Funnily enough, in Legends they do combine Ryll with bacta to make a superior version to fight a bioweapon. You know some Biologis will want to go to Ryloth to check out Ryll regardless.
The Prince of Profit (Star Wars x 40k/Rogue Trader)
- Thread starter Kadaeux
- Start date
- Crossover
deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
Could even head to Manaan and trade for Kolto pretty easily, they're basically a backwater at this point, so they a beneficial deal could be reached easily. Modern Kolto is somewhat less effective than Bacta, but it's still very similar, and purer Kolto is actually more effective than Bacta, even if you would have to be careful with the ecology as Kolto is harvested, not synthesized.
Chapter 53; A New Law
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
Chapter 53;
A New Law
The Action IV drifted, it's distress alarms screaming into the void as its gunners tried, with limited ability, to stand up and fight off the pirates that had descended upon it, with the central power of the Hutts broken far too many groups had decided unilaterally that now was the time for them to declare themselves the next generation of pirate kings. "Bendis! How long until that hyperdrive motivator is repaired?"
There was a bark of nonhuman speech as the verpine engineer barked back something at him that was not translated, and he felt it was best if it were not. He decided not to ask again as he tried to re-acquire a lock on a pirate with the concussion missile launcher. "Sithspawn! Hold still you Hutt cloaca licking frogdog."
The ship rocked as another pair of laser blasts slammed into it. He fought with the controls of the launcher. "Where are my shields!" A Sullustan said some extremely unflattering things about his parentage in response. No shields. Got it. He thought to himself as he finally got good tone allowing him to stab the trigger throwing two concussion missiles into space. "Anyone got odds on us getting help?"
"You didn't install the weapons because we were going through CorSec space." Came the answer from the actual XO of the ship, a Corellian woman. And damn it if she wasn't right.
"Well, we can't reach this 'Imperium' and buy some Lasguns without taking the risk!" He snapped back, "And don't say anything about odds, you know neither of us belie.."
"Incoming hyperspace tracks?" She said suddenly...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The swirling tunnel of hyperspace disappeared as they reverted to realspace and Flight Captain Andrius Van Dool checked over his systems as he looked nervously at the new systems. But the reaction jets flickered perfectly, the new reactor hummed somewhere in the belly of the beast and the scream of the new ion drives that had replaced the massive turbofans was blocked only mostly by his audio suppressors. He activated the communications. "This is Imperial Patrol Annihilator Squadron. Surrender and be destroyed."
There was a pause, a hesitation as the pirates attacking milled confused for a moment, aborting attack runs, allowing missiles fired from the ship to catch up to on unlucky pilot and scattering his atoms across space. Then the communique came back. "Don't you mean Surrender OR be destroyed?"
A flicked finger armed the Thunderbolts weapons. "No." The four multilasers that had replaced the autocannons came to power followed by the pair of lascannons above them. And then. All six of the Void Killer missiles under his wings.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Look at these bloody idiots! They can't even get the ultimatum right! Let's clean up before they can phon..." He stopped as he saw his scanner. The squadron that had arrived to assist the ship was almost forty strong. And while the gravity well of the moon that kept the ship trapped now kept them trapped. And his squadron of mismatched fighters taken from wherever they could be found or stolen only numbered fifteen. He turned to the navigator. "Climb! Get all the engines on this bitch burning, and inform the fighters I want a solid cover until we escape the gravity well."
"Missile launches!" The cry came up and he snarled, the enemy fighters were twenty five kilometres away! They couldn't have launched missiles. But the missiles fell through the gravity of the moon anyway towards his craft as they began climbing. He frowned as the gunners continued firing at the Action IV with the turbolasers.
"Adjust course, I don't want that bastard to get concussion locks on us." The enemy craft continued to fall on them and then the first blossoms of fire filled space, the missiles launched by their attackers did not come around if they overshot their targets, simply self-destructing to try and catch them in a storm of shrapnel. The problem from his point of view was that a large number of those missiles were wearing down the forward shield of his ship
"At least they're not proton torpedoes!" One crewman observed and he nodded before catching himself. Proton torpedoes fired from twenty five kilometres away wouldn't have been any threat to him. "Another hyperspace track." The words came quieter, almost unmentioned. "It looks like a corvette."
"Keep on course, once we are free of the gravity well initiate a four second blind jump, then change course and begin another microjump. We can all rendevous at the Pirates Booty." He ordered, and with precision his comms officer relayed the orders.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The pirate vessel was a stolen Y-wing that some edgy teenage pilot had decided to weld a pointless array of spikes and blades to, if they had been home it would not have looked out of place among a chaos cultists panopoly. Fortunately for their soul they weren't back home.
Unfortunately for them, they were in his crosshairs. And while the twin laser cannon fire struck his shields all four multilasers spun up and filled an arc ahead of him with lambent death its shields glowing, turning a cherry red then failing. A flick of his finger switched to lascannons and a stab of the trigger fired both weapons as they burned through the head and cockpit of the enemy craft before touching off its reactor sending a wave of debris ahead of the short-lived, and oxygen starved, fireball that was forced to feed off of the limited oxygen in its cockpit.
He heard a curse across the comms, there were two and a half Thunderbolts per enemy fighter. They did not stand any chance. Crashing waves of multilaser fire intersected on one craft, a N-1 starfighter that had been heavily modified, and as he had, once its shields failed its attackers switched to lascannon and burned it to ashes.
One of the pirates ejected from his craft as laser fire chewed it from aft to fore only for another Thunderbolt to gun down the pilot with multilasers. He turned back towards the Pirate corvette and smiled as he saw what was going to happen next....
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Terror filled his soul as they burned up... and the Imperial corvette burned down. The Boxy craft was shielded heavily and the turbolasers now focussing on it were having difficulty coming to bear, and the reason wasn't all that hard to understand. It was charging at them head first. The slab sided prow aimed straight at the bridge of his CR-90. "Helm, can you NOT charge that thing head on!?"
"Uhm... technically, no sir... it's adjusting course to match us."
The shields on the craft collapsed under the turbolaser fire and... the ship closed. And on getting closer, the glare that had obscured their vision was cleared as the craft obscured the sun with its body and terror filled his soul.
"COME ABOUT! COME ABOUT NO..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Shark Assault Boat slammed into the nose of the CR-90 at enough of a closing velocity that the hydraulic rams slammed home into the craft even as its nose began to crumple under the violent connection of the boarding vessel. Atmosphere hissed out as the magna-melta cutters engaged for a moment and the assault airgate was extended.
The Flight Captain smiled at the sight. "Look at that boys, Imperial justice. Delivered straight to their faces."
A New Law
The Action IV drifted, it's distress alarms screaming into the void as its gunners tried, with limited ability, to stand up and fight off the pirates that had descended upon it, with the central power of the Hutts broken far too many groups had decided unilaterally that now was the time for them to declare themselves the next generation of pirate kings. "Bendis! How long until that hyperdrive motivator is repaired?"
There was a bark of nonhuman speech as the verpine engineer barked back something at him that was not translated, and he felt it was best if it were not. He decided not to ask again as he tried to re-acquire a lock on a pirate with the concussion missile launcher. "Sithspawn! Hold still you Hutt cloaca licking frogdog."
The ship rocked as another pair of laser blasts slammed into it. He fought with the controls of the launcher. "Where are my shields!" A Sullustan said some extremely unflattering things about his parentage in response. No shields. Got it. He thought to himself as he finally got good tone allowing him to stab the trigger throwing two concussion missiles into space. "Anyone got odds on us getting help?"
"You didn't install the weapons because we were going through CorSec space." Came the answer from the actual XO of the ship, a Corellian woman. And damn it if she wasn't right.
"Well, we can't reach this 'Imperium' and buy some Lasguns without taking the risk!" He snapped back, "And don't say anything about odds, you know neither of us belie.."
"Incoming hyperspace tracks?" She said suddenly...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The swirling tunnel of hyperspace disappeared as they reverted to realspace and Flight Captain Andrius Van Dool checked over his systems as he looked nervously at the new systems. But the reaction jets flickered perfectly, the new reactor hummed somewhere in the belly of the beast and the scream of the new ion drives that had replaced the massive turbofans was blocked only mostly by his audio suppressors. He activated the communications. "This is Imperial Patrol Annihilator Squadron. Surrender and be destroyed."
There was a pause, a hesitation as the pirates attacking milled confused for a moment, aborting attack runs, allowing missiles fired from the ship to catch up to on unlucky pilot and scattering his atoms across space. Then the communique came back. "Don't you mean Surrender OR be destroyed?"
A flicked finger armed the Thunderbolts weapons. "No." The four multilasers that had replaced the autocannons came to power followed by the pair of lascannons above them. And then. All six of the Void Killer missiles under his wings.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Look at these bloody idiots! They can't even get the ultimatum right! Let's clean up before they can phon..." He stopped as he saw his scanner. The squadron that had arrived to assist the ship was almost forty strong. And while the gravity well of the moon that kept the ship trapped now kept them trapped. And his squadron of mismatched fighters taken from wherever they could be found or stolen only numbered fifteen. He turned to the navigator. "Climb! Get all the engines on this bitch burning, and inform the fighters I want a solid cover until we escape the gravity well."
"Missile launches!" The cry came up and he snarled, the enemy fighters were twenty five kilometres away! They couldn't have launched missiles. But the missiles fell through the gravity of the moon anyway towards his craft as they began climbing. He frowned as the gunners continued firing at the Action IV with the turbolasers.
"Adjust course, I don't want that bastard to get concussion locks on us." The enemy craft continued to fall on them and then the first blossoms of fire filled space, the missiles launched by their attackers did not come around if they overshot their targets, simply self-destructing to try and catch them in a storm of shrapnel. The problem from his point of view was that a large number of those missiles were wearing down the forward shield of his ship
"At least they're not proton torpedoes!" One crewman observed and he nodded before catching himself. Proton torpedoes fired from twenty five kilometres away wouldn't have been any threat to him. "Another hyperspace track." The words came quieter, almost unmentioned. "It looks like a corvette."
"Keep on course, once we are free of the gravity well initiate a four second blind jump, then change course and begin another microjump. We can all rendevous at the Pirates Booty." He ordered, and with precision his comms officer relayed the orders.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The pirate vessel was a stolen Y-wing that some edgy teenage pilot had decided to weld a pointless array of spikes and blades to, if they had been home it would not have looked out of place among a chaos cultists panopoly. Fortunately for their soul they weren't back home.
Unfortunately for them, they were in his crosshairs. And while the twin laser cannon fire struck his shields all four multilasers spun up and filled an arc ahead of him with lambent death its shields glowing, turning a cherry red then failing. A flick of his finger switched to lascannons and a stab of the trigger fired both weapons as they burned through the head and cockpit of the enemy craft before touching off its reactor sending a wave of debris ahead of the short-lived, and oxygen starved, fireball that was forced to feed off of the limited oxygen in its cockpit.
He heard a curse across the comms, there were two and a half Thunderbolts per enemy fighter. They did not stand any chance. Crashing waves of multilaser fire intersected on one craft, a N-1 starfighter that had been heavily modified, and as he had, once its shields failed its attackers switched to lascannon and burned it to ashes.
One of the pirates ejected from his craft as laser fire chewed it from aft to fore only for another Thunderbolt to gun down the pilot with multilasers. He turned back towards the Pirate corvette and smiled as he saw what was going to happen next....
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Terror filled his soul as they burned up... and the Imperial corvette burned down. The Boxy craft was shielded heavily and the turbolasers now focussing on it were having difficulty coming to bear, and the reason wasn't all that hard to understand. It was charging at them head first. The slab sided prow aimed straight at the bridge of his CR-90. "Helm, can you NOT charge that thing head on!?"
"Uhm... technically, no sir... it's adjusting course to match us."
The shields on the craft collapsed under the turbolaser fire and... the ship closed. And on getting closer, the glare that had obscured their vision was cleared as the craft obscured the sun with its body and terror filled his soul.
"COME ABOUT! COME ABOUT NO..."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Shark Assault Boat slammed into the nose of the CR-90 at enough of a closing velocity that the hydraulic rams slammed home into the craft even as its nose began to crumple under the violent connection of the boarding vessel. Atmosphere hissed out as the magna-melta cutters engaged for a moment and the assault airgate was extended.
The Flight Captain smiled at the sight. "Look at that boys, Imperial justice. Delivered straight to their faces."
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
I have noticed quite strangely that there's actually a falloff of comments on weekends compared to weekdays.
Ahh, Imperial Ship design and combat doctrine at its finest. When in doubt, engage in melee.
Thank you for the new chapter, keep up the good work.
If I had to guess, its because most of us have a good idea of when you usually post and only check the thread during those times
Chapter 54; Stocks and Fortunes
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
Chapter 54;
Stocks and Fortunes
Nute Gunray stood in his chambers studying the screens occupying the walls. For all that must be done to maintain power, few appreciated truly the economic aspects of their role, and he wondered at this peculiar weakness when the Confederacy was built on the backs of so many corporate entities. There were no shortages of dangers involved in the economics, especially during wartime.
And yet. Something had been shifting and changing the dynamics of the equations. Luxuries and military stocks were flourishing around the galaxy, it was a good time to be in either industry. Medical stocks were also a viable investment. Less valuable stocks and products were seeing their values tank as galactic transshipment of them became less desirable as the risk to move them outweighed their value in trade. He squinted more than usual. There was something strange with the economy.
His intelligence people had been working magic to get as much information as they had but...
The door opened and a younger Nemoidian entered, passing him a dataslate before backing out without saying a word, it was that which cued him into the more important nature of the communications. He frowned as he keyed on the screen and began to scroll through the data, data he had bribed an extraordinary amount of people for. And he saw why values were being affected the way they were.
House Hydraxius wasn't just buying material and technology. They were actually engaged in other markets now. Investments in MandalMotors, Seinar Fleet Systems, Kuat Drive Yards, the Corellian Engineering Corporation, Incom, the Haor Chall Engineering Corporation, Hoersch-Kessel Drive... weapons manufacturers, starship manufacturers, mining concerns, agricultural combines.
The investments did not seem too significant on the face of things, if that had been all it was it was doubtful it would have produced the effect it was having. For all their technology and power their level of influence was still somewhat trivial and he suspected if they made a concerted effort it would take little to stamp them out.
But it was influence. And in their short time in the galaxy they were already stamping their mark on the face of it. Others were noticing the investments and following suit, leading to sharper turns in stocks than should have been expected. But the pattern of investment was of more interest to him.
A casual observer might remark that they were all sensible investments in a galaxy which was engaged in a civil war. But he was not a casual observer. These investments were leveraging them into positions that would grant them access. Was he seeing the beginnings of plans for hostile takeovers? Even with their technology and rejuvenat he doubted that they had anything like the capital to make a serious attempt at that.
Or were they testing their influence? Were they too, as he was, observing how other markets reacted to their purchases and studying how many bought stocks where they had laid down capital? He shuddered. He hoped not, if that kind of action was in thier interest, they could threaten companies simply by selling all of their stock low and causing a panic with those following their lead ditching stocks and wiping off billions of credits of value at a conservative estimate. But the numbers were too low for attempts to aim at a seat on the board of directors for almost any of the corporations...
He began searching the intelligence files for anything that seemed to stand out in particular. But nothing stuck out at first look, it all appeared to be entirely above board and without anything particularly troubling or out of place. Technology firms, biomedical groups, engineering companies, survey groups...
He cursed and tossed the report onto the pile and picked up the next. One that stopped him for a moment. The prior report covered stock and publicly traded information. The buy and sell of stock on publicly traded exchanges. This report came from one of his more... covert... employees. A spy he had in the banking clans monitoring persons of interest, and the IGBC was one of the major exchanges that House Hydraxius was trading through.
There were no major moves like that they were observing with the stocks. But his spy rapidly decided to report on a series of oddities. They were investing in a number of well outfitted survey groups with excellent reputations, not buying anything as crude as stock, but buying the human run companies wholesale.
He pressed an intercom. "Saum, I want you to investigate further on Report ID; L33T-TR4D35."
"Sir? What information do you need?" Saum answered from her reception desk.
"I want to know about these survey groups, and what they are now being employed to survey. According to the report House Hydraxius has purchased over sixty small time survey groups with excellent reputations, and cancelled all standing contracts." He explained and waited for Saum's answer, she was smart. Far smarter than he gave her due credit for.
"Yes sir. I'll see what I can find out about what, and where, they're surveying now. I'm sure they have some crew who feel talkative with a few lum ales." She answered and the intercom clicked.
He leaned back, studied the first report more... and placed a few hedges on stocks the Imperial seemed to favour.
Stocks and Fortunes
Nute Gunray stood in his chambers studying the screens occupying the walls. For all that must be done to maintain power, few appreciated truly the economic aspects of their role, and he wondered at this peculiar weakness when the Confederacy was built on the backs of so many corporate entities. There were no shortages of dangers involved in the economics, especially during wartime.
And yet. Something had been shifting and changing the dynamics of the equations. Luxuries and military stocks were flourishing around the galaxy, it was a good time to be in either industry. Medical stocks were also a viable investment. Less valuable stocks and products were seeing their values tank as galactic transshipment of them became less desirable as the risk to move them outweighed their value in trade. He squinted more than usual. There was something strange with the economy.
His intelligence people had been working magic to get as much information as they had but...
The door opened and a younger Nemoidian entered, passing him a dataslate before backing out without saying a word, it was that which cued him into the more important nature of the communications. He frowned as he keyed on the screen and began to scroll through the data, data he had bribed an extraordinary amount of people for. And he saw why values were being affected the way they were.
House Hydraxius wasn't just buying material and technology. They were actually engaged in other markets now. Investments in MandalMotors, Seinar Fleet Systems, Kuat Drive Yards, the Corellian Engineering Corporation, Incom, the Haor Chall Engineering Corporation, Hoersch-Kessel Drive... weapons manufacturers, starship manufacturers, mining concerns, agricultural combines.
The investments did not seem too significant on the face of things, if that had been all it was it was doubtful it would have produced the effect it was having. For all their technology and power their level of influence was still somewhat trivial and he suspected if they made a concerted effort it would take little to stamp them out.
But it was influence. And in their short time in the galaxy they were already stamping their mark on the face of it. Others were noticing the investments and following suit, leading to sharper turns in stocks than should have been expected. But the pattern of investment was of more interest to him.
A casual observer might remark that they were all sensible investments in a galaxy which was engaged in a civil war. But he was not a casual observer. These investments were leveraging them into positions that would grant them access. Was he seeing the beginnings of plans for hostile takeovers? Even with their technology and rejuvenat he doubted that they had anything like the capital to make a serious attempt at that.
Or were they testing their influence? Were they too, as he was, observing how other markets reacted to their purchases and studying how many bought stocks where they had laid down capital? He shuddered. He hoped not, if that kind of action was in thier interest, they could threaten companies simply by selling all of their stock low and causing a panic with those following their lead ditching stocks and wiping off billions of credits of value at a conservative estimate. But the numbers were too low for attempts to aim at a seat on the board of directors for almost any of the corporations...
He began searching the intelligence files for anything that seemed to stand out in particular. But nothing stuck out at first look, it all appeared to be entirely above board and without anything particularly troubling or out of place. Technology firms, biomedical groups, engineering companies, survey groups...
He cursed and tossed the report onto the pile and picked up the next. One that stopped him for a moment. The prior report covered stock and publicly traded information. The buy and sell of stock on publicly traded exchanges. This report came from one of his more... covert... employees. A spy he had in the banking clans monitoring persons of interest, and the IGBC was one of the major exchanges that House Hydraxius was trading through.
There were no major moves like that they were observing with the stocks. But his spy rapidly decided to report on a series of oddities. They were investing in a number of well outfitted survey groups with excellent reputations, not buying anything as crude as stock, but buying the human run companies wholesale.
He pressed an intercom. "Saum, I want you to investigate further on Report ID; L33T-TR4D35."
"Sir? What information do you need?" Saum answered from her reception desk.
"I want to know about these survey groups, and what they are now being employed to survey. According to the report House Hydraxius has purchased over sixty small time survey groups with excellent reputations, and cancelled all standing contracts." He explained and waited for Saum's answer, she was smart. Far smarter than he gave her due credit for.
"Yes sir. I'll see what I can find out about what, and where, they're surveying now. I'm sure they have some crew who feel talkative with a few lum ales." She answered and the intercom clicked.
He leaned back, studied the first report more... and placed a few hedges on stocks the Imperial seemed to favour.
- Location
- Madness realms
Can't wait for the Imperium to learn about the sith and think "Wow, these guys had the right idea" or the other way around.
They would hate the Sith. If you pay any attention to the Sith, you'll see they are just like Chaos cultists.
For The Fat Bastard, the Sith Plagues.
For The Crazy Plan Bird, their constant backstabbing and stupidly complicated plots.
For The Blood God, kinda self explanatory, if you look at them fighting. Or just at most Sith really.
And for She Who is Super Thirsty, the ecstatic pleasure they have electrocuting people, killing people and being just plain mean.
There is not a single redeeming quality with the Sith.
- Location
- London, UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
There may be a clue here, but I'm not sure the Nemoidians are equipped to understand it. I am looking forward to seeing House Hydraxius interact with the Tarkins though, that should be fun.
- Location
- Dallas
I think they've burned a lot of bridges when it comes to the Jedi, but they definitely should invest in getting their own force sensitives. If I recall correctly one of the many uses of the force is navigation. Those survey groups would be much more effective with them.
In fact testing the ones they have currently have will probably show some low level force sensitives.
Chapter 55; The Fires of Ryloth Begin
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
Chapter 55;
The Fires of Ryloth Begin
Ryloth burned, an arid barely inhabitable planet and it had quickly begun to turn into one of the key battlezones of the Clone Wars. And it was here that Grievous planned to truly begin shifting the tides of the war. It was also here that Ventress stood studying the information as it came in and wondered why she was being gradually moved out of the inner circles of leadership. And more importantly, Grievous had begun to exert a far greater level of control over the Confederacy's military with the Count's shift in policies and leadership.
This was an anvil that Grievous planned to bloody the Republic on, and it was not hard to see how. A larger fleet had been deployed than the original plans called for, including the Malevolence and her escorts. The Malevolence, seven Lucrehulk Battleships, fifteen Munificents and a short list of other classes were holding the world. Millions of droids had been deployed to the surface and almost ten thousand of Grievous' new Kaleeshi legionnaires along with enough armour to make anyone hesitate. They had prepared about the most powerful fleet that they could muster.
And the force seemed to quiver with terrified anticipation.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." She muttered almost to herself. And then she understood why. Ten Venators crashed into realspace decelerating into their formation outside of engagement range. With the fleet they had this wouldn't have worried her on its own. But with them were a dozen ships of a class she didn't know, they were superficially similar to the Venators, and they were so utterly clean that they could have only just come out of whatever star yard was producing them, they had not even been painted in Republic colours yet. Instead they charged ahead of the Venators. Moving to shield almost twenty four Acclamators that hurtled into realspace far behind them.
"Admiral." A B1 Droid reported. "Sensors are having difficulty with the armour on those new Star Destroyers. They say it matches House Hydraxius armour materials." Her blood went cold.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Launch all fighters and bombers." Admiral Yularen ordered as he stood on the bridge of Anakin's Venator. I want the fighter squadrons from Justice, Peacemaker and Honourable to protect the descent of the Acclamators, all Bombers are to concentrate on the Malevolence." Anakin and Obi-Wan were watching on the holodisplay, refusing to interfere in a battle on this scale. "Victory Class Squadrons are to screen and begin long ranged missile bombardment as soon as possible. Attract the Malevolence's fire."
"Admiral, is that wise?" Obi-wan asked.
"Preliminary testing and studies show that the ceramite armour is exceptionally resistant to ion weaponry and dissipates the effect largely. Systems aren't unaffected, but the ion weapons effects are significantly curtailed and function can be restored easily." He answered. He activated his communications system again, "Let's break them here."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The vessel hung in space almost a twenty million kilometres away from Ryloth. The Ushabti's stealth systems were at full power and nothing the little primitives could do would unveil its position, least of all while they were pre-occupied with annihilating one another over a world of almost no real value to anyone but slavers. The knowledge that the Republic was going to deploy one of its newest warship designs, clad in the armour provided to them by House Hydraxius. The CIS fleet had more of their technology tied up in their ground forces.
~Initiate Battlescape Analysis Engine~ He ordered across the internal subspace networks. Information began to scroll as the powerful sensors of the Shroud class light cruiser began to manipulate the very fabric of reality to obtain information accurate almost to the electron. He was here to supervise and observe, and if necessary, act in order to keep events from spiralling towards a victory for either side.
The request he had received was very clear on the intentions. Lord Hydraxius wanted this to become one of the bloodiest spheres of battle of the Clone Wars. To turn its sands even redder with the blood and oil of its combatants. There can be no victor at Ryloth.
He began to filter the events through his own processes.
Calculating the future.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anakin banked his fighter and rolled onto the rear of a Vulture droid as his laser cannons blew it apart, shunting power to engines to hurl himself away from the purple ring of doom that was the Malevolence's ion cannons. For the first time he was aware of since the inception of the Clone Wars space boiled with droid fighters, the Lucrehulks actually deploying their full capacity. Over ten thousand Vulture droids against the four or five thousand that his own fleet had flung into the black. The Victory class Star Destroyers had surged ahead and their eighty capital concussion missile launchers had launched volleys into the dark and he watched with bated breath as the ion pulse passed over three of the Victories and... though their shields collapsed, the ceramite armour protected the vessels within and their turbolasers continued to fire, if slightly more erratically.
With every breath it seemed like hundreds of fighters were being blown apart or sent rolling through the void powerless as they had the misfortune of passing where the ion cannon blasts from the CIS Capital ship passed over. He snap rolled to the right as his senses screamed at him, avoiding the fire from a tri-fighter.
His comm barked. "Anakin, we're needed on the surface." Obi-wan's voice came through, strained and stressed. There was a long pause. "I think we've made a mistake coming here."
The Fires of Ryloth Begin
Ryloth burned, an arid barely inhabitable planet and it had quickly begun to turn into one of the key battlezones of the Clone Wars. And it was here that Grievous planned to truly begin shifting the tides of the war. It was also here that Ventress stood studying the information as it came in and wondered why she was being gradually moved out of the inner circles of leadership. And more importantly, Grievous had begun to exert a far greater level of control over the Confederacy's military with the Count's shift in policies and leadership.
This was an anvil that Grievous planned to bloody the Republic on, and it was not hard to see how. A larger fleet had been deployed than the original plans called for, including the Malevolence and her escorts. The Malevolence, seven Lucrehulk Battleships, fifteen Munificents and a short list of other classes were holding the world. Millions of droids had been deployed to the surface and almost ten thousand of Grievous' new Kaleeshi legionnaires along with enough armour to make anyone hesitate. They had prepared about the most powerful fleet that they could muster.
And the force seemed to quiver with terrified anticipation.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." She muttered almost to herself. And then she understood why. Ten Venators crashed into realspace decelerating into their formation outside of engagement range. With the fleet they had this wouldn't have worried her on its own. But with them were a dozen ships of a class she didn't know, they were superficially similar to the Venators, and they were so utterly clean that they could have only just come out of whatever star yard was producing them, they had not even been painted in Republic colours yet. Instead they charged ahead of the Venators. Moving to shield almost twenty four Acclamators that hurtled into realspace far behind them.
"Admiral." A B1 Droid reported. "Sensors are having difficulty with the armour on those new Star Destroyers. They say it matches House Hydraxius armour materials." Her blood went cold.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Launch all fighters and bombers." Admiral Yularen ordered as he stood on the bridge of Anakin's Venator. I want the fighter squadrons from Justice, Peacemaker and Honourable to protect the descent of the Acclamators, all Bombers are to concentrate on the Malevolence." Anakin and Obi-Wan were watching on the holodisplay, refusing to interfere in a battle on this scale. "Victory Class Squadrons are to screen and begin long ranged missile bombardment as soon as possible. Attract the Malevolence's fire."
"Admiral, is that wise?" Obi-wan asked.
"Preliminary testing and studies show that the ceramite armour is exceptionally resistant to ion weaponry and dissipates the effect largely. Systems aren't unaffected, but the ion weapons effects are significantly curtailed and function can be restored easily." He answered. He activated his communications system again, "Let's break them here."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The vessel hung in space almost a twenty million kilometres away from Ryloth. The Ushabti's stealth systems were at full power and nothing the little primitives could do would unveil its position, least of all while they were pre-occupied with annihilating one another over a world of almost no real value to anyone but slavers. The knowledge that the Republic was going to deploy one of its newest warship designs, clad in the armour provided to them by House Hydraxius. The CIS fleet had more of their technology tied up in their ground forces.
~Initiate Battlescape Analysis Engine~ He ordered across the internal subspace networks. Information began to scroll as the powerful sensors of the Shroud class light cruiser began to manipulate the very fabric of reality to obtain information accurate almost to the electron. He was here to supervise and observe, and if necessary, act in order to keep events from spiralling towards a victory for either side.
The request he had received was very clear on the intentions. Lord Hydraxius wanted this to become one of the bloodiest spheres of battle of the Clone Wars. To turn its sands even redder with the blood and oil of its combatants. There can be no victor at Ryloth.
He began to filter the events through his own processes.
Calculating the future.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anakin banked his fighter and rolled onto the rear of a Vulture droid as his laser cannons blew it apart, shunting power to engines to hurl himself away from the purple ring of doom that was the Malevolence's ion cannons. For the first time he was aware of since the inception of the Clone Wars space boiled with droid fighters, the Lucrehulks actually deploying their full capacity. Over ten thousand Vulture droids against the four or five thousand that his own fleet had flung into the black. The Victory class Star Destroyers had surged ahead and their eighty capital concussion missile launchers had launched volleys into the dark and he watched with bated breath as the ion pulse passed over three of the Victories and... though their shields collapsed, the ceramite armour protected the vessels within and their turbolasers continued to fire, if slightly more erratically.
With every breath it seemed like hundreds of fighters were being blown apart or sent rolling through the void powerless as they had the misfortune of passing where the ion cannon blasts from the CIS Capital ship passed over. He snap rolled to the right as his senses screamed at him, avoiding the fire from a tri-fighter.
His comm barked. "Anakin, we're needed on the surface." Obi-wan's voice came through, strained and stressed. There was a long pause. "I think we've made a mistake coming here."
Very good thank you for the chapter.
You don't say
Chapter 56; Honour
Kadaeux
Delta Imperator
- Location
- Vortice between realities
Chapter 56;
Honour
"Auspex Contact." The call came from the sensor pit and Arthurius looked up from the datapads in front of him. The last several months had seen a successful expansion of his wealth by trade and where appropriate, the utilisation of calculated force. But more pointedly, space under his auspex was growing safer, with pirate groups traditionally shielded by the Hutts and other criminal groups failing to realise the significance of the shift in fortunes. The shipyards were still refitting a CR-90 that had its snout stove in by the impact of a Shark assault boat. Footage of that boarding action had circulated widely, the look on the face of the Pirate captain when fifty men boarded his vessel through his bridge was priceless. "Within designated Hyperspace Corridor."
The vox officer opened up. "Unidentified vessel, sent vessel transponder and IDs as well as purpose in House Hydraxius space." There was a long pause as the vox officer studied the screens and listened to the response. "Lord Captain, the vessel is a Kom'rk class from Concordia bearing Pre Vizsla of Clan Vizsla and Governor of Mandalore. He requests an audience with you."
"Granted." He answered. "Landing permission for my private landing bay. Eleanora can meet them and bring them to..." He considered the situation, "My private sitting room."
It still baffled him that figures of note travelled on smaller craft in this galaxy, even without war a galaxy rife with pirates hardly made for safe travels. He stood and headed for his staterooms only to be intercepted by Margaretta as she bowed respectfully. Her clothing was more revealing than her normal, and significantly less formal than was standard. Her day off. "My Lord."
"Margaretta, what troubles you?" His Seneschal Primus never bothered him on her day off.
She didn't hesitate, "My Lord, the Kom'rk class is no longer in official production by MandalMotors, since their shift to a pacifist government they no longer produce such an overtly offensive vessel instead favouring vessels that can defend themselves, but are not offensively oriented. This is either an older vessel, or not an official product."
Her familiarity with the subject was not surprising, it had been her work that had prompted his investments into MandalMotors and Mandal Hypernautics. The world and its history was fascinating, even if their descent into cowardly pacifists was sickening. "Assessment?"
"I wish to meet with Pre Vizsla with you sir. I believe we may be seeing... an alternative to pacifism." She explained.
"Get dressed. Meet me in my sitting room." He said and continued on. "And pick out a fine weapon, let us test our guest."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pre Viszla studied the vessel as he flew in along the assigned flight corridor and he was impressed. Not the casual impressed someone might have for such a colossal vessel, but a deep admiration for its design as he watched dozens of smaller turrets track his course even as he passed over turrets larger than some corvettes and cruisers. Those turrets had some of the smaller ones tracking him on their dorsal surface. And when he soared into the hangar and lifted the wings for landing he had tens of metres of clearance above him.
He wondered once more at the reason for his coming. But these people presented him with a third option. He could not go mewling to the Republic for their aid, they had aided in the genocide of Mandalorian culture into the twisted vine that Satine had turned it into. And the Separatists were little better, though they were willing to make big promises, he wondered how likely that was to end well for him and the Deathwatch. Bo Katan stood from her chair and he wondered at the wisdom of wearing their armour on board the vessel. But he too stood and held his helmet under one arm as he marched down the ramp to observe the private hangar of the Lord of this ship.
A third party, unconnected to either major power except by trade, who had displayed a hundred million credit interest in MandalMotors and Mandal Hypernautics. One willing to leverage firepower to get what it wanted.
The woman who entered the hangar flanked by utterly massive men.. were they men? Or some other species... came over to him with a smile, "Welcome to the Rapturous Glory of Profit for the Throne of Man. I am Eleanora Hydraxius" She smiled at them both. "Please, you can leave your helmets on your vessel rather than carry them with you."
"And if we don't trust you?" Bo-Katan asked.
The woman laughed a silvery laugh. "If we wanted to kill you dear then the vulcan megabolters and micro-lasers of our defense grid would have turned your Kom'rk into vapor five hundred kilometres ago. In truth, my father is greatly looking forwards to you, I suspect more than ever now."
The two Mandalorians exchanged blank expressions. "Why?" Pre asked.
"Because you've arrived in an offensive dropship from a culture of people poisoned with the weak ideals of pacifism. Clad in armour that you formally don't use anymore. Lord Hydraxius is looking forwards to meeting real Mandalorians." The words shocked, and buoyed them. "Please, follow me."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bo-Katan never turned over her helmet, though now she carried it as Pre did. This vessel did not enrapture her as easily as it did him. He saw a culture of strength and power, and she too could admire that. But her eyes were open and studying everything and she saw a culture that venerated that strength and power to actual religious degrees. People did not bow towards the Lady Eleanora out of respect, they bowed out of worship for her connection to her father. Merchants, Warriors, Fanatics? Which were they? Were they really all three? Was it a shield to cover something else. A darker secret.
But upon reaching the sitting room, her mood had darkened slightly filled with the question. So when the massive bound doors were opened and they went inside, she was predisposed to judge harshly and.. found her assessment ripped from her on studying the Lord Hydraxius and a woman nearby studying a stack of dataslates. There was no light of fervour in this room, only three walls laden with books, dataslates, trophies presumably taken from their enemies and a massive rug of some vast predatory creature. She saw the wealth on display as the pride of a money-maker, a merchant, a shopkeep with a starship, an impression that immediately imploded on itself when he stood behind his desk and she could see the massive pistol on one hip, and she noticed he wore some kind of powered armour beneath his over-robes. Was this a precaution for their arrival or?
No it wasn't an affectation, he moved in it as if it were natural to him. And on marching over to Pre Vizsla and herself, she noticed it was a warriors stance, and instead of weakly shaking hands as some cultures did, he immediately held out his hand and clasped wrists as warriors usually did. And then she noticed it.
He was studying them equally as she was studying him. "Welcome to my vessel, may I offer refreshments?" He said and Pre nodded.
"That would be appreciated."
The Lord Captain nodded, "Margaretta, please brew a pot of Cassius tea for us." Pre Vizsla blinked and Bo-Katan did also. How could he have known of Pre's preferred drink? "We are both men of military means, and you are in an unfamiliar environment, I would assume you prefer not to be addled by alcohol?"
Pre nodded, "I might add, formally I am not a man of military means, as Governor of Mandalore I am a representative of a pacifist government."
"And on paper I am titled as a Rogue Trader. The titles we bear do not always reflect who were are when all accounts are called into balace." Arthurius said as he invited them to sit. And as they lounged onto the chairs indicated, Bo-Katan wondered where she could get something even a tenth as comfortable, these chairs were more dangerous to her right now than all the ne'tra gal she could consume in a day. "You come here in a dropship, wearing the traditional armour of your peoples. You might be more of a pacifist than I am, but I still have various peaceniks in the Republic demanding Palpatine do something about the genocides I have committed. But if you are actually pacifist I will eat your armour, and ask for more."
The words actually caused Pre to laugh. "Very well, yes I am no pacifist. I represent, and lead, the Kyr'tsad. Death Watch in basic." He explained, "And I seek to undo the genocide of our culture by the rise of a pacifist mandalore. Standing with the Republic is impossible. And the separatists are no more trustworthy, their involvement might only force the Republic to act instead."
The tea arrived and Margaretta sat down in an empty chair, clearly intended to be part of their talks. "Our actions in Hutt Space and Zygerria have prompted this meeting then?"
Bo-Katan frowned. But Pre Vizsla spoke. "We wish to restore Mandalore to its rightful place and ways. And we thought you might be interested in aiding us, if you do we can ensure you have greater access to MandalMotors and Mandal Hypernautics products."
There was a long pause as Arthurius took a deep drink of tea. "I understand." He frowned. "How... exactly.. do you plan on doing this?"
"We need to remove Duchess Satine from power, from there we can..." Pre frowned as he was interrupted by Margaretta.
She had her head cocked slightly, "No." As Pre began to look angry she continued, "That cannot, nor should it be, the first step."
"Why not?"
"Because a revolution is a terrible way to build the support of the people. You want the Mandalorian people to see that leading from a position of strength is not just favourable, but necessary. You want to undermine her rule, show them that the Duchess cannot protect them, and when it becomes bad enough, to show that unlike the Duchess you can." The words were evenly said and studied. "So we need an external threat, and a convincing one."
Pre frowned as he listened, then looked like gears were ticking. "What about bombings?"
"What kind? Orbital, atomic?" Arthurius asked.
They both flinched. But Pre answered. "Suicide bombings."
Margaretta shook her head. "Terrible idea. You need an external threat, you definitely do not need to engage in terrorism, those are typically internal threats, or not genuine threats. We need an enemy, a credible one capable of overcoming any defenses the Duchess might mount, while being within your own ability to defeat."
"Are you offering to.. be that threat?" Bo-Katan asked.
"I said within your ability to defeat." Her smile was evil. "Now, if you were to defeat an enemy that the Duchess could not, and bring a more military alliance in with it, one better able to help the fifteen hundred neutral systems, stay neutral."
Bo-Katan felt uneasy at the prospect. "And what enemies do you propose to... do this with?"
Arthurius cocked his head studying her, the first time she had spoken since they talks began. "Simplest solution, we have been forcing pirates out of our space as well as former Hutt space. A great deal of the places they once felt safe they are now being hunted."
"I've heard the stories... sometimes you leave their larger ships with the crews hung by the neck." Pre answered.
Arthurius nodded, "What is less well known is we do have understandings with a number of groups who are reporting on their rivals in exchange for not being slaughtered, they simply aren't welcome in our space. We use them to point out that the Duchess Satine and the New Mandalorians movement are unable to protect themselves or their shipping."
"And what about innocents who get hurt or killed?" Bo-Katan asked plainly.
Margaretta spoke first. "It's rarely in a pirates interest to kill everyone, that draws undue attention of the worst kind, and frequently large enough bounties to make life very difficult for them. As such, most pirates will steal product, harm a minimum number of people and maybe take hostages or slaves. It is inevitable that there will be such deaths, but statistically there would be less deaths than a more traditional coup. Which is where what I am going to say something controversial."
Pre Vizsla looked suspicious. "And that is?"
"You need to re-brand. The pacifist government has successfully branded the militant 'death watch' as a terrorist group, revolutionaries and insurrectionists," Pre's face frowned, growing red at being told something he already knew, "I would recommend, based on my reading, adopting the so-called Supercommando Codex, remodel yourselves along the lines of the so-called True Mandalorians."
Pre started to his feet anger flushing on his face before Arthurius spoke. "Pre Vizsla, my Seneschal Primus speaks truth, the goal right now is to become an acceptable alternative for the people of Mandalore, not just an acceptable alternative, but the only alternative. It was the civil war between the True Mandalorians and the Death Watch that ravaged your homeworld and lead to the unexpected success of the pacifist New Mandalorians to exiling both groups. Weakened as you both were by the internecine conflict."
"Your idea." Pre said, forcing himself to calm down, "Would relegate us to the role of mere well paid mercenaries fighting for mere money."
Arthurius cocked his head. "Not necessarily." He smiled and picked up a dataslate. "The Mandalorian peoples were powerful, they once stood up against the entire galaxy and nearly won. If the Mandalorian people are to rise again, let it be alongside the Imperium. Building an allied culture of power and strength which is willing to protect others, for a price, but also willing to stand up to that which is truly wrong together. Conquest is not only achieved at the point of a sword."
"Tell that to the Hutts." Bo-Katan rejoindered.
Arthurius smiled back. "Tell that to Tattoine or Thyferra. For every battle people see, for every expression of power and threat, only those paying attention to the money can see how wide my net is spreading."
"Are you a warrior, or a merchant Lord-Captain Hydraxius?" Pre-Vizsla asked plainly.
"I am a true son of the Imperium. War is my trade, trade is the means to pay for war." He answered and picked up a box, handing it to Pre-Vizsla. "A gift for a true Mandalorian."
He opened the box and his breath caught. "What is it?" He asked.
"An Archaeotech Laspistol, one of only four from my collection."
Pre frowned, turned to Bo-Katan. She hesitated, then nodded slightly. "Bring your pirates."
Honour
"Auspex Contact." The call came from the sensor pit and Arthurius looked up from the datapads in front of him. The last several months had seen a successful expansion of his wealth by trade and where appropriate, the utilisation of calculated force. But more pointedly, space under his auspex was growing safer, with pirate groups traditionally shielded by the Hutts and other criminal groups failing to realise the significance of the shift in fortunes. The shipyards were still refitting a CR-90 that had its snout stove in by the impact of a Shark assault boat. Footage of that boarding action had circulated widely, the look on the face of the Pirate captain when fifty men boarded his vessel through his bridge was priceless. "Within designated Hyperspace Corridor."
The vox officer opened up. "Unidentified vessel, sent vessel transponder and IDs as well as purpose in House Hydraxius space." There was a long pause as the vox officer studied the screens and listened to the response. "Lord Captain, the vessel is a Kom'rk class from Concordia bearing Pre Vizsla of Clan Vizsla and Governor of Mandalore. He requests an audience with you."
"Granted." He answered. "Landing permission for my private landing bay. Eleanora can meet them and bring them to..." He considered the situation, "My private sitting room."
It still baffled him that figures of note travelled on smaller craft in this galaxy, even without war a galaxy rife with pirates hardly made for safe travels. He stood and headed for his staterooms only to be intercepted by Margaretta as she bowed respectfully. Her clothing was more revealing than her normal, and significantly less formal than was standard. Her day off. "My Lord."
"Margaretta, what troubles you?" His Seneschal Primus never bothered him on her day off.
She didn't hesitate, "My Lord, the Kom'rk class is no longer in official production by MandalMotors, since their shift to a pacifist government they no longer produce such an overtly offensive vessel instead favouring vessels that can defend themselves, but are not offensively oriented. This is either an older vessel, or not an official product."
Her familiarity with the subject was not surprising, it had been her work that had prompted his investments into MandalMotors and Mandal Hypernautics. The world and its history was fascinating, even if their descent into cowardly pacifists was sickening. "Assessment?"
"I wish to meet with Pre Vizsla with you sir. I believe we may be seeing... an alternative to pacifism." She explained.
"Get dressed. Meet me in my sitting room." He said and continued on. "And pick out a fine weapon, let us test our guest."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pre Viszla studied the vessel as he flew in along the assigned flight corridor and he was impressed. Not the casual impressed someone might have for such a colossal vessel, but a deep admiration for its design as he watched dozens of smaller turrets track his course even as he passed over turrets larger than some corvettes and cruisers. Those turrets had some of the smaller ones tracking him on their dorsal surface. And when he soared into the hangar and lifted the wings for landing he had tens of metres of clearance above him.
He wondered once more at the reason for his coming. But these people presented him with a third option. He could not go mewling to the Republic for their aid, they had aided in the genocide of Mandalorian culture into the twisted vine that Satine had turned it into. And the Separatists were little better, though they were willing to make big promises, he wondered how likely that was to end well for him and the Deathwatch. Bo Katan stood from her chair and he wondered at the wisdom of wearing their armour on board the vessel. But he too stood and held his helmet under one arm as he marched down the ramp to observe the private hangar of the Lord of this ship.
A third party, unconnected to either major power except by trade, who had displayed a hundred million credit interest in MandalMotors and Mandal Hypernautics. One willing to leverage firepower to get what it wanted.
The woman who entered the hangar flanked by utterly massive men.. were they men? Or some other species... came over to him with a smile, "Welcome to the Rapturous Glory of Profit for the Throne of Man. I am Eleanora Hydraxius" She smiled at them both. "Please, you can leave your helmets on your vessel rather than carry them with you."
"And if we don't trust you?" Bo-Katan asked.
The woman laughed a silvery laugh. "If we wanted to kill you dear then the vulcan megabolters and micro-lasers of our defense grid would have turned your Kom'rk into vapor five hundred kilometres ago. In truth, my father is greatly looking forwards to you, I suspect more than ever now."
The two Mandalorians exchanged blank expressions. "Why?" Pre asked.
"Because you've arrived in an offensive dropship from a culture of people poisoned with the weak ideals of pacifism. Clad in armour that you formally don't use anymore. Lord Hydraxius is looking forwards to meeting real Mandalorians." The words shocked, and buoyed them. "Please, follow me."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bo-Katan never turned over her helmet, though now she carried it as Pre did. This vessel did not enrapture her as easily as it did him. He saw a culture of strength and power, and she too could admire that. But her eyes were open and studying everything and she saw a culture that venerated that strength and power to actual religious degrees. People did not bow towards the Lady Eleanora out of respect, they bowed out of worship for her connection to her father. Merchants, Warriors, Fanatics? Which were they? Were they really all three? Was it a shield to cover something else. A darker secret.
But upon reaching the sitting room, her mood had darkened slightly filled with the question. So when the massive bound doors were opened and they went inside, she was predisposed to judge harshly and.. found her assessment ripped from her on studying the Lord Hydraxius and a woman nearby studying a stack of dataslates. There was no light of fervour in this room, only three walls laden with books, dataslates, trophies presumably taken from their enemies and a massive rug of some vast predatory creature. She saw the wealth on display as the pride of a money-maker, a merchant, a shopkeep with a starship, an impression that immediately imploded on itself when he stood behind his desk and she could see the massive pistol on one hip, and she noticed he wore some kind of powered armour beneath his over-robes. Was this a precaution for their arrival or?
No it wasn't an affectation, he moved in it as if it were natural to him. And on marching over to Pre Vizsla and herself, she noticed it was a warriors stance, and instead of weakly shaking hands as some cultures did, he immediately held out his hand and clasped wrists as warriors usually did. And then she noticed it.
He was studying them equally as she was studying him. "Welcome to my vessel, may I offer refreshments?" He said and Pre nodded.
"That would be appreciated."
The Lord Captain nodded, "Margaretta, please brew a pot of Cassius tea for us." Pre Vizsla blinked and Bo-Katan did also. How could he have known of Pre's preferred drink? "We are both men of military means, and you are in an unfamiliar environment, I would assume you prefer not to be addled by alcohol?"
Pre nodded, "I might add, formally I am not a man of military means, as Governor of Mandalore I am a representative of a pacifist government."
"And on paper I am titled as a Rogue Trader. The titles we bear do not always reflect who were are when all accounts are called into balace." Arthurius said as he invited them to sit. And as they lounged onto the chairs indicated, Bo-Katan wondered where she could get something even a tenth as comfortable, these chairs were more dangerous to her right now than all the ne'tra gal she could consume in a day. "You come here in a dropship, wearing the traditional armour of your peoples. You might be more of a pacifist than I am, but I still have various peaceniks in the Republic demanding Palpatine do something about the genocides I have committed. But if you are actually pacifist I will eat your armour, and ask for more."
The words actually caused Pre to laugh. "Very well, yes I am no pacifist. I represent, and lead, the Kyr'tsad. Death Watch in basic." He explained, "And I seek to undo the genocide of our culture by the rise of a pacifist mandalore. Standing with the Republic is impossible. And the separatists are no more trustworthy, their involvement might only force the Republic to act instead."
The tea arrived and Margaretta sat down in an empty chair, clearly intended to be part of their talks. "Our actions in Hutt Space and Zygerria have prompted this meeting then?"
Bo-Katan frowned. But Pre Vizsla spoke. "We wish to restore Mandalore to its rightful place and ways. And we thought you might be interested in aiding us, if you do we can ensure you have greater access to MandalMotors and Mandal Hypernautics products."
There was a long pause as Arthurius took a deep drink of tea. "I understand." He frowned. "How... exactly.. do you plan on doing this?"
"We need to remove Duchess Satine from power, from there we can..." Pre frowned as he was interrupted by Margaretta.
She had her head cocked slightly, "No." As Pre began to look angry she continued, "That cannot, nor should it be, the first step."
"Why not?"
"Because a revolution is a terrible way to build the support of the people. You want the Mandalorian people to see that leading from a position of strength is not just favourable, but necessary. You want to undermine her rule, show them that the Duchess cannot protect them, and when it becomes bad enough, to show that unlike the Duchess you can." The words were evenly said and studied. "So we need an external threat, and a convincing one."
Pre frowned as he listened, then looked like gears were ticking. "What about bombings?"
"What kind? Orbital, atomic?" Arthurius asked.
They both flinched. But Pre answered. "Suicide bombings."
Margaretta shook her head. "Terrible idea. You need an external threat, you definitely do not need to engage in terrorism, those are typically internal threats, or not genuine threats. We need an enemy, a credible one capable of overcoming any defenses the Duchess might mount, while being within your own ability to defeat."
"Are you offering to.. be that threat?" Bo-Katan asked.
"I said within your ability to defeat." Her smile was evil. "Now, if you were to defeat an enemy that the Duchess could not, and bring a more military alliance in with it, one better able to help the fifteen hundred neutral systems, stay neutral."
Bo-Katan felt uneasy at the prospect. "And what enemies do you propose to... do this with?"
Arthurius cocked his head studying her, the first time she had spoken since they talks began. "Simplest solution, we have been forcing pirates out of our space as well as former Hutt space. A great deal of the places they once felt safe they are now being hunted."
"I've heard the stories... sometimes you leave their larger ships with the crews hung by the neck." Pre answered.
Arthurius nodded, "What is less well known is we do have understandings with a number of groups who are reporting on their rivals in exchange for not being slaughtered, they simply aren't welcome in our space. We use them to point out that the Duchess Satine and the New Mandalorians movement are unable to protect themselves or their shipping."
"And what about innocents who get hurt or killed?" Bo-Katan asked plainly.
Margaretta spoke first. "It's rarely in a pirates interest to kill everyone, that draws undue attention of the worst kind, and frequently large enough bounties to make life very difficult for them. As such, most pirates will steal product, harm a minimum number of people and maybe take hostages or slaves. It is inevitable that there will be such deaths, but statistically there would be less deaths than a more traditional coup. Which is where what I am going to say something controversial."
Pre Vizsla looked suspicious. "And that is?"
"You need to re-brand. The pacifist government has successfully branded the militant 'death watch' as a terrorist group, revolutionaries and insurrectionists," Pre's face frowned, growing red at being told something he already knew, "I would recommend, based on my reading, adopting the so-called Supercommando Codex, remodel yourselves along the lines of the so-called True Mandalorians."
Pre started to his feet anger flushing on his face before Arthurius spoke. "Pre Vizsla, my Seneschal Primus speaks truth, the goal right now is to become an acceptable alternative for the people of Mandalore, not just an acceptable alternative, but the only alternative. It was the civil war between the True Mandalorians and the Death Watch that ravaged your homeworld and lead to the unexpected success of the pacifist New Mandalorians to exiling both groups. Weakened as you both were by the internecine conflict."
"Your idea." Pre said, forcing himself to calm down, "Would relegate us to the role of mere well paid mercenaries fighting for mere money."
Arthurius cocked his head. "Not necessarily." He smiled and picked up a dataslate. "The Mandalorian peoples were powerful, they once stood up against the entire galaxy and nearly won. If the Mandalorian people are to rise again, let it be alongside the Imperium. Building an allied culture of power and strength which is willing to protect others, for a price, but also willing to stand up to that which is truly wrong together. Conquest is not only achieved at the point of a sword."
"Tell that to the Hutts." Bo-Katan rejoindered.
Arthurius smiled back. "Tell that to Tattoine or Thyferra. For every battle people see, for every expression of power and threat, only those paying attention to the money can see how wide my net is spreading."
"Are you a warrior, or a merchant Lord-Captain Hydraxius?" Pre-Vizsla asked plainly.
"I am a true son of the Imperium. War is my trade, trade is the means to pay for war." He answered and picked up a box, handing it to Pre-Vizsla. "A gift for a true Mandalorian."
He opened the box and his breath caught. "What is it?" He asked.
"An Archaeotech Laspistol, one of only four from my collection."
Pre frowned, turned to Bo-Katan. She hesitated, then nodded slightly. "Bring your pirates."
TheShadowDeamon
Mighty Dragon
This is very interesting, I've always thought that if Bo-Katan hadn't got swept into the Deathwatch mania, that she could've done somthing amazing for Mandalore. If this re-brand can be pulled of successfully then I believe that with her and Pre at the top that they could remould the Mandos into somthing that the majority desperately want. Perhaps throw a bone to the pacifists - acknowledge that while Satine and her ilk did a reasonably good job when they were needed, they failed to adapt to the changes over time and caused old problems to re-surface. Offer Satine a position where her actual skills would be useful and she would want to do well, but where her ability to affect the goverment is reduced - Minister of Agriculture, Education or the Arts would all work.
Ahh uhh I feel he might not like that much, considering that Death Watch and True Mandalorians loath each other and esp with what they did at Galidraan