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An Elegy for Raykel
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| Lyman_Sturn | Date: Monday, 31 Aug 2015, 1:17 AM | Message # 1 |
 Trainee
Group: Users
Messages: 7
Status: Offline
| "Inquisitor, I want you to know that I'm following your orders under protest."
Sturn raised an eyebrow. Captain Romes stood in the Inquisitor's quarters aboard the Malefic, which sat incongruously on the well-manicured grounds of the local university. The spaceport in Raykell had been too small to accommodate her. Romes stood erect, chest-first and with his hat under his arm, but there was as much defiance in his voice as there was in his posture. Sturn, seated in a form chair, regarded the Captain with his cold, lifeless eyes. He sighed.
"Do you remember what I told you at Kirdo?"
"That 'I'm in the business of death,'" Romes answered at once, suspecting where the Inquisitor was going with this. "But these are non-combatants. They're innocent civilians who have done nothing wrong. Shooting one a day until Castor Vax shows himself on Darkknell? I simply cannot—"
Sturn produced a lightsaber from somewhere on his person, setting it gently on the arm of his chair for Romes to see. As was so often the case, the lightsaber was deadly to conversation. "Have you seen what a Jedi can do with a lightsaber, Captain Romes?"
Romes hesitated, a bead of sweat forming on his brow. But to his credit, he did not back down. "Yes, Inquisitor," he said simply. He had seen on the holonet the fate that had befallen Count Dooku and the other Separatist leaders—chopped quite literally to pieces. To say nothing of the dismembered corpses of Imperial personnel he and Sturn had seen at Kirdo III. Romes had been grateful to have the Jedi on their side of the Clone War, but equally grateful to be rid of them once the war was over. Or most of them, at least.
"Then you know the danger our Castor Vax poses to 'innocent civilians,' such as those we're now making an example of. It is... regrettable, certainly. You are perhaps familiar with the old proverb that 'to be cruel to others is to be cruel to oneself'? I feel their pain as if it were my own, but Castor Vax is a greater danger to a greater number of innocent civilians than we are. I am familiar with your record, Captain. Surely you know that sacrifice is as inevitable in war as it is necessary."
"But they're—"
"'Innocent'?" Sturn interrupted him, contempt in his voice. "Come now, Captain. Those we've shot thus far are inmates from the Raykell Penitentiary. The worst that Darkknell has to offer. They're hardly 'innocent.' And Castor Vax used far less discretion at Kirdo III than we are using here."
"'Those we've shot thus far'..."
Sturn waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, I'm sure Vax will show himself before the inmate population is totally depleted. But if it becomes necessary for us to make an example of the general population, you may sleep comfortably in the knowledge that, however regrettable may be the task, we are serving the greater good of the Empire. But," he put the lightsaber—a beautifully-crafted specimen with an Emori leather grip—away. "If you insist on carrying out my orders under protest, I will be disappointed, but so be it. As long as you carry them out."
"I... withdraw my protest for the time being, Inquisitor," Romes remarked. He was not convinced, but rather confused into acquiescence. This was just as well for Sturn's purposes, and he hadn't even had to use the Force on him. Sturn was partial to Romes, a well-meaning law-and-order man from Ralltiir who had remained loyal to the Empire when his homeworld rose in rebellion. But he hadn't done it out of ideology, but rather of duty. This character trait was quite apropos here on Darkknell.
"Good. You may go," Sturn said brusquely, closing his eyes as he prepared to resume the meditation that Romes had interrupted. The Captain bowed his head and turned to leave.
"But it's not 'one a day.'"
"Sir?" Romes glanced back over his shoulder.
"We're not shooting 'one a day,' Captain. We're shooting one today. Then 2 tomorrow, 3 the next day, and so on."
Despite the warmth of a pleasant Darkknell summer, Romes felt very cold. "Yes, Inquisitor," he said, replaced his hat on his head and left Sturn to his meditations.
Inquisitor Lyman Sturn
Former Jedi Master
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| Castor_Vax | Date: Tuesday, 01 Sep 2015, 1:11 PM | Message # 2 |
 Trainee
Group: Users
Messages: 6
Status: Offline
| Word took time to reach certain places, especially among Outer Rim shadowports. It was one week to the day when word came down to Vax and the Castigators, holed up in a former asteroid hangar that was converted into a home for smugglers. That was part of the relative ease in such a place. Sure, it was dangerous and sure, someone might try to knife you or shoot you if you won too many card games, but none of the people there were stupid enough to sell you out to the Empire. Compromise a shadowport and you'd be hunted until the end of your days by the myriad of other illegal folks who utilized the port.
It wasn't as if the Castigators didn't recruit out of this place, either. Unfortunately, full recruits weren't in plentiful supply, and most of the smugglers, pirates and lowlifes avoided Vax personally, even if they mingled with his men. Vax himself was drinking in one of the two cantinas when one of his subordinates ran in, practically in a lather, with a sheet of flimsi in his hand. He all but threw it down on Vax's table, a look or worry in his eyes. Worry and anger, Vax noted to himself. Setting down his drink, he picked up the sheet, reading it over as the messenger spoke to him.
"Sir, they've killed twenty-eight people on Darkknell! They keep adding to the number each day!"
"Twenty-eight criminals, Benson. Criminals. So far, they aren't doing anything but saving Raykel's taxpayers money on feeding the bastards. Whoever is at the head of this operation is actually being nice."
"There are fears that they'll turn to the civilian population when they run out of prisoners and-"
"It's a trap, Benson," Vax sighed tiredly, then he smiled with amusement. "Look at it. They target Darkknell, my home world, and Raykel, the city of my birth. It's a message. Kraven's replacement is smarter than I thought... or perhaps just a little more devious and less direct."
Benson looked a little confused and at a loss for words. "So... so we're just going to let them keep killing people?" Vax heaved another sigh. Benson was one of the newer recruits to the Castigators. Where others had learned to be silent and simply wait, he asked questions. Vax didn't mind, though; he encouraged questions to an extent so he could give the proper answers and demonstrate his process of working. "No, Benson, we're not going to let them continue. We'll have to answer, and soon, before they run out of prisoners. Get me a dozen of the Castigators, newer faces that won't be known to our group. Prep them for an infiltration mission to Darkknell. I'll need some intel before I take us all in."
Castor Vax
Jedi Knight
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