Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Darth Bellious]

An audience in the halls of King Jo'ren was long overdue. There were matters to concern him with. Darth Bellious drew the symbol of Exar Kun in the air to the ramp cameras and waited.

[Jo'ren Rath]

The boarding ramp lowered a few moments later. King Jo'ren walked down it shortly after.

"Nice entrance Moyr. Good to see you." Thee was a grin and a large hand was offered.

"You want to talk out here or in the ship?" He thumbed at the interior wondering if this was Galactic secrets level or just a friendly chat.

[Darth Bellious]

The large hand was met by a much smaller one, and the grin was met with a smirk.

"Good to see you, Jo'ren. I'd rather we spoke inside. This way you could offer me something to drink."

[Jo'ren Rath]

"I knew it! You're here for my bloodwine." There was a laugh and he led her inside.

The ship hadn't changed all that much. More room for Massassi warriors perhaps. A shinier hyperdrive. He gestured to a comfy couch.

"I'll get us some mugs. Kriff Moyr, it's been too long. What's new?" Other than the new enemy at the gates...

[Darth Bellious]

"I'm too predictable!" She exclaimed in eye-rolling mockery, then entered grinning.

Inside, she took the couch and appreciated the Massassi-adjusted interior.

"Lots, actually. I don't know if we have time to go through all of it. Depends how much bloodwine you're fine decanting today. But since shitstorm is going to hit us hard soon, I guess we need to give a few things priority. I want to talk about our common concern, Jo'ren, which is Yavin."

[Jo'ren Rath]

Two large mugs were clicked as he brought over a fine vintage and drank to their friends.

"Sure. I'm listening. Shoot." Jo'ren had a Legion of Massassi working for him at the moment. They were a fair way from Yavin but he still visited fairly regularly.

[Darth Bellious]

"My organisation operates from Yavin 4. The same one that made Dantooine possible, as well as other rebellions on countless worlds by now." She began. "You surely have visited over the years, and you would not know. My gem in the jungles. Whatever happens to me, it is worth preserving."

She paused. "King of this iceball, with all due respect, is unimpressive, Jo'ren. The supreme lord of Yavin, however..."

[Jo'ren Rath]

There was a chuckle before he quenched it with bloodwine. "People call me a lot of things Moyr. None of it means kriff."

He looked at her with a hint of curiosity. "I like Yavin. Jungles. Temples. Friendly natives. Nice place to visit. It's not my home though."

Secret bases huh? Yeah, same. "I'm interested in hearing more though. What's your angle here?"

[Darth Bellious]

"It is really simple, Jo'ren. I asked myself a question who of my old companions are still Sith enough to choose the right thing and pull through. Perhaps my time on Yavin will soon come to an end. What I would leave behind need not go to waste."

She sipped.

"With your Massassi, you still have ties to it and no-one would question your coming and going. This is still the land that holds secrets of Naga Sadow, Exar Kun, and other Great Sith. I'd rather not see it become a place overrun by our opponents."

She looked at him.

"All this, worth kriff or not?"

[Jo'ren Rath]

Jo'ren pondered this for a time. The Massassi felt like his people. He wasn't going to abandon them whatever happened.

"You're offering to pass your assets over to me. To help protect the legacy of Yavin?"

Exar Kun and the Massassi were part of him too. "Where are you going Moyr?"

[Darth Bellious]

"To preserve what is worth preserving of Sith philosophies and accomplishments. If the current Sith Empire falls, I'd rather it would be reborn with the right foundations, not as a ploy of someone like Vitiate. It is Yavin that can spring back, not Nathema, Ziost, or even Dromund Kaas. I honestly can't think of anyone else that could do it, Jo'ren. I needn't really stroke your ego here, you know who you are. Hence I am here now. You know I've ever fought not for self-aggrandisement, but for the idea that a determined sentient can blaze their own path through the galaxy regardless of restraints and impositions of kriffers, be they blue, red, golden, sick green, or purple-teal."

She let out a long sigh.

"I don't know where I am going exactly, Jo'ren. My destination is unknown to me. But I know what for. I want to spread Sith lore beyond the furthest reaches, and found new Korribans and Yavins. We need to be larger, more scattered, more widespread, more heterogeneous than we have ever been, liberated from endless turf wars. You and I have seen the Republic on their knees before us. We've had our revenge. I have no taste for an umpteenth one, I want something more, something greater for us than this endless back and forth."

[Jo'ren Rath]

Moyr might draw some satisfaction from the brief look of surprise on Jo'ren's face. He started to say something but stopped himself, sipped his bloodwine, and looked off through the wall and into an unknown country.

"Well okay, I didn't see that coming." Absently he scratched a chin spike. "Revenge was sweet. At the time. You're not wrong though. Something needs to change." It was calling to him too. Something greater. It that why Resmi kept talking to him? Maybe.

"And yeah, we forge our own way, that's what I always liked about you." A callused finger pointed at her and then upward as the bloodwine reached his lips again. He set the mug down once he had taken a long draught.

"You don't have to worry about Yavin. I've got the means and inclination to protect it, even if the war to come claims me. You ready for that possibility Moyr? Dying before you see your plans bear fruit?"

[Darth Bellious]

"Thank you. From all of our Korriban peers, there has never been anyone else to do it." She sighed in relief rather than in satisfaction and took a long gulp herself.

"I have been ready for my own death for a very long time. The only thing I want is the idea survives. It needn't bear my name. I needn't be around. But given how in my lifetime the core Sith values have been under constant assault from both outside and within, the Jedi, Vitiate, cronies like Baras, and even now they are coming close to being snuffed out by the Eternal Empire, I find this goal of mine nothing short of a grand ambition. I'd rather be nameless and successful in this than live long enough to earn a glorified tomb on Korriban without anyone knowing what I stood for."

[Jo'ren Rath]

"Alright." His fingers tapped a tune on the side of the mug. "I got a lot more death to bring before all this is over. Might even be too much for me. Guess we'll see huh?"

He stood and went over to the barrels. "More Moyr? I got another one in me." After filling as many mugs as were needed he remained standing and looked around the central living space.

"To Strength. Inside and out." The mug was raised. "And when it is over? I got places to go too. Planets to see. Mysteries to solve. But Yavin? Yeah, I got Yavin." He chuckled, but it seemed he wasn't going to explain. "Maybe we can dance around a campfire one more time."

[Darth Bellious]

"I'd drink to that." She raised her refilled mug, smirking.

/scene?

[Jo'ren Rath]

Business settled they drank and talked for a time, like old friends.

/end scene