a continuation of my series of drabbles/one-shots on my nameless Emperor's Wrath. this part is on her transition from the Emperor's Wrath to the Empire's Wrath.
[read on ao3]
[masterlist]
She supposed Ziost was when she finally turned her back on the Emperor.
Even when she had been on Yavin IV, when she allied herself with Darth Marr and the Empire-Republic Coalition to put an end to Revan’s efforts to resurrect the Emperor, she knew if he had appeared before her and demanded her loyalty, she would have given it to him—she would have readily turned her back on her newfound allies, on the Barsen’thor, on Theron, to once more serve her Emperor, to unleash his wrath on the galaxy.
But then she’d glimpsed the desolation on Ziost.
He was ruthless—all Sith were; it was how they’d beaten back the Republic in the early days of the Third Galactic War and kept them at bay for decades before she was even born—and she knew he had laid waste to planets and their citizens before, but…Imperial worlds? Imperial citizens?
She thought of all the Imperials she’d killed in his name, of all the supposed traitors to the Empire, of all the Republic sympathizers, her mother and her new family included—how many of them were innocent?
Now, she served the Empire and the Empire alone. She embodied the wrath of its citizens, of all the voices, alive and dead, that rose up in a furious chorus to demand the Emperor’s blood for the doom he’d allowed to befall the Empire, that’d gutted their homes.
I need no name, she thought. I need only be their Wrath.
First, Haelli and Hunter because I'm already in rivalmance hell I may as well stoke the abyssal flames.
#torture cw #kink cw #death cw #murder cw #coercion cw (non-sexual coercion though! and other than some really mild kink, the rest is only discussed, not portrayed in great detail - and despite those cw's it's pretty tame as far as sexy things go?)
first a note: I'm not sure when exactly this happens, but it's AU anyway so it may not matter too much. Some time between the end of Belsavis and the start of Corellia is all I really know.
The station had been attacked while in orbit. Imperial Intelligence hadn't said anything about this in her orders, but the hull breach began ripping the station to pieces too quickly for Haelli to worry about who was really responsible. All she knew was Hunter had been just as surprised as she was, and she'd heard a genuine note of concern in his voice as his holo image told her to make for the escape pods. Her ship's airlock was too far away, and she knew it. Sections were sealing off against the breach to give the station's original personnel time to escape - personnel who were all already dead, thanks to Hunter.
She radio'd her crew to tell them to pull the ship away immediately, but Kaliyo responded to say they'd done so before the first missiles hit.
"We couldn't reach you; there was some kind of signal dampener - just get the hell off that thing and we'll come rescue you, for a change."
"I'm at the escape pods now. See you planetside," Haelli told her. Her decision to take this mission alone may not have been the most sound thinking, but at least the rest of her crew seemed safe. Plus, she hated dealing with anyone else during a crisis. Competence under fire was something few people seemed capable of on an exploding space station. Vector would probably keep his head cool, but on previous occasions he'd spent too much time worrying about Haelli. She didn't have time to reassure him that she was all right; she needed to be moving and troubleshooting if anything else went wrong. A divided focus from responding to his concern ran a higher risk for failure.
Once her pod had safely escaped the wreckage, she had time to wonder if her squad would enjoy getting to play the hero without her. Who would take charge without her? Honestly Lokin was best-suited, but the doctor hadn't exactly ingratiated himself with the rest of the crew, except Vector. But Temple was more of a follower, and Kaliyo was even worse off for friendliness. Haelli decided that Lokin would take charge after all, with Vector smoothing his edges to get the others to cooperate. But would the AI be a problem? SCORPIO might see it as accomplishing her mission to abandon Haelli. It wasn't the same as killing her outright, but it was hard to say what SCORPIO would justify, and it might not even interfere with her programming to do so.
Next crew, fewer people who want me dead, she told herself. Then the escape pod hit atmo, and the artificial gravity had a bit more difficulty stabilizing, requiring all of Haelli's attention to be spent hanging on to her harness and avoiding any possible concussion as best she could.
Impact with the ground wasn't as bad as she'd feared. She wasn't sure what technology this pod even used - was it a chute or were there external thrusters of some kind? but whatever it was had done its job. Her harness had pulled against her hard in enough in several areas that she suspected there would be bruises to look forward to, but otherwise she'd managed to avoid injury. She had the pod's environmental controls run a quick scan of the outside to make sure the air was breathable, and was relieved to find there were no severe toxins.
Opening the hatch and stepping out granted Haelli a view of a grassy field that was much like that of several other planets she'd been to recently. The sky was overcast, but the air felt strangely dry. "An entire galaxy of variation to explore, yet fields everywhere are practically identical," she observed to herself. Shrugging, she pulled some temporary survival equipment out of a container in the pod, and assessed her options. Then, she grabbed a poncho from it, in case of rain, and went to go for a short hike to get a better sense for her new surroundings.
She tried raising Kaliyo from her holocom, but nothing got through. Figuring they were still out of range, she continued onward. After a few hours, a light on her communicator started flashing. She looked at it curiously and opened the channel.
"Well. That was unexpected. Did you know they were planning to wipe half our files, or were you just in the dark about that attack as we were?" Hunter's voice sneered at her. Soon the visual got through as well - he looked positively livid.
"What?" she managed. She'd stopped dead in her tracks the moment she recognized his voice.
"Your empire attacked the space station, as a distraction, and to make you look innocent - or so I'm guessing. At the same time they hacked my connection to the comm station there and trace it to our network. The Star Cabal hasn't had a breach this large in decades, maybe centuries."
"How would they have done that?" she asked. This sounded all too convenient, and she'd learned long ago not to take Hunter at his word, whatever she might privately think of him.
"Oversight on our part," he answered, his expression darkening. She'd never seen him look quite like this - presumably, occasions where he'd admit to mistakes of the Star Cabal's operations were few and far between. "The station broadcasts all its data, and metadata, when attacked. It was never intended as a location for secure information, so instead of a more typical encrypted back box procedure, anyone can read it. Everything is publicly available to anyone in the area. There's not even a weak encryption, there's just none."
Haelli smiled in spite of herself. He looked like he was about to have a tantrum over bad security decisions. "And you thought it would be safe to contact me through the station's holocom?" she baited.
"I didn't know your empire would try to blow it up with you on board! I mean I know they're twisted, but you seemed too valuable of an asset for them to risk."
"Really? Have you met them? I'm not as beloved as you seem to think I am."
"I mean, they'll brainwash you to keep you under control, but you're not useful if you're dead."
"You know, you seem to disagree, Hunter. You're always trying to kill me."
"Only because I have to."
She stared at his image for a moment, and then started walking again, keeping her arm in front of her so he could keep talking.
"I mean it, Agent. It's not every day I meet someone I can really see myself running the galaxy with. I know I give you a hard time of it, and you can stop raising your eyebrow because of course I know that's an understatement. How many buildings have I blown up with you inside? Probably not enough yet, but hey, that's my job." He shrugged, oddly nonchalant about his homicidal tendencies. "I want the monopoly on trying to kill you, and I certainly don't want to share that goal with your damn employers," he spat.
"Fair enough. You always did strike me as the territorial type. Speaking of which, why are you calling, exactly? Hoping to lure me into some other trap to get me killed?"
"Not today," he said, and then paused. "Actually the Star Cabal is so busy regrouping that they don't have anything for me to do right now. I could take this as an opportunity to come down there and kill you myself, now that you're unaccompanied and I don't have to worry about that pesky joiner or your bloodthirsty criminal friend, but. I've been thinking." He stopped talking to stare at her. Eventually she stopped and looked down at his image.
"Yes, Hunter? Is that actually such a rare thing for you? I know you usually get to follow orders, but I assumed at least a few of your more... creative touches were actually attributable to you."
"Damn it, Haelli, you know I think about you a lot. And not just as a target. Even if still mainly a target." He gave an exasperated sigh and continued. "Look, I really think you would make a great partner if I could just get you on our side. It's not such a horrible cause we're aiming for here. The world will be better off. Maybe you've just spent too much time resisting us to really consider our position. I could come pick you up, or meet you down there, and try to explain it to you. No tricks, no murder, no keywords--not like they'd work now. Until I get my orders, I'm a free man. As I said, you're a valuable asset. As much as I'd love to destroy you, I'd prefer not to waste a good opportunity."
"Partners?" she asked, and then scoffed. "As though you could ever work alongside someone as your equal. I know you well enough for this, Hunter. You always have to be in control, and honestly, it's hard to imagine you cooperating with anyone."
"Think of it this way--I have to cooperate with the rest of the Star Cabal, don't I?"
"Not in close proximity. There's a reason you do all your missions solo."
"Yeah, but they're not as fun as you are," he grinned. "Or as twisted. I know who you really are, Agent. They're only ruthless when they need to be. You and me? We do it for fun. No matter how much you try to hide it, I know it when I see it. You're just like me, but you're on the wrong side. Come on, imagine the potential of the two of us together."
"Together in what sense?" she began, planning to point out that her simply doing his bidding with no choice in the matter was hardly teamwork, but he interrupted.
"Well that depends on you, Agent. What kind of together are you hoping for?"
She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him blankly.
"I've seen how you look at me," his holo image smirked at her. "And I'm damn sure it's not just my imagination this time. I've pursued plenty of women who weren't interested, only to have them beg to be with me before I'd laid a single hand on them. You, you're different. I know I still have to convince you, but it's not because you aren't interested. Your empire is the only thing stopping you from throwing yourself at my feet, and you know it."
"You're forgetting my pride," she said through gritted teeth.
"So you admit it?" He laughed, and she glared at him. "You may as well, we both know it's true. But pride, well. That is something harder to overcome than duty for you, I'd imagine. And besides, where would you be without your pride? Do you really think I would still be interested in you if you weren't at least half as arrogant as I am?"
Haelli massaged her temple. "You can't be seriously suggesting this."
"Only if you don't want me to be." She looked up at him, surprised. "Okay, obviously I may not respect your autonomy as much as someone who hadn't taken advantage of your brain washing as much as I have, but this is one area where I don't budge. If you want me, if I get to be with you..." he trailed off for a minute, while looking her straight in the eye then continued. "There, your freedom is non-negotiable. I only want you if I really have you, if you've come willingly. I don't stoop to prizes I've awarded myself."
Haelli stood speechless for a minute. Oh hell, he's serious. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them slowly. "But, pride. And also duty. How would you expect me to overcome those? You've still tried to kill me countless times, you've still taken away my autonomy too many times with no good justification other than watching me squirm, knowing I had to obey. I can't forget the Thesh Protocol, Hunter. I can't trust you. I mean, even if you weren't a terrorist."
"Isn't that what makes it exciting though?" he replied. "You never really know what you'll get from me. But Haelli, if you were my partner - whether strictly professionally or more than that - you know I'd have both our best interests at heart."
"Like you even have a heart," she interjected.
"Hey, don't they call you Haelli the Heartless in that empire of yours? Anyway, if we had the same professional goals, I wouldn't need to stop you or undermine you or degrade you or hurt you."
"Since when has it been about need? You'd hurt me and insult me just for the fun of it."
"Well, if you're into that sure, I'd look forward to that. It is part of our dynamic I enjoy, but that's because you can take it. You fight back. Someone who just silently accepted it, or fell apart? Not someone I could stand to work with. But if you need some support to balance it out, I'm all too happy to provide that - or skip that behavior entirely, if it helps our professional relationship."
"Sex life aside for a moment. What would this professional relationship be like, anyway? You can't honestly expect me to believe the Star Cabal would just let an Imperial Agent walk into their operations and entrust her with their secrets."
"You wouldn't have free rein of course. I mean even I don't but let's be honest, I can't trust you with that. And definitely not at first. So, you'd need a supervisor - that would be me, of course. It's like I told you back on Quesh, when we blew up that Jedi? You and me, traveling the galaxy, taking it by storm. That's the dream, Haelli. The part where you do all my bidding is optional. We can come up with a new keyword, if you want. I can save it for special occasions. It won't be as thorough as the real thing was, but if you're ever feeling nostalgic," he winked at her. "Well, either way. I'd be in charge, but you'd be my second in command. And once the Star Cabal finishes their current task, maybe we could even head out on our own. Explore the galaxy subject to our own whims for a change."
"You mean your whims."
"Hey, I'd let you drive sometimes. Where's the fun in monotony?"
Haelli slowly exhaled. "Hunter, you're lucky I'm stranded on this god-forsaken rock with nothing to do but listen to your sales pitch. You must really be bored with no orders to try this out."
"I haven't even started trying, honey. You want the real sales pitch? I'll meet you down there in half an hour."
Haelli cut the feed and sat down.
This couldn't be real.
She ran a hand through her hair. Then a plan formed, just as she heard the clouds began to rumble.
--------
"Okay," she told him. "you've got twenty five minutes to meet me at my escape pod." She'd been hiking the perimeter, so a straight line back shouldn't take too long.
"You're serious? I thought you were done with me for good when you hung up."
"What can I say, Hunter. I know how to make an exit."
"Well, you've certainly proven that before. Still, I didn't expect that you'd actually go for it after that."
"Just don't be late," she told him, and hung up on him again. It started to sprinkle lightly overhead, but she decided not to put her poncho on just yet - she was used to light rain, and waiting for something heavier was a hard-earned habit.
She arrived back at her camp, and barely had time to set up a makeshift awning outside the pod before Hunter showed up, hopping off a speeder of a kind she'd never seen anyone use before. The rain was getting heavier, now but the air was still warm.
"I'm early," he said. "Does this suit your expectations?"
She said nothing, only raised an eyebrow inquisitively.
"Okay, I was making my way here the whole time we were talking," he told her as he walked over to her. "I figured if nothing else, I'd try to see if I could get close enough to find out what you were planning, or how you were getting off this place. But then you invited me here, so. No need to cloak."
"I see." She leaned back against the pod's exterior. "So, what's this sales pitch of yours?"
"Well," he closed the remaining distance between them, and stood less than a foot away. She felt her muscles tense as he put a hand on the pod, to the right of her head. "There are two pitches I can give. I can give them both if you'd like, or just one. Your pick of which way I do this." He smiled slightly as he traced a finger along her jawline. "What would you like?"
Her voice came out softer than she expected. It had been a while since she discussed something so important with someone whose face was mere inches from hers. "Do either of them involve torture this time?" Her voice was less venomous than she'd intended, more curious.
"Not necessarily," he said with a smirk, "but I can work it into one if you're looking for that. I wouldn't want to leave you feeling disappointed, now would I?"
She stared straight back at him, unblinking, but saying nothing.
"Although, now that you mention it," he moved his mouth closer to hers. "Isn't this almost its own kind of torture?"
She moved to kiss him, but he pulled away. "Now that you've brought it up, I can't help but explore those boundaries here. What is it you really want from me, and what are you willing to give me for it?"
"I hope you don't expect me to beg," she said dryly.
"Well, not so easily as this. Where's the challenge in that? But I won't make you beg, at least, not today. Does that mean this is the method of persuasion you prefer I start with? We can save the more professional side for pillow talk." A slow smile spread across his face.
"That sounds like an agreeable arrangement," she said.
"Then come here." He pulled her by the waist, away from the pod and out from the awning. Heading towards his speeder, he added, "I've always loved the rain, haven't you?" She found her left hand locking fingers with his, where it sat on her right hip. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smile.
What's wrong with you, a small voice in her head said.
Oh no please continue, this is quite entertaining, mocked the only other voice she ever heard. We both know the empire's just as full of shit anyway, you may as well exploit your current situation. Unlike the first voice, it was not her own, but she was very familiar with it. Although, she suspected it was her own thought, simply mimicking Watcher X's voice now. She didn't expect she'd really heard from the man himself since they reset the Thesh Protocol.
As they got to the speeder, Hunter moved around her so as to be facing her. He ran a hand through her damp hair. "You're sure about this? They might even fire you for this alone, you know."
"And what about your bosses?"
"They don't have to know."
"Then neither do mine," she said, pulled his head down to her, and kissed him deeply. She felt his arms around her stiffen, then soften somewhat as he pulled her closer. She placed one hand on the side of his neck, and trailed the other down his arm left arm. His left hand rested on the small of her back.
She shivered, and she wasn't sure if it was because of the rain on her face, the movement of his hand on her back, or that he'd moved to kissing her neck, and occasionally biting lightly. She arched her back, pressing herself further into him, and his grip on her tightened. Thunder rumbled nearby, and she smiled knowing what was coming next. She bent her head down and lightly ran her teeth along the edge of his ear, only to have him pull her head back by her hair, and kiss her mouth more intensely. He then pulled away by an inch or less. "I do the biting here," he said, and she felt his teeth take hold of her lower lip. unable to stop herself, she let out a soft moan, and he pulled back again to smile at her before returning.
She saw the sky brighten momentarily, and found herself regretting that what was about to happen had come so soon. A few seconds later, she and Hunter were blown over by a strong gust of wind. She looked up to see her ship hovering in the air in front of them, with Kaliyo, Temple, and Vector on the ramp extending from the door. Temple looked shocked, but Kaliyo quickly moved to have her pistol pointed at Hunter as she stood over him. Vector helped Haelli up as quickly as possible, never taking his eyes off Hunter.
"We... we came as soon as we got your message..." Temple stammered, still taken aback by the scene in front of her. Kaliyo gave Hunter a feral grin but remained silent, blaster trained on him. He grinned back. As Haelli got on to the ramp, Kaliyo backed slowly toward her.
"You hadn't even heard my actual proposal yet!" Hunter shouted at her, still smiling. "Don't you want to stick around a bit? I'm sure your friends can come back later." Even lying on the ground with four highly trained individuals against him, he wasn't going to break his display of confidence.
"No thanks," Haelli told him with a smirk. "I've seen all I need to see."
"Besides," Vector said, inclining his head toward Hunter. "We're the only ones who get to propose to her."
The ship began moving, and the four walked up the ramp to the door. Kaliyo walked the length of it backwards, eyes and blaster still focused on Hunter. He began to sit up, but continued watching them with a smile. Haelli made eye contact with him one last time before the door slid shut between them.
Safely aboard her ship, Kaliyo paged Lokin and told them to get out of the system as fast as he could.
"Are you okay?" Temple asked.
"I'm fine," Haelli told her. "A bit damp though - that rain was really starting to pick up."
"Yes, well, we had to wait until the storm was strong enough to cover the sound of our engines... sorry it took so long, sir."
"It's okay Temple, you all did great," Haelli told her with a smile clapping her hand on the ensign's shoulder.
"So, remind me again what the point in that was?" Kaliyo asked. "Because to me it just looks like you might have even worse taste in men than I do. No offense, bugboy."
"None taken," Vector smiled.
"I think I got a reading for how serious his offer that I join the Star Cabal was," Haelli answered.
"He offered you a position with them?" Lokin said, coming down the ship's corridor to them. He'd pulled them far enough away that the ship's autopilot could take care of the rest. "That's interesting, although perhaps not entirely surprising."
"Heh, position," Kaliyo laughed. "Anyway, so, how serious was he?"
"Too serious for my liking," Haelli replied. "It's hard to anticipate what someone will do when they're that desperate. I prefer my people reliable."
"And yet, here I am, a valued member of your crew," Kaliyo grinned back. "Not to mention a diplomat from an insect hivemind, an unscrupulous doctor, and a homicidal AI. I guess Temple's all right enough."
"Thank you, Kaliyo," Temple replied. "I think."
"Speaking of the AI, what's SCORPIO been up to during all this?"
"I've been watching vids," a heavily modulated voice said from the room behind them. Haelli poked her head in to see SCORPIO watching the feed of her and Hunter being blown over by the wind. "Studying human... behavior." The droid turned to look at her with unblinking yellow eyes. "Is that a good description for this?"
"Hell, it ain't just for humans," Kaliyo said with a laugh. "But I'm not going to be your alien example anytime soon."
Haelli turned back around to find Lokin scanning her with one of his devices from the medbay. "Just doing some basic readings, checking for toxins, mild hypothermia, you know. The usual precautions."
"And?"
"You seem fine, but you should probably dry off when you get a chance. Wouldn't want the floor getting too slippery."
"Right. I'll take care of that right after I talk to headquarters. Hunter said the attacks were from Intelligence, but I can't trust his word."
As she walked toward the ship's holocom, she heard Temple quietly ask Vector if he was okay. "It must be tough seeing her with other men."
"We don't worry," he told her, somewhat less quietly. "If it doesn't involve us, we see it as irrelevant. We're on her ship, and her ship is her home. Whomever she's with planetside can't offer her that, and even if they could," he paused for a minute. Haelli heard the smile in his voice as he continued, "we've been told we're very charming."
Haelli smiled to herself as she hailed Intelligence.
--------
I still have a secret you don't know. --H.
Haelli stared at the message. It had gone straight to her personal communicator, not a mailbox she'd have to leave the ship to check. After a while she decided to respond.
Forget that. The attack wasn't us. After a minute of indecision, she signed it "C9," seeing as they were both "H" otherwise.
Bullshit. It wasn't us, so it had to be you. --H.
You think we're the only people in the galaxy with a penchant for explosions? --C9
Who else, the Republic? Unless they've got a spy who's REALLY high up in your Intelligence, they don't even know we exist yet. --H.
What about some outside force? --C9
Haelli, that's us. We're the outside force. --H.
As if you've got a monopoly on mysterious fringe conspiracy organizations. There have to be others out there pulling the strings too. --C9
Sure, but they're not as good as us. And remember, I like to have a monopoly on trying to kill you. Trust me Agent, it's either us or the empire, and it wasn't us. --H.
Well it wasn't us either. So, was it just you then, acting alone? Trying to get me stranded planetside? --C9
No, but perhaps that's a good idea for next time. I'll pick the planet more carefully, so your crew can't show up. Then the real fun can start. --H.
I'm not sure we'd have the same definition of fun, Hunter. --C9
Sure we do. Seriously though, be careful Haelli. Your employers really have it in for you. And that's my job. So, I'm gonna try extra hard to take them down. As you said, I can be very territorial. --H.
Am I included in that? The group you're taking down, I mean. --C9
Only if you stay in my way. That prank you pulled today was cute. But don't think I can't see through a cover like that. I know what you really want. And you know how to find me. --H.
Your arrogance is truly astounding sometimes. --C9
Someone's gotta keep up with you. See you soon, Agent. --H.
Promised I'd write, here's some Reeid on drugs (woah, swtor making a comeback all of a sudden).
He takes three doses of the drug instead of the recommended zero. There was a time when experiments meant something. He can’t remember when that was.
The heaviness of inebriation takes him by surprise, and he drops into an awkward half-leaning, half-sitting position. The lights are far too bright. Have they always been this bright?
“Your move,” says his father. Reeid looks down at the board and considers his options. Two available moves. One safer than the other. He takes the chancy play, and realizes too late that his father has outwitted him by carefully positioning a knight in such a way that would capture Reeid’s pawn in the occasion that Reeid would choose to take that risk.
“Patience,” his father says, watery eyes never leaving the board. “Chess is a game of patience, Reeid. Never take a risk, no matter how early in the game it is.”
The lights are far, far too bright.
“Checkmate,” says the devil’s pet, her lips the color of blood. “He misses you,” she adds, words that burn through him like acid.
She never said that, he argues with his memory.
He staggers over to the bed, but drops to his knees before he reaches it. The room is spinning, the lights too bright. The devil has red eyes, and he holds Reeid against a wall, threatens to hurt him. Reeid can smell him – a strange mix of machinery and sweat, and something else…something familiar and comforting. Something Reeid remembers all too well, holding onto a uniform, breaking glass and shoving it against a thin, pale neck. This is what you like.
He is fairly sure his skin is melting - the lights too hot, like lasers. He shuts his eyes against the pain, and finds himself in a laboratory, their laboratory, a smile on his face, the contented silence of a steady hand, a freckled face, success on the first try. He wants to reach out and touch him, but he can’t. There is an invisible glass wall between them. The worst kind of wall.
He misses you.
Reeid will never see him again. “Patience is a virtue,” reminds his father. Reeid shakes his head, clawing at his hair, his cheeks, his eyes. The lights are too bright. He crawls across the floor, to nowhere in particular, vaguely aware that someone (he) is screaming. "If they find you, they’ll kill you," she'd said, reveling in it.
