Family Matters

Dominante Trévutó paced backwards and forwards in the military debriefing chamber of the palace. There were many things plaguing his minds, most notably, two things in particular - His youngest brother Kent, and older sister Saitka. There were six siblings total in his family unit, originally - From eldest to youngest: Khrál, whom he'd killed for the position of Dominante; Saitka, an older sister; Himself; A younger brother whom had died due to accident before reaching puberty, and thus, had never been granted a name; His youngest brother, Kent, whom had only recently reached puberty; And a sister whom had been killed through retaliation after attacking a male for unwanted advances some years ago, again, without a name.

Despite killing his older brother and father, Trévutó did in fact care quite dearly about the remaining members of his family. His mother had mysteriously disappeared under suspicious circumstances some years earlier and he had no idea where she was, if she were still alive, but he knew where each of his siblings were, and he intended to make them his allies.

Saitka, though extremely cunning in her abilities and an excellent hunter, lived somewhere hidden away in Hrvaskétljá, bound in union to a high ranking military officer by the will of their father and not of her own volition - It was something she did not want and would always prevent her advancement in rank, but had no choice to-date - The Dominante's word is final.

Kent, on the other hand, was physically weak - Smaller and less built than most Toškhát, he was shunned by their father. But equally, Kent was by far, the most intelligent Toškhát that Trévutó had ever encountered in his life - Kent had radical and extreme ideas on ways to improve the Holy Empire through everything from advanced weapons such as high powered rifles through to new and improved ways to cultivate food through to ideas on how to create entirely new varieties of naval ships never seen before, but alas, very few understood his ideas, and their father feared them, and by extension, him - Anyone capable of developing such radical ideas was, in his father's view, capable of potentially overthrowing him, and thus, was a threat. But furthermore, not wishing to give up such a potential asset, did not kill him outright - Rather, Kent was exiled to an hidden, isolated and remote prison on Kzatšaratšešim, where he had remained to-date, for the many years since his exile.

He would need their help, and thus, needed them.

Standing before him in the briefing chamber lay a contingent of military - High ranking, but not his former generals - He needed officers that were capable and reliable enough to undertake what he needed them to do, but if he opted to ask his generals, there's a fairly high chance they'd use what he needed against him and usurp him from power - This he could not permit. However, using high ranking officers aspiring to achieve higher rank with little to no qualms about the loss of their former leader, he could always offer promotion in rank if they achieved his objectives, making them his new generals - Something he could not do with those that already were.

They'd been discussing plans at length for some time by that point, and each knew what to do.

After several moments of pacing, Trévutó spoke once more to each of those in-charge. "You - Take your men to Hrvaskétljá, find Saitka, and inform her that she is no longer bound by the duty given to her by my predecessor. Invite her here, and give her protective escort if he agrees - If she does not agree, leave her be - Do not force her. If she agrees and her partner refuses to let her go, kill him. Otherwise, do this as silently and cleanly as possible. You - Take your men down to Kósta Huar and set sail across the channel to Kzatšaratšešim - Find Kent, release him and bring him here. If anyone gets in the way, kill them. Both groups - Undertake your orders using no more force than necessary, but you are authorised to do what is necessary."

Both Saitka and Kent were vital assets to his future plans, both would be protected, and if given what they both desire in some form or another - Freedom - Would make reliable allies. With a salute, the men left the debriefing room.

Leraie, a young but ambitious Zérzante (Sergeant), felt somewhat nervous - He, along with the rest of his small team and commander had been sent to their current location under orders to liberate the Dominante's younger brother, Kent, from the infamous Kzatšaratšešim Vágitábor high security prison.

None of them were entirely sure if everything would go smoothly or if they'd be facing trouble - The new Dominante had supplied appropriate paperwork guaranteeing his brother's release, which should prove sufficient for the task at hand, but should they find that the prison Kommandante remained loyal to the Dominante's predecessor or disagree with his orders, there'd be nothing to ensure that the entire prison staff didn't collectively turn against them.

Everything had gone smoothly thus far - But his team's commander seemed a little too relaxed. This made the rest of his team relax in response, but made Leraie more nervous - He'd knew his commander well enough to know when he was hiding something.

The wing manager looked carefully over their paperwork. Expressionless, and apparently ignoring those around him, but reading the paperwork seriously enough. "Everything looks in order. I will show you the way."

With a quick nod and a strange smile, almost indicating familiarity, the commander followed as the wing manager unlocked the main corridor locks and made his way down, the rest of the team and Leraie following behind. The wing manager had failed to request confirming of his team's identities.

Everything going well was a good sign, but Leraie kept on guard nonetheless.

As they moved down the halls, snarling, growling, shouting and whimpers could be heard as well as the various strange smells that permeated throughout, but this, they ignored. These were prisoners that for whatever reason had avoided execution by the previous Dominante but could not be allowed free - the hardest of hard criminals of the Holy Empire. And Kent - Physically small and harmless, but with an intelligence that the previous Dominante had feared.

They eventually made their way down to a reinforced cell at the far end of the corridor. The wing manager began unlocking the door. "It's your lucky day, Vágitáborra Kent! You're being released."

No response was heard from within, but the occupant would've surely heard. The wing manager began walking away. "He's all yours! Be sure to lock up again on your way out."

Leraie, waiting until the wing manager had left, before they entered, looked to his commander. "Commander; Do you know the wing manager from somewhere?"

The Commander narrowed his eyes at Leraie as he responded, a friendly tone with the faintest hint of an aggressive warning. "No.. I do not know anyone here."

Leraie took the hint and asked no more.

Two of his teammates opened the door, and once opened, all looked inwards. Inside stood an adult male Toškhát - Pale, malnourished and visibly weakened from a life living in a prison; Tall by human standards, but incredibally short for Toškhát at slightly under 6ft tall as opposed to the usual near 3M height of his kind; Nonetheless, he stood tall and to attention.

The commander spoke. "You are Vágitáborra Kent Dâutên, formerly, Kent Dâutên Kšetai Rakhát?"

The short Toškhát looked directly at the commander with a strange, dazed sort of expression, and after a few seconds spoke up. "Why am I being released?"

The commander continued. "Dominante Trévutó has ordered your release!"

Kent suddenly looked more confused. "Dominante.. Trévutó..?"

Suddenly, the commander's expression turned to malice and he withdrew his musket. "However, this can not be allowed to happen!"

The rest of his team, their eyes focused on Kent and relaxed by the relative ease of their mission thus far, had failed to notice what was about to happen. However, Leraie noticed. "Commander! What are you doing?!"

The Commander clicked his musket, preparing to fire. Kent, not stupid enough to allow himself to get shot, dropped low, ready to dodge as best he could in a small cell without any cover, and Leraie, stuck between a choice of following his commander or following his orders, chose the latter - Withdrawing his sword, self-smithed and describable as a rapier built for extra length and weight to suit someone of his build, moved to stand between Kent and his commander, raising his sword to the commander's throat. "Commander! Our orders are to take Kent back to the Dominante - Alive! What is the meaning of this?!"

The commander raised his voice. "The Dominante's orders..? Dâutên was right! This.. Kent.. Is dangerous! With Dâutên dead and Trévutó in power, this CHILD can not be allowed to LIVE! STAND DOWN ZÉRZANTE!"

Leraie stood his ground. "I will not stand down. This is treason."

The rest of his team had realised what was going on, but affording little time to work out what to do, stood, frozen. The commander turned to them. "You are MY men! NOT the Dominante's men! You follow MY orders!"

Leraie kept his eyes on the commander, responding. "You will all be DEAD men if you follow his orders - Allow him to kill Kent and we will all be incriminated in treason!"

After several moments, Kent remaining silent the whole time, the rest of his team moved to face their commander - The commander had the most to lose here, and they had the most to gain. Leraie spoke. "Stand down, now, or face execution for treason."

The commander quickly moved his aim away from Kent and towards Leraie, but he wasn't quick enough - With one swift motion, Leraie swung his blade. Silently, the commander's head hit the floor; A few seconds later, the rest of his body. Leraie looked to the rest of his team. "I am hereby taking command of this unit. Until the Dominante says otherwise, I am no longer Zérzante Leraie - I am Kommandra Leraie. What I suspected earlier, I now know to be true. The Kzatšaratšešim Vágitábor Kommandante was employed directly under the former Dominante and does not support the new Dominante; The former Kommandra [Commander] of our unit has plotted with the Kommandante here to kill Vágitáborra Kent Dâutên, in direct violation of the orders of the new Dominante!"

As the rest of his team quickly pieced together what had just happened and what he was saying, fear swept across their faces. He continued. "We are in danger and so is our mission. But there is a solution. Kent will take the clothing of our former Kommandra, I will take the Kommandra's rank patch and give Kent mine - He will be me, and I will be the former Kommandra - We leave quickly, speak to no one until we leave!"

Leraie turned to Kent. "Get ready now. You have questions. I see it on your face. Ask later - Move now. No time."

With a quick nod, Kent did as instructed, stripping down his prisoner clothes and that of the former Kommandra, dressing in the attire of their unit and leaving his old prison clothes with the former Kommandra's body; Leraie and Kent traded patches, and the group moved.

As they passed by the wing manager, thankfully, the wing manager did not bother to look up. From his desk, with a grin, he spoke to the group. "The Kommandante shall rest peacefully tonight. Good riddance, comrades."

Leraie responded quickly as they moved, not stopping. "Good riddance indeed."

Soon enough, they found themselves outside of the prison and back on their boat - Leraie would report everything to the Dominante and action would be taken.

Saitka, along with most of anyone who wasn't of high rank in the Empire, had not yet heard of the events that had transpired the previous night. Mid-late after, she sat with her daughter in the back room of their home carefully demonstrating to her the correct way to play with one of her new toys - By human standards, this would be a fairly normal afternoon family situation, if not for that this new toy were a homemade high powered hand canon.

Her daughter was young, but would hit puberty in a few short years, and Saitka wanted to be sure she'd be able to cope as best she could. "See how the sight lines up? You're doing well. Both hands, firmly; Not too close - Remember the recoil."

A distraction from the front of their home - Footsteps and voices; Unfamiliar. "Kommandra Zemyon of the Dominante! Open up!"

She heard Djárle, her partner, open the door. Saitka listened out, but remained where she was - Though curious why the Dominante would send a unit to her home, she had no reason to investigate at that time. "What is it?"

"We are on orders from the Dominante to bring the female by the name of Hrárra Saitka Dâutên Hrvaskétljá back to the Palace of the Dominante. This is her registered residence. Who are you?"

A momentary pause. "..I am Kommandante Djárle of Hrvaskétljá. Watch your words - I am of higher rank than you. Why does the Dominante request Saitka?"

Insincerely, "My apologies, Kommandante. I did not recognise you. As for why: I follow his orders - I do not question them. Is she here?"

"Unless you can show me paperwork, it's none of your damn business."

Shuffling of paper. "Satisfied? Now. Is she here?"

"..You realise that the former Dominante promised her to me, do you not?"

"I am aware of that. But orders are orders, sir."

Former Dominante..? Saitka listened more intently.

"Wait here."

Kzvénka, their daughter, remained business playing around with her new toy (albeit daring not to firing it in the home) as Djárle entered the room. Saitka looked up. "What is going on? I heard you speaking with others at the front. What do you mean, 'former'? Did something happen to my father?"

Djárle sighed. "There was a coup ďétat last night."

Saitka stood up, her eyes narrowed. "What? And you didn't tell me about this?"

Djárle kept at ease. He may have been of higher rank than Saitka, and she may have initially despised him initially when her father ordered them together, but out of honour and respect had been willing to give him a chance - She was physically stronger, better trained and more powerful than him, and thus, could've easily escaped at any given time, or killed him while in the process of it, and he had always been acutely aware of it, giving her appropriate respect in return and and honouring her wishes as to avoid such an outcome. They were not well paired, so far as emotion and personality were concerned, but the Dominante had promised her to him as a gift of recognition for his services to the Empire, and to reject such a gift would be a direct and unforgivable insult to the Dominante, to which he would surely be punished to the utmost degree, and for her to leave would be an equal insult - Though for family ties, perhaps she would live, but would be undoubtedly stripped of rank. Despite being an unmatched pair, however, as time had passed, mutual respect for differing reasons had grown into something more - At the very least, they had grown used to each other - And notably, they had since started a family together. In any case, the pair were more than capable of angering one another, but rarely dared show it. "I only found out about it myself early this morning. I hadn't yet worked out how to tell you."

Saitka, her voice strong, reiterated. "WHAT happened?"

Djárle explained what had happened in a nutshell - So far, at least, as to what he had been told himself - The Dominante had been killed in one-on-one combat, and his son had taken leadership.

Saitka paused for several seconds - Emotion was in her expression, but not her voice - Family ties may be strong, but she had expected such a thing to happen to a long time, and she had always secretly, quietly, hoped for such a thing. "Hrmf.. I see. I understand your reasons, but you should've just told me outright. Why are people here?"

Djárle looked to check that they had done as he'd asked: They had. Their daughter remained oblivious to what was going on. "Your brother wants you back at the palace."

Saikta looked away from her partner. This was a lot to think about. Their daughter looked up, beginning to realise something was going on. "This is a good thing.. But what about you and our children?"

Djárle paused. "You could always say no. They do not realise we have a family now. You know very well that I am not capable of stopping you whatever you choose to do, and I would prefer you stay."

Saikta shook her head. "I can't say no if my brother has asked me to come to the palace, but I can't leave my family either. Maybe we could all go together?"

The situation was more complicated than that which Djárle usually dealt with - Perhaps easier, but more complicated nonetheless. "I am the Kommandante of Hrvaskétljá; I can not simply leave my post."

Saikta looked back to her partner. "You have sub-ordinates: Promote one of them as your deputy. Nothing ever happens here - You shouldn't worry. Perhaps if you show support, you may be promoted."

Djárle looked around. "..Where is Iêrú?"

"He sleeps. I can wake him. It is the palace - We will need little from here."

The voice from earlier shouted out from the front. "We do not have all day, Kommandante! If you do not comply, we are authorised to use force!"

Djárle nodded. "I'll tell our the unit what we intend."

It was early morning - Nearly 60 hours had passed since Trévutó had taken power, and thus far, everything had gone according to plan - Much more smoothly than he'd expected.

Indeed, there had been more than several contingents that had disagreed with his claim and fought against his control, but with the support of those generals and officers that had submitted to his claim, he'd swiftly stymied these disagreements with a direct force to which such disagreements would never repeat themselves.

Of course, unconditionally, Kšetai Rakhát had pledged its full support towards his claim the moment he took it - He was, afterall, both the new Dominante and the Kšetai Rakhát Kommandante, unless he opted to employ a deputy to the role, which to-date his father had never done. Within the first few hours, Torvél Rakhát, Bétšue Rakhát and Oudínljá had pledged their full support; Hrvaskétljá - under Djárle's (his sister's partner) - and Eijarám, quickly pledged their support the moment news had reached their ears of his claim. A few minor towns disagreed, which were met with force in return, but most submitted. He had not yet heard any news from the Trialith Kaérn or the mountains to the North, but the Trialith Kaérn was controlled by the high priests and Trialith monks, and they were pacfists - They would never dispute his claim - As the high priest of the capital had already told him on numerous occasions. And the towns in the mountains always listened to the Trialith monks.

The Kommandante of Kait Rakhát had arrived in person to his door that very morning and pledged his support, which meant he now essentially fully controlled two of the Empire's five islands - Toškhátšim and Kšúkhešim.

Kzatšaratšešim had plotted against him - The young officer responsible for saving Kent's life had informed him, to which the officer would soon be rewarded. Kzatšaratšešim, however, would have to be quelled with force. Luckily for Trévutó, however, this seemed an easy task given his otherwise straight-forward success.

Hráršim and Sudšim hadn't yet sent word. Hráršim was of little concern - They were brutally repressed during his father's reign, and would likely be celebrating news of his defeat, and if they weren't - There were no major cities on the island anyhow, only small villages and camps, which meant it would be an easy task to force them to submit. Sudšim, however, was of greater concern - Sud Pokrát and Bétšue Pokrát would surely offer him their support, but, despite being the capital, they would themselves be wary of the forces of Kzanplutó, which were notorious for listening to nobody and caring for nobody but themselves, not even his father, which himself had to continually threaten action to maintain their support. Furthermore, Kzanplutó had always been problematic - Sud Pokrát had always been a popular trading port where traders of all nations could do business without fear, despite his father's bitterness and wariness towards foreigners, whereas Kzanplutó had been caught on a number of occasions engaging in piracy.

These were, however, all concerns that would be left for another time. At that very point in time, there were other concerns to deal with.

Aside from Trévutó, standing in the military briefing room of the palace were a slightly over a dozen individuals whom he had called to brief, including his brother, the officer that brought him there, his sister, her partner, and a few others.

Kent leaned quietly and inconspicuously under the shadows against the far wall of the briefing room, head slightly down, but keeping a close eye on everyone - Once he'd arrived, emotional greetings and exchanges were shared, he was given a room, new clothes and fed a decent meal to ensure he wouldn't die of malnutrition there on the spot. A more cunning schemer than Trévutó himself, he'd undoubtedly be making plans of his own for contingencies that others undoubtedly wouldn't be aware of.

Zérzante Leraie stood nearby.

Saitka stood beside her partner near the main wall, in front of Trévutó, at attention - Their children were being cared for by Zérzante Bortka, an otherwise average but matured young officer that they'd met during their trip back, a member of Zemyon's unit.

Trévutó looked to Leraie. "Leraie; You've exceeded my expectations during your mission. I understand that you wish to no longer be known as Zérzante Leraie, but wish to adopt the rank of your former unit leader and be known as Kommandra Leraie, and seek my acceptance. I recognise your wish to be promoted, but you will not be promoted to Kommandra - I have greater plans for you and believe you will be better suited elsewhere, Génerále Leraie."

The newly promoted officer looked towards the Dominante with a look of surprise. "Génerále..?"

When the Dominante did not correct himself after several seconds and it became evident that he was not joking or teasing, the officer bowed politely. Indeed, this was a big promotion, but equally, not something to be questioned. "Thank you, Dominante. You will not be disappointed."

The Dominante continued. "Kommandante Djárle - I thank you for your support, but you are needed where you are. You will maintain your current rank. But if you need anything, you are free to ask me at any time."

Djárle nodded silently as the Dominante moved on. "My sister, Saitka - You will hereby no longer be known as Hrárra Saitka Dâutên Hrvaskétljá. Our father was wrong to restrict you to Hunter. I will need your guidance if I am to be a successful leader. You will hereby be known as Génerále Saitka Dâutên Kšetai Rakhát."

Saitka, smiling warmly, nodded to her brother. "My brother, Kent - Your knowledge, your ideas, the ways of thinking that our father so dearly despised - You will be robbed of these no longer. You will no longer be known as Vágitáborra Kent Dâutên Kzatšaratšešim, but as Génerále Kent Dâutên Kšetai Rakhát."

Kent grinned, almost maliciously, but not quite. Saying nothing, he remained where he stood.

He continued onwards. Within about half an hour, almost everyone in the room had been promoted - A number of others demoted also, but this, they would not be discovering via the Palace briefing room.

Discussion continued vigorously for some hours, and a number of plans were established for the greater good of the Empire. Things were to change.

OOC: I love this and I love HE politics. XD Keep up the good work.