NationStates Jolt Archive

Lady Nightshade brooded. The loss of Tantis was a serious blow to her prestige and she knew it. Soon, the Empire may seek to strip her of even more authority and perhaps even her life. While she wouldn't mind that occurring if Janus was to gain much from her demise -he is the heir to the Dark Throne, after all- she knew for certain that the Empire would only make him a figurehead for Tenetia.

That wouldn't do. Not at all.

The Dark Lady brooded again. She needed to retain power long enough for Janus to become strong enough to take her place as Emperor of Tenetia. But she needed to do it quietly, under the nose of Vader and his loyal Inquisitors. Who would she trust to allow her to retain that power and perhaps even compound it with interest?

Kabuto? Nah. He is loyal to power and power only, and she suspected that his influence as one of her son's instructors would ensure that he would break her. Besides, he had more potential as a medic-nin than even Tsunade and enigmatic enough to make one wonder about his own goals.

Itachi? Perhaps. However, the Empire doesn't know a lot about him other than a) he's an Uchiha, b) he killed his own family to test his powers, and thus a Dark Lord by nature and c) Nightshade's husband. The last part might make him forbidden from keeping the Dark Throne if she dies before Janus is ready, if not a regent figurehead from now until the end of time. Still, he would do what he could to have her retain power as long as needed. But it wouldn't be enough.

So that left...the Huntarians? She wondered how far she could trust them. She recalled her dealings with them. They supported her when she had the ill-fated reign as Empress and kept their support even when Palpatine returned and deposed her of the title of Empress when they could have left her in the dust. Granted, she did make several mistakes, like not killing the Thrashian Emperor on the spot when she felt the rebellion in him. But mistakes are meant to be learned from. Her latest mistake, allowing a Godulan anywhere near Imperial equipment will likely cost her even more, but she would learn from that and be all the stronger for it. They supported her when her victory over the Masaki brood bore fruit and stole the young Masaki from them. For one glorious year, she had done everything she could to break the boy and she would have, if it weren't for Magriel and her mongrel son!

Even after the failure at Tantis, she was supported by them during the Battle of Jurai. She felt she could trust them. Well, as much as a Dark Lord would trust another of her kind...but could she trust them further? Could she allow herself to be further indebited to them?

She brooded once more. The Empire will soon breathe down on her neck. Without the ability to ensure that Janus overcomes everything and becomes the greatest Dark Lord she could raise, she would be truly impotent. In the end, she had nothing left to lose, for she would lose everything anyway if she didn't figure something out.

She decided.

Lady Nightshade sent only a single, short message to Darth Aelikes as she prepared to leave Tenetia for a face-to-face meeting at the most remote system she could use.

"Find me."

Lord Aelikes would know how to do so and then, they would talk.

It was becoming tougher to support the Tenetians within the Empire, for their mistakes are beginning to pile high, and they were paying for them as well. Sure, the loss of their fleet over Konoha two years ago wasn't that big of a loss for the Empire, but the enemy DID get their hands on some technology. That was a big deal. Then, the Empire also made a mistake in allowing Nightshade to let in a non Imperial into Tantis. Oh, that and they also allowed it to go to the hands of the enemy. Another big point loss amungst many of those in power.

Fortunately for the Tenetians, however, the Kirtir Lords say otherwise. They view that despite their faults, the Tenetians can still prove to be valuable allies. Nightshade does learn from her mistakes, which they see is vital for any leader. Aelikes and Trilkan saw Nightshade's children as potential Sith Lords, and potential Dark Side wielders who needed to be properly trained. Unfortunately, they already lost Jesse thanks to the blood traitor.

Aelikes did get Nightshade's message, and it didn't take him long to figure out what to do. He took his private shuttle from Huntaria, and hunted her force signature. It didn't take him long before he found her on the planet below, and met her face to face.

"What did you need to speak about?"

"My failures will soon have the Emperor send someone to oversee my assets." Nightshade said. "This will prove detrimental for my plans concerning Janus. I...seek assistance to ensure that I do not lose my power even if an Inquisitor does get sent. I will need a place far more secure than Tantis for my plans."

Tag

"My failures will soon have the Emperor send someone to oversee my assets." Nightshade said. "This will prove detrimental for my plans concerning Janus. I...seek assistance to ensure that I do not lose my power even if an Inquisitor does get sent. I will need a place far more secure than Tantis for my plans."

Aelikes nodded, "we've got a place like that. My master and I were just about to form a new construction base upon it too, however..." Aelikes paced around for a bit. "There's been pressure from the Imperials and Huntarian Imperial loyalists. Especially in the Grand Admiral realms. They want to see Tenetia pay for their messes. However, the only way to convince them to allow you to be apart of our plan would be to incorporate Tenetia as a Vassal of the Huntarian Empire. Yes, you'll be stripped of your power as ultimate ruler, but you'll still maintain most of it's necessities as a Warlord. It's the only option the three Lords could come up with in our meeting which would prevent Huntarian Imperials from assassinating you in the name of Lord Vader."

Nightshade was caught off-guard by the invitation. True it would incur a loss of respect among her own underlings, but it would definitely allow her to keep power, and thus power for Janus. Of course, something in the back of her mind wondered of the Huntarians' agenda concerning making her lands a vassal of their Empire, but in the end, the cons outweigh the pros concerning this. She really didn't have anything left to lose by accepting this proposal.

"Of course, Emperor Vader won't like this proposal." Nightshade warned, although she wished she could be a fly on the Throne Room wall when Vader learns of this. "But I don't see any choice in the matter. It would either be that or die. I will accept being the Huntarian Empire's vassal."

She then tried to figure out what to give to the Huntarians in exchange. Even concerning the Dark Throne, Equivalent Exchange holds sway. She had an idea... "I recall that among the Rebel fleet, there was a force calling itself Evil Woody Thoughts. From my sources, they will prove to be a significant thorn on our side for they have a very strong emphasis on efficiency, almost as much as you do. So in exchange for vassalhood, I will declare war on Evil Woody Thoughts and together, we can plan against them to remove them as an ally to my brother. I even have the coordinates of their home planet."

The last part she added with an evil grin.

Aelikes raised his eyes in surprise, though ultimately his emotions don't show due to the breath mask blocking the front of his face. "Interesting. The coordinates of the Woodian's home world would be... Most helpful. We could easily organize a full front assault on their planet. However, I suggest we start to rebuild the base first, especially if you plan to continue on living."

"A wise plan, Lord Aelikes." Nightshade nodded. "We must move quickly."

It wasn't long before the two found themselves being piloted in Aelikes's personal shuttle to an area of space in the Unknown Regions of the Aphotic Galaxy, surrounded by a small (http://www.optibrain.co.uk/optistuff/lance_cruiser.jpg) fleet of Kirtir (http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/images.gamezone.com/screens/29/4/19/s29419_pc_40.jpg) Starships (http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5116/b5omegaxt3.jpg). These ships were ancient, from a war which took place millennia ago. Aelikes scanned the area, "looks like no one's been here for eons... Attention Fleet, move the construction vehicles in."

"Fleet acknowledges order Lord, we're moving in now."

"Remember to erase any and all data regarding the missions over here. We don't want this planet to be connected to the Huntarian Network just yet." Aelikes sighed, "so, lets begin the construction." He turned to Nightshade, "are your engineers ready to go?"

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Tenetia...


A fleet of two thousand warships erupted in the Tenetia system and began to spread out throughout the rest of Nightshades territory. No doubt that this move alarmed the governors. Lord Vorman stood on the bridge of the H.S.S. Tyrant and watched on the view screen as his fleets moved throughout Tenetian Territory. ::Attention Tenetian Territories. By orders from now Warlord Nightshade and Emperor Trilkan, I am hereby declaring Tenetia to be a Vassal of the Huntarian Empire. Itatchi, I request your presence here on the Tyrant's bridge.::

It wasn't long before the two found themselves being piloted in Aelikes's personal shuttle to an area of space in the Unknown Regions of the Aphotic Galaxy, surrounded by a small (http://www.optibrain.co.uk/optistuff/lance_cruiser.jpg) fleet of Kirtir (http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/images.gamezone.com/screens/29/4/19/s29419_pc_40.jpg) Starships (http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5116/b5omegaxt3.jpg). These ships were ancient, from a war which took place millennia ago. Aelikes scanned the area, "looks like no one's been here for eons... Attention Fleet, move the construction vehicles in."

"Fleet acknowledges order Lord, we're moving in now."

"Remember to erase any and all data regarding the missions over here. We don't want this planet to be connected to the Huntarian Network just yet." Aelikes sighed, "so, lets begin the construction." He turned to Nightshade, "are your engineers ready to go?"
"They are ready. Let's move in." Nightshade nodded. She also managed to bring the Dark Side goodies from her Tenetian Palace vault here so as to not allow the Empire to get them.

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Tenetia...

A fleet of two thousand warships erupted in the Tenetia system and began to spread out throughout the rest of Nightshades territory. No doubt that this move alarmed the governors. Lord Vorman stood on the bridge of the H.S.S. Tyrant and watched on the view screen as his fleets moved throughout Tenetian Territory. ::Attention Tenetian Territories. By orders from now Warlord Nightshade and Emperor Trilkan, I am hereby declaring Tenetia to be a Vassal of the Huntarian Empire. Itatchi, I request your presence here on the Tyrant's bridge.::
Lord Itachi scowled as the slave before him stammered out the message. It didn't seem like Nightshade would do something like this. "I will see to this matter myself."

In a flash of black and red ichors, he disappeared and reappeared on the Tyrant's bridge. "Lord Vorman. What is the meaning of this?"

~Placeholder~

This is going to be difficult since Tenetia is an Imperial world by law. Nightshade governs it by the emperors will. This is going to be difficult and fun :P

The Command Carrier in orbit of Tenetia lumbered ominously above the Imperial world. Nightshade the usurper had just demonstrated her most devious streak yet by attempting to incite civil war upon the planet.

She was probably aware of the inquisition that was about to probe her reign and her disastrous handling of the crusade and then the cataclysm at Tantis, had finally forced Vader to deal with this mess.

When the Huntarians arrived over Tenetia, and subsequently proclaimed their ownership of the planet and furthermore entitled the office of Warlord to Nightshade Grand Inquisitor Malasis was notably concerned at this heresy.

The planet had been under Imperial jurisdiction for some time, with the ailing Golan platforms in orbit present enough to prove the Empires considerable presence. As for Imperial forces independent of any Tenetian taint, there were few upon the ground. So it was not a surprise that the Grand Inquistior immediately transmitted the events back to Coruscant for the emperors immediate review.

The Huntarians were of course free to move around Imperial space, they being the Empires closest allies were naturally its most trusted, but this was a troubling set of affairs indeed.

They had access to a bulk of the access codes to the FTLi network, they also had a list of sensitive Imperial outposts and of course fleet distributions to aid in the planning of any enemy incursion into the emperors domain, and so with dark realisation the Grand Inquisitor Malaxis took to the channels to inform Coruscant of this dangerous set of events.

The bridge was bathed in the artwork of a thousand victories, granite statues littered the walkway, while trophies and shields of battles adorned the walls. Amongst this carefully structured exhibition the Grand Inquisitor surveyed his orders as they arrived from Coruscant. He was commanded to address this issue pending a personal visit from the emperor.

“Friends and loyal allies of the Huntarian Empire, you are greeted in the name of the Galactic Emperor Lord Vader. We seek answers to this recent statement which you have propagated throughout the Tenetian star system. In his name I request why you are claiming the province of Tenetia as a vassal, when this world already swears fealty to the emperor.”

“Friends and loyal allies of the Huntarian Empire, you are greeted in the name of the Galactic Emperor Lord Vader. We seek answers to this recent statement which you have propagated throughout the Tenetian star system. In his name I request why you are claiming the province of Tenetia as a vassal, when this world already swears fealty to the emperor.”

A communication's officer onboard the Tyrant got the Imperial's transmission. "My Lord! Imperial Cruiser coming in, they're sending a transmission."

::Hmm... This is quite peculiar. We have no records of Tenetia being a fealty to Lord Vader, and Nightshade sure seems to not think she is either... Send a transmission back, we are willing to talk, but we request to talk to either the Emperor himself or a person of much higher level than some pathetic Inquisitor. I will not talk to a feeble mind.::

"... Sir? You're sure... Right... Sending message," the Comms officer immediately stopped in mid sentence as soon as Vorman started to glare and lift a glove at him.