[The closing days of 17 BBY]

[Singing Mountain, Dathomir, Dathomir system, Quelli Sector, Outer Rim Territories]

Talzin, Nightsister Shaman, Clan Mother, loathed being here, but there was the small consolation that her hosts loathed her presence almost as much, or more, than she having to meet here. Singing Mountain Clan held dominance amongst the clans, and the young upstart Augwynne Djo's position secure enough to be considered 'Queen of Dathomir' by her allies. In other times Talzin would both verbally, and violently, oppose such nonsense claims….but these were not other times unfortunately. The fact that Spider Clan were here under Sacred Truce was sign enough of that. Everyone despised Spider Clan, Talzin included, but needs must she reminded herself with distaste.

For, suddenly, their visions had snapped into sudden clarity, of what could have been, and could yet be…

Dathomir shorn of all Sisters, all Clans, even the Nightbrothers, the slaves, the memory of Dathomir…

Of tides of metal legions, or of outsiders in white armour, of betrayal, of nightmarish plague that brought undeath, and brought upon a purging…

None left alive but a child and a Jedi child according to old Daka…

So Talzin, Clan Mother of the Nightsister, Mother of Mothers of the all the Dark Clans, had bitten down upon her pride and ensured this Clan Meet came together. Oh, the attack by Dooku, by the Sith and their cybernetic monster, had force them all to react and send out some small clusters. Though, in part, she knew that these bitches had only done so as they sought to spite her success by gaining a foothold outside of Dathomir with Maul and Savage Oppress, even if they were Nightbrothers. They were jealous of her, and sought to spite her efforts, but, now, they all were Seeing, and now it was not just spite but fear that drove many to this place, to this gathering of Clan Mothers.

"Talzin" and here came Augwynne Djo seeking to assert her dominance "I would welcome you, but you have brought darkness and death to our clanholds it seems with your efforts"

"Oh?" she replied just as snidely, but calmly, coldly "Perhaps you mean I have brought life and survival to Dathomir with mine own efforts. For the Sith came and forced our younglings from us, and, for Dathomir, I paid that price. For Dathomir I sought allies for when death came for us. Your clans did not suffer losses, mine paid in blood!"

Surprisingly it was Amaya Kyeri, clan mother of Howling Crag Clan, who voiced agreement with this, though distaste in her mouth even so "This is so, and our sister seers have seen what comes…what could come, and pointless bickering aids our cause little. Nor does it lessen the time we must spend together. Best that we be swift and decisive…and be gone to our holds"

"Gone from Dathomir for some" the Spider Bitch, Kyrisa, once of the blood of the Nightsister Clan, said softly, questioningly "For that is what is asked, no? And has not the Nightsisters already overstepped? And have not you, Raining Leaves, and Broken Columns, hmm?"

"Efforts are being made to survive by Nightsister Clan" Talzin answered coldly "No longer do the Jedi stand watch and imprison us. No longer do the Sith sulk in the shadows and plot. War consumes, times change, and we must grow, or die, with them"

She did not speak that she, Talzin, and her Clan, were now the keeper of gates to many such places by ways of her dealings, and they all knew this. Speaking such aloud would only weaken her position after all. Maul was….still being Maul, but his madness was being lessened by her efforts, though it was grating having to allow him such power of his own. That was unnatural, just as Mandalore was unnatural, and dealing with them was difficult and confusing at times. It, at the least, a clan-based society, so there had been room to deal, even with the menagerie that had arrived there as the galaxy burned.

Kyrisa maintained that blank, cold, face "Is that so?"

"We are all in that raft Spider Clan" Augwynne Djo cut back "The Nightsisters seek to elevate themselves above us all"

"We Nightsisters seek to survive and grow strong" Talzin argued back calmly "That we have been swifter of foot does not make us wrong. Our clan would encourage all clans to consider such as we, and other clans, have considered, and then sought out. All clans know of the Dreaming, of the Walking Death, of the Death of Dathomir that could come if we do not act"

Spider Clan paused, sighed "Act, act, act! We are of Dathomir, and not all would easily serve in the stars beyond"

"I hardly see you letting any male putting you…in your place as it were Spider Clan" Augwynne Djo replied back, earning a few barely concealed signs of amusement, even the spider bitch giving a snort and roll of the eyes "But, yes, the Jedi are broken, but they gather together again as always, and others our destruction, even yours. Still, only those of…certain temperament are best suited to leave this sacred world. Easy for you Talzin, with a Daughter of your Clan upon her own world, and a son upon another"

"Taken from us they were, then rose in suffering, in strength, as is the way of our clan" Talzin stated back "Yet neither Mandalore nor Eriadu are friendly to our ideals either"

Amaya Kymeri waved that away "One is our shield, the other distant, but a distant shelter perhaps, and none of my clan would shelter under the skirts of a Nightsister…"

'But you want gates unbarred too' Talzin heard as they babbled and growled at her, and each other. Fear was both a weakness and a motivator for survival, and Sidious….Sidious had almost taken everything from her. And from them. So Talzin could use that fear. Manipulate that fear. Because her enemies could be there enemies, and that….that brought her one step closer to revenge. Sweet, wonderful, revenge for his betrayal, for what had stolen from her, and had also stolen. Vengeance would be hers…

--

[The closing days of 17 BBY]

[Prototype Testbed Star Destroyer, Unnamed-class, Designated Veni-B/1 Project in orbit, Mustafar, Mustafar System, Atravis Sector, Western Approaches, Outer Rim Territories]

"…and I want Section Chiefs to collate all data for analysis for the next meeting" Galen Erso finished his instructions to the various department heads and maintenance crew chiefs present on the bridge of the Star Destroyer Prototype "If there any difficulties or any fluctuations I want to know about them before we start running more active tests. Is that understood?"

There was a chorus of 'ayes' at that, and with that done Galen sent the two dozen or so 'senior' managers off to do what he'd told them, all while being monitored from the messy bridge here, deep in the bowels of the mile long vessel. It was impossible not have the place feeling cluttered and 'messy' as Orson called it, as there was so much testing equipment secured in place, and most of the systems weren't quite the right size, and often swapped out for different tasks. Which was all without the large crew here, along with droids, present to get the thing operational, and then to ensure safe testing conditions.

'It is a bit on the design too I think' he mused refilling a mug of kaff and grabbing at the snacks available, noting another few hours to go till he could get to his family. Unlike the very spacious bridges on a Venator-class, or the Victory-class, this new design's bridge was slightly smaller…or, to be more exact, intended to be more 'cluttered' in terms of military equipment and such. Which wasn't here at the moment, and with the extra technical units it was messing up the improved design and dataflow based on multiple combat engagements during the war. Modular…

Galen gave a silent chuckle of amusement at that as he filled his mug. In most regards this 'new design' was amazingly unimaginative on all their parts in that it was simply a larger Venator-class with lessons learned from the few Victory-class they had available. That, but mostly from the War, and what resources were commonly available in the Outer Rim…there Galen's friend Orson's genius, slash, maniac obsessiveness, had shined in creating a baseline based on such things. The government had wanted…were mildly obsessed really…in their orders to create somewhat modular designs, or 'standardised' as it was called, because 'resource and production maximisation' was vital.

'Meaning we're not Kuat or Corellia. Specialised production is spread out. Make assembly, ease of it, a priority, along with durability and maintenance. No jack of all trade Venators please' he thought with a shake of his head, returning to study the dataflows so far once again. Technically there were two ships, two Star Destroyer classes, intended to emerge from this, maybe more potentially, but right now it was aimed for a heavily armoured carrier and a heavily armoured battlecruiser. Which meant a larger, up-armoured, up-gunned, Venator Mark Two, and, essentially, taking the Victory and Venerable classes, mushing them together, and making them up-gunned, up-armoured…

'Oh, and basically buildable around the same cores' he sipped his kaff, amused 'Because that was easy. Sure'

Still…it seemed to be achievable as, despite losing several advanced systems due to loss of Core production, the new class(es) were focused warships. The A model was a highly focused battlecruiser, intended almost solely for engaging and destroying forces in space combat, and dealing with starfighter swarms with the new, integrated, space defence system. That also didn't have a name yet, but Galen was sure it'd get one…eventually anyway. Removing such things as ground troops deployment, and large hanger bays from the battlecruiser, along with the reverse from the battlecarrier, should make these very effective vessels. At least he hoped they would when they were built.

The pressures of the war, even if peace had been declared, and the need to replace the, often ancient, fleets of the Outer Rim meant they had several projects to deal with. It was ironic then to Galen that it was the larger vessels, the Star Destroyers, that were being given both the least imagination, but also the most intense refinement instead. Especially considering the 'Heavy Cruiser Project', the Hammerhead II, was getting some fairly radical considerations for a 'siege weapon' mount, even if the Dreadnought-class and Providence-class upgrades would be the Hammerhead design's testbeds first. Even if some were mocking of the 'short of advanced R …sure, let's just throw rocks at the enemy then!' approach suggested, there were advantages with specialised munitions….and easily available resources.

It was a sad fact that the war had revealed a great deal of data to analyse, along with improvements, such as turbolaser position and angle sloping, that could make significant differences in performance. The Venerable-class was effectively a match a Victory-class for instance, despite being slightly less well armoured and still retaining a larger hanger bay simply by a spinal position of heavy turbolasers. Useful to know when the Venerable also used slightly less resources than the Victory…and that was what the likes of the Tarkins wanted out here. There was a great deal of shipyard production out on the Mid and Outer Rim, but it wasn't on the same concentrated scale as the Core systems. Modular, rugged, easy to maintain. Those were the goals, and Galen felt they were getting there at the least. Even if they'd soon have to waste time on fancy visits to Eriadu itself most likely…

--