Envoy and Aorlean

The Envoy tapped his fingers on the table, silent for a minute after the Aorlean had finished speaking. “So,” he said at last, “your planet has quite a history there. These fallen ‘Neldrihk’, immortal kings, magical gemstones… you know, if I hadn’t seen Ikron’s mines for myself I mightn’t be compelled to believe any of it, though…”

The Aorlean narrowed his eyes, as if realizing that the other had just insulted his planet. “Though what?”

He tapped his fingers on the table again, seeing no need to rush his story. “Our galaxy- other star systems, that is- have also dealt with… similar circumstances. There was once a group originating from Tython, a world far from here, known as the Jedi. Think of them like your Vif Neldrihk. They originally swore to use their powers for good, to maintain balance and peace across what worlds they governed. Yet over time, they lost their way and several of the Jedi left the order, seeing what they’d become over the course of a thousand years.”

“The Jedi knew no bounds nor limits. The highest of them demanded that they expand their influence to encompass hundreds of worlds, enslaving them all in the name of greater good. The other worlds formed countless alliances, pushing back the Jedi forces for centuries at a time, but slowly, inevitably, they still advanced. They governed the known galaxy with an iron fist, though it was all under the guise of a democracy known as the Republic of Stars. For someone unfamiliar with galactic history, the best I can do is tell you that you can relate the old Republic to the Empire of Gathica that once ruled Elamar, or some part of it, at least. What worlds they couldn’t control they exterminated, killing every species that dared to stand against them. Such was the fate of our dear sister worlds; Dromund Kaas, Ziost, Korriban. We are the last who remain, hidden from the known galaxy that’s torn again by yet another war.”

“Make no mistake. I know that Emperor Lyl is just as eager to explore other worlds as he had ours, but there is nothing the known galaxy can offer Elamar but yet another war and more bloodshed. You see, what food produced by Elamar for exports is treasure to Exegol’s infertile soil, but there are thousands upon thousands of other worlds dedicated to agriculture that are under control of the Republic. Reveal yourselves, reveal us to the known galaxy and both of our worlds become nothing more than two more shiny jewels in the crown of the Jedi, or are destroyed. That is the reason for the unfortunate deaths of Lyl’s first emissaries to Exegol. You see, we cannot risk anyone bringing news of our existence, our location to the Republic that would see all defiant worlds crushed. We thought that you were spies for the Jedi looking for more planets to plunder.” Here the Envoy paused his story, letting his words sink in.

The Aorlean looked up from his drink. “The Jedi… are they- can they be stopped? From taking over Elamar, I mean?”

The Envoy smiled sadly and shook his head. “They can be halted, for centuries at a time. Millennia, even. But no, they cannot be stopped. I suggest that if you ever encounter one, you tell him what he wants to hear and get out of there as fast as you can. Pray to Rinrok or what other gods you might have that they never discover Elamar, else they will destroy you for not welcoming them with open arms.”

Slamming his fist on the table, the Aorlean stood up and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear: “You… Rinrok isn’t just some unseen deity we pray to and wage wars in the name of! He truly does exist, and he protects Elamar from any and all threats!”

“Please, take a seat, sir. I did not mean any offense to your planet or culture,” said the Envoy. “Maybe the Dragon King will protect Elamar from invaders. But that is not a fact, unfortunately, that Exegol can rely on to protect us from harm. You see, they…”

“They’ve been hunting us. For a thousand years now, untouched by wars as they’ve been, they’ve been seeking out any traces of where we might’ve been. Before we found Elamar, we had to import food and water from worlds in the known galaxy. We covered our tracks well, but the Jedi knew we existed, they just never found out where. Now, I understand why some of Elamar’s nations shy away from our alliance. We ourselves weren’t fully willing to accept your help in the beginning, but our Emperor so no better alternative, either. Jedi agents are crawling all over every known galaxy’s spaceport and even more so after the Clone Wars began. A world that hadn’t even heard of them was our best choice, and as for Elamar…” he trailed off again, either because he truly didn’t know what to say or simply for emphasis. “I cannot say whether allying with Exegol is the best choice for all of Elamar. For Aorlean, of course, it seems to be a wise decision made by a wise Emperor. But those who don’t want technological advancement- which I can fully understand, yes- I could see why your world wouldn’t want our aid. More technology means better living conditions, indeed, but it can also mean more devastating weapons of war should the Elamese nations go to war again.”

“The rulers of Elamar are smarter now,” said the Aorlean, “they wouldn’t start another war for no reason. The ones we had before were provoked by-”

“The fallen Vif Neldrihk, first Ixna and Laykos, then Serped and… Sida, was it?”

The Aorlean nodded in confirmation. “They did… unspeakable things. The peoples of Elamar could not stand by idly as their lands, their freedoms were torn from their hands. And nor could the gods. They liberated our lands from the grasp of the fallen Neldrihk and taught our rulers to use the Force for good. For peace and protection instead of conquest and destruction. It was only then that we were advanced enough to make contact with other civilizations among the stars.”

“It truly is great, yes, that the peoples of Elamar keep their history,” remarked the Envoy, “the Jedi have wiped out any mention of their enemies to the best of their ability, and their abilities are adequate to say the least. You will find no record of the enemies of the Jedi in any of their archives, only that they did terrible things and took over worlds, yet that is exactly what they do. Don’t get me wrong, everyone has done things they’re not proud of in the name of war, but this is not a matter of what they do or don’t. It’s how they claim to be benevolent and silence anything that would indicate otherwise. What makes them different from the fallen Neldrihk is that they couldn’t rule through sheer military force, so they deceived the galaxy. What choice did people have other than to bow to them if there was no other side they could see? If all that would dare stand against the Jedi are labeled as traitors or worse, how could anyone defeat them? Even now, I assume that you’ve heard news of the Clone Wars from the recent trade ships. The Separatists, who first wished for a peaceful withdrawal from the Republic of Stars were stamped down on with laws and tariffs meant to crush anyone who tried to aid them. Yet they too were unrelenting.”

“The Separatists decided then that they had to secede from the Republic through military force. It worked, in the start, until the Jedi created an army of clones to fight alongside them and began sieging Separatist worlds. It was a bloody war, if anything, but not as bad as it could’ve been. With their technology, the Separatists and their allies built a droid army to fight that of the clones, and so not many drafts were needed. Civilians were harmed, as it is with all wars, but more or less it was a quarrel between the leaders of the two groups, the Jedi Council of the Republic and the Separatists’ council led by Count Dooku of Serenno and the military commander, General Grievous. The Separatists leaders all died at the hands of the Jedi, while Jedi themselves were more or less overthrown by the Republic’s non-Force sensitive branch, the Senate. After that, the Republic fell after thousands of years of being a Jedi oligarchy, but the Empire that replaced it was no better. What’s worse, the remaining Jedi have begun fighting back at the Empire that took them off their lofty high-up positions in the Republic. Well, most of them, that is. There are hundreds of Jedi that serve the Empire of Stars, though a better name for them now is the Galactic Empire. What Jedi remain now will demand that unaligned worlds join in their fight against the ‘tyrannical Empire’ or force said unaligned worlds to join the Empire and fight against the other Jedi. Either way, I don’t think war with the greater galaxy is what Elamar wants, and nor does Exegol want to be exposed.”

“Really, I must say… Elamar is so much more than any world the known galaxy has seen. I’m not flattering you, in all honesty. The Republic had compartmentalized so many of their worlds that very few of them, if any, are self-sufficient anymore. Everyone relies on the trade networks between systems to survive, else they will all collapse. The Jedi also believed that everyone needed their protection from the so-called ‘dark side’ of the Force that we believe your Vif Neldrihk fell to. That without their protection, the galaxy would succumb to eternal darkness. Yet here you are, a planet untouched by the Jedi and thriving in peace. How furious they’d be if they saw your world.”

The Aorlean looked bored by the Envoy’s lecture, only perking up at the occasional mention of the Neldrihk or Elamar itself. He figured that a walking, talking history textbook could make galactic history seem more interesting than this man, yet there was something that felt severely lacking in his tales. “Great story you have there, really,” he said, “but I’m sure I can obtain a copy of galactic history somewhere from your archives. What I’m really interested in is who Aorlean is dealing with now… you hadn’t happened to have mentioned anything about your planet, have you? I can’t seem to remember much being said about Exegol in particular.”

The Envoy smiled again. “Of course. You must be dying to learn who your new allies are, hm? Well, let me help you on that one.”

“In their purges, the Jedi came across many worlds that resisted their rule. Several of those worlds Exegol had been in contact with, not as a military or political supporter but as a safehouse of sorts. We guard the largest archives of complete galactic history, without the censorship of the Jedi who’d want to see all their enemies left nameless and faceless for all to fear. Everything that could be recorded over the thousands of years of war is found in the libraries of the Citadel. We sheltered many species from many worlds, some of whose names are lost to the sands of time. Those peoples were all eventually hunted to extinction by the Jedi or had to go into hiding and pretend to obey their rules in the Republic. Eventually, they forgot that they were pretending at all and became servants of the Jedi as all others had been. More still were annihilated through Jedi superweapons along with their planets. According to the Jedi, all species whom they’d genocided were either bloodthirsty marauders or never existed in the first place.”

“It really does pain us, on Exegol, to see history tainted in such ways. But we could not step out of the shadows to fight for the truth or we wouldn’t be here today. As the only hidden spectators to the dark deeds of the Jedi, our first and foremost duty was to remain hidden as we were and safeguard the secrets the Republic so desperately wanted to destroy. Of course, I’ve said enough about the Jedi and their Republic now for you to get an idea of it. The reason, you see, that we want Elamar’s- Aorlean’s- help is that we cannot survive on our own. Ironic, indeed, that we seek to be as isolated as possible but cannot do so without making contact with anyone. To stay hidden from the Jedi while they scoured the galaxy, we had to find a world they wouldn’t think life could exist on at all, and Exegol suited our purposes for that. Infertile, inhospitable aboveground, and impossible to get to from the Jedi’s point of view, we built an underground society- both figuratively and literally- to shelter those who’d stand against them. Not everyone, of course not. We had neither the resources nor the courage to do anything of that scale.”

Here the Aorlean interrupted. “So you Exegolians, people of Exegol, whatever, are nothing more than cowards pretending to be librarians? Or is there some greater picture I’m supposed to be getting?”

The Envoy observed him as he leaned back into his chair, done with the outburst. “Yes and no. We are far from a perfect civilization, and I don’t seek to deny the fact that we are, more or less, cowards. Letting offworlders on Exegol and letting them leave was a liability, especially if we couldn’t be sure that they wouldn’t reveal our location. Even if we were sure that they were loyal, they could’ve been captured. Interrogated. The Jedi can be very convincing, as you might think them to be. Someone could accidentally reveal our existence and location to them, of his own will or simply tortured out of their mind. And so it was, too, that eventually myths and rumors of our world became a fact known to our greatest enemies. Some of the Jedi acknowledged it, and looked for us in locations they thought we might be in, but we were unreachable to the known galaxy unless we chose to no longer be. Other Jedi dismissed our existence as what it’d been before- just a simple rumor perpetuated by rebellious worlds that hadn’t quite the heart to step out into the open and declare their true allegiance.”

“Allegiance?” The Aorlean looked confused. “Allegiance! To whom do you mean, their true allegiance? You speak as if this is a military matter… Aorlean has long since pledged their ‘allegiance’ to support the Elamar-Exegol trades, but talk like that will only further alienate New Iria and Irogonite and Izrand. It could even push Ikron over the edge, and that wouldn’t satisfy anyone.”

“My sincerest apologies,” said the Envoy. “I meant a different thing when I spoke of allegiances against the Jedi. Irogonite and Izrand are bound to each other's words, and New Iria is a lost cause to begin with anyways. As for Ikron, I do hope that they will see the reason in joining our alliance. There is no need for the Ad’lahsem to be so… shy.”

As he finished his last sentence, the Aorlean opened his mouth again to interject, but the Envoy didn’t give him the chance to do so. “I know what you want to ask next, sir. You want to know who ‘we’ are, the group I keep mentioning in my speeches that you find oh-so-boring.” The Aorlean nodded in agreement and shut his mouth.

“The Jedi named us the Sith Order, and a fitting name it is. We are not Sith, not in the literal sense. The Sith were a certain red-skinned humanoid species that once lived on Ziost and Korriban that sought to resist the Jedi’s rule. It was under their banner that the outer reaches of the galaxy united to fight them in a conflict that would later be known as the Hundred-Year Darkness. The Jedi won, as they always did, and pushed back the Sith and their allies again and again. Eventually, they pushed to Korriban, to Ziost, and killed them all. Every last member of the Sith species was lost under saber and cannonfire. Those of us remaining on Exegol are mostly humans carrying on the Sith cause, and that is why the Jedi sought to give us the name of their worst and most powerful enemy. We know no other name anymore, and it’s only fitting, then, that we abide by the one they’ve given us. I only hope that our actions will deserve the title of Sith, for it would be a dishonor to them to do otherwise.”

“Well, I’d best be going now.” He got up from the table the two had been sitting at. “It’s been a relief talking with someone who hasn’t been indoctrinated by the Jedi, really. Would you at least care to give me your name, sir?”

“Jarlen, erm, sir. Of Aorlean, though you probably know that much already.”

The Envoy shrugged. “Of course I do, mister Jarlen. Now, I have things back on Exegol to attend to. I assume we won’t see each other again, so really, it’s been a pleasure. I do look forward to visiting your world again, should that opportunity arise. Maybe Ikron will be a better place to visit, to see those wondrous floating isles you speak of.” He made his way towards the exit, not far from where the next ships had arrived. A fairly nondescript vessel it was, too, with nothing more to show on the outside than its steel-silver hull and three black paneled wings protruding from the rear end of the ship. It wasn’t hard to notice the red dagger-shaped insignia painted on the sides of the vessel, either, a sight Jarlen had grown accustomed to seeing in the past few weeks. The greatest icon now on Elamar it was now- the image of Emperor Lyl and Klezal, standing regally before a backdrop of a city flying the Aorlean flag and Exegolian banner.

“Wait! Sir Envoy!” The cry came from inside the building. A black-scaled arikaan ran into the open towards the ships, holding something small and shiny that glinted off the Elamese sun as it swung. In his hands was a golden-red pendant bearing the same emblem on its chains. “I believe you left this when you left.”

He turned around, surprise mixing with suspicion as he saw the black lizard holding out the necklace, yet only for a brief second. He shrugged again and smiled, holding out his hand. “Ah, my bad. I must’ve forgotten that on my way out.”

Jarlen soon came up behind the two, curious as to why an arikaan had gone running after the Envoy. Seeing the situation resolved, he turned to face the latter again. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I actually got a name off you. If we do somehow happen to meet again, what should I call you?”

The Envoy reached behind his head to fasten the penchant around his neck. There it swung above his extravagant attire, reflecting the sun in a way that was almost blinding. He smiled. “I go by many names in many places. But you can call me Cosinga, if you’d like. Or just Envoy is fine, though I doubt that’ll be effective when there are more of us around.”

Jarlen nodded. “Yeah, Envoy Cosinga works, I guess. Better than title alone, I’m sure.”

“Of course it does. Now, now, I truly do have to leave. The captains won’t be wanting any delays, after all.”