Session export: Voice Staff Quarterly

Celeste grumbled as she poked her datapad.

Seesh.

She would much rather be else where, such as prying information from prisoners.

But something something morals something something.

It felt like an eternity to her since she had last used Force Interrogation.

Maybe she should go home and watch some horror holofilms…. but those screams were too fake.

She had been his Praetor for a bit. Maybe…

She slid to his doorway with the chair, the wheels indicated to the Jedi that someone was on the way, and most likely Celeste since sometimes when she gets bored, she would zoom around in her chair. Her sandy blonde hair flowed as she looked to her boss with her heterochromia eyes.

“So, any prisoners of Collective or Children of Mortis we can… gently… persuade to give us more information? Or, I know, you can send Vincent and myself to some kind of mission. Or any of the guys really, they all seem yummy.”

Combat Master Vincent Brujah had made his arrival on Arx only a few short hours earlier. It had been a few days since he had been named the Combat Master, but he had Imperial business to finish before he could make the trip to Arx. This would be his first day within the offices in the Dark Ascent.

Following behind him was his IG-series droid, Frank. Usually he would have left Frank at the ship, especially considering his annoying personality ever since Rasilvenaira had blown him up with a thermal detonator and his personality had been replaced with that of a servant protocol droid. At least Vincent didn’t need to worry about translations any longer.

He approached the door labeled Combat Master. A smile grew on his face. This was the position he was meant to have. The one he should have had nearly 20 years earlier. It was good to finally be in control of the Combat Center. His ideas were as large as his ego. He reached out to open the office door and as it whooshed open for him, it let out a terrible squeak of metal sliding on metal. He cringed at the sound. Quickly, he turned to Frank.

“Frank, use some spray lubricant on that door.”

“But Master Brujah…”

“Combat Master Brujah, Frank… we’ve been over this…”

“Yes, yes… Combat Master Brujah… I do not have any such spray lubricant in my possession.”

Vincent sighed as he walked into the office, Frank following behind him. The door whooshed closed behind them with another horrible squeak. Vincent cringed again and then turned to face Frank.

“Well, then I suggest you go back to the ship and get some.”

“But Ma-Combat Master Brujah… the ship is hours away…”

“Well then I guess you better get moving.”

A dejected Frank walked towards the door, which whooshed open with another unsettling squeal. Vincent’s eye twitched as a snarl grew on his face. He took a deep breath. Whatever. Frank was on it. He’d dive right into his work. He clicked on the holoprojector on his desk and began to watch what appeared to be a standard orientation video, starring Derc Kast as the host.

“So.. you’re the newest member of the Voice staff. Welcome to Arx!” Derc said as Vincent rolled his eyes.

As the Taldryan envoy shuttle dropped out of hyperspace, it slowly began its steady approach towards the massive planet of Arx just off to its starboard.

Cassandra, who was sitting in the rear section with her right leg resting over her left, raised her glass of the blue colored Tsiraki to her lips. It was strange to be summoned back to the capital, the last time having been here when Grand Master Dacien Victae had her apprehended and brought before him. Since the ascension of Darth Renatus and a brief call between them, everything had been calm and quiet.

This time the summoning was different, however. It was the Grand Master’s Voice that had called for her, the former High Councillor of Clan Odan-Urr. There were few details in the encrypted message other than the date, location, and time of where she needed to be. And as she traditionally was when she was the Supreme Chancellor of the Taldryan Republic, she was fashionably early.

Which, was something she could tell was annoying the Arx controllers as they spoke with the pilots in the front. She couldn’t help but overhear the conversation between them, as they wanted to land the shuttle and Arx control wanted them to hold in orbit until the allotted time.

“It’s fine,” she finally said from her seat towards the pilots, her head still facing out the window towards Arx. “we can hold here until they are ready for us on the surface.”

“Understood, your Radiance.” the Captain responded.

Waiting until then wasn’t the most optimal as it would give her only a few minutes to reach Wolfe’s office, but as long as the guards provided her no issues that shouldn’t be a problem.

She still wondered why she was being called here. Was it her recent ascension to what was effectively a Queen, and they needed to confirm her allegiance was still towards the Brotherhood? No, that was something Renatus would just point blank ask her. Did it have something to do with the growing conflict with the Collective and they wanted her to take point somewhere on whatever front lines were going to spawn when the conflict exploded wide open as she knew it would?

Potentially. She had trained under Dacien after all, and her skills as a duelist were almost unmatched even against the Councillors themselves. And it would make sense for the Voice to do this, as ordering underlings would probably be beneath Darth Renatus. Then again, she noticed he was…different, from other Grand Masters. So maybe it wouldn’t be.

Regardless, she would know soon enough. It wasn’t long before clearance was given and the shuttle began its descent through the atmosphere towards the planet below. And it wouldn’t be long before she learned the reason she was summoned here.

Vincent heard the request from Masahiro and paused his orientation projection.

“Consider it done!” he shouted back just before the door closed again with another deafening squeal.

Vincent pulled his commlink and dialed in Frank’s frequency.

“Frank, when you get to the shipyard, pick up one Lady Cassandra Tyris of the Taldryan Republic and escort her back here. She should arrive roughly at the same time you do.”

Vincent paused to listen to Frank’s reply and rolled his eyes at whatever the droid said.

“No, I don’t know her…”

He paused again, seemingly getting more agitated by the second. He pulled out a datapad and did a quick search.

“She is a 2.1 meter tall Epicanthix. Blonde hair. Teal eyes. She should stick out…”

Vincent let out a heavy sigh as he waited for Frank to finish his next statement.

“No, I don’t think she’ll hurt you, Frank… just… just shut up and do what I said.”

Vincent disconnected the call. After holding his head in his hands for a moment, he pressed the play button to continue his orientation projection.

Celeste’s smile widen. Time for her to go over to the Sepulchrum and get some juicy screams out of the Collective prisoners.

They already had everything.

So it would be not a huge loss if they became brain dead.

Right?

Celeste gave Masahiro a little farewell wave with the wiggle of her fingers and quickly made her way over to Vincent. Another squeak echoed down the hallway to announce to everyone on the floor that the Combat Master’s door was used. She saw that he was watching some dull orientation holoprojector. With a hard eye roll, she sat right at the edge of his desk, blocking his view from the holoprojector.

“Darling,” Celeste purred as she lightly scratched his cheek. Her nails were now painted dark red with a black trim around the edge. She didn’t care who was watching as she placed a finger underneath his chin and lifted so they can look at each other.

“We should celebrate later for you getting the Combat Master position. I bet you adore the idea that the Andersons must be angry. Let me take you to the Wonderwall Cantina after playing with some prisoners in the Sepulchrum.”

As the shuttle landed and Cassandra stepped off from it onto the grounds, Frank stood there and stared at her as if all but petrified. Cassandra looked around admiring the area before she reached where Frank stood. She looked down at the man, briefly closed her eyes, and bowed forward in respect.

That bow turned out to be a mistake without realizing, as Frank suddenly froze solid far beyond the petrification he had.

“Greetings. I am Cassandra Oriana Taldrya Tyris, and I have an appointment with the Voice. Are you my escort?”

He stood there silent, staring way up at the woman. She was taaaaaaaall.

“Can you hear me?”

Silence and stare.

“Hm.” she pondered, wondering if maybe he was broken. “Can you take me to the Voice?”

“…..”

There was an awkward silence for a bit as Cassandra’s pilot and guard entourage stepped behind her. The guard tapped the droid’s head lightly with his pike.

Still, nothing happened and the droid just stared like it was in complete awe. Or its motivator went out.

With a shrug, Cassandra stepped around Frank and moved towards the entrance to the facility. However, without Frank with them, guards blocked their access. Frank did turn and follow her with his gaze as she did so.

“The Voice is expecting me.” she said to them, hoping the guards would move. They did not. Their gazes at least followed her face and those of her guards. “Can you send word that I am here at least, then?”

One of them reached up to the side of their helmet and with a tap opened a channel, but disabled exterior sounds so they could not hear what the guard was saying or to whom.

This was quickly becoming quite tedious….

Vincent kept his head pointed to where the projection was before, but tilted his eyes up to meet those of Celeste’s. He finally raised his head to acknowledge her as she scratched his cheek and chin. He leaned back in his chair and scooted backwards away from the desk. He slapped his hand against his upper leg a few times and Celeste hopped onto his lap.

What neither of them knew was that when she hopped on his lap, she had activated his comlink and dialed Frank.

“That sounds like a horrifyingly good time, woman.” he said. “I haven’t been before. Is the place any good? The crap they serve on Seraph is going to be the death of me, I swear.”

–

Frank had just made his way out of the building and back onto a shuttle when his comlink buzzed. He answered, and it was Master Combat Master Brujah. He could barely hear the Sith… he sounded muffled. Perhaps distressed? He couldn’t tell. He listened as closely as he could, but couldn’t make out the voices clearly.

“Master Brujah, is something the matter? I’m having a hard time hearing you. Is this about Lady Cassandra?”

He focused and started hearing words, but there were long pauses between them and what sounded like some kind of static, or fabric rubbing on fabric.

“That…. horrifying… woman… is… death… I swear.”

Then the call ended. Frank became extremely nervous. He dare not call Vincent back for clarification. He’d just have to be extra careful.

–

Two hours later, Frank arrived at the spaceport. He looked on as the giant of a woman stepped off of the ship and then came directly to him and asked questions. The words repeated in his head.

“That…. horrifying… woman… is… death… I swear.”

She looked like death! He froze in fear, not even processing what she had said until she walked away. His head followed her. She… didn’t seem all that threatening… aside from her size. Maybe there was a mistake. After a moment, Frank gathered his senses and approached the guards.

“It’s quite alright, Lady Cassandra is with me. I will be escorting her to the Dark Ascent.” Frank said.

As the guards moved to the side, Cassandra, Frank, and her entourage proceeded into the Dark Ascent.

This brought back memories, as she had seen some of it when she was brought to face Dacien. But to be freely moving about this section was…incredible.

Honestly she would love to see the Throne room again, look out onto the beauty of Arx once more. Arx had something that nothing in the Caelus system had, but she couldn’t quite pin down what it would be. She just knew it.

Frank took the lead and escorted them along, occasionally looking back and up at Cassandra.

This distracted the poor droid, causing him to run into people…objects…….pillars…and whatever else was in his path. Cassandra couldn’t help but smile a bit at this, she thought it was kinda cute in a way.

It wasn’t long before they were inside the more secure areas of the Ascent, where far more guards lurked and protected different hallways and staircases.

She recognized one of them, due to the familiar Royal Guard Armor. The stairs that lead to the summit…to where her and the former Grand Master dueled and trained.

Frank reached a door and it opened, all of them proceeding inside.

“Im back! And with the horrifying woman!” Frank called out before he realized what he had called her. Cassandra looked down at him with a raised eyebrow and crossed her arms.

Frank just stared, completely frozen. If he was a living being, he would probably be sweating bullets at this exact moment.

Celeste shrugged as she grasped his collar and roughly pulled him close to her. Her other hand flicked as Vincent’s office door squeaked as it slid shut.

Not like an audience would’ve stopped her anyways.

“Actually, yes. I imagine the Council influenced the Cantina to make sure they get the best food.”

Then she smirked, “first, let’s work up an appetite…”

~ 🎵 Do do do do 🎵 ~

Celeste stopped and turned her head towards the closed door as she raised her eyebrow and looked down at Vincent.

“Horrifying woman?”

Celeste chuckled as she fixed up her clothes and squeezed Vincent’s face with her hand.

“You were a good boy,” she released her grip and opened the door to see what the commotion was about.

Vincent visibly grimaced at hearing the words “horrifying woman”, and Celeste’s giddyness over the situation only compounded the stress pulsing through his head. He had just gotten good and relaxed. What the hells was Frank up to now? He straightened his robes and pulled his hair back, tying it up in a bun with a band. Then Celeste walked out and the door screamed again as it opened. He cringed harder.

The Sith hopped up from his seat and made his way towards the open door, but it whooshed closed again just before he got to it, letting out another terrible squeal. Vincent’s eyes began to glow red, softly. He took a deep breath in through his nose, plugged his ears with his fingers, and then stepped forward opening the door. It screeched once more, but he was at least prepared for it this time.

He stepped out and approached Frank. As he reached the IG unit, he removed his fingers from his ears and prepared to speak, but then the door whooshed closed behind him with another awful screech. He audibly growled.

“Frank, what is going on here? Why would you address Lady Cassandra as a ‘horrifying woman’?” he asked, his patience clearly growing thin.

“Well, you addressed her as a horrifying woman first, sir!” Frank responded.

Vincent could feel the whole room turn to him. His eyes widened.

“I did no such thing! I told you to go to the spaceport and pick her up, and grab a can of spray lubricant for that blasted door. Where is the lubricant, Frank?”

Frank’s head drooped.

“I-I’m afraid that in the confusion, I forgot to grab it, sir.”

Cassandra just stood there mortified, her eyes wide open. Horrifying woman…lube for a door…and she was here, summoned for unknown reasons. She really prayed that it wasn’t involving…whatever it was that was going on.

“It’s…a…pleasure, to meet you.” Cassandra said with a firm nod. “I’m the horrifying woman, it seems.”

She looked down to Frank then over at Vincent. “I take it that means you’re the lube guy.”

It was her way of getting back at him, at least it should give Frank a good laugh.

“Darling, yes. He is certainly the lube guy,” Celeste purred while she can see Vincent’s anger towards Frank was growing. Normally, she wouldn’t care but they were at work and people are odd about droids. She then grabbed his wrist and yanked him towards her.

“Come on, doll. We can use this as an excuse to be paid on the company’s dime,” Celeste’s mischievous smile grew wider.

Oh yes.

They can play, get the lube, play some more, go get food, and visit to torture the prisoners to see if they can get more information on the locations and the dangers they pose when they finally bring the war to the Collective.

Cassandra turned away from the fun times with lube those two were going to have and moved towards the open door and made her way inside. It was a quaint office, similar to the one he had when he was Consul. Good to know hoa tastes and style hadnt changed in these years. She sat down in the chair that had just came out of the closet, now in front of his desk.

No sooner than she did, the door closed and left it as just those two.

“It has been a long time since the days of our political conferences establishing the treaties between Odan-Urr and the Taldryan Republic.” Cassandra started with a kind voice. “So congratulations on your ascension from Consul are extremely overdue, Masahiro.”

Cassandra blinked, a little confused and looked at Wolfe like a Porg in a speeders rapidly approaching headlights. “Illustrius? I-…I wouldnt call hard labor and construction very illustrious, much less the founding of a brand new Jedi Order. The latter of which is more of a honor than anything.”

She still stared at him like the headlights of the speeder were at high-beam. “As for joining your staff…what are you talking about? I almost thought it was related to being tall and lube.”