Post by Darth Xaos on Aug 30, 2019 0:12:50 GMT
Screaming drew Nephelus' attention from his necromantic studies. These were not screams heard in the mundane way, the chamber he presently occupied within the Iziz palace was deathly silent. Instead, this keening was audible to him through a medium he had only just recently begun to explore in earnest: the Force. He had gotten used to feeling the disorders in Iziz's streets from within his solemn palace over the past fortnight, but he sensed that something about these screams felt profoundly different...and he also felt that he would find answers in his throne room.
As the young king rose and began to transition towards the the throne room, his mind cleared from its singular focus on the matters he had been studying, the events of the past several weeks began to return to his mind's forefront. Not long after Prakith, the First Order had launched its coup to place him on Onderon's throne. Supreme Leader Snoke (whom Nephelus had yet to even see, despite all he had accomplished for Snoke) apparently had allies among former supporters of the old Empire in Onderon's Council of Lords. These men, though a minority in the government, declared Nephelus to be the true king. Nephelus' first act as king was, as planned, to invite the First Order to Onderon to prevent resistance to his ascension. The death of the old king, combined with the presence of the Vornskyr-1, Vidia's imposing Mandator IV siege dreadnought in orbit and her Wachetroopers on the ground, was supposed to have quieted all dissent...it hadn't.
It had been a surreal experience for Nephelus signing Modon Kira's death warrant, as the man had been king for all the Echani's life. Nepehlus' father had served and sworn allegiance to Modon and now Nephelus had usurped and killed his father's liege. Which was certainly not to say that he regretted killing Modon in his rise to power, only that the situation would've seemed fantastical less than a year ago. However, despite disposing of Modon, Snoke's cronies had failed to capture his wife and heirs. They retreated to Fortress Kira, the House of Kira's ancient and nigh-impenetrable fortress in the wilds of Onderon, and from there the self-proclaimed Queen-Regent of Onderon prosecuted a guerrilla war against Nephelus' reign in the name of her sixteen year-old son. While the Vornskyr-1 certainly had the power to penetrate Fortress Kira's shields, bombardment of such magnitude would serious damage the entire planet...which isn't to say the Vidia hadn't given the idea consideration at first.
Multiple attempts to sabotage the Fortress had been made, none were successful. And while the Kira family sat safely and smugly behind their walls of energy and duracrete, Iziz was pressed from without and shaken from within. The old Beast Rider families had overwhelmingly thrown in with the Kirists, returning to their ancestral roots and wilderness, and now war between the sovereign of the city and the chief of the Beast Riders raged as in ancient times. But while his walls suffered under enemy raids, Nephelus' streets were also awash with his enemies. House Kira had been winning the propaganda war, painting Nephelus as an alien invader with a weaker claim to the throne who serves as puppet to foreign tyrants, and the people of Iziz had been regularly erupting in protests which disrupted the city's routine operations and had to be forcibly dispersed.
But this time felt different, Nephelus considered again, as guards opened the doors to his throne room to admit him.
Within, Nephelus found Vidia, cavalierly sitting on his throne in one of the many dresses and sets of jewels she'd had confiscated from local shops; which he found on both accounts to be sadly unsurprising. Around her stood her lieutenants: Commander Kardis, leader of the Wachetroopers, fully equipped with her arms and armor; Vice Admiral Wade Zemmer, holotransmitting from the Vornskyr-1, stiff and unbending as a durasteel pipe as always; Jac Borgnar, Vidia's intelligence and counter-insurgency expert, a relic of the old ISB with thin, greasy hair and a short, paunchy frame which his armor ill-fitted. Curled up near the Lady of Ren's feet were Rache and Zorn, the two monstrous hound-creatures after which her flagship was named.
"The crowds dispersed quickly once I had the nerve gas deployed," Borgnar reported to Vidia, "And thus far it seems that none of our infiltrators among the insurgent groups were caught in the crossfire. I've ordered the starport shut down, and for good measure had everyone who works for the starport arrested and sent to interrogation."
"I have a firm blockade around the planet," Zemmer added, "No vessel will land on or launch from Onderon without your authority, Lady."
"Wachetrooper patrols continue to cover the maximum amount of the city possible at a given time," Kardis said her part, "And I've begun a full systematic search of every building in the city, starting with those most suspected of subversive activity."
"If the population doesn't become more pliable by tomorrow, I'll start confiscating food from the markets to show the common people the price of even passively supporting insurgents," Borgnar amended.
"It's not enough," Vidia fumed, "I want every insurgent in the city dead in the streets! I want Fortress Kira fallen! I want to know who was smuggling arms to the insurgents through the starport in the first place! And I want it all now!"
As the young king rose and began to transition towards the the throne room, his mind cleared from its singular focus on the matters he had been studying, the events of the past several weeks began to return to his mind's forefront. Not long after Prakith, the First Order had launched its coup to place him on Onderon's throne. Supreme Leader Snoke (whom Nephelus had yet to even see, despite all he had accomplished for Snoke) apparently had allies among former supporters of the old Empire in Onderon's Council of Lords. These men, though a minority in the government, declared Nephelus to be the true king. Nephelus' first act as king was, as planned, to invite the First Order to Onderon to prevent resistance to his ascension. The death of the old king, combined with the presence of the Vornskyr-1, Vidia's imposing Mandator IV siege dreadnought in orbit and her Wachetroopers on the ground, was supposed to have quieted all dissent...it hadn't.
It had been a surreal experience for Nephelus signing Modon Kira's death warrant, as the man had been king for all the Echani's life. Nepehlus' father had served and sworn allegiance to Modon and now Nephelus had usurped and killed his father's liege. Which was certainly not to say that he regretted killing Modon in his rise to power, only that the situation would've seemed fantastical less than a year ago. However, despite disposing of Modon, Snoke's cronies had failed to capture his wife and heirs. They retreated to Fortress Kira, the House of Kira's ancient and nigh-impenetrable fortress in the wilds of Onderon, and from there the self-proclaimed Queen-Regent of Onderon prosecuted a guerrilla war against Nephelus' reign in the name of her sixteen year-old son. While the Vornskyr-1 certainly had the power to penetrate Fortress Kira's shields, bombardment of such magnitude would serious damage the entire planet...which isn't to say the Vidia hadn't given the idea consideration at first.
Multiple attempts to sabotage the Fortress had been made, none were successful. And while the Kira family sat safely and smugly behind their walls of energy and duracrete, Iziz was pressed from without and shaken from within. The old Beast Rider families had overwhelmingly thrown in with the Kirists, returning to their ancestral roots and wilderness, and now war between the sovereign of the city and the chief of the Beast Riders raged as in ancient times. But while his walls suffered under enemy raids, Nephelus' streets were also awash with his enemies. House Kira had been winning the propaganda war, painting Nephelus as an alien invader with a weaker claim to the throne who serves as puppet to foreign tyrants, and the people of Iziz had been regularly erupting in protests which disrupted the city's routine operations and had to be forcibly dispersed.
But this time felt different, Nephelus considered again, as guards opened the doors to his throne room to admit him.
Within, Nephelus found Vidia, cavalierly sitting on his throne in one of the many dresses and sets of jewels she'd had confiscated from local shops; which he found on both accounts to be sadly unsurprising. Around her stood her lieutenants: Commander Kardis, leader of the Wachetroopers, fully equipped with her arms and armor; Vice Admiral Wade Zemmer, holotransmitting from the Vornskyr-1, stiff and unbending as a durasteel pipe as always; Jac Borgnar, Vidia's intelligence and counter-insurgency expert, a relic of the old ISB with thin, greasy hair and a short, paunchy frame which his armor ill-fitted. Curled up near the Lady of Ren's feet were Rache and Zorn, the two monstrous hound-creatures after which her flagship was named.
"The crowds dispersed quickly once I had the nerve gas deployed," Borgnar reported to Vidia, "And thus far it seems that none of our infiltrators among the insurgent groups were caught in the crossfire. I've ordered the starport shut down, and for good measure had everyone who works for the starport arrested and sent to interrogation."
"I have a firm blockade around the planet," Zemmer added, "No vessel will land on or launch from Onderon without your authority, Lady."
"Wachetrooper patrols continue to cover the maximum amount of the city possible at a given time," Kardis said her part, "And I've begun a full systematic search of every building in the city, starting with those most suspected of subversive activity."
"If the population doesn't become more pliable by tomorrow, I'll start confiscating food from the markets to show the common people the price of even passively supporting insurgents," Borgnar amended.
"It's not enough," Vidia fumed, "I want every insurgent in the city dead in the streets! I want Fortress Kira fallen! I want to know who was smuggling arms to the insurgents through the starport in the first place! And I want it all now!"