combat vessels, arrayed in an attack formation along sections 21-Aurek through 38. Yet Ava was puzzled when her Admiral, Carrie Sortek, one of the best the Echani had to offer, told her that the Kuat Drive Yards systems were down, shields were offline, gravitational defense systems were undetectable, and there was no discernable activity on either Kuat's planetary surface, or on the surface of the Yards facilities themselves in orbit. Ava ordered her fleet to back off a bit, boarded her shuttle with a small fighter escort, and flew over to the Yards command headquarters, given the communications blackout. She noted the lack of any surprise anti-air fire, yet there was clearly activity within the facilities themselves. The escort shuttle landed, its fighter accompaniment flying off into a patrol pattern. Several of the Kuati ranking members came into the hangar bay to greet the new arrival. The ramp descended from the shuttle's "mouth" and two files of white-robed guards in white and red armorplate, clad in heavy armor and armed with Echani firebrands, plus other weapons under their armorweave cloaks. They formed a silent split-phalanx on either side of the ramp, never speaking, never moving. After a pause, a dark-robed figure, clad in mask, boots, hood, and spined gauntlets., covering both her natural and
Part XXII-
Over eight hundred combat vessels, arrayed in an attack formation along sections 21-Aurek through 38. Yet Ava was puzzled when her Admiral, Carrie Sortek, one of the best the Echani had to offer, told her that the Kuat Drive Yards systems were down, shields were offline, gravitational defense systems were undetectable, and there was no discernible activity on either Kuat's planetary surface, or on the surface of the Yards facilities themselves in orbit. Ava ordered her fleet to back off a bit, boarded her shuttle with a small fighter escort, and flew over to the Yards command headquarters, given the communications blackout. She noted the lack of any surprise anti-air fire, yet there was clearly activity within the facilities themselves. The escort shuttle landed, its fighter accompaniment flying off into a patrol pattern. Several of the Kuati ranking members came into the hangar bay to greet the new arrival. The ramp descended from the shuttle's "mouth" and two files of white-robed guards in white and red armorplate, clad in heavy armor and armed with Echani firebrands, plus other weapons under their armorweave cloaks. They formed a silent split-phalanx on either side of the ramp, never speaking, never moving. After a pause, a dark-robed figure, clad in mask, boots, hood, and spined gauntlets., covering both her natural and cybernetic hand. Ava looked out over the assembled corporate body through her Death's Head Mask, the integrated target-assessor telling her none of them were armed. "Who is in charge?" She asked firmly, scanning the face of each member and mapping them into her helmet's memory codex. The eldest son and Kuati heir stood up shakily and approached Ava, falling to one knee before her. "I am, dark one...w-we were given certain assurances of protection-" Ava cut off with the Force, simply looking at him and tilting her head, causing his throat to compress. His hands went up to scratch and claw, and grasp at a noose that was not there, "You will speak when spoken to. And you will address me as Your Highness, Empress, or Your Majesty. The honorific is your choice. Am I clear?" The eldest managed to nod faintly. In response, Ava recanted her head, straightening up, and dropped the boy back to his knees, leaving him coughing and gasping at Ava's feet. "Y-yes my Empress...Mistress Rex told us to expect you." Ava growled softly, "Of course she did...no matter. I take it then, that Kuat Drive Yards is under my command?" She asked without missing a beat. "Yes Empress, our facility and workers are yours to command." Seeing the son have the proper deference pleased Ava greatly, "Excellent." she beamed. "You will begin creating a new warship for me. For the Sanguine Empire. En masse. I have the specifications drawn up. A new line of main battleship to rival the Sith Empire's Harrower, and matching the best of the Republic battleships. This shall be in the Sith characteristic design, but heavily modified as the design shows. You will have seven months to have the first five ships keels laid, and to the end of the year for the first three to go into service."
Color drained from the eldest son's face as he took the data-pad, "W-what you ask, is not...Not feasible." "You are among the finest shipwrights in the galaxy. You will do this. Or my fleet that I will leave here to protect you will turn their guns on you, and Kuat will not be manufacturing warships for anyone." The son nodded, in tears, "Yes Your Majesty. We...we will commence planning for construction at once. It will require retooling two of our production lines and ...thirteen of our drydocks..." Ava glared through her mask, "If you have a formal complaint, I will be sure to address it personally." Lightning crackled along her fingertips and the boy backed away. "Understood my Empress. Right away." Ava nodded and prepared to board her shuttle. "I will leave four flotillas of warships here to guard you. They will be flying your own Kuat Drive Yards colors and flag. Do not make me turn your protectors into your executioners." With that, the Dark Lord turned and left, her personal bodyguards following behind her. Rexane pulls the former patriarch with her and makes to leave the room as well, but before she did she turns to the son, "Submit your requests for personnel to me, but if you can not deliver it is on you, is that clear?" The son nodded fearfully, "Yes, Mistress Rex." Rexane lightly choked him in correction, "Lady Spectre, please." The son coughed, "I understand Lady Spectre, I will send you a list post haste." "Thank you, dear boy, follow the rules and please the Empress, and you may yet have a long life." She then walks from the room, dragging the struggling former patriarch behind until she reaches Ava. "My Empress, I bring the unwilling traitor of Kuat for your judgment. Ava turned around once the ramp had sealed behind them. "Ah." She intoned malevolently, "this is the honor-bound loyalist who threatened to, what was it? Oh yes, 'sell us out to the Republic like the dirty Kath hounds we are', isn't that right?" She mocked, teaching up to pull her mask off. "No, don't speak, you've done quite enough of that lately. In fact, let me remove the temptation for you." With a demonic visage. Ava relished the patriarch's screams as she slowly knitted the man's mouth shut with the Force. Blood trickled from his mouth and his eyes begged for his life to end, indicating he could not take the pain. Ava knelt down on one knee to be level with the man, "you crave death, I know. But you do not understand the pain I have endured waiting for you to submit. You owe me a debt. And now, thanks to Lady Spectre, i will collect. And you will learn the true meaning of Hell. And unlike Lady Spectre here, I enjoy my work. Every drop of blood I take from you, every gagged scream, is music to my ears and poetry to my senses. And really, we're on my ship. And when we dock, you will not be dying for quite some time. Oh, you'll talk? But sweetie...you have nothing I want to hear. But please, feel free to scream. If you can." Ava slipped her mask back on and skipped her claws free from her gloved hand. "Let's have some fun.' He did in fact scream. Loud.
cybernetic hand. Ava looked out over the assembled corporate body through her Death's Head Mask, the integrated target-assessor telling her none of them were armed. "Who is in charge?" She asked firmly, scanning the face of each member and mapping them into her helmet's memory codex. The eldest son and Kuati heir stood up shakily and approached Ava, falling to one knee before her. "I am, dark one...w-we were given certain assurances of protection-" Ava cut off with the Force, simply looking at him and tilting her head, causing his throat to compress. His hands went up to scratch and claw, and grasp at a noose that was not there, "You will speak when spoken to. And you will address me as Your Highness, Empress, or Your Majesty. The honorific is your choice. Am I clear?" The eldest managed to nod faintly. In response, Ava recanted her head, straightening up, and dropped the boy back to his knees, leaving him coughing and gasping at Ava's feet. "Y-yes my Empress...Mistress Rex told us to expect you." Ava growled softly, "Of course she did...no matter. I take it then, that Kuat Drive Yards is under my command?" She asked without missing a beat. "Yes Empress, our facility and workers are yours to command." Seeing the son have the proper deference pleased Ava greatly, "Excellent." she beamed. "You will begin creating a new warship for me. For the Sanguine Empire. En masse. I have the specifications drawn up. A new line of main battleship to rival the Sith Empire's /span/span/spanspan style="color: #ffffff;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"emHarrower/em/span/span/spanspan style="color: #ffffff;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;", and matching the best of the Republic battleships. This shall be in the Sith characteristic design, but heavily modified as the design shows. You will have seven months to have the first five ships keels laid, and to the end of the year for the first three to go into service." /span/span/span/p
p style="text-indent: 0.5in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #ffffff;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"Color drained from the eldest son's face as he took the data-pad, "W-what you ask, is not...Not feasible." "You are among the finest shipwrights in the galaxy. You will do this. Or my fleet that I will leave here to protect you will turn their guns on you, and Kuat will not be manufacturing warships for anyone." The son nodded, in tears, "Yes Your Majesty. We...we will commence planning for construction at once. It will require retooling two of our production lines and ...thirteen of our drydocks..." Ava glared through her mask, "If you have a formal complaint, I will be sure to address it personally." Lightning crackled along her fingertips and the boy backed away. "Understood my Empress. Right away." Ava nodded and prepared to board her shuttle. "I will leave four flotillas of warships here to guard you. They will be flying your own Kuat Drive Yards colors and flag. Do not make me turn your protectors into your executioners." With that, the Dark Lord turned and left, her personal bodyguards following behind her. Rexane pulls the former patriarch with her and makes to leave the room as well, but before she did she turns to the son, "Submit your requests for personnel to me, but if you can not deliver it is on you, is that clear?" The son nodded fearfully, "Yes, Mistress Rex." Rexane lightly choked him in correction, "Lady Spectre, please." The son coughed, "I understand Lady Spectre, I will send you a list post haste." "Thank you, dear boy, follow the rules and please the Empress, and you may yet have a long life." She then walks from the room, dragging the struggling former patriarch behind until she reaches Ava. "My Empress, I bring the unwilling traitor of Kuat for your judgement." Ava turned around once the ramp had sealed behind them. "Ah." She intoned malevolently, "this is the honor-bound loyalist who threatened to, what was it? Oh yes, 'sell us out to the Republic like the dirty Kath hounds we are', isn't that right?" She mocked, teaching up to pull her mask off. "No, don't speak, you've done quite enough of that lately. In fact, let me remove the temptation for you." With a demonic visage. Ava relished the patriarch's screams as she slowly knitted the man's mouth shut with the Force. Blood trickled from his mouth and his eyes begged for his life to end, indicating he could not take the pain. Ava knelt down on one knee to be level with the man, "you crave death, I know. But you do not understand the pain I have endured waiting for you to submit. You owe me a debt. And now, thanks to Lady Spectre, i will collect. And you will learn the true meaning of Hell. And unlike Lady Spectre here, I enjoy my work. Every drop of blood I take from you, every gagged scream, is music to my ears and poetry to my senses. And really, we're on my ship. And when we dock, you will not be dying for quite some time. Oh, you'll talk? But sweetie...you have nothing I want to hear. But please, feel free to scream. If you can." Ava slipped her mask back on and skipped her claws free from her gloved hand. "Let's have some fun.' He did in fact scream. Loud./span/span/span/p
p style="text-indent: 0.5in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #ffffff;"span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"span style="font-size: medium;"Vermilion stood at the bridge of the Harrower that she had designated as her flagship, looking on the pathetic ice ball of a planet that was known as Rhen Var. From the information gathered it reminded her a lot of Hoth, cold, barren, and in the right places, war-torn. She looked down at the ground map, noting the locations of the 811th Sith Empire forces and the 332nd Sanguine Empire forces. After much thought and almost a week of reconnaissance she knew how to remove them, a ground assault on their headquarters from the rear with one legion while simultaneously leading the other two legions on an attack from the rear of the 811th driving them into the 332nd. The 811th would kill the 332nd as they tried to flee and both would be massacred by her troops as clean up. She also decided that she would dedicate ship to ground fire to begin while she was landing her troops as a distraction, the thought of the deaths made her lick her lips in anticipation. This was her choice to kill in joy, not of friends like before, but those who deserved to be removed. Her yellow eyes looked at the view port, remembering how she had been forsaken by all her former masters, from the Jedi on Tython, to that pathetic excuse for a man who attempted to train her in a former house, forsaken by even those she thought loved and cared for her, even her own family. Now it was the chance to show them all what someone who actually saw potential in her and had trained her made her capable of. She made her way to the hanger to brief the troops. When she arrived they were just finishing up final preparations, she walked to the gangway overlooking the hangar bay, drew her saber and ignited it. The red black saber echoed across the bay with the iconic snap hiss and every head turned her way then all the troops came to attention as one./span/span/span/p
