NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: During this thread, CW gave me permission to play the Tenetian faction. This thread is closed unless invited by myself or CW.

She took a breath, the bitterly sweet cold air slowly filled her lungs. It was crisp, harsh as the wind whipped around her in a fury. She slowly exhaled, as she watched the warmth of her breath gently leave from her. It held itself in the air, fighting to stay visible, fighting in vain as the wind gently evaporated the steam.

Nightshade watched it all, the gentle fall of the snow, the trees and flowers that normally would have been purged from the Sith’s courtyard long ago if it were not for the winter. Their beauty, their life, all had withered away in the fierce uncaring arms of the winter. It was beautiful to her.

The dark robed queen, gently strolled through the bitterness of the court. Her feet smashing the snow, as it crunched in vain against her weight. The endless sea of white stretched out as far as the eye could see, as she took another step, leaving her footstep though all she had walked on.

Lady Nightshade looked up, as the gentle peaceful flakes of snow descended from the dark gray sky. Holding her hand out as the dark woman walked through the white, small little flakes landed on her gloved hand. She watched it with her yellow eyes, as the snow melted, it’s beauty forever gone under the heat of her hand. A smile creased her lips as the little flake disappeared. “If only everything was this easy.” she mused to herself, as the pain of the cold lashing out against her flesh buried underneath her robes, as her thoughts slowly drifted like the snow pushing against the wind.

“I beg your pardon my queen!” a familiar voice asked so cordially breaking the silence and the reflection and precision of the cruelty of mother nature.

Lady Nightshade remained silent as she walked over to one of the larger trees. It’s branches creaked under the weight of the snow, it’s limbs sagging under the pressure of so many little things that had gathered in one area. She reached out her black glove, and gently touched the branch. Her fingers touching the snow, then wham, it all fell to the ground. The branch shot back up, rejuvenated as if it were never burdened. Nightshade stared at the branch as it became strong once more. “Even the tiniest of things can bring down the giant, but the slightest disturbance can bring it back.” she thought to herself.

“Pardon me my queen.” the voice said behind her growing louder.

“I heard you the first time Count.” Nightshade said, as her patience was growing thin towards her servant.

Count Dooku bowed towards his queen, wrapping his right arm around his waist. “A thousand apologies my lady.” the count responded. “We have just received word of a schism at Bastion.”

Her yellow eyes almost seemed to glow, as the Dark Lady turned around towards this pathetic man before her. “You did not come to tell me that someone took my prize away did you?” she spoke to the count, as cold as the air around him.

“No my Queen.” he said, as he took a few steps closer to her. “Daniel is alive and well. However Hyashi has been killed. It would seem that our efforts against your brother have been found out.” the Count told his queen.

“Hyashi was a fool, he outlived his usefulness long ago. At least in death he might be useful.” she responded.

“Yes my queen. It would seem that your brothers government has been weakened by this.” the Count said calmly.

Nightshade shook her head. “Weakened is not destroyed. I want him to see all he has built up burned to the ground.”

“Of course my queen. Should I ready your fleets to begin preparations to take advantage of the weakened state of your brother, and the low morale?” The count responded.

Quickly she extended her right arm towards the Count, pointing at the old man, “This is why you will never grow past your current state of affairs. This is why you were killed by Vader, while I have survived far more cunning traps. You are a fool Count. No, attacking him now will unify his people, strengthen their resolve. No, we need the wound to fester. Let it become infected, and poison the blood stream. Then and only then, as the body is withering away and dying will we make our move.”

Count Dooku was shocked by her statement. He stepped back, as his anger lashed out. He failed once, but he had no intention of doing so again, and now she was pointing them out as if they were trophies on the wall for all too see. He wanted to lash out, he could feel the dark side calling to him, beckoning him to strike her down, but he knew her guards were close... too close. So he did what was prudent, he backed down.

“Then what is your plan my lady?” he asked his queen.

“There is a young Knight that I have been watching. He is young, wrathful, and shows great potential.” the queen spoke to the Count. She reached behind her and grabbed a small parchment of paper, and a pen. Writing something down, she folded it in half and handed it to the Count. “Bring him to me.”

Sith Academy, Tenetia

It was such a beautiful day, as a young lad was out in the fields. His older sister by his side, the boy walked around with a fresh and large basket of apples. The basket was full of the red and green treats, as the boy struggled against it. With both hands, he strained against the weight. His small bare feet kept kicking the basket as he tried to follow his sister.

“Come on slow poke, I am going to beat you home.” his sister cried out, as she stretched her arms to her brother taunting him playfully to speed up.

“Nu uh.” the boy yelled out. “I’m the fastest ever. I will beat you with my super speed.” the boy yelled back at his sister he grew angry at her taunt.

“Prove it then flash.” she said as she took off running. The boy held onto the basket and tried to run, but soon his feet were caught up by the basket. His sister ran fast, as he rolled over the basket, crashing on top of it, spilling the apples on the ground, and as the basket crunched under the weight of his body.

“Wahh” the boy cried, but his sister was too far away. For five minutes the young lad cried out, but no one came. Frustrated and humiliated, the boy picked himself up and looked at the basket. He saw that it was broken, and the apples were scattered down the hill. His eyes grew wide, and watered up, knowing that his mom would give him a whooping for this. He reached down and picked up the broken basket. He tried to shove the apples back in it, but the split sides made them fall as quickly as they were put in.

After trying for minutes, the boy grew even more frustrated. “It is not Fair.” he cried out, alone in the field. “It is just not fair.”

Just then a bolt of green lighting came from the sky. The boy was shocked, as fire erupted and the earth shook. He ran, ran as fast as he could for his mother. As he got to the edge of the small village, he looked out. The village was gone.

The Man opened his eyes, as his heart pounded, and adrenaline flowed through his veins. His legs were crossed, as he held his red lightsaber in his hands. Sweat beaded down from his face, as the man looked around the meditation chamber.

“Good, good.” the pompous voice of Dooku said as he walked behind the man. “You have become quite powerful.”

The boy turned to the intruder. He said nothing as the Count walked closer. Dooku extended his hand towards the man. Holding his hand out with a small piece of paper, “The Queen wishes to see you, now.”

The man bowed, “By the Queens will, I serve.”

Bastion, Coredia

The city was in ruins. Rescue personnel scurried here and there, clambering in and out of ruined buildings, trying to grasp at the cries of the injured and trying not to choke at the corpses. The battle that shook Coredian society to the core...Hiashi's betrayal has brought low the economy, already fragile after Konoha, as frightened investors pulled money out of Hyuuga businesses and into others, despite the new Matriarch's assurances. Even the Emperor's pledge to cut corruption with his lightsaber only blunted the impact.

Needless to say, people were angry and frightened. Though Hiashi was Fallen, the media considered him a tragic fellow, someone to be forgiven, rather than hated. By that logic, the holoblogs began to come out that perhaps, just perhaps, Hiashi was duped, was swindled, as many good men have been swindled, into Falling. Despite everything he has done, people still refused to believe that he Fell for the sake of falling. Soon, the demand for answers, for the reason or perhaps even the culprit behind Hiashi's fall, began to circulate the Holonet.

When answers are demanded...answers will be granted.

OOC: I asked for and received permission to RP my business markets and related blather as concerns these events, given how markets tend to react immediately, rather than weeks from now, to news.

Market Street

Here, in this urban canyon, the financial hub of Evil Woody Thoughts, the news of the failed coup against Coredia was met not with shock, not with horror, but with jubilation. Ticker tape became party confetti. Bottles of champagne and aged-for-a-century wine popped open, corks littering the ground. Coredia, renown for its black-hole-secrecy and the corruption assumed to lie underneath, an ally whose bonds were rated junk by Woodian rating agencies because of the national budget widely considered a sham, and assumed by businessmen and commoners alike to be considered probably at least as corrupt as old tin-pot dictators from Earth, had reached its reckoning.

The implication of this was, of course, that Coredia had reached rock-bottom and would now have to clean up its act, its rotting corpse of corruption finally exposed for the universe to see. Investors and traders high on euphoria cheered the opening bell on the Woodian Stock Exchange, then watched with glee as the market opened up 250 points in the first minute and up 700 in the first five...

Of course, business channel pundits were put in the seemingly untenable position of having to explain what looked on the surface like Schadenfreude to allies who were understandably distraught about the whole thing. Fortunately, Woodian business channels happened to be carried on Holonet cable subscriptions in both Coredia and New Dornalia.

"Good morning! This is Rainn Thoreide, reporting LIVE from Market Street! The Woodian stock markets are poised for a stellar day, despite news from Coredia that Bastion City is heavily damaged by the failed coup attempt. Currently, the market is up nearly 800 points after only about ten minutes of trading." Seeing a euphoric trader making an exit from the Exchange, presumably for a celebratory beer run, Rainn decided to give him a quick interview. "Sir, could you please provide some insight for our viewers, especially those abroad, as to the huge rally at bad news?"

"It's not bad news! The Coredians will emerge stronger for it, more aware of the need to crack down on corruption," the trader hurriedly and excitedly exclaimed. "The Masakis, who ignored the problem since Alexander died, now had it blow up in their faces. They can no longer ignore it. Soon Coredia will actually be a reasonable place for Woodians to invest; they'll have to clean themselves up to at least Dornalian standards. And you know what that means: New Markets! Financials are leading the way on speculation that Coredia will get its bond rating raised above junk, woohoo!" The trader then scurried off to the liquor store across the street to load up on high-end booze.

"Thank you for your assessment," Rainn replied, taking a quick check of bank quotes. "Sure enough, the Bank of Woodia is up nine credits and 58 cents, the Woodian National Bank is up eleven credits and 32 cents..."

After an eight-hour long party, the Woodian Stock Exchange recorded its largest point gain and second largest percentage gain ever. Investors cheered the closing bell as the day's closing numbers appeared blurry to them--they were so jubilant their eyes were losing focus. Indeed, the numbers were quite eye-popping, and would have Coredians quite scratching their heads. The final numbers flashed across the Big Board, many Holonet cameras affixed to them:

OPEN 9113.97 CLOSE 10363.19 +1249.22 (+13.71%) VOL 8.064.371.232.000

At least someone was able to put a positive spin on events.

The man walked, side by side with the Count and the queen’s guards. Down the long ebony hallway, lite by torches. Their shadows danced along the walls and floor as the flames from licked the stone ceiling above. The floor, black marble with interwoven gold glistened in the red fire of the torches, as the ceiling laid thick with the black smoke from the burning fuel.

The man stood tall, and did not say a word, but inwardly he was nervous. Had he done something to anger the Queen? Was he going to be promoted to Lord? Was this just a social call, one that if anyone knew her beauty he would be a fool to refuse? He did not know, and to him that made it all that much worse.

Soon the flickering light, dawned by endless shadows and darkness came to two large wooden doors. The handles, were large, like a 17th century lock. It was ornate, as gold, and silver were interwoven into a masterpiece of sculpture. The outer edges of the knobs were lined with the finest pearls. They alone were worth easily lifetimes worth of cash to most people, but as everyone knew, the Queen loved to be surrounded by decadence, and beauty.

One of the guards, brushed by the man, pushing him aside slightly, as he stood in front of the door. His back turned to the door, he reached down and opened the large wooden entrance. “Your majesty, Queen Nightshade of Tenetia will see you now.” the guard announced his voice booming as if he were announcing the Queen to a parliamentary body. The man nodded, as two more guards stood by his side.

Slowly the three people walked into the room. The room itself was even more lavish than that of the door that protected it. Ebony greek pillars rose to the ceiling, as the ceiling itself was a mosaic. Red clouds cracked with lightning, as two cloaked figures stood locked in combat. One blue lightsaber crashed into a red one, as the white light was beautifully illustrated. In the background was a ruined city, and a stunning woman that laid dead on the side. The picture was life like as he looked up, and for a moment, the man thought the pictures would move.

He lowered his gaze around the room. Beautiful life like statues filled the room. Women, bare breasted, holding jars of water, or men in thinking positions. As he took a step forward, the roaring fireplace flared up, illuminating the room to it’s full grandeur. Gold in the very walls spread out, almost like the cosmos, as tiny streaks of silver shined against the red glare of the fire.

“I see you are a student of art.” the lovely sound of the Queen of Tenetia sang out, nearly startling the young sith. He turned to her then quickly bowed. “Your majesty, by your will I serve.”

“That is nice.” she brushed off his comment that she had heard a thousand times. Walking closer to him, the lady wore a red and purple dress, her hands ever gloved. “You may rise.” she ordered the young sith knight. The man rose.

“Do you know why I called you hear?” she asked the man.

He stood before her, but keeping his head bowed. “No my queen.”

She smiled as she walked closer. Extending her index finger towards his face she pressed against it, pushing into his skin. It was almost painful, as she circled the man. “I called you here.” she said to him, her tone very definite, “To preform a mission for me, and for the Empire.”

“Of course my queen. You will shall be done.” he sounded off very resound.

“Good.” she said as she pulled out a packet. “I need you to use these talents. This is your target. Your mission is simple. Destroy this man, in the way you are most accustomed to do. Be creative, but be careful. My brothers agents are around, and although not anywhere near as powerful or intelligent as you, one slip and you could bring down all we are seeking to do.”

The man’s eyes seemed confused, as they scanned around the room. “Of course my Queen I will not fail you.”

Nightshade laughed, “Are you so confident, you have not even opened the parchment.”

The man opened it and looked at the picture and documents inside. His face grew flustered, as he looked up to Lady Nightshade. “My queen, this is my mission.”

She slowly dawned a feral grin. “Yes, are you capable of preforming it?” she asked growing quite snide at this pup before her.

He backed away and bowed while doing so. “Yes my queen, but I will need materials, and time to study the victim. Perhaps even some training.” he told her. “If you want this to go on without a hitch.

Lady Nightshade waved her hand dismissing him once more. “You will have what you ask to complete this mission. She turned to one of her guards. “Please inform Aelikes I need a favor from him, and forward the list of things this Knight needs to the Huntaerian Empire. Include everything, for if he fails I do not want any excuse.

“Yes my Queen”