That Which Remains [Boz Pity]

[Rugs]

Aurelius’ stomach shifted as the Charybdis dropped out of hyperspace. It was a subtle thing, a shifting in his core that might have gone unnoticed had he been doing anything. But as it happened, he was not as the battleship arrived in the Boz Pity system.

“Back in Hutt Space again,” he muttered, and not for the first time on this trip. “And so soon after leaving.” And the tripe had borne at stop to Nar Shaddaa, to boot. Imago, as it turned out, had lingered in the system but lacked a way to return to Imperial space. That stop had come with a headache of paperwork and messaging to keep the fragile peace with the Republic from falling.

But it was done. Imago was aboard, and the Republic and Empire hadn’t shot at each other since the Battle of Nar Shaddaa. Aurelius didn’t see the point in delaying the inevitable, but it wasn’t his call to make.

“We have arrived, Lord Aurelius.” Moff Tarion Varrus’ voice buzzed through the comm in Aurelius’ ear. “We are advancing to establish an orbital position above the facility’s reported location.”

“Stay alert, Varrus,” Aurelius answered, toying with the helmet he held in both hands. “I don’t want to be caught flat-footed if shit goes sideways.”

“Of course, my Lord.”

The ship shuddered. On the opposite side, hangar bays yawned wide as the Charybdis launched fighters to act as a screen as it approached the world. A wing of the fighters would escort Aureliu’s team down to the surface, once they departed. With tensions high in Hutt Space, and with the remnants of some Archeri force involved, it would be foolish to act as if nothing could go wrong.

Even if Boz Pity was supposed to be a dead world. But if that were so, they wouldn’t be here.

“Send the others on their way, if they’re not already, Varrus,” Aurelius added as an afterthought. The moff gave the expected answer and so Aurelius settled — half-leaning with his Sith Hound, Sycllos, at his feet — against a large metal crate to wait for the other Sith to join him.

He was in a large hangar, its door still shut to the void beyond. A few panels along the edge glistened with a newness that didn’t quite match the others — they were newly installed after Novus’ old dragon had melted part of the floor during the battle in the Y’toub system. A shuttle squatted in the middle of the hangar floor behind him, with several larger transport ships crammed in besides.

Should the mission find people worth recovering, the Charybis carried transports aplenty.

The shuttle, of course, was ready to depart at his command. As soon as the other Sith arrived.

[caelum]

Nostos was unused to this.

The bridge was spacious, as he remembered it. The crew of the vessel scurrying forth ahead and below him, carrying out the necessary adjustments to bring the 'Arbitrary Solipsism' out of hyper space. The crew were fearful and respectful still and while Nostos wasn't fond of instilling fear to command others, in this at least, he conceded that he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

After all, he had killed the last Sith they had been pledged to.

It had been a bracing experience. The fight against his Mistress, borne more from necessity than greed, and while he had harbored doubts about his ability to persevere, persevere he did. Nostos wondered whether assassination was really the most efficient means of figuring out Sith Hierarchy, but he supposed it would be hypocritical to complain.

Nostos hadn't purged the crew of those loyal to their old mistress. Lady Eeyrie had valued logic in those that served her, and when it became apparent that a change in management had occurred, the newly risen Prophet had given them the option to accept a transfer should they wish it. An easy escape should their conscience trouble them so, and a more subtle threat underlying that which said 'if you choose to betray me after I gave you a way out, you only have yourself to blame'.

To his pleasant surprise, only a handful accepted the offer. Nostos wasn't quite clear on their reasoning for it, though if he had to guess, the fact that he hadn't immediately murdered them was a fairly high motivator to remain loyal. When was the last time anyone had heard of a merciful Sith Lord?

"Two minutes to real space, My Lord."

Lord Nostos is dragged from his reverie from the familiar,feminine, sound. As his bright eyes turn to the source, a small smile plays over his lips.

"Lieutenant Nivix." he says aloud, sitting up from his chair, (Would throne be more appropriate?), as he does. "Have we received any further contact from Darth Aurelius?"

"Only a confirmation that we are green to proceed, my Lord." she says, dutifully and quietly. Nostos smiled at that. She had always been a stickler for the rules, but it seemed to have only intensified since his rise to Lordship. Still, he didn't mind. She'd settle things in her own time.

"Indeed." Nostos ponders for a moment, as he feels the telltale signs of the hyperspace drive slowing down, the ship almost arrived to it's destination. "What do you think we'll find with this Darth Aurelius, Lieutenant?"

"I hear tell that he is a typical Sith Lord, my Lord." Nivix says dutifully. "Brash and Arrogant, certain of his power."

The less than flattering words seem to draw a flinch from the nearest of the crew. Nostos wasn't surprised. Eeyrie may have brought them in for logic, but even they knew better than to be so bold.

"Typical Sith Lord hmm?" Nostos says, wondering. "Would you say the same of me?"

There was no sign of it, but he could feel the apprehension in the Force. Of those crew still used to Eeyrie's way of things, this would seem as though a trap. A means for Nostos to punish the too bold lieutenant. Nivix, bless her heart, wasn't having any of it.

"You would not be a typical Sith Lord, my Lord." she says dutifully. After a moment, Nostos smiles.

"And neither is he, for he is a Darth." Nostos says as he stands at the same time his ship enters realspace with a sudden thud. The battleship in the distance was a glorious sight, even he had to admit, but he had never been one for ostentatious displays of power. For his needs, a Monitor would suffice.

For a moment, Nostos experiences a sense of deja vu he couldn't quite put a pin on. A moment much like this, with a vessel arriving in real space, Nostos on a bridge and a fearsome Sith he would have to answer to. A moment that was not all that long ago but seemed nearly a lifetime away. It seemed almost like nothing had changed.

Except it had. The Sith was dead, Nostos had stepped over her corpse.

Nostos turns to the captain of the ship, a new one, whose name he couldn't quite recall. "Inform Darth Aurelius that Lord Nostos is en route to his ship, and will be meeting him shortly."

He ignores the Captain's affirmative, moving out of the bridge even as his Lieutenant follows him.