Mission :FAILED (Empress, Draque)

[Darth Keitavon Fox]

Walking through the white halls of the building overlooking the now rubble that was the Jedi Temple was Fox. The temple had collapsed. Not only did he not get to kill anyone, but without even getting a chance to find the Grand Inquisitor he would receive a punishment more than befitting his failure. He thought hard about what could have happened, either way his report to his Queen would be needed. Could the Grand Inquisitor have made it out of there? Was he crushed? He may have even been captured. But this was not anything he would be able to answer when the Empress questioned him. He had no answers and no excuses.

The Empress was still at her same location as he approached, he lifted his head and walked with a posture fit for royalty. He came within he grasping distance and dropped to one knee, also lowering his head again facing the ground not daring to look her in the eyes. "I have failed you my Queen. The Temple has been destroyed and the Grand Inquisitor was not found. He may have been crushed within stone walls of the ruined temple." He paused and took a deep breath exhaling slowly before continuing. "I accept any punishment you wish upon my mortal flesh my Queen." Still he dared not look back at the stare he could practically feel piercing through his body.

[Draque]

Draque paced himself outside the Empress' chambers awaiting for permission to pass. After the destruction of the temple he couldn't sit idly by and let the rebels ruin the Empire's tight grip on the galaxy. Something had to be done. Although it was not his place to demand action from the E,press, he himself could not stay in Coruscant and do nothing. He had to go out and about and assure the Empire's grip on the galaxy. Kamino would surely be his first stop. The advancement of the clone facility there would prove useful in speeding up the cloning process and would decrease the funds necessary for cloning. It was a necessary territory. He was getting impatient. One of the Empress' servants walked in and approved his visit. He walked hastily in and bowed before his Empress. Inside was also Darth Keitavon "Milady, thank you for seeing me."

Before he could elaborate more on the meaning of his visit, Fox bowed and gave his apologies. This infuriated Draque. "It is not your place to accept responsibility for a mission that was not your own." Draque growled at Fox after rising to his feet. "The failure was mine, Milady. But instead of wasting your time with petty begging and forgiveness, I have come with a way to redeem myself in your eyes." He gave a swift bow and rose again. Hopefully, she will hear him out.

[Grahm]

Back at the old Jedi Temple, excavation was still underway. The droids performing the actual work had been working non-stop since before the dust had truly settled, and it was doubtful that they would be finished for quite some time. What weighed most upon the Inquisitors that were in charge of the search operations was not that the temple had been attacked, but that the Jedi had decided to destroy something that had just few years prior been their greatest symbol, a place that to them had been sacred holy ground. If they were willing to destroy something so precious as that in order to rescue a single man like the rumors said, then the conclusion that every man and droid that was able to get over the shock came to was that these men they were fighting were worse then Insurgents, worse then Terrorists, they were outright blasphemous barbarians that needed to be hunted down and exterminated.

As the inquisitors that had been outfitted with rebreathers to avoid damage from the smoke and debris searched throughout the temple, it was Ironic that an Initiate who had excelled in his Force Tracking skills triumphed over the rest of the Inquisitors in that he was the one who found the Grand Inquisitor. He had been told to search the second floor for any scrap or sign of the Grand Inquisitor's passing, and instead he found an rather small blip in the force inside of a room that was about twenty feet away from Questioning Room Five, a room that had for the most part been unused for it's purpose due to the more advanced systems in rooms one and two, for which three and four were the primary backups. The young Inquisitor dared to hope as he opened the door to see that the room's floor had been broken and had fallen to the room below, which was constructed in a way quite unlike the rest of the temple, being a lot more dingy and cellar-like. As he got closer to the gaping hole in the room the signal became less faint and more pronounced, and when he had peeked over the edge he saw the rubble piled onto the ground with the face of a man poking out of the ruins. The Man used some of the last reserves of his strength to send a single message to the boy using the force. Help. The initiate recognized that force signature almost immediately, so he nodded down to the man before turning around to poke his head out of the room and towards the main chambers. "The Grand Inquisitor has been found! Send help this way, and somebody tell the Empress that the Grand Inquisitor is alive!"

[Astren Rosalba Chevalier III]

Humiliation. Embarrassment. The sheer, overwhelming shamefulness of the end result was more than enough to put Astren in a mood stuck halfway between rage and vindictiveness. So much for the empire. They couldn't even take care of one rebellion group. One. Just one. Just. A. Single. One. If she had had something that wasn't valuable to throw, she most likely would have. Even the Jedi they'd captured and kept for questioning had escaped. Someone would pay for this. Someone, most certainly, would suffer for the disgrace she'd been forced to endure.

Publicly humiliated. “This is clearly a failure in Imperial Security...” That was what they were saying. A failure? Fury raked her frame, her shoulders shuttering as she forced herself to stay seated. Her fingernails dug into the armrests and left small, curved incisions in the wood. Failure was a word she was not familiar with. Failure was a word she refused to acknowledge. But, of course,other people- commoners- would hear it. They would hear that Imperial security was nothing but a joke and she'd lose power, if only by a little. Of course, the Empress hardly realized what sort of slippery slope tactics she was using on what the reporter had said and driving herself into a frenzy.

And who should come in but Darth Keitavon Fox?

And oh, how she would have made him suffer. It wasn't his fault at all- truth be told, she was more upset with Grahm Lowtide (be he live or dead) at the moment for letting the Jedi escape, god damn him and the pride that she was certain lead to it- but Darth would do just fine to relieve her of her stresses.

Whether it should be labeled as fortunate or unfortunate, Astren hadn't been allotted the time to hit him as she would have liked. Draque entered as well, interrupting the tradition she kept of not allowing anyone to see her rage but the person she decided to take it out on. She exhaled a deep breath, the tension in her shoulders only just barely dissipating as she tried to relax herself. Draque was smart, she told herself. He should have an idea, she thought. Of course, her pessimism couldn't be contained and she also felt herself thinking that she'd trusted him before to handle the rebels and he'd not only captured none, but his plan hadn't stopped the collapse of the temple at all and for all she was aware, it could have been partially due to his tactics. She couldn't help it. She was angry at what could be amounted to everything and she justified it by finding someone to blame. Since the target she would have preferred was absent, either one of the men before her would have to suffice to relieve her anger.

"Milady, thank you for seeing me." and he was interrupted by Darth, far more direct in his approach

“I have failed you, my Queen. The Temple has been destroyed and the Grand Inquisitor was not found. He may have been crushed within stone walls of the ruined temple.” -he paused- “I accept any punishment you wish upon my mortal flesh my Queen.”

And somehow, through some amazing force or another, her bad mood relieved itself, most likely distracted away. So, the Grand Inquisitor may have been dead? Crushed in the ruins? On one hand, he had failed to even keep his prisoner in place. Death may have been an extreme punishment, even she would admit, but it held potential to be regarded as such by the pale-haired Diathim. If he was dead, then she would need to replace him. Promote someone into his place, and have them take over where he'd left off. Already, her mind began working through the list of people she could have put into his place, already assuming the Grand Inquisitor dead. She could probably appoint Darth himself to work that position. As her apprentice, it would give him a bit more experience controlling underlings. Her thoughts were interrupted when Draque continued,

"It is not your place to accept responsibility for a mission that was not your own. The failure was mine, Milady. But instead of wasting your time with petty begging and forgiveness, I have come with a way to redeem myself in your eyes."

And for a moment, the Empress considered scolding Draque for speaking of “place” to Darth who, as her apprentice, was just beneath her in rank. To undermine him was, by extension and according to Astren, to undermine the Empress and an act punishable by removal of limbs. She restrained herself, burying those types of thoughts as he continued to speak. He was both right and wrong in terms of responsibility- while this was not Fox's doing, he would some day be in her place and when that time came, it would be his responsibility to accept responsibility for everything that went wrong- such was the duty of any leader. She stood, clearing her throat softly before she addressed them.

“I recommend you make any anger toward a future ruler obscure, Draque,” she started, carying a regalness appropriate for her position in both her posture and her voice.“lest, of course, you should find yourself in need of the empire's assistance in the future.” and she turned to Fox “Bring yourself off the floor. When you succeed me, you will be responsible for the mistakes of your subordinates, but until that time you merely assume to have already taken my place.” and though it may not have been obvious, it was a casual warning not to take credit for a mistake until he needed to, unless his objective was to do her duty and act as Emperor- something she wouldn't allow him to do until she had willingly given up her position. She looked back at Draque and opened her mouth to speak but as she did so, a lone man entered the room, out of breath and struggling not to show his fatigue. He, like Draque, bowed swiftly before speaking.

“Empress Chevalier, I've been told to inform you that the Grand Inquisitor has been found alive but badly injured. He was trapped in the temple when it collapsed.” and for just a moment, Astren's expression changed, though the new emotion it displayed was a hard one to name, close to both apathy, subtle surprise, and the smallest bit of both sadistic joy and altruistic disinterest. It was gone nearly as quickly as it had come, and she told them to retrieve him and have him treated immediately. She would tend to the matter shortly.

In the meantime, she took her seat once more and nodded to Draque.

“Now, by all means, continue, High Inquisitor.”

[Draque]

"Yes, milady." Draque tried to keep from strangling the child the Empress called her 'successor'. Like the Grand Inquisitor, there was no way he would take orders from a weak child as Fox. No way in hell. "It has come to my attention that the rebel's have escaped off-world. Seeing they were able to obtain such a massive fighting force tells me they may have more military might then we assumed. In our current state we cannot afford another surprise attack. Their main objective was to rescue the Jedi prisoner, and to do it they sacrificed the life of every one of their men to buy them time to escape. These men are not to be mistaken for peace-loving Jedi. They will do whatever they think is necessary to accomplish their mission." He paused for a moment to let the Empress process and think over his words. Then he continued, "However, we might be able to use that against them. If you appear before the citizen's of Coruscant and inform them of the incident, we can lessen the people's view of the rebellion. The people know their leader is a Jedi. If you inform them of the incident, they will lessen their views on the rebels and they will no longer be viewed as peace-bearing soldiers."

He stopped and waited for the Empress' response but before that he began to speak once more. "Also, if you would allow me the use of a Capital Ship I can use my own Elite Guard to travel to Kamino. There, we can reduce the cost of funding needed for clones and the development of clones will also speed up. I can travel between worlds and extend the Empire's reach upon the other worlds! They will bow to Empire control or they will know the power of the same Empire they defy! We can lessen the worlds in which the rebellion finds shelter."

[Astren Rosalba Chevalier III]

Astren listened, forming her own thoughts on the matter as he spoke. It was too bad that she had been so wrapped up in her directionless anger to think to hard on the Jedi and how they'd attacked. As he explained it, though, it made much more sense. Indeed, the Jedi were not acting as was typical for them in the past. They were becoming more desperate for victory and that idea alone brought a small smile to her features. So far, Draque's plan sounded practical. Play the concerned leader, inform people of the facts and allow them to look at the Jedi for all they were. Lower life forms. Scum. Something to scrape off the bottom of one's shoe and be done with.

Before he'd finished speaking about using their new means of functioning against them, Astren had come to a similar conclusion. The only thing that worried her, even remotely, was how people would react. The jedi have been acting in ways similar to that of the Sith. Theoretically, it could divide people quite severely. Those who believed that the closer the Jedi were to being Sith, the less a threat they were, would urge the Jedi on and support them blindly. Those who opposed them would oppose them more strongly. It could cause crime rates to go up. Interesting, indeed, the potential his plan and the undeniable risk that accompanied it.

But then came the use of “also.” Also, because there was always more. Always a catch. It was expected, of course. It would have been insulting if Draque had stopped by only to tell her to make a speech.

Overall, it had merit. Even with his request for a ship- which she was only tempted to deny out of malice from earlier events and his acceptance of guilt for the failed mission without asking her to forgive him- There was potential. It was cost-efficient and it would help to identify any communities that may have started to form against her without her knowledge. Indeed, Draque still had merit.

She stayed silent a moment, thinking it over. Downsides? Plenty that were potential but, as with all things, there would be no gain without risk.

“I'll grant you the ship, as per your request,” she said, nodding nonchalantly as she stood for the second time, this time continuing towards him in order to mke her way to the door, though she stopped momentarily in front of him. Her expression had fallen and taken on a cold one, seemingly devoid of any impulse-control.

“Although, if you should fail me again I promise not to be so gentle as I have acted on this occassion” And, because she wouldn't harm him in the presence of Darth Keitavon, nor Darth Keitavon in the presence of Draque, she utilized her battlemind abilities to their fullest extent. A smile- motherly and tender, even on her but frightening when added to her active skill- appeared on her lips, pulling them into a soft, upturned curve. “I am certain that you understand. You do, don't you?” and she only waited a brief period of time, less than a minute, for his response before continuing out of the room in order to supervise Grahm's rescue and analyze his physical and mental state herself.


Even as she continued away, though, she thought; peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.

It was the Sith code, one she was intimately familiar with. These jedi, acting in passion, willing to kill hundreds of thousands of their own followers in order to gain the strength they needed to oppose her and her empire. It was nearly half of the code. There may have been something interesting about these Jedi, yet.

[EXIT]

[Draque]

"Yes, Milady. I understand completely." he bowed and escorted her outside, only to deviate from her path and immediately walk toward the hangar. He would finally be able to leave this place and put his own plans into motion. No longer will he be entangled in the Grand Inquisitors orders. He could peacefully do as he wished. Yes, his plans were indeed ahead of schedule.

[EXIT]

[Grahm]

An hour later...

After the initiate was found to be telling the truth, the Droids were immediately tasked with his recovery and transportation to the hospital. After three-quarters of an hour of work, the droids successfully retrieved Grand Inquisitor Grahm Lowtide from the rubble and fifteen minutes later he was sent into emergency treatment. Grahm himself was induced into unconsciousness almost immediately when the rescue operation had begun in earnest, and he only just regained consciousness when he was placed upon life support upon the operating table, although hew was in sufficient pain to wish he wasn't. The doctor's opening examination determined that Grahm's left arm had three fractures in it, his right arm had suffered major lesions, the majority of his ribs had been crushed, and his legs had been utterly pulverized to the extent that more detailed examinations would be necessary before an accurate assessment of the damage could be made, although the damage was obviously quite severe. In fact, the resident physiologist had gone as far as to say that if it wasn't for the Grand Inquisitor's physique and mental discipline, he would have already died from shock within minutes of the attack occurring.

The doctors had Grahm stabilized for the time being, but without approval from the Empress they were, by law, not allowed to operate upon the Grand Inquisitor beyond any immediate requirements to make sure that he would not die before the Empress made her decision. But, that same law did not forbid them to draft up a plan or three for treatment of him while they waited for the Empress's decision. The first plan was to operate on Grahm to attempt to bring him back to somewhat normal capacity, although it was unlikely that he would ever be able to walk again due to the damage inflicted upon his legs. The second plan was to bring in Sith that were adept in the Light-side Force Heal power, but even that had it's limits upon what exactly it was able to do. The third option was to start the treatments necessary to begin the process of replacing several parts of Grahm with mechanical droid parts, thus turning him into a cyborg. However, without the Empress's explicit permission, they could not yet act upon any of these plans, although when she finally called in to make the decision they would present all three options to the empress.

[Astren Rosalba Chevalier III]

Swift footsteps in heeled boots announced the arrival of the empress before she was in sight. Her gate was almost unmistakable; a steady pattern, a metronome in its perfect rhythm. On her way to see the grand Inquisitor, she was stopped by the doctor who had examined lowtide. He bowed deeply and seemed hesitant to make eye contact with her.

He introduced himself, and told her of Grahm's condition, explaining everything they'd found although he didn't go into the options just yet. Instead, he stayed silent while the Empress though, leaving the conversation at a temporary standstill in nearly flawless silence. That man ha been decimated, hadn't he? Absolutely destroyed. His arm was fractured in three places, his ribs were no better off and both his legs may as well have been turned to dust with the shape they were in. Now, what should she do? She was torn, in an instant that ended just as quickly as it'd begun, between two other topics.

How would she punish him? This miserable slug of a being had caused so much trouble in such a short time. She could, by no means, blame him for the collapse of the temple, but she could sure as hell blame him for the escape of Taisho as well as her current lack of a fully-functioning Grand Inquisitor. By surviving the temple collapse, he would likely bring attention to the incident. She could imagine what would be said now- “Even those closest to the Empress in rank had been caught up in the tragic collapse of the temple. It's unfortunate that only one should have survived the horrible event. Up next, is our empire safe? What's going on and what we can do to make up for the empire's shortcoming~” Ooh, how it made her blood boil.

But at the same time, there was the matter of what to do with him until he got better. Hell, there was still the options of what to do to make him better. She nodded once, twice, and urged the doctor to continue.

“You see, in his state,” he began, “there's very little that could be done to return him to the state he was in before. We could operate, but he'll most likely never gain the ability to move his legs again, though he should be able to take care of himself otherwise.” And he continued, explaining each of the three options they'd com up with as well as the drawbacks associated with them.

And really, Astren was forcing herself to care. This day was, apparently, one dedicated to her misery. She would be in need of a Grand Inquisitor. What would she do while he was here? He'd be getting his operations, learning how to live in a wheelchair for the rest of his days. He'd need help getting around. And, perhaps worst of all, he'd be crippled. What kind of message would that send? She was sure that reporters would be lining up at the gates like rabid dogs, waiting for just the smallest piece of a headliner to fall into their snapping jaws. She could keep him quiet enough, she thought. But he'd still be crippled and it would still be unsightly to look at.

They could turn him into a cyborg. He may even be stronger with that, she thought, but once again, it would have made the evidence of his accident in the Temple that much more obvious. Besides, that would, again, interfere with appearance. Robotic limbs were not only unsightly. But they were ugly and unpleasant to look at. What kind of an Empress could have someone like that working for her?

The best rout these incompetent, silly excuses for doctors and nurses and physicians had come up with was to have a group of healers work on him. She sighed heavily. It wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but it was better than nothing.

“This is disappointing news, I must say. Start over from scratch and come up with better ideas” she commanded, leaving little room for argument, “And I recommend that you hurry with better results than those you've promised so far. Mediocrity has no place in my empire” and with that, she walked away, searching for Lowtide.


In his room, she found herself standing by Grahm's side. A part of her, somewhere, wanted to look sympathetic. She really, really did. It was merely unfortunate circumstance that dictated her expression and the dissatisfaction that rest in it.

“Grand Inquisitor Lowtide” she commanded, looking down at him. “How are you feeling now? Has anything been administered for pain and have you been informed of the extent of your injuries yet?”

[Darth Keitavon Fox]

Fox followed his Queen down the halls to where the Grand Inquisitor must have been. He sat in silence as the guard spoke to her. Nothing should be said at this moment. For if he did it may end in pain, thus Fox stayed silent. As she finished the conversation and began walking past the guard she remained silent, possibly thinking strategy to herself. Fox couldn't simply walk by this man without a single word. Or maybe he could, after all, using his Seeing he could easily tell his whole being wasn't into what he was doing. So without missing a single step or slowing his pace Fox lifted his hand and extended a single blade from his index finger. The blade instantly killed the man and left a burning hole in the side of his temple. Just as fast as the blade had appeared it had disappeared. Fox followed his queen, it would be several minutes before the guard's body would fall over dead.

He followed her into Lowtide's room. He lay useless and crfippled on a slab of metal. She spoke to him as if she cared. Surely this could not be true though. She had never shown true sympathy to another individual who resided under her. Fox had a bad feeling about this. None the less he stood slightly behind his queen. ready for anything she had him do. This was his responsibility. He must prove himself to her and become stronger. So he sat in silence again. Arms behind his back with a very straight posture, staring down at the cripple. How ironic he thought to himself.

[Darth Keitavon Fox]

Fox stared at the crippled Inquisitor. How odd that he should not respond to the Empress.... Could he not hear? No, when the Empress spoke you heard, it was just that simple. Fox and his Queen both waited for a response. Was this man trying to show he had no fear? Or that he did not think the Queen was above himself. This mattered not, the Empress should not have to wait this long for a simple response.

Fox stepped forward standing at the Empress' side now. Something had to be done to make this man speak. How odd... that Fox must have to torture the Grand Inquisitor of all people. Nothing could be more ironic than this.... Fox reached out over Lowtide and pointed down at his right shoulder. Without a single word one of Fox's blade shot out and pierced Lowtide's shoulder. Fox brought the blade back and backed up behind the Empress again. He returned to his previous spot and even stood exactly how he had before he pierced The Grand Inquisitor. "My Queen asked you a question Lowtide." He paused to inhale deeply, "You should do well to remember she does not like to wait next time."

[Grahm]

Grahm had been placed upon a large dose of painkiller and sedative during the original examination due to the extreme amount of pain that he had been enduring over the large wait period, and due to this he wasn't quite lucid. When the Empress and her apprentice had entered the room, Grahm had been so close to unconsciousness that the world had seemed to be a groggy mess. One somewhat wavy shadow made a noise that sounded somewhat like speech, but it made as much sense as a gibbering monkey to Grahm's ears. Somewhat later, another shadow moved in closer, pulled out something that caught the light, and then that something went into Grahm's shoulder, pulling him out of the la-la land of numb discomfort and into the harsh reality of almost unbearable pain. So, what did he do? He screamed, loud and long. "AAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

"My Queen asked you a question Lowtide. You should do well to remember she does not like to wait next time."

Now that Grahm was no longer under the effects of the painkillers and sedatives, the pain caught up with him in such a rush that his vision filled up with spots, he couldn't feel anything but pain from his legs, and the computerized systems immediately upped the dosage, which quickly brought the pain down to somewhere near a tolerable level. "Uugh, it hurts too damn much for you to be stabbing me in the arm, Apprentice. Wha... what's the damage?" A nearby medical droid chimed in an answer. "Major lacerations to the right arm, three fractures in the Humerus of the left arm, cracking in every rib except for the fifth and ninth confirmed. Damage to Legs is still being calculated, but to put it short the damage is beyond normal means of repair. In short, you will be spending several months in recovery, and your legs will be unable to walk ever again." What remained of the color in Grahm's face drained out as the droid finished it's synopsis. He was an invalid, he had failed the empress, and he was most likely going to be killed outright or tortured to death by the sadistic little bastard at the empress's side. The best he could do for now was to prostrate himself and pray for some sort of mercy that would most likely only come in the way of a swift death. "Empress, I am... so very very sorry. My apologies do nothing to change the fact that... I failed you, and I am not enough of a fool to think... that I will be given mercy in light...Ergh... of my failure. And now, I have failed you again by being too damaged for... my duties. Ask me whatever you wish, It's all that I seem to be good for anymore. But please... be gentle my empress, I will answer anything you wish without any further delay, and the pain I've been awoken to... is already worse then any torture I've experienced before."

[Darth Keitavon Fox]

Fox stood and listened to Lowtide mutter about his failures. He did not care what she should do with him. It was not his business. He listened till the man stopped talking before saying anything of his own accord. "I sense a disturbance in the force." He turned and bid his Empress farewell for now before leaving and heading for his star ship. Once arranged in his cockpit, he took off from the planet and headed straight for Hoth.




[shadow=red,left,300]((((((EXIT))))))[/shadow]

[Sephiroth The One Winged]

((Sorry to butt in but its the only thread i seen with the empress sama))

Mr Tenzen slowly walks around he was some what in a lazy mood and he didnt feel like expressing any emotions to anyone not even anger or hate about what that bastard of a bastard did to the jedi temple. He liked it there, had the nice smel of..freshl baked bread.mmmmm bread...had to be white bread though would of sucked if it was that hole wheat stuff. oh what was he thinking he had to go see his commander. Oh that made him think of something..She must of been THE MASTER AND THE COMMANDER..must of been like rustle Crow. damn he was a good actor. he stoped some what to see his lady he gets down on his right knee as he kneels down in front of her his hands cuped over that said knee his head down as he slowly begins to talk ina nice charming way.

"Mi'lady...I am sorry i was out on a mission to hunt down a jedi, he has been removed by im sorry i was not here to help these other ones let a Jedi master get loose. But i do have some info i would like to share with you..my empress"

His blood red eyes where closed and he let out a low breath all most like he wasn't breathing at all. in a sense he feared this women, not how she dressed or how old she was..the power be hind her. that is what he feared but also loved about this women.

(Once again i say sorry..)

[Astren Rosalba Chevalier III]

[[s'okay by me~]]


Silence. He most certainly wasn't helping his cause, was he? The longer the room stayed quiet, the only exception being the steady hum of electric machinery, the more her anxiety grew. Astren was not patient. She was not forgiving. It didn't matter that he was crippled, it didn't matter that he was in pain. The only thing- the aboslute only thing- that mattered was that he was making her wait for what should have been a simple, quick response.

Fox had stepped forth, always quick to act, and assaulted the man lyring in front of them with a blade he'd apparentely kept hidden. The silvery thing his the light and flashed momentarily, a white brilliant light boucing off of it before it was used to make Lowtide scream like he did. It was a rush... It was quite possibly the only thing able to bring her out of her bad mood, although it was hard to tell aside from the slight movement in her face as her eyes widened, taking it all in greedily.

"My Queen asked you a question Lowtide. You should do well to remember she does not like to wait next time. "

And, a little surprisingly, he exited shortly after stepping back, mumbling something or other. She hadn't been paying attention to what he was saying but instead what Grahm started with after. She watched, calm, as he screamed and watched, calm, as he asked the droid what was wrong. She watched, calm, as the report was given; watched, calm, as the color drained from his face, leaving him paler than usual. She watched, calmer still as he spoke to her. He was sorry, he said. He had failed, he said. He was damaged now, too damaged to do his duties, he said. A normal woman would have been pierced completely by his pathetic attempts at reconciling himself, succumbed to pity and guilt and told him not to worry. A normal woman would have cooed softly to him, patted his head, and promised him an open-armed welcome once he got better. Alas, Astren was nor normal.

She stepped closer to him, and made a soft “tsk tsk” noise as she shook her head, a somewhat sympathetic look on her features as she closed the distance between her Grand Inquisitor's broken body and her own form.

“Hush yourself for now, Grahm Lowtide” She spoke softly, almost nuturingly, “There's no need to be sorry.” And she lifted one hand, holding it slightly open in front of where her heart should have been (assuming she had one, of course) while the other moved toward him as if to pat his head and reassure him that he would still have a place once he became well again. Her expression didn't change, not even a millimeter from it's rigid porcelain expression of remorse as she clamped the hand already near him over his mouth and turned the other into a fist, watching through eyes that shouldn't have housed such an empathetic emotion as the arm mangled itself through Force Crush, snapping over and over again as the bones in it crumpled like paper before her powers.

It was worse than any torture he'd ever undergone? Well, then it looked like she'd just have to dedicate herself more to making sure that nothing any enemy would ever do could compare to it, wouldn't she? She continued slowly, apparently trying to turn one of Lowtide's arms into dust as she continued to use Force Crush, on him, staying at that arm for well over a minute before she took a moment, allowing her own expression to finally change into a sadistically happy one before she covered his mouth again and destroyed his remaining arm. After, she stepped back, looking down in such a way that her pale hair disguised her face for a moment. This was Lowtide's fault. Almost all of it. She stepped forward again, hitting him once, hard, across the face with an open hand. “Do you know what kind of trouble you've caused me?” And Astren's previously caring voice was unmistakably raked with anger. She did it again, lashing out at him with fists and open hand strikes alike. “You've failed in the most basic of duties and now you think that information will save you? Do you know what they're saying about my empire? About me? Do you? Have any idea?” And instantly, she wrapped her hands around his throat, not even bothering to use the force to strangle him for her. “You will do what I say regardless of whether you're good for it or not. You will learn to do your job properly, or you will have your limbs amputated before being thrown on Hoth to suffer for all eternity like the god damn failure you are” and she presently released him with hands that she almost had to pry from his neck.

She composed herself so quickly that it was nearly frightening. She took a deep breath. “And now, Lowtide, you will pay for your sins” She breathed softly before using the force again to crush his legs this time. It had to have hurt, didn't it? After all, his legs were destroyed. The Nerve endings must have been screaming at him, amplifying his agony by just how much, she wondered... As she crushed them more, watching as they folded up and twisted in ways that legs never should, she considered that everything you have to learn about comes with a price. In Grahm's case, well... His price may have been a bit steeper than usual but such was natural when dealing with one who has no patience.


It was a miracle, really. So soon as she'd finished tormenting Grahm she returned to normal, Tenzen appeared behind her, “Mi'lady...I am sorry I was out on a mission to hunt down a Jedi, he has been removed by im sorry i was not here to help these other ones let a Jedi master get loose. But i do have some info i would like to share with you..my empress”

She nodded, softly smiling with her aggression now gone. “I see. I would be interested to hear the information you have for me, though I ask you to first escort me out of this dreadful place-” and she looked once at Grahm with a warning expression- next time it would be worse, so don't screw up- before heading to the door, motioning the man to follow her away from the invalid one, in pain on the metal table.

”Oh, and Lowtide” she started as she stopped by the door “You ought to thank your Empress for being so kind and gentle despite your shortcomings. I expect you to have learned proper manners by the time you recover. I have no place for rude children under my direct rule”