Marasiah Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notconflicted) wrote2018-01-05 06:40 pm
notconflicted) wrote2018-01-05 06:40 pm
Taivas- Friday
Sia hadn't believed that Antares was actually dead, to the point of sending Hapan family members with spy connections looking for him before leaving for Taivas. And not long after she'd been there, she felt his presence, moments before she got the call to say Cade and his friends had arrived with a passenger. She commed back to request that he be brought to her quarters, and steeled herself for whatever was going to happen.
Ganner brought him in, and Antares immediately dropped to a knee in front of Sia, not even looking up at her.
"You're alive," Sia noted, her face impassive.
"Darth Havok cut me off from the Force, to make it appear as if I were dead," Antares explained, his gaze carefully trained on her boots. "I was then held under torture, where I revealed the location of this very temple. Forgiveness is impossible, I know, my lady. My will was broken… I believed the Sith had recaptured you, were about to kill you. It was a Sith illusion… But I could not allow Eshkar Niin to kill you as he did your mother."
Sia took that in for a moment. She'd known the temple would come under attack already thanks to the warning the Mynock had sent along. She was beyond disappointed and feared what else he might have told them, but she was also glad he was alive, and could feel the regret rolling off of him in waves. And, yes, he'd only been in that situation to save her. She probably would have revealed the same things if she'd been in Sith custody longer than she had.
"Honor dictates that you should have died, Master Draco, should have let me die, before betrayal of such a sacred trust," she said finally. "And yet, your courage, your sacrifice, during my rescue on Korriban… these commend you. I thought you dead, Antares. I wept for you. Rise."
He stood, still looking unsure of where she was going with this.
"You will be given a chance to reclaim your honor and prove yourself worthy of being an Imperial Knight, as the Force wills," she finished. "Master Krieg, find Master Draco suitable attire. We need to meet with the Jedi Council. I hope we emerge with our alliance intact."
Ganner nodded and started off.
"Privately," Sia said, "I'm glad you're alive."
"You should not have given me another chance, Princess," Antares told her.
"Perhaps not," she acknowledged. But she tended to give people chances when they earned them. "It's the only one you're getting."
He knew what she meant by that, and he'd probably expected as much. "Understood."
*****
The meeting with the Council looked a lot like it had the last time. Sia and Cade, with his uncle in his old Jedi robes, were allowed inside with the three Masters. Sia's team of Atton, Ganner, Azlyn and Antares were allowed to watch from the Imperial delegation's quarters, and on the way in Sia noticed that Syn and Deliah had decided to not watch and wait for Cade and Bantha outside the chamber. And there was another person there, farther away.
"What's Nyna Calixe doing here?" Sia asked, mostly to Syn, since he was closest.
"Who, her? Her name's Morrigan Corde," he said. "That's Cade's mommy."
Sia frowned, trying to figure out if he was being serious, then looking over at Moff Calixte... and decided she didn't want to know. "Kriffing Skywalkers," she muttered as she continued on into the room.
They patched in Roan and Gar Stazi of the Galactic Alliance Remnant from their respective bases, and they stood large in the chamber in blue holographic form.
"The Sith have sent a warning," Stazi said. "Heed it and leave while you can."
"Evacuate Taivas," Roan agreed. "Come to Bastion. Together we'll make a stand against the Sith."
Cade shook his head. "Wrong. Krayt wants chaos. To flush his prey out into the open," he said. "The Sith think the Jedi are hiding and defenseless, but Taivas is a natural fortress. Lure them in, combine forces to crush them between the planet and space."
"Kid's got a point," said Bantha. "Main reason we built the temple here was that the magnetic properties of the rock messes up orbital targeting. They want us? The Sith and their pets are gonna have to come in personal. That's when Bastion and the admiral come in, swingin' heavy."
There wasn't a chorus of agreement, but no one disagreed, either.
"We must evacuate the younglings before the battle begins," said Master Saa.
"No," Cade said. "Send the younglings out now, they'll pick them off, or follow them to whatever safe place you think you're sending the. Hide them here, deep in the caves, and evacuate them later. You gotta be willing to take some risk."
"Like you did on Utapau?" Sazen said dryly.
"Exactly like I did on Utapau! We all got our part to play. Even the younglings. You don't win by playing safe."
It deeply bothered Sia that not only was Cade regularly the voice of reason, but that she agreed with him so much. Not that it was her place either way, here. Roan was in charge of her group. She did what he decided.
"The Galactic Alliance agrees," said Stazi. "We will plan en route. I have a Bothan code no Sith has cracked."
"I commit my forces and my Imperial Knights and troopers," Roan added. "We will depart for Taivas within a day."
"Agreed, then," said Master K'krukh. "It's worth the risk of losing our home to deliver a severe, perhaps fatal, blow to the Sith empire. This is the battle we've been preparing for since Ossus."
[NFB and all that. Taken from Legacy: War #3. I did not almost forget to post this twice]
Ganner brought him in, and Antares immediately dropped to a knee in front of Sia, not even looking up at her.
"You're alive," Sia noted, her face impassive.
"Darth Havok cut me off from the Force, to make it appear as if I were dead," Antares explained, his gaze carefully trained on her boots. "I was then held under torture, where I revealed the location of this very temple. Forgiveness is impossible, I know, my lady. My will was broken… I believed the Sith had recaptured you, were about to kill you. It was a Sith illusion… But I could not allow Eshkar Niin to kill you as he did your mother."
Sia took that in for a moment. She'd known the temple would come under attack already thanks to the warning the Mynock had sent along. She was beyond disappointed and feared what else he might have told them, but she was also glad he was alive, and could feel the regret rolling off of him in waves. And, yes, he'd only been in that situation to save her. She probably would have revealed the same things if she'd been in Sith custody longer than she had.
"Honor dictates that you should have died, Master Draco, should have let me die, before betrayal of such a sacred trust," she said finally. "And yet, your courage, your sacrifice, during my rescue on Korriban… these commend you. I thought you dead, Antares. I wept for you. Rise."
He stood, still looking unsure of where she was going with this.
"You will be given a chance to reclaim your honor and prove yourself worthy of being an Imperial Knight, as the Force wills," she finished. "Master Krieg, find Master Draco suitable attire. We need to meet with the Jedi Council. I hope we emerge with our alliance intact."
Ganner nodded and started off.
"Privately," Sia said, "I'm glad you're alive."
"You should not have given me another chance, Princess," Antares told her.
"Perhaps not," she acknowledged. But she tended to give people chances when they earned them. "It's the only one you're getting."
He knew what she meant by that, and he'd probably expected as much. "Understood."
*****
The meeting with the Council looked a lot like it had the last time. Sia and Cade, with his uncle in his old Jedi robes, were allowed inside with the three Masters. Sia's team of Atton, Ganner, Azlyn and Antares were allowed to watch from the Imperial delegation's quarters, and on the way in Sia noticed that Syn and Deliah had decided to not watch and wait for Cade and Bantha outside the chamber. And there was another person there, farther away.
"What's Nyna Calixe doing here?" Sia asked, mostly to Syn, since he was closest.
"Who, her? Her name's Morrigan Corde," he said. "That's Cade's mommy."
Sia frowned, trying to figure out if he was being serious, then looking over at Moff Calixte... and decided she didn't want to know. "Kriffing Skywalkers," she muttered as she continued on into the room.
They patched in Roan and Gar Stazi of the Galactic Alliance Remnant from their respective bases, and they stood large in the chamber in blue holographic form.
"The Sith have sent a warning," Stazi said. "Heed it and leave while you can."
"Evacuate Taivas," Roan agreed. "Come to Bastion. Together we'll make a stand against the Sith."
Cade shook his head. "Wrong. Krayt wants chaos. To flush his prey out into the open," he said. "The Sith think the Jedi are hiding and defenseless, but Taivas is a natural fortress. Lure them in, combine forces to crush them between the planet and space."
"Kid's got a point," said Bantha. "Main reason we built the temple here was that the magnetic properties of the rock messes up orbital targeting. They want us? The Sith and their pets are gonna have to come in personal. That's when Bastion and the admiral come in, swingin' heavy."
There wasn't a chorus of agreement, but no one disagreed, either.
"We must evacuate the younglings before the battle begins," said Master Saa.
"No," Cade said. "Send the younglings out now, they'll pick them off, or follow them to whatever safe place you think you're sending the. Hide them here, deep in the caves, and evacuate them later. You gotta be willing to take some risk."
"Like you did on Utapau?" Sazen said dryly.
"Exactly like I did on Utapau! We all got our part to play. Even the younglings. You don't win by playing safe."
It deeply bothered Sia that not only was Cade regularly the voice of reason, but that she agreed with him so much. Not that it was her place either way, here. Roan was in charge of her group. She did what he decided.
"The Galactic Alliance agrees," said Stazi. "We will plan en route. I have a Bothan code no Sith has cracked."
"I commit my forces and my Imperial Knights and troopers," Roan added. "We will depart for Taivas within a day."
"Agreed, then," said Master K'krukh. "It's worth the risk of losing our home to deliver a severe, perhaps fatal, blow to the Sith empire. This is the battle we've been preparing for since Ossus."
[NFB and all that. Taken from Legacy: War #3. I did not almost forget to post this twice]