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Post by Darth Decivus on Jun 14, 2020 2:54:28 GMT -5
Darth Decivus walks with a purpose as he descends the boarding ramp and moves between the two lines of Imperial Shock Stormtroopers. His hands are clasped behind his back, though hidden by the cloak covering his form, leaving only the black helmet and dark crimson visor covering his eyes visible. The rain pelts harshly upon the Imperials, though the troopers are well protected within their sealed uniforms, and Decivus being covered head to foot in armor as well as the cloak, hardly even acknowledged the downpour - save for the light thrumming sound within his helm as the drops hammer uselessly away at the surface.
The man in the stately uniform glances cautiously between Decivus and the dark clad Cantrosian pulling up behind him - clearly having trouble deducing which of the two approaching him held authority. Decivus stops only a few meters from the man, intentionally allowing several seconds of awkward silence to hang in the air. After a brief flash of lightning overhead, and the growling thrum of thunder a moment later, the man finally decides to break the silence.
"Er, I welcome you to Ciutric Four." the man says unassuredly, looking nervous. "Queen Krennel sends her re-"
"I did not come here to listen to a servant prattle with formalities." Decivus harshly interjects, cutting the man off. "I commanded your Queen to stay out of my way during my time here. That you are here, in my way, suggests that she need be reminded."
The man looked as though Decivus had just backhanded him and called his mother a multitude of profanities. The guards near him shifted the weight on their feet, clearly looking like their trigger fingers were getting twitchy.
"I... Sir, that is quite unnecessary!" the man bites out, clearly offended. "My purpose here is merely to extend the Queen's desire to negotiate with the Empire directly!"
"I have already spoken with your Queen." Decivus sneers beneath his helm, but his contempt is clear regardless. "The Ciutric Hegemony shall be a vassal state to the New Empire, resistance will be met with a pacification of your world. I have not muddied my boots to stand in the rain and banter with the Queen's sycophants."
This time, all of the Ciutric locals looked shocked. This black clad Imperial had just declared that the Hegemony now belonged to them. When the guards moved, the Shock Stormtroopers also moved, instantly fanning out and whipping up their blaster rifles. Decivus had intentionally brought on the conflict - he needed to experiment, after all. The man throws down his umbrella, taking a daring step forward towards Decivus, looking furious
"The Hegemony has made no such agreement!" the man shouts, his clothes soaked within seconds, prompting the shock Stormtroopers to arm their weapons. This sets the guards on edge, who also whip up their blasters, trying to find a target despite being hopelessly outnumbered. "Your Empire is nothing more than a group of no-name officers that cannot accept that the Empire has fallen to the Corellian Union! We will no- HUCCKKKKKGH!!!?"
The man suddenly rises a full meter off the ground, clawing at an invisible noose squeezing his throat. The act takes the guards by surprise, their bewilderment causing them to hesitate a full second too long. The shock Stormtroopers take advantage of the confusion and open fire on the guards, cutting them down with a vicious efficiency. Decivus releases the man, allowing him to fall in a heap to the ground.
Using the Force, Decivus pulls the man to a kneeling position, arms froze in place against his sides. The young Sith slowly reaches toward the man, invoking the Force to infiltrate the man's mind. If one could prepare themself, resisting Force manipulation was possible. Other Force sensitives could even build strong blocks to wall off mental attacks, provided the one attacking their mind wasn't too powerful. But against this non Force Sensitive human, caught completely unprepared, it was almost too easy to tear through his reflexive instinctive defense and seize hold - much as he had done with the Tuk'ata.
Unlike those creatures, however, a fully sentient mind was difficult to navigate. Usually, manipulating emotions or planting simple thoughts could be enough to control an individual's actions. But touching the minds of others was not so alien to Decivus. He had experimented with a limited situation to use Battle Meditation on Eshan, and had tricked his enemies on Mustafar. But that was different - this man was completely at Decivus' mercy. And mercy is not the way of the Dark Side.
Seizing his hold on the man's mind, Decivus begins to slowly speak, even as the man cries out in anguish.
"Your guards were in league with the pirates..." Decivus growls, curling his fingers like daggers. "They were killed before they could attempt to kill us, and tried to take you hostage... ...Your Queen must be warned, she must ally Ciutric with the New Empire to protect the Hegemony."
The man, though anguished, repeats some of the words back at Decivus, and the Sith releases the man. Soak, afraid, and suffering from an unimaginable migraine, the man shakingly rises to his feet.
"Queen Krennel... I have to warn her... have to... warn her..!" the man mutters, suddenly snapping his eyes to the Imperials. "You... Please, you must get to safety! The pirates... the Queen doesn't know... they're so well connected..! The Empire... the Empire must help us! The Hegemony can't... it can't... pirates..!"
Decivus steadies the man, taking on a fake tone of concern.
"The New Empire will help Ciutric. Go now, to Queen Krennel." Decivus tells the man. "Tell her that we are hunting these pirates now - tell her to screen her palace guards for possible traitors. We will pursue the pirates where we can. Go, now, and bring her your gratitude - you could have been killed without my troopers' expert marksmenship and incredible instincts."
"Yes... yes... I'll go right now...!" the man stammers, stumbling away from the Imperials. Decivus watches as the man reaches an empty speeder and enters it. Within a minute, the speeder drives away, leaving the Imperials to their own devices. Decivus pulls out a datapad, accessing the information Lieutenant Mitth had obtained on Nal Hutta, searching for possible locations that Set Harth may have established living quarters or store houses.
The experiment seemed successful, so far.
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