Peace Is a Lie

[kallig]

WHO: Altair Kallig & Open
WHERE: Altair's Calibration Room
WHAT: Strangely enough, he's gotten to explore his own headspace before... This time it's worse.
WHEN: During the Calibration event!
WARNINGS: Abuse, torture, violence, death, betrayal, xenophobia, mass-death, cults, murder... Will add if anything else pops up.

It appears to be a tomb of some sort. It's dusty and dark and the air feels hard to breathe in, like the room's been sealed off for centuries.

While there are several sarcophagi, there it one that is open. Inside it, there is a holocron, a mask, an upright cup full of suspicious liquid, and a dualsaber. And while those are perhaps the items that stick out the most, there are several other things that might look just as interesting if one looks around.

A broken bottle lays shattered in a corner, glinting in the light of the torches on the wall, a bit of blood smeared on the shards of glass. On a shelf full of human bones lays a crude embroidery, some bloodied bandages, and a doll of some kind of monster.

On the floor beneath the shelf, a blaster pistol lays partially hidden beneath some rubble.

Glancing around, more bizarre or downright frightening items can be found- there's a broken holding cell, a glowing vial of some sort of chemical, a computer chip, golden robes, a pair of broken puppets, a goat-like doll, a empty chemical canister of some kind, an idol that looks like a bird another mask, a glowing purple crystal, and also a planetary status monitor of some kind.

On the far side of the room, there's a throne. Compared to everything else, it seems rather new. Scattered around the throne lays more items- a broken droid, a broken sniper rifle, a broken headband commonly worn by Twi'lek women, and a crown.

Behind the throne, should anyone care to look, there is a torn Ascendancy banner.

Altair himself was off in a corner, examining some trinkets.

Comments

[kallig]

As most memories about Sith, this one too, start with murder.

Altair moving through some sort of base- Republic by the looks of it. He brings his lightsaber down on the last guard, the man dying mid-scream and collapsing into a heap. For all the bodies though, Altair's clothes are as pristine as ever.

"Don't eat that, Khem," The white-clad Sith warns- Khem being a giant alien, looking quite sinister, and not necessarily the sort of company one would expect Altair to keep.

He approaches one of the holding cells, and the Sith inside it immediately looks up.

"You-- You--" He starts, as though in disbelief, "The old man sent you, didn't he? He must have gotten my distress signal!"

The human shook his head, putting his hands on his hips, "I guess he's good for something. He kept talking about some Sith he was working with. He didn't mention you were a filthy alien."

Altair's lips twitched, as though he had a comment, and there was a slight growl from Khem, though when he spoke up, he didn't call the other Sith an idiot for insulting his only means of escape, "Bessiker's not a fool. He's a smart man."

Somehow, there was a feeling of Khem disapproving of Altair's words too.

The human gave a bark of laughter at that, "Ha! Some Sith you are! Non-Sith are just pawns in our game, nothing more! Now get me out of here!"

"What's your plan?" Altair asked, and though it was barely perceptible, there was a slight look of surprise when the other Sith spoke.

"My master sent me here for some holocron the Republic dug up some place or other. I got the holocron, now all I've got to do is get out of this place."

"Best get out of here while they way is clear," Altair said, moving to get him out of the cell, rather than take advantage of the information he'd been given.

"Looks like you and my old man are one of a kind. Both weak. I'll be sure to tell him what you did for me-- maybe he'll reward you."

"You should have more respect for your father."

"Respect him?" The other Sith asked, in disbelief, "I don't respect what I can just as easily kill!"

The other Sith moved past Altair, leaving the base, Altair following after a short while.

It was a trek through a war zone, more or less uninterrupted- though there were flowers starting to grow where before there were none.

Eventually the trek took Altair and Khem to an Imperial base.

A cheerful-looking officer was there to greet him.

"Hey! If it isn't the hero of the hour! I just heard from my son-- I knew you wouldn't fail me. I was hoping he'd come back to base so we could catch up, but he said he was busy. Do you think he's okay?"

There was a clear look of thoughtfulness on Altair's face, before he said; "I think he hates your guts."

The way he said it, it sounded more like it was meant as a warning to be careful around his son.

Bessiker though, only tried to laugh it off.

"Heh- That's your, uh, winning sense of humor again, isn't it? Why should my boy hate me? I sacrificed a great deal to see he got trained on Korriban! Oh well, we'll chat later."

There was a slight look of concern on Altair's face as Bessiker spoke, concern that things wouldn't end well for him, should he try to reconnect with his son. But he said nothing, instead letting the Major continue.

"But you're not interested in any of this family stuff, I bet. You're here for your serum."

"You've been a great help," Altair said, "The least I could do is listen."

"No, you've been enough help already, my Lord. Doctor Tyrek will fix you up with the serum, and explain what we know about it.

One the memory ended, there was clear surprise on Altair's face, "I'd... Almost forgotten that."

He didn't know how he'd almost forgotten. But he had.

Strange, really. Meeting Major Bessiker, being treated with some semblance of decency, it had been the first time he'd thought that maybe there was something in the Sith Empire worth fighting for. Worth saving.

How long ago it seemed now, since he was that naive.

[out_of_order]

Blinking, Cal slowly lifted his hand away from the cell. The memory was a vivid one, although comparatively tame to other things he'd ever witnessed. He looked towards Altair then, brows lifting.

"You...saw it too?" Maybe it wasn't such a strange thing, if this place was linked to the Sith. "I hope he heeded your warning." He wasn't sure how different that Empire was from the one he was familiar with, but he'd like to think somewhere in the mess were still good people. He just hadn't had the chance to meet any who weren't so bent on killing him.

[kallig]

"I think he was there when I met with my followers, after joining the Dark Council."

But then, a lot of people had been, so he could be mistaken. That day had been a strange one.

"... I probably could have found a better way to warn him than that, really. But it was the only thing I could think to say."

Hiran's hatred for his father had been a real one. And Altair had been jealous that someone like Hiran got to have such a loving father, when he was so awful, when he obviously didn't appreciate what he had.

"Bessiker was a good man. I think if I hadn't met him, I would have found a way to leave the Empire behind. But... There are kind people in the Empire too. And I wanted to protect them. To make the Empire something better for them."

[out_of_order]

"At least you'd tried to say something at all." Cal couldn't disagree that there were better ways to warn a person, but Altair had still elected to say something.

"Sounds like the makings of a good ruler to me," he said, smiling slightly. Being compassionate for the people was important. "Unfortunately the same can't be said for the Empire I know. It only takes, and treats worlds and its people as nothing but resources."

It was still hard to believe that the Republic they'd worked so hard to protect had become something so warped.

[kallig]

"I can only hope that my rule will turn out to be just. Thankfully I have many friends to help keep me on the right path."

A ruler should always be open to input from others. After all, even he might lose his way, and he was glad to have people who would let him know if he did. Altair didn't want to become cruel, though being a Sith, he probably was already, at least a little.

He was no Jedi, at least. His image of goodness, of kindness, even of justice, had to be a little warped. He knew that much.

"Not that the Empire I know was- is- all that much better. But I wanted to change that. I still do. I don't think someone's species should be a reason to exalt or doom someone from birth. And I don't think that Force-sensitive voices should speak above those who can't use the Force. Equality, unity, that's what truly makes a nation strong."

Not a lot of people agreed with him, on that one. Not in the past, not now. Many thought that Acina should try to put him on a shorter leash, as though she had any power to do that to an equal. After all, Altair was as much Emperor of the Alliance as Acina was Empress of the Sith. But the fact that they were equals, the he didn't answer to her, he knew that was a source of mistrust for many a Sith and Imperial.

"Sith are short-sighted though. They only want to see a world where they keep their power as it is. Like as though they're born with it. And I imagine that's what's going to doom the Empire I know sometime in the future. I imagine what's going to doom the one you know too. Maybe not now. Maybe not for a long time."

He shook his head, and sighed, "To treat people as though they're expendable, to see a world and only see what you can strip from it... It can't last. It's not sustainable."

[out_of_order]

"I think that's just as important a thing to realize. You can't rule on your own." For all of Altair's concerns, Cal at least believed that he seemed decently qualified.

He couldn't say how things would go for the empire Altair would establish. He wasn't even sure if their timeline was the same or parallel, like it seemed there were people in Agra-10 of the same worlds but yet somehow different versions. But at least there would still be an Empire that had someone who wanted to look out for the people.

"It may not happen for a long time, but there would still be suffering if that's all that such Sith will focus on."

The padawan looked around at the other things around, things that he assumed told something of Altair's story, if the cage had been anything to show for it. He kept his hands at his sides as he nodded solemnly at Altair. "I can't say what the whole point of it could be. Just to prove that you could? Just to gather more power? But then what?"

[kallig]

"You can," Altair was quick to correct, obviously thinking of a specific person as he spoke.

Valkorion, Arcann, Vaylin. All of them had stood above the people around them, forcing their will on their own nation, and on the galaxy. None of them had had a merciful rule, none of them had built an Empire that could last. Valkorion had failed twice.

"It can't last though."

He'd seen it so many times by now, what happened when a ruler tried to force their will on others without considering the needs or emotions of their people. It never ended well.

"Does there need to be a point? Amass power, wealth. Steal it from others, make the galaxy tremble at your approach, and then crush it beneath your boot. Over and over, until there's nothing left. Kill the Jedi, crush the Republic, cover worlds in darkness, and make people know it's you who've done it."

Altair was far from a typical Sith. But he knew Sith. He knew them well.

"Over and over, Sith after Sith, because you're never the biggest fish in the pond."

He offered a slight smile, looking quite tired, "I don't want that. Not for my people, not for the Sith Empire, not for the Jedi, not for the Republic. Tomorrow should be looked forward to with hope, not dread. It's just the matter of working toward it."

He could force the Republic and Empire to get along at home, of course. He had the Eternal Fleet under his command, after all. But he'd had that when the war broke back out. And to use it now would be to mark himself as every bit the tyrant that the Supreme Commander of the Republic had said he was.

Peace couldn't be forced. It had to come from within.

"... If there's anything else you just have to touch you can go ahead."

[out_of_order]

Cal chuckled dryly at the correction, conceding the point with a nod. "Can't rule well, I should have clarified." The points given were the ones he expected, and yet it just seemed to underline the pointlessness. At least one Sith could see the futility of it.

"Agreed," he said. He imagined it wouldn't be an easy road for Altair, but if the Sith was willing to work at it, Cal believed he'd be able to pull it off.

A wry smile tugged at his face then. "I don't know that I should touch anything. It feels like I'm intruding." He looked around at the rest of the space, at the various items around. His eyes fell upon the broken droid over by the throne, but his attention kept being drawn back towards the open sarcophagus.