My Lullaby (pre-game, late evening, Haunted Halls)

[Lord Tenebrous]

Tomorrow Lyria would be leaving Ziost, to spend time with her cousins in the Rath clan. It would give her some time to focus her efforts elsewhere, and most importantly at all it would remove her from the dirty politics that would be about to take place on the crown-world of the Empire.

Lyria yawned as her mother picked her up. "Papa here soon?" she inquired, rubbing her eyes as she insisted on being awake just a little bit more.

"Soon. He'll be here soon," Shaisha assured her with ease, the kind that came from many years of lying to tell people what they wanted to hear. If it would be a lie or not would be another matter.

[Lord Jo'ren Rath]

The door opened abruptly and a large shadow slid into the room followed by its owner, his huge shoulders almost scraping the edges of the frame. Approaching the pair he flashed a winning smile. "See. Listen to your mother. I wouldn't miss bedtime you little rascal."

Jo'ren winked at Shaisha and reached over to ruffle Lyria's hair. "Had your stories yet kiddo?"

[Lord Tenebrous]

Shaisha's attendant, Hyuna, had long since given up on trying to have some form of protocol that would let her announce Lord Rath's arrival, like she did with any other visitor. The large Sith did as he pleased it seemed, and to all she could understand, Lord Tenebrous approved of it. The dark skinned woman simply made sure that the little Sith family had their privacy from any possible eavesdroppers, and was out of sight easily.

The little sithling was of course ecstatic to see the big Sith. "Papa!" she exclaimed, reaching out her arms to grab a hold of him with all the strength of an energetic child that was given free reign to test her strengths all the time.

"Thought we'd wait for you, and let you do the telling," Shaisha smirked in response to Jo'ren's wink.

[Lord Jo'ren Rath]

The little Sithling was lifted into the air with ease, a squee of excitement emerging as she felt herself lifted fast enough to feel her stomach drop. Jo'ren produced something stuffed and floofy from behind his back. Lyria's eyes widened.

"It's a little something I brought back from Yavin IV. Apparently Massassi children get toys like this. Not as well-made as this one though." It was a stuffy of a female Massassi warrior.

As Lyria burbled in happiness Jo'ren looked down at Shaisha. "Sure, something with a good dose of adventure. Not too much to keep her awake though. Been a while Shaisha, so how's my other favourite Sith?"

[Lord Tenebrous]

She couldn't help but to snort a brief laugh at the delight of the child. Children were so easily amused. Had she been the same at that age? Probably...

"Didn't think the Massassi were that sentimental for cute things like that," Shaisha chuckled as she get the stuffed toy a closer look. She sighed deeply as she looked up at Jo'ren, the exhale slow and soft. "There's been much to think about lately. All this... that's going to happen here soon," her hand made a general gesture in the air. "Let's talk after she's asleep."

"Massassi. Massassi!" Lyria said as she made her opinion of story-topic known. Probably influenced by a certain toy.

[Lord Jo'ren Rath]

"Babies are babies. Even Massassi kids get rid to pay with, before the real hard training kicks in." He looked Lyria gently in the belly. "You've got a lot to live up to young lady. Don't you forget it."

With a smile he took a seat and placed the slip of a girl on one massive knee. "Massassi storytime huh? Okay, there's the one your mother and I are in. There's the one where I heroically rescue Darth Vengean. Or I can tell you a new one. It might keep you up all night though."

[Lord Tenebrous]

"She does," Shaisha agreed, her tone toughtful. The child didn't understand all the expectations on her shoulders yet, but she would learn in time. Their bloodlines were strong and powerful, and Lyria would be heir to both of those.

The options were all interesting, but Lyria made her choice. "You and mama." Even if she had a burst of energy now to keep her awake, she'd probably fall asleep soon enough.

[Lord Jo'ren Rath]

"Okay, imagine the scene: huge trees as tall as the sky! Yeah, taller than me. A massive ancient temple full of chambers and secrets. Steps rising up to the top, where they probably do sacrifices of naughty children." He tickled her to make it a touch less scary.

"The sun starts to go down. Everything is lit by torches. Shadows flicker. Your mama and me, we activate our Lightsabers and... ROAAAARRRR! Thousands of Massassi warriors, faces painted white, charging right at us!"

[Lord Tenebrous]

Lyria listened with the kind of attention only a little child could have, and as Jo'ren got to the beginning of the excitement, she made a "Rawr!" sound while holding her hands like claws.

The mother shook her head with amusement, removing her gloves as she watched the two.

"Papa and mama fight thousands?!"

[Lord Jo'ren Rath]

"Rawr indeed! Thousands. With a small supporting cast, sure. Deathwright was there, he was pretty handy. Your daddy killed the most of the bad Massassi though. So your mama and me, we're fighting them up close. They're even bigger than your papa, right? I know. Your mama's no slouch with a saber you know. Anyway, there's so many of them they're like a wall coming towards us. There's troopers shooting them but we're outnumbered. So I leap in and they go flying all over. Or bits of them do. Anyway, we're fighting but they keep on coming!" He looked down at the little girl who was in rapt attention.

"Say, did you brush your teeth like a good girl?" A big finger poked into her mouth. "Come on, show me."

[Dapper Dog]

There is a prirority holo message from [Redacted] - Code Sigma 6-Alpha Black -

This is a priority Imperial Line reserved for official communications from high ranking Sith and Command personnel.

[Lord Tenebrous]

There was an obvious frown as the story was interrupted, and the girl squirmed away from the inspection. "I did!" She responded with frustration and biting her father's finger to let him see the teeth that had indeed been brushed. "Thwee?" Lyria said with her mouth full.

Shaisha's laugh of amusement stopped as the message came, her brow furrowed in annoyance. "Storytime is over it seems. I will have Huyna take her to her room... this might concern both of us."

[Lord Jo'ren Rath]

"Are you after my blood like a tiny Massassi warrior?" He chuckled and then rolled his eyes when the call came in. "Your mother's right I guess. Anyway, we defeated the Massassi using brawn..." Massive muscles flexed. "brains, and cunning. Now take your little warrior and get off to bed. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Shaisha had plenty of secrets but if this concerned him then he wasn't going to argue. "Alright then. Good timing."

[Lord Tenebrous]

Lyria pouted, but so far knew that putting up resistance to her parents' orders was a pretty futile thing. Most of the time.


Having been summoned, the human with tawny skin soon arrived to do what was needed. "Come along now, my little Lord. I will finish the story for your father once you're in bed." Hyuna's skill with children and entertaining them was another reason why Shaisha had grown fond of her attendant.

With that out of the way, Shaisha sighed and opened the line. This had better be interesting to interrupt her private time so.

[Lord Jo'ren Rath]

Lord Rath settled into the seat, wondering what he was getting himself into just by being present for this. He knew Shaisha was tied in to Imperial Intelligence but that was the extent of his knowledge.

[Dapper Dog]

A sith blooded woman appeared on the holo just stared for ten seconds it seemed the system was glitching before she blinked and then said, “This is Servant Nine, Hand of the Emperor.”

“Do pardon the interruption, I bring greetings from Emperor Vitiate, Lord of the Sith, Dark Lord of Ziost, Restorer of Korriban, The Immortal One, He of Many Faces, First among the Sith… etc. You are Child 4356, designation Lord Tenebrous… the broken one.”

“Confirmation of identity is not needed, Servant Nine is aware. You are to meet with the Emperor upon his arrival on Ziost, your compliance is mandatory. It will not be necessary to bring forth Child 4862, designation Lyria at that time.”

She finished, “Has Child 4356 understood and received this commandment given by Servant Nine?”

[Lord Tenebrous]

Kriff, was the first thought going through her mind at first. She hated the appearance and feel of the Hands of the Emperor. Shaisha had expected the message to be something from Vowrawn, or Section IX, or... well, a number of things that wasn't this.

The second thought was anger, but she had now grown accustomed to letting it simmer under the surface. "Recieved and understood," she replied in a cool tone.

[Dapper Dog]

She stared again for long seconds and said, "Child 4356 has understood. Servant Nine will contact her when the Emperor is ready to receive her."

The Holo ended.

[Lord Jo'ren Rath]

Jo'ren gave Shaisha a look that said more than mere words could. He sat back in the seat, which creaked a little, and steepled his fingers.

[Lord Tenebrous]

Shaisha's hand tightened on the comm and for a moment it looked like she would crush it. Though it seemed she thought better of it, and took a deep breath before looking back to Jo'ren.

"Well... that was not what I expected," she scoffed softly. "If only the Force would give me an idea of conversations like that coming, that would be appriciated. Instead I only see the more distant future." A small attempt at humor.

Smiling briefly, she moved to Jo'ren's side. "It must be because I have decided on this matter of the vacancy on the Dark Council."