Many thanks to the many reviews. They warm my heart and refresh my mind so that I can press onward in the story. Enjoy! ~F
Chapter Twenty Three
Rebuttal
Lord Anguis bowed as the hologram of the representative of the Five Hutt families, who jointly ran the infamous Cartel, which in turn controlled the vast quasi empire that ran the entirely of what was even know throughout the Galaxy as 'Hutt Space,' appeared before him, shimmering as relay stabilized itself for such a long range communication.
"Honorable Khanub Krosko," Drakis said, smiling widely as the Hutt fidgeted and shifted its bulk on the dais that it was resting. They were truly disgusting creatures, the Hutts, and it was highly likely that they were here just to tell him in person that the Cartel would remain neutral, just as it had throughout every other Galaxy wide conflict, preferring to just make revenue off both sides, but this was all part of the massive plan to pull total control of the Galaxy to himself.
The Hutt grumbled something in its guttural language, and a protocal droid stepped forward, sharing the hologram with its rather obese master. "The Mighty Khanub greets you, Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, and thanks you for agreeing to his terms of speaking to you in person." The droid said in its mechanical voice. Anguis knew that every Hutt could speak basic if they wanted to, but often used translators just to unnerve people and make themselves seem grander, but he chose to ignore this as he addressed the Hutt once again.
"Honorable Khanub, I trust that you and the rest of the leading families of the Hutt Cartel have discussed and come to a decision regarding a formal alliance with the Republic against the Sith Empire, taking into account that history has not shown favor upon those who would neglect the actions of such people and culture."
The Hutt laughed slightly, before launching into another long line of Huttese. "His excellence must forgive us," the droid translated, "But the families wish nothing more than to remain out of the conflict as much as possible. However, they would be more than willing to go about supplying the Republic with arms and supplies for their war, only if they acknowledge the right of the Hutts to also sell to the Empire if they wish to."
'Predictable slugs,' Anguis thoughts, even as he smiled, "That won't be necessary at this time, but the Republic thanks the Cartel for the offer. I do wish you'd reconsider the offer of alliance, but if the Hutt families will do nothing, then there is nothing I can do about it. Just know that our offer stands if the families change their minds at any time."
The Hutt laughed again, and the Supreme Chancellor knew that the animal was laughing at the concept of alliance as much as he was laughing at the seeming foolish new leader of the Republic, but responded graciously, before departing, the hologram disappearing with only a slight shimmer.
Having expected this course of action, Anguis naturally wanted to put some pressure on the Hutts, be it assassination or an actual attack from the Sith, but there were a few problems with that idea. The first problem with his motivating the Hutts like he would normally have planned to at this point, was that Colin Creevey was already preoccupied with various tasks set to him by Veneficus himself, and the Bounty Hunter and assassin wouldn't do anything less than his best to please the Sith Emperor. The other problem was that the Hutts maintained their own army and space fleet, and would easily fight back against the Sith for quite a while before even considering turning to the Republic for help. It boiled down to Anguis needing the new fleet from Hermione more than ever for any of his plans to start working.
Immediately he opened communications from the Chancellor's office to New Terra, hoping that he might catch Hermione while she was not in the middle of her work, not that it was terribly likely, and he was not surprised when it was Theodore Nott that answered the holocall rather than the director of Magi-Tech. "Chancellor Malfay, what a surprise," Theo said, although it couldn't have been, as Anguis knew that they had means to tell who was calling them, and used it frequently to screen who had access to Hermione.
"I'm unfortunately on official business for this call;" he said coolly, "The Republic is desperately waiting for an update on when their fleet will be finalized and ready to take the fight back to the Neo-Sith Empire."
"Is that dearest Draco?" said a voice off to the side of the other former Slytherin, and Hermione soon bustled into the hologram, "Of course it is, and he wants an update does he?" she added, shaking her head slightly when she spotted him, "with our exponentially increasing production rate, I believe we are nearing completion of the first fleet, while the second through fifth are in their mid stages of preparation. You shall have your new ships within the month, so long as we receive the soldiers and pilots to actually fly them out of the shipyards."
"You shall have them arriving and waiting to settle into their new positions before month's end, then." Anguis affirmed, "As soon as the first fleet arrives at Coruscant we shall start sending you the outdated ships to modify as quickly as possible. I know that it is a lot of work for you and your company, but the Republic appreciates everything you are doing. Time is just unfortunately not on our side, with the Sith rampaging throughout the Outer Rim."
"Thankfully they haven't a clue where we are, or what we are up to in making the fight a bit more evened," Hermione added with a grin, which Anguis returned for different reasons. If only the truly ignorant girl knew.
"Alright, I feel that will be enough to satisfy the Senate for the time being, but please do everything in your power to finish, for all our sakes." Anguis stressed gently, knowing that the girl was already doing what she could, but still the act had to be maintained.
"You shouldn't worry so much Draco… it's unbecoming of the leader of the Republic," the girl chided, sounding for a moment like Drakis' mother, but he kept his reaction in check, allowing the girl her quip. "The ships will be finished when I said. Just hold out a little longer, and we'll have the Sith in our sights at last." Hermione said, before trotting off, presumably back to some designs or another project that was far more important to her than human interaction, but Anguis knew that this molding of her was intentionally stimulated by the Sith Emperor, and therefore took no affront by it.
"That's that, then," he said to Nott, who nodded, before they mutually cut the communication, and Anguis was once again left alone in his office, aside from the multitude of listening devises that he knew were present, monitoring the leader of the Republic for the myriad of conglomerations within the Senate. He allowed many things, including this invasion of what appeared to be his privacy, but in the end their attempts to manipulate or control him would be for naught. His plans would outstrip each and every Senator in the Republic by a large margin, with the Sith literally placing him in the perfect position to rip the throne of the Galaxy right out from under them.
So he sat in silence for a long time, only occasionally looking through the stacks of flimsi on his desk that he had to sign, bills and notices that needed his personal approval to be written into the bylaws. Let the Senators think him a studious and rather reclusive individual, but in reality Anguis savored the moments of silence so that he could organize his thoughts regarding the situation of subverting both Republic and Empire, allowing himself to rise to a more… permanent, station of power.
Nevertheless, there was a nearly inexhaustible amount of paperwork to do, so he usually had to compress time for plotting to those same moments anyway.
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Luna couldn't have gotten away from the terrible unnaturalness of New Terra any faster. While Hermione had been gravely concerned about Death Eater remnants on what she called 'her' world, the far more sinister implications were kept between the Professors and the Jedi, as they mutually figured that Hermione was an innocent in these matters.
Traveling back to the Galactic core, they discussed in depth the likelihood and means that such a one as Barty Crouch Jr. not only survived his presumed death many years ago in Azkaban, but that he came, unnoticed, to New Terra and wound up mixed in with the Sith.
"So many things just don't add up right now," Professor Flitwick said after they went about the same lines of though for the third hour in a row. "It's clear that someone went through a lot of effort to conceal as much of this as possible, and having known and taught Crouch Jr. despite everything he simply can't have been patient enough for this level of cunning."
"But we both know one who was…" Professor McGonagall said gravely, and the half-goblin Charms Master nodded in agreement. "Harry was always surprisingly talented and ever patient while he was at school. There was even a time in his second year that we both tutored him in rather advanced Charms and Transfiguration, but Albus put an end to that in third year, while the boy had chosen to take every class possible, and had a Time-Turner."
"Come to think of that year," Trelawney said suddenly, from where she was lounging by a small table, "There are parts of my memory that I do not recall from that year that involved Mr. Potter. I didn't take it as much at the time, but now…"
"We shall see to restoring it as much as we can, after we returned to the Jedi Temple," Professor Flitwick reassured the woman, "Every piece of information is crucial at this point."
"But what of the New Terrans and their shipyards," Leon said suddenly, "could the Sith be plotting to sabotage the Republic's new fleets?"
"That is something to consider," Luna agreed, turned slowly on the spot and reviewing in her mind all the events that transpired, "but I don't think that they'd use someone as infamous in the Wizarding World such a Barty Jr. to do that sort of work. It seemed as though he was merely monitoring the world, a spy perhaps? It's obvious that the Darkness had everything to do with this world being set up in the first place, but to what end?"
"We could easily keep going around in circles about this forever," Flitwick offered, "Without more information, there sadly just isn't a finite answer to make any clear judgment upon."
"There is one thing," Professor Trelawney spoke up, "I saw the faces of many students that went to Hogwarts over the years, even some that took my class obsessively, but they did not recognize me whatsoever."
"Now that is indeed curious, if in fact they were the same people," Professor McGonagall replied, thinking, "there is magic that can wipe the mind of another, but for it to happen to so many so long ago, there would be problems that crop up with people's memories and conflicts would inevitably occur."
"But this world seems to have been operating for far longer than a few years, even with magic to accelerate the rebuilding of their civilization, so how can that be explained?" Padawan Ist interjected, the normally quiet and observant Bothan touching on the greatest mystery of all.
"How indeed…" Yoda commented gravely, "Much confusion and darkness upon that world, there is. Seek counsel from the Jedi Council, to understand what next we can do, we must…"
"That will also give up time to try and restore Sybil's memory," Professor Flitwick added, "which may have the answers we seek, or at least some sort of clue."
"I suppose that's the best we can hope for at this moment," Luna summarized, and the rest of their group nodded. It felt a bit like they were giving up on this mystery for the moment, but as there were no pressing answers readily available to them, stressing their minds over the what ifs and so forth would do nothing productive.
So, leaving the professors to retire to their respective rooms on the ship, Luna and Yoda took their Padawans for some meditative practice, to make sure the young Jedi's minds were clear from this topic of conversation, although before they started, Luna made sure to send a small message back to the Jedi guarding monitoring the Terran shipyards, warning them to be extra cautious, just in case something was to go wrong very quickly.
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Johell learned quite a bit of how the system of things occurred on the Sith world after that first horrendous day being abandoned in the middle of the Valley of the Dark Lords.
The archeology team had only done enough to make sure that he hadn't died of dehydration or starvation for the beginning, giving him food and plenty of extra water as his reward for assisting their progress in the tomb before they simply left him to recover in the opening chamber. They had not returned for him by the time he had awakened, but Johell hadn't had time to consider where they had gone or what that had meant.
He had to move on, if he was to survive this madness, and find a way to get back to the Republic. And to do that, he needed to play this game, and earn his 'master's' trust to be let off world. So he pressed on, doing what tasks he had to for the unfortunate benefit of the Sith Empire. By and large, Johell tried to be of use to the nonForce users of the world, the scientists and Archeologist, while avoiding the Darksiders when possible.
Slowly, he had built up a small supply of credits that sustained him day to day as he delved through the other major tombs of the world, growing ever sicker of the lingering aura of darkness that infested this world. It greatly repulsed him, but he simply surrounded himself with the Force and pressed onward, strongly trying to place a buffer between himself and the surrounding Dark Side energy.
Unfortunately, there was only so much of the vile aura that could be blocked out, and the diabolical voice of the Sith Emperor kept whispering in the young Jedi's mind from time to time, urging him to just give in and take the power of the planet for himself. Worse still, it was getting progressively more difficult to tune out the vile yet seductive voice, and Johell had unfortunately given in more than a few times, especially in dangerous situations, and used the energy of the Dark Side.
He knew that it was affecting him negatively, but he hoped that the healers of the Jedi Temple would be able to cure him, if not help him recover from this traumatic experience when he safely got back to Coruscant.
Now he had finally gotten back to the main Sith Academy, having traveled for over a week through the Valley of the Dark Lords and clawing his way back, at moments quite literally.
It wasn't a terrible surprise that Zhar Quelmok was there waiting for him as Johell, tired, filthy and mentally ready to collapse, staggered up the steep steps to the landing in front of the massive citadel's entrance.
"So, you have survived your great trial…" the man said coldly, the air of superiority thick in the air. But Johell just didn't care about the man's need to control; he was keeping his eyes warily on the man's hands, just in case he was planning to attack him again.
"Yes…" he replied simply, still unwilling to give the madman kidnapper the honorific of 'Master' to his face. Ironically it seemed to amuse Zhar, who grinned wickedly.
"Still possessing some of your rebellious fire I see, this is good. Come apprentice." He said shortly, turning and leading the way inside the massive structure.
Resisting any sort of reaction that would betray his true feelings, Johell followed the man quickly, feeling an all too familiar swath of Dark Side energy radiating from the upper levels of the Academy. Someone was up there, someone powerful and altogether evil. The captive Jedi suppressed his shudder of revulsion as the continued to draw nearer to the source, but he was powerless to prevent the energy from wafting over him, filling his mind with the seductive voice of the Sith Emperor.
Only when they entered the High Prophet's chambers did Johell understand fully. Waiting within, clad in his full regalia was the man himself, the Supreme ruler of the entire Sith Empire in the flesh, casually caressing the tool of torture that Zhar had tried to use to break Johell. "I sense that your apprentice has returned from the wastes of this world…" Veneficus said, and Zhar nodded in reply.
"Johell, I present Emperor Veneficus, your Lord and Master over even myself." Zhar said, more out of formality rather than true worship, which the young Jedi noted.
"My Lord," he said, bowing, but more with an air of recognizing an enemy rather than submitting to a ruler. The Emperor didn't even spare a glance in Johell's direction, his eyes focused on the Holocron as he spoke to Zhar, "is all in readiness for transport?"
"It is, my Lord. Do you wish to go now?" the man said, confusing Johell with what they were discussing, and what implications it held for himself.
"I do, let the boy carry it," Veneficus said, raising a hand to halt a guard in black armor that had appeared, ready to take the Holocron. All eyes then turned on Johell, who felt for a moment as though they were piercing straight through him, and knew that true intentions he held onto strongly. Tentatively he stepped forward, and picked up the vile Holocron that he hated with every fiber of his being.
Zhar gestured for them to depart, and led the way with Johell behind him, with the Emperor and his guards bringing up the rear. The royal protectors apparently had hidden well, for all six of the black robed figures had been all but invisible to Johell when he had entered the room. There were another six waiting for them at a private shuttle, which they all entered before the ship lifted off and carried them across the sand and ruins of the Valley of the Dark Lords, before finally coming to a stop in a completely secluded outlet of rocks, quite a distance from the main tombs of the ancient Sith Lords that Johell had been working in and around for the last five years.
They disembarked, and once they were on the sandy ground, the kidnapped Jedi Padawan could easily see the entrance to another tomb along the cliff wall, albeit this one was pristine and new looking, rather than old and crumbling like the others that the archeologists were delving through. The stone doorway slid open at a wave of the Emperor's hand, and Johell was unable to suppress a shudder at the sheer strength in the Force that the man had. It wasn't difficult to actually believe that the man was capable of anything, and the youngest member of the group trailed back as the black-robed powerhouse took the lead.
The royal guards took up position to guard the entrance of the Tomb, and Veneficus led both Johell and Zhar through winding tunnels and through many chambers, each set with murals detailing the life of the Sith Lord in question that they were for. Only… where with the others Johell had sensed a lingering darkness, presumable because of those locations being the final resting places of the Sith Lords' bones, this place did not have the same remaining evil. The only answer, this was a new tomb, and if they were bringing Veneficus' Holocron here, than it could only mean that the tomb was his own.
Rather morbid, to build and enter your own final resting place, but Johell wasn't about to try and understand the madness of the Sith more than he had to in order to escape from them as quickly as possible.
Their trio halted several times, the Emperor pulling out a thick, wooden stick from his robes and waving it through the air, as if cutting an invisible thread before them, before proceeding in utter silence. Torches and other illumination devises flared to life as they passed, until they arrived in the final chamber, where Johell presumed falsely to find a sarcophagus of some sort, waiting for the Emperor's future body.
Instead, the room was small, and nearly circular in shape, with a large, chest high indent into the far stone wall. In the center of the room was an empty plinth, which the Emperor gestured at before pointing in equal silence to Johell. The younger Force user understood, and cautiously walked forward into the chamber, pausing only when the lights in the room flared to life all around him.
The walls of the room were covered in Lightsaber hilts of various shapes and sizes, as well as an equal amount of the small wooden sticks, which the Padawan recognized as being well worn and carved with different designs and patterns. They were trophies, taken from personal kills of the Emperor. The sheer number of them was staggering, and Johell immediately felt somewhat sickened that this man had decided to display his murderous streak for anyone who came here to see. But still, he obediently placed the Holocron on the plinth, almost surprised when it did not react, and returned to the corridor where Zhar and Veneficus waited.
"Good," the Emperor said quietly, almost like a hiss. He raised the small stick again once Johell had exited the room, and a visible barrier of energy sprang up in the doorway, before fading away from his sight.
The trek back to the Academy went quickly, but Johell was completely lost in thought after seeing, and especially after sensing, the strange abilities that the Emperor showed as he set up barriers and protections over his tomb. It was a method of using the Force that he had never seen before, and it frankly frightened Johell. How could the Jedi win if the Sith Emperor was so insanely powerful?
It reinforced the thought in his mind that Johell needed to get back to the Jedi Temple and warn them exactly what the Sith Lord was capable of. It was clear that this warping of Force energy was merely the tip of the iceberg, and that the definitely evil man was capable of far more destructive acts if he so wished.
The only problem with this plan, he found out after the Emperor departed with his entourage at last, leaving Johell alone with Zhar, as moderately less unpleasant as that was, that the High Prophet of Korriban finally addressed him, "now that that important diversion is complete, and you've passed the test that out Lord had set, your true training can begin."
Johell resisted the urge to flinch, "Training?" he asked, using a great amount of personal control to maintain an even, albeit quiet, voice.
"Of course," Zhar said, smirking, "You didn't think I would set you up to be my successor until I was certain that you'd perform the role adequately, if you survive the war that is… as we'll probably need more Dark Adepts as commanders before the end of it, and one trained by me will be highly sought after…"
The self gratifying pride with which the man spoke sent chills running along Johell's spine. It was clear that he was no more than a tool, or even a plaything to this man, replaceable if necessary, but currently interesting and fresh. And that lead to the greatest complication of all. With all the focused attention he was receiving from the man, it would be nigh impossible for him to slip off world and run back to the Republic anytime soon.
"Well," Zhar said, a mad gleam in his eyes as he stared at Johell, "no better time to get started like the present…"
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The Assassin was sure that this job went far out of his normal contracts, but as it was a direct command from Lord Veneficus, he had little choice but to obey. With the combination of the Kyber crystal and a Holocron, the Emperor had created the Jedi's tool that they used to seek out Force sensitive children across the Galaxy. Utilizing his own personal skills, as well as Jedi attire that he had either created or been given by the Emperor, along with the lightsaber that he had taken off the Ithorian who had once held onto the Kyber Crystal, Colin had followed the map and its ever changing pings of light from system to system, conning beings out of their newborns and toddlers.
It rather sickened him how easy it was, to trick these fools into think that he, a Jedi Knight, was going to take their children to the Temple and raise them to become defenders of the Republic, although they knew full well that this meant they would never see their children again. The fact that the Jedi had been using this same tactic over the millennia made the sensation all the worse, but the Lord of the Sith commanded that Colin do this to fill the ranks of Hogwarts' new academy, and he would see it done.
Thankfully he had had the foresight to purchase and program half a dozen droids to care for the little runts while he was piloting the ship or collecting a new child before he made a stop off at old Earth to transfer them all to the nursery in Hogwarts.
Still, it didn't stop the fact that every one of the children seemed so much more aware of their surroundings, despite the oldest being only a rotation and a half at best. None of these would so much as remember their homes or their short previous lives. Having read up and understanding as much of the Emperor's life before Hogwarts, from whatever scrap of information he could get before the Wizarding world fell into ruin, Colin thought it was somewhat ironic that the Sith Lord was inflicting the Galaxy with the same unfairness that had marred his own life. Poetic justice in a sense, and he supported it whole heartedly, even if he did feel slightly for the fools that so willingly gave away their own children to some mysterious 'greater good,' that the Jedi stood for.
Even now as he pulled out of Hyperspace into view of the familiar blue planet that had been his home, Colin still couldn't believe it had been that easy to simply walk in, tell them he was a jedi, and literally be handed the child without fuss, expect for a few moments of hesitation on a handful, but a discreet compulsion charm solved that in an instance, as the temptation to do so was always there. Perhaps Colin had it wrong, and the parents simply knew that the life or death situations of a Jedi were so much better than their current lives that they were willing to lose their offspring for the chance of them having a prestigious lifestyle, but he couldn't be sure what they were thinking.
Landing with as little turbulence as possible on the cleared and paved areas that had once been roving grass covered grounds, Colin called over his ships communicator that he would need assistance offloading some special students to the castle, and within minutes a half dozen droids, each pushing what looked like oversized strollers appeared, waiting for himself and the protocol droids he had repurposed to walk the children down the ramps and settle them in.
There were almost thirty children that he had brought, all collected in less than a month of travel and persuasion. Wanting a reprieve from the confines of the ship and the rainy gloom of the Scottish countryside, Colin made his way to the castle, signaling his droids to lock down the ship until he returned. He was almost impressed to find a small delegation waiting to receive him inside, but with Force users it was hardly impressive.
The two aliens that awaited him were only vaguely familiar to Colin, the glaring red eyes and sharp horns of the Devaronian known only as Darth Diábolis, apprentice to the Emperor, and some other red skinned being that had fleshy appendages on his face that seemed to serve no purpose but imitate a beard, in flowing robes that were rather extravagant for the usual Dark Adepts.
"My Lords," The assassin greeted with a small amount of deference, they at least deserved that much as Colin did not know them personally, and probably never would, knowing Force users.
"So this is the agent of the Emperor's will that we had been warned would be bringing in shipments of new acolytes." Tentacle face said, and Colin nodded, waiting to see if the man was going to greet him in some strange way before acting. Some cultures found handshakes extremely offensive, something to do with trust and germs or whatnot, but the being seemed completely unwilling to go even that far. "I am Headmaster Dziqis, appointed head of the Hogwarts Academy, and I presume you are already aware of Darth Diábolis, apprentice to his majesty."
"I've heard the name before," Colin said with a glance at the Devaronian, who returned the barest of nods in acknowledgment, "I presume the rumors surrounding it are true then…"
Diábolis refused to comment, only smirking at the Assassin, while Headmaster Dziqis changed the subject, "You are welcome to remain here for a time, and refresh yourself, but remain in the public areas of the castle, and if Governess Umbridge arrives, please do try and stay out of her way."
Remembering the foul woman from before leaving this world, Colin had no issues agreeing immediately. It wouldn't take him too long to become restless and bored of the nostalgia of the castle anyway, especially with how much it had changed over the years, and he would want to get back to work running through the Galaxy, effectively kidnapping young children to return once or whatever else the Emperor would have in store for him.
He only presumed that his orders were to continue collecting the Force sensitives, as he had been given nothing more after the fact. But perhaps he would take on a few side assignments to complete while he was out drifting between systems, just to put a extra lining of credits into his pocket. One never knew when more money was needed.
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Bellatrix looked down upon the first planet that she was set to conquer, and felt… disappointed. From what she had read, the planet of Bandomeer was one a lush and garden-like world, until Republic miners discovered the rich deposits of ionite ore, an extremely rare and valuable material that was able to interfere with energy shielding of all types; potentially a most useful substance to experiment with for the war ahead, if Bellatrix said so herself.
Sadly, the world was now completely covered in strip mines and most of its former beauty was all but gone, but such was the way of progress. The only real downside was the there was only one city on the entire face of the planet, Bandor, and even that only held a minor force to keep control of the planet. Therefore, in a rare moment of mercy, Bellatrix decided to simply fly down amid an escort of her finest soldiers and Dark Adepts, and demand control of the planet directly rather than take it by force.
She had little cause for worry that the Republic would push to protect this little world, when they had so many others that were more immediately important, albeit less valuable, to protect. The dozen shuttles flew down almost lazily to the main plaza of the city, completely ignoring the air traffic controllers trying to herald them to the various spaceports for docking. Bellatrix's own landed directly in front of the rather meager Government facility, that at least had a good view of the now heavily polluted sea, which only covered half the planet.
Walking steadily out of the shuttle behind her escort, Bellatrix watched as the civilians realized just who and what had appeared on the doorsteps, and started to flee in a panic. She let them, not concerned in the least about the massive number of native Meerians, or heaven forbid the peace-loving Ithorians, would rise up and fight back. It was a laughable thought, which was why Bellatrix had no hesitance in marching directly to the government facility and demanding entrance.
Ironically, it seemed that those within the building had yet to even notice the invasion fleet overhead, or the ground forces assembling in front of the building, as no one reacted when Bellatrix and her immediate guard marched inside, weapons drawn and eye darting about for any signs of hostility.
"Welcome to Bandor, how might we be of assistance to you?" a receptionist said cheerily, standing from his desk and smiling at Bellatrix. It was only somewhat off-putting, but the witch took the strangeness in stride.
"I demand to speak with the planetary governor." She said haughtily, but the receptionist only smiled.
"Certainly, let me check his schedule and we'll get a time arranged for a meeting as soon as possible." he responded, but Bellatrix stopped him by slamming a hand onto his desk, only partially startling the people in the room.
"It might have escaped your notice," Bellatrix said, her gaze flittering around the room at all those who were now paying attention, "but I'm here with a fleet of Imperial warships overhead, and I demand to speak with your leader regarding the surrender of your world, now!"
The reaction was almost amusing. Many of the natives rushed to the windows, staring up at the orbiting ships in disbelief, while a fair few more glanced outside at the assembled warriors. The man directly in front of Bellatrix was frozen in fear of her, and the witch was half tempted to use her wand on the man just to snap him out of his shock. "Fine," she said after a moment, shoving past the receptionist herself, "if you're too incompetent, I'll find the leader myself, and trash anything and kill anyone that gets in my way."
Suddenly the path ahead was completely clear, as the workers immediately ran for the safety of the other offices, leaving a wide space open for Bellatrix and her guard toward a larger set of doors that seemed to open to some sort of meeting room.
Apparently the Meerian leader was deep in talks with several of the mining companies that worked on the planet's surface, as there were a fair few other people in the office with the man, as well as several holograms for those off world, but all talk ceased when Bellatrix kicked in the door viciously.
"So good to have you all here at one time," she said with false sincerity, swaggering in with her Dark Adept guards, their sabers in hand but extinguished for the moment. "I've come to just let you know that the Sith Empire has arrived, and will be taking control of your world. All your profits and ore deposits are now rightful resources for the Empire, and will be confiscated as such. You cooperation, naturally, is expected upon pain of death." she announced to the room at large.
And just as expected, the firestorm it set off was spectacular. "This is a brilliant display, Minister HerZin," one of the corporate leaders of the mining companies said angrily, overlooking Bellatrix and her Dark Adepts completely, "staging a hostile takeover to try and worm your way out of this important business deal, but we will not be fooled, you will… ack!"
The man clutched at his throat as, not some invisible force, but a literal whip appeared around his neck, springing from Bellatrix's wand. "I believe you are mistaking greatly when you think this is some sort of stunt…" she said sickeningly, even as the Dark Adepts ignited their weapons, sending a collective flinch throughout the assembled humans and Meerlins.
With a sharp tug, Bellatrix sent the man she had ensnared crashing to the floor, and placed the heel of her boot upon him, emphasizing the point. "Shall I take your actions as defiance of the new order of business on this world? Or does anyone else here need further proof that the Neo-Sith Empire is not in control?"
The silence that dominated the room was pleasing. "Good…" she said briskly, removing her boot from the man's body, "then all of you get out of this office, the Minister and I have to have a little chat…"
The holograms shut off instantly, and those physically in the room bolted for the door, skirting widely around the crimson blades of the two Dark Adepts that flanked the wide doors. Once the last had left, they closed said doors, allowing a minor amount of privacy to what was about to come to pass.
"Well, Minister HerZan was it?" Bellatrix said coolly, turning to face him while twirling a finger in her hair, "I have come quite a long way to meet with you, and discuss the future options of your planet."
The man remained seated where he was, clearly too mortified to react, but otherwise listening. "You have a few options to consider," Bellatrix continued, taking a seat in front of his desk and lounging seductively, although she wasn't sure how well the posture would be translated to the other near-human. "First, you can side openly with the Neo-Sith Empire, giving you full cooperation to our war engine, and supplying our forces with your rare materials, and in return receiving a full and equal membership in the Empire, complete with all the benefits one would expect from a loyal and trusted system." She started, ticking the options off her free hand with her wand,
"Or, you could try and remain neutral, and we conquer your world, possibly injuring and killing many people as we take your resources by force. Sure you'll be able to try and fight back, but you'll just end up destroyed…" she added, examining her nails, before glancing up at the male Meerlin with narrowed eyes.
She smirked at the pale look in the Minister's eyes, "Then of course, there's trying to call upon the Republic for aid, which won't come naturally, but you can always remain steadfastly in their pocket, in which case we will simply obliterate your entire society, and establish our own in its ruin, and continue on our merry way as though nothing of substance happened…"
Minister HerZan swallowed loudly, the first noise he had made since Bellatrix had entered his office. Standing and slowly dusting herself off, as though the chair had been filthy, Bellatrix stepped toward the desk before sitting upon it, "So, Minister, what is your decision?"
The pale eyes glanced downward, before flicking toward each of the Dark Adepts flanking the only exit to the room, before the man's head sagged in defeat, "We will surrender ourselves to the Empire, in exchange for full membership and protections that it promises…"
"Oh good, I thought you might see it our way, in the end…" Bellatrix said, inwardly annoyed that she didn't even have to torture anyone to end this conflict, but another world taken was another world, regardless of how simple it was.
Lifting her comlink, Bellatrix chimed in to the bridge of the Krayt Dragon, "Admiral, this is Bellatrix…"
"Commander LeStrange, how goes the negations?" the female Twi'lek's voice sounded in reply.
"They have concluded, and the system is ours. You may send down the garrison to set itself up in the capital city, and we shall return soon. Prepare to depart for the next system." Bellatrix said, winking at the Minister as she strutted back to the door and out of the office entirely. The two Dark Adepts followed in her wake.
The rest of the Meerlins in the government building were still trying to merge with the walls to stay as far from her entourage as possible, but Bellatrix ignored the whimpering fools. She was over this world already, and ready to move on to a real challenge, one that she might actually get to engage in some violence to subdue. That was why the Emperor had selected her no doubt, for her combat prowess and abilities to command while in the heat of a battle.
As she exited the building and spotted all the troops starting to file back into their shuttles, she could also see the much larger transport brining down the droids, soldiers and officials that would be building and maintaining the Imperial garrison on this newly controlled world.
She wondered briefly how long the Minister would stay in power before being disposed for an Imperial ruler. She had already forgotten the man's name, so it probably wouldn't be terribly long. Sheep-like beings like these were so easily dominated and forced to adapt to new ways that it would be overwhelmingly easy to bend and twist their wills into serving the Empire, perhaps even willingly in due time. Still, Bellatrix was more than glad to be leaving already, as it proved to be a long and terribly boring time if she had had to stay and work on reforming this world's people to their mindset. Combat sang in her blood, and she would much rather be seeking the next conquest to participate in, for the glory of her Emperor.