=== Nira ===
The stars outside the battle barge's reinforced viewports streaked into long, white lines as the ship hurtled through hyperspace.
Inside her private command chamber, soundproofed, sterile, and dimly lit, Lady Nira, Grand Regent of the Imperium, sat alone, legs crossed. Her fingers tapping rhythmically against the armrest of her chair. The faint hum of the engines served as the only ambient sound, punctuated occasionally by the quiet beeps and flickers of various data slates arranged before her like offerings on an altar.
She had watched the video again. And again. And again.
The grainy holorecording played on a loop in one corner of her display. Sienn, soaked in blood, stabbing Orn Free Taa with feral desperation as the corpulent Twi'lek shrieked and gurgled beneath her. No training. No technique. Just rage. Just pain. Just truth, manifest through vengeance.
And they had all seen it.
The original transmission had been uncut, unedited, unrepentant, and had been sent to the Senate. The moment it hit the galactic networks, all civility shattered.
Nira exhaled slowly, folding her hands under her chin. Her green eyes glowed faintly as they darted across the report logs piling up from every sector. The Republic Senate was in full meltdown.
Taa had been popular. Or at least... necessary. A bulwark of the corrupt machinery that kept their little aristocracy alive. For years, he'd been their token Twi'lek. Groomed, stuffed, and paraded about to show the galaxy how "Noble" and "Inclusive" the Republic was. They had no idea what kind of a monster he was. Or worse, they had known and done nothing.
She tapped open the latest Senate debate logs.
"This barbarity cannot go unanswered!"
"They murdered a sitting Senator!"
"What does the Imperium mean by this? Does peace mean nothing to them?"
"We must act! Now! Before they attack more of us!"
Words from cowards, from guilty men. And then, of course, came the defenders of the lie.
Palpatine. The "benevolent" Supreme Chancellor from Naboo. She watched him step forward in the Senate Rotunda with all the grace of a practiced actor. She could recite his words by heart now:
"Orn Free Taa was a statesman. An honorable man who gave his life in service to his people and to this Republic. The footage circulated was clearly manipulated. The Imperium has chosen violence, and we must not allow their brand of imperial justice to replace galactic order."
Nira sneered. She paused the holo, freezing Palpatine's serene face mid-sentence. She leaned in close to the display, almost whispering:
"You'll regret those words, old man."
They had let the Senate simmer. Let the Republic show its rot. Let every bootlicker and false patriot crawl from their holes to defend a monster, exposing themselves like insects under light.
And then they struck.
A week after the video dropped, the Imperium broadcasted their rebuttal, a calculated, surgical release of data that Nira herself had curated. Transaction logs. Slave manifests. Recorded testimony from former captives. Surveillance footage stolen from Jabba's own archive.
The story told itself: Taa was no statesman. He was a trafficker. A slaver. A murderer. A monster hiding behind bureaucracy.
The outcry was immediate. Senators who had shouted in his defense scrambled to erase their words from the record. Denials piled up. Excuses were made. Some went silent entirely.
But others… others listened.
That was where her real work began.
She closed the report files and opened a personal communication from her aide. Alderaan was now within range. They'd be arriving in less than twenty minutes. Her lips curled into a faint smile.
Bail Organa.
He had waited. Observed. He had not spoken for or against. Instead, he had made inquiries. Quietly. Carefully. And then, after the full data was released, he sent a message directly to her to come to Alderaan and speak.
Nira stood from her chair, her robes trailing behind her like smoke. She walked toward the viewport and stared down at the distant blue shimmer of Alderaan, growing steadily as they exited hyperspace.
Alderaan was peaceful. Civilized. Educated. It prided itself on truth and justice. But it was not blind. Not anymore.
A soft chime at her door broke her reverie.
"My Lady, we're cleared to approach. Organa's escort is en route."
She pressed a button, acknowledging the message. "Understood."
Nira turned back to her desk one last time and tapped on a small holo, a still image of Sienn, just after the execution. Her hands soaked in blood. Her face stricken, but free. A symbol. A spark.
The galaxy would try to paint her as a murderer.
But to Nira… she was a symbol.
Then it came. Another soft chime, muted, discreet, almost apologetic.
Incoming transmission request.
Source: Chancellor Sheev Palpatine.
Priority: Diplomatic – Supreme Executive.
Nira blinked, not surprised. The moment was overdue.
She tapped a command rune on her console. "Accept."
The lights dimmed slightly, and a shimmering holo bloomed from the central projector. A flickering blue likeness of Chancellor Palpatine materialized, his posture formal, his expression drawn and severe, lips pressed into a thin line. For once, the kindly old smile he wore was absent.
"Lady Nira," he began, voice smooth but heavy, "you and I must speak."
Nira didn't move from the viewport. "Clearly."
A beat of silence. Then, his voice sharpened.
"I'm disappointed. I had hoped the Imperium would be a stabilizing force. But this… this manipulation—"
She finally turned to face him, one elegant brow raised. "Manipulation?"
"Yes," he said sternly. "You deliberately released footage of Senator Taa's execution without context. You knew exactly what would happen. The Senate descended into chaos. Entire systems began invoking emergency protocols. Some worlds are calling for military action. Do you know how close we were to full mobilization?"
Her lips curved into a smirk. "Then perhaps you should thank me for holding back the rest of it. For giving the Senate time to show its true colors."
Palpatine's brow furrowed, his voice lowering into a sharp rasp. "You should have released the evidence alongside the video, not after. The damage is already done. Public opinion has split, and many who defended Taa now feel betrayed.If your goal was peace, then this is not the path."
"You speak of peace," she said softly. "But you rule over a den of jackals gnawing on the bones of the innocent. The Senate was never interested in peace, only order. And not even true order, just the illusion of it."
Palpatine was silent for a moment. "This is not how diplomacy is done."
She laughed then, not a cruel laugh, but one filled with grim amusement.
"Diplomacy? Is that what you think this has been?" Her tone hardened like steel. "This isn't diplomacy. This is a purification. One that was long overdue."
Palpatine's hologram flickered briefly, before he straightened, folding his hands behind his back with that careful, calculating posture of a statesman trying to mask frustration with calm.
"You've created a dangerous symbol out of Sienn. That was your true aim, wasn't it?"
Nira looked away for a moment, letting her silence speak. Then, quietly: "I didn't create anything. She revealed what was already rotting beneath the surface."
"Careful girl," he warned. "There are limits to how far this game can go before it spills into war."
Her gaze lazily dragged back to him, green eyes glowing in the dim light. "We are already at war, Chancellor. It's just gone a bit cold."
Palpatine exhaled slowly, composing himself once again as a sly smile crept onto his face. "You're clever. I don't doubt your intellect or your resolve. But the galaxy is fragile, Lady Nira. If it shatters, neither you nor I will be able to piece it back together."
She stepped closer to the projector, until she towered above his much smaller holographic form as the room seemed to grow darker. Her voice dropped to a venomous hiss.
"Then perhaps it deserves to shatter. I would rather live in ashes than share a galaxy with the likes of you and your Republic."
She took a step back, the darkness seeming to recede as her voice returned to normal.
"But for now, I guess the flames of purification can wait a moment longer till a later date."
Palpatine frowned.
"I came to you in good faith, to prevent a larger conflict. I advise you to reconsider the path you're on. Otherwise—"
She cut him off with a sharp gesture. "No."
Palpatine paused. "No?"
"I don't take advice from those who defended a slaver and murderer just because he wore the right robes and shook the right hands." Her voice was iron. "You should be thanking me, Chancellor. I rid your Senate of one of its most vile parasites."
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but he said nothing.
She tilted her head, mock curiosity on her face. "Go ahead, Chancellor. Thank me. I'm waiting."
Another tense pause.
Then the transmission cut out.
The hologram dissolved with a static hiss, leaving the chamber in silence once more.
Nira stood for a moment, motionless, hands clasped behind her back as she stared at the empty projector. Then she turned and walked back toward the viewport.
"Something was off about him. But I couldn't tell through the transmission. Be careful Nira, he seems to be more powerful than we might think.." Sanguinius said, materializing next to her.
She smiled faintly.
"I will."
=== Sebastian ===
The air hung thick with the scent of oil, metal, and the unmistakable tang of blood.
From a shadowed observation platform above the interrogation chamber, Sebastian stood unmoving.
Beneath him, inside the stark, industrial interrogation bay, Hondo Ohnaka was little more than a battered husk of the flamboyant pirate he once was.
The Weequay had been lashed to a vertical frame, limbs bound in electromagnetic manacles that sparked occasionally, calibrated just below lethal. His tunic was in tatters, dark with blood and sweat. His face was a swollen mass of bruises, his left eye nearly shut, and two fingers from his right hand were missing.
The Interrogator was finishing his work, stepping back from the quivering prisoner.
"Subject has disclosed all known Separatist cargo routes, slaver facilities, and allied smuggling networks," the Interrogator intoned through the vox, his voice filtered and soulless.
"Cross-referencing confirms accuracy across all major datapoints. Interrogation complete."
From the shadows above, Sebastian gave a slow, dismissive wave of his armored hand, more like brushing aside a gnat than acknowledging the scene below.
"Dispose of him," The Interrogator began to order.
"No." A firm voice echoed from the side passage.
Sebastian turned his head slightly as Jarek approached.
His second-in-command stopped beside him, and looked down at the ruined form of Hondo with a glimmer of interest in his eyes.
"I'd like to keep him alive, Lord." he said. "He's a cockroach, but a useful one. The Separatists trusted him with deep logistics, and the Republic's elite units have chased him for years. If we leash him, he could be our eyes in places we wouldn't normally go."
Sebastian didn't reply for a moment. He looked at Jarek, his expression unreadable beneath his helmet, before returning his gaze to the chamber below.
Hondo groaned pitifully, a ragged breath wheezing through broken ribs. He was half-conscious, but alive.
The Black Templar finally spoke, his voice like stone grinding on iron.
"Turn him over to Captain Jarek's men."
Jarek gave a curt nod. "Thank you Lord."
Sebastian nodded. "Make sure he understands his leash is short, and serrated."
He turned away, footsteps booming as he strode down the overhead catwalk toward the war council chamber.
"Walk with me."
Jarek watched for a moment as his men took charge of Hondo, then followed.
They entered the war room, an angular chamber. Cold metal walls were lined with hololithic projectors and grim banners of the Obsidian Crusaders, each one woven from black silk and white thread, bearing the symbol of their order.
Around the massive strategy table stood a dozen Astartes, leaders of various Mandalorian squads. The holoprojector shimmered to life, displaying dozens of glowing red points across a star map of the Outer and Mid Rims. Separatist-controlled plantations, labor camps, slaver strongholds.
"We have our targets," Sebastian said without preamble. "Locations confirmed. Spread across eight sectors."
The Astartes leaned in silently, taking in the data with the war-hungry silence only Angels of Death could muster.
Jarek entered behind him, folding his arms as he stepped beside his commander.
"Republic reconnaissance has tagged a few of these targets already. We'll have… competition." Sebastian added.
"Republic presence will be substantial in three of the sectors. Jedi-led battalions. Special forces."
He looked around the room, pausing at each face.
"Remember: we are not at war with them. Not yet. This alliance remains... convenient if not a little fragile."
One of the many Mandalorians scoffed. "Their Jedi would sooner point a blade at us than a slaver."
Another grunted, "Let them try."
But Sebastian raised a hand, and the room silenced.
"We are not here to provoke. These are extermination strikes, not declarations of war. The Republic plays at justice, we deliver it. If Jedi or clone units interfere, avoid conflict where possible. But if they get in your way, destroy them."
Jarek tilted his head slightly. "Minimize casualties?"
Sebastian's eyes narrowed behind his helm.
"A few dead Jedi or clones wouldn't trouble me. But keep it to a bare minimum. The true targets are the slavers, the corrupt, the Separatist profiteers who use flesh as coin."
He turned to the war table, pressing a gauntlet to the control panel.
A new wave of red lights appeared, highlighting specific sectors where intelligence confirmed active trafficking routes, guarded by Separatist droid armies, pirate mercenaries, and black market syndicates.
"We strike fast. Hard. No survivors. Torch every root of this network before it writhes deeper into the galaxy's spine."
The Crusaders bowed their heads in solemn unity, weapons across their backs humming with restrained fury.
"Ready the Legion," Sebastian said. "We move out immediately."
As the warriors dispersed, Jarek lingered beside him.
"You trust this pirate?"
"No," Sebastian replied flatly. "But I trust his greed. And I trust you to keep his leash tight."
===
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