10th Oration // Voice

[dun_moch]

I have a task available for any imPorts looking for work. A simple retrieval, quite legitimate.

[An image of the item in question is attached.]

Something was taken from me earlier this year. A weapon I crafted with my own hands, long ago: my lightsaber. A curved hilt, which emits a red blade of energy when activated. Powerful and elegant, if wielded by the proper hands. It is past time that it returned to my care, and I am prepared to offer a most handsome reward to anyone who assists me in this task. Should we be unable to agree on a fitting financial compensation, I am quite prepared to trade in favours or information instead.

[Dooku is kinda broke right now.]

Rest assured that I desire this item for no sinister purpose. It is my own creation and rightful possession, and I have keenly regretted its absence during recent perils.

I encourage all of you who don't have some manner of weapon or suitable powers to think carefully of how you, too, can defend yourselves. We live in dangerous times, and our enemies are many. Tell me, are you prepared to protect your own life and the lives of those around you when danger threatens? The time may come for you, if it hasn't already, when you will have to answer this question in ways beyond the hypothetical.

[OOC note: Characters tagging the Count for the first time are encouraged to check out his permissions post!]

Comments

[dun_moch]

[A little quietly:]

Yes. Yes, they did. That is precisely what they did.

[How rare, for someone to recognize that. But this boy has shown uncommon perceptiveness in the past. A long, considering pause, and then a test-]

Some would say the theft was justified, however. Both to punish my crimes, and to expose the truth of my activities.

[nightmarist]

It was a tactic and it was effective. I'm not in a position to call it justified. I don't know how many minds you've enslaved yourself. Maybe they went easy on you.

[Frankly, Ronan doesn't care either way. Neither side has hurt him, though they both trouble him.]

At this point, keeping your weapon away from you is just a symbolic gesture. I think it's stupid. It's making you bitter, and if keeping the peace was really their priority, they wouldn't be rubbing salt in your wounds.

[dun_moch]

[The Count makes a deep 'hmm' noise in his chest, appreciative and contemplative. Bitter is exactly how he feels, deeply bitter, even moreso than usual- and Count Dooku is a being who has been very familiar with bitterness for a very long time.]

Then perhaps keeping the peace is not their true cause, and never has been. Their only real purpose is to continually punish those they consider deserving- and that is not a fate I am prepared to accept.

[Never mind that they had, indeed, gone very easy on Count Dooku by any standard- devastator of a galaxy, master of two slave armies pitted against one another, architect of purges and superweapons, inciter of imPort villainy. What he deserves is secondary to what he needs, and what he needs is his weapon back.]

[nightmarist]

Vigilantes, am I right?

[Ronan's not about to shed any tears for Dooku. Still...]

I'll help you if no one else will.

[dun_moch]

[Another questioning pause.]

In return for what, precisely?

[nightmarist]

[Sometimes Ronan is absolutely his father's son.]

A favor owed. I'll collect if I ever find a use for you. Unless you already have something you'd like to give up to me?

[Ritual sacrifices have worked out pretty well for him in the past.]

[dun_moch]

I'm afraid I have little to offer that would not be an insult, Ronan. A favour will have to do.

I know that you may have reason to doubt my honour. [Because of all the lies and betrayals and stuff.] But I pledge to you, I will deliver upon what I owe in return for this service.

[Villainy 101: if you don't come through for the people you contract for your work, you'll find yourself without anybody working for you.]

[nightmarist]

[Well, that just tickles him.]

Of course, you know the lightsaber I'd be returning to you would come from your memories, not from the thieves. Does that make a difference to you?

[dun_moch]

You are capable of such a feat?

[Dooku supposes he shouldn't be too surprised- this boy helped create a Porter earlier this year, after all. But still, he is doubtful, and maybe a little defensive. Part of the status he elevates a lightsaber to comes from their rarity as uniquely-crafted weapons using specially-harvested crystals. A lightsaber, like the title of Count, is a mark of being amongst the elite, those gifted with special power and perception beyond ordinary beings. The idea that one could simply be wished into being- particularly the specific one that Dooku assembled with his own hands and wisdom after painstaking research and design- rankles somewhat.

He forces the feeling down. A lightsaber is simply a powerful tool, he tells himself. His goal must not be clouded by foolish sentiments.]

[nightmarist]

Of course.

[That's what makes the Greywaren so special. Also, he is considerably rarer than some special crystal? Men have died over him, wars fought, etc., etc. Please appreciate.]

[dun_moch]

I see.

[Being appreciated by someone like Dooku may not be what Ronan wants...]

How much information would be necessary? Would you need to access my mind and see its secrets for a proper reproduction?

[Which does the Count value more, his paranoia or his laser sword? It's a mystery.]