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Realms: These Shattered Stars Logs

Chapter Four, Part Ten

Later that day, in the early afternoon, Roakkana, Freyja, and Zero go up to the monastery to pay a visit with Jedi Kuuna. Vakkal reluctantly abstains, waiting instead at in the gatehouse as the three Jedi meet with the Twi'lek; he is concerned that his presence would be an unpleasant reminder of the events of Marnaas.

Kuuna is in good spirits, and the time in the monastery has done her very well. After a brief time in a hospital, she has regained use of her lower limbs, and can now walk with only a slightly odd sway to her step, which she notes will disappear itself in a few more weeks. She remembers, with perhaps more clarity than is comfortable, what Qatto Verg did with her body. However, she does not seem discomfited by what Zero had to do to stop him -- in fact, she compliments him on his quick thinking. Though Verg's attempt to puppeteer her body caused some nerve damage, she is expected to make a full recovery shortly. She notes also she has been studying counters to such dark side sorcery as what befell her, and may choose the path of the Jedi consular. She hopes to someday soon return to Marnaas.

Zero sighs a little embarrassedly, and scratches the back of his head, finding something in the corner of the room to fix his eyes on at the mention of his 'quick thinking,' along with a muttered sort-of apology and a thank you for the compliment. Stang. The things you'll do for Order and Republic.

Freyja is quite fascinated by Jedi Kuuna's studies, and asks if she may exchange any research results they come up with. Kuuna eagerly agrees; she has been given encouragement from the abbot of the monastery to study such, and will do so, despite an unexpected but praiseful invitation to join the Templars. She notes that no explanation was given for the invitation, and though honored by it she does not intend to join them; she feels that her calling is elsewhere.

The rest of the brief visit goes well, and farewells are exchanged. Shortly, the three Jedi and one Sith are again on the streets of Murno Down. On the way to Murno Down, Freyja remembers to describe to Vakkal the huge, black, winged creature she saw in the memnii left in her lightsaber.

Vakkal for his part has never heard of such a creature. Of course, he notes, there may be dozens of creatures in the galaxy that might match that description, but considering who was fighting it, it would likely be some kind of Darkside beast -- yet no modern Sith beast matches that description. Freyja's not surprised, if a little disappointed, that Vakkal doesn't recognize it -- it was definitely an outside chance that he might know it, after all.

Freyja finds herself vaguely relieved that Kuuna's not intending to join the Templars. At this point, as she notes to her friends later in the streets of Murno Down, she finds the Templars and their motives extremely questionable, due to their treatment of Colburth. As far as she knows, he's a troubled but honorable man -- so to even hint of excommunication for the poor guy is a very black mark against them, to her way of seeing it.

As the three are walking along, they come upon a similar group of agitators, or rallyists, in a nearby square. The woman and the man are there, as part of a larger group. They aren't the ones haranguing the crowd; that is left to the modestly dressed female Duros.

"My friends," the Duros is saying, "the Republic has been a bastion for our rights for thousands of years. Surely the Republic is worthy of being supported, especially against the onslaught of the Sith! But even in times of chaos, of adversity, we cannot ignore that which weakens us. Graft is still rampant, corruption is still rampant, some members of our government lack honor. Some, I say! Not all! There are many in the Senate and the Sector Cabinet who are above reproach, and I have no doubt that they have and always will have the needs of the citizens of the Republic in mind. It is the others whom we must be aware of..."

Freyja pauses to listen, discreetly pulling her hood up, and looking around in intense interest to see both how the crowd is handling this... and if anyone seems to be surreptitiously working through or around the crowd. Zero sighs quietly. "This is going to come to no good, I'm sure." Freyja nods gravely to Zero, then continues her searching.

The crowd is, in contrast to most such labor and political rallies, relatively tame. There are some places in the Galaxy which take their politics extremely seriously. This is, perhaps, not one of those places. The people -- mostly lower-class laborers and doleists -- listen politely, but are not stirred into frenzy. This is just the equivalent of a soapbox, it seems.

Freyja is faintly relieved to notice no one with apparent ill intent... so she just listens for the nonce, if Master Roakkana doesn't mind pausing for a bit. She's curious as to whom the agitators are upset about. Zero murmurs, "Wonder if someone finally figured out where my paycheck used to come from."

Freyja grins ruefully at Zero, "Sorry about that. I imagine it's rather... embarrassing now, to think back on. Still..." her grin becomes more genuine, "-you got better!"

Zero says, "I'm not embarrassed. I thought I was doing the right thing. Everyone makes mistakes. And letting me find out what he's really up to is going to be the last mistake Kallatis ever makes."

Freyja glances sideways at Zero, "Really? No remorse at all?" then pauses, considering her words. At his next comment she shrugs, turning so the hood hides her face.

Zero shrugs a little, hands in his pockets. "Some. Mostly doubt. I have to wonder if all the targets we four chased down were really as awful as we were led to believe..." He shakes his head. "Probably not. But... well. I'll make it right before it's all over with."

Freyja continues to listen and watch the quiescent crowd thoughtfully. It's her suspicion that the agitators are being far too calm and rational to get this crowd behind them... at least on this subject. It's not of direct personal interest to the kurasai, nor a direct personal attack... so why cause trouble? At least, that's what she's observed in her time amongst kurasai... and, honesty causes her to admit, a lot of the aristoi too, unfortunately.

Zero says, "Anyway... sure would like to know what's got them going."

Freyja nods a touch grimly, "As would I."

The Duros continues, "For too long, my friends, for literally thousands of years, we have not paid as much attention to those who represent us in the Rostrum as we could have -- as we should have. The sector cabinets elect the Senator for their sector, and they go to Coruscant and do what they should to ensure the interests of the worlds of their sector. In Balmorra Sector alone, forty trillion beings of many species are represented to the other thousand sectors of the Republic by one being; one being alone. Who amongst us truly knows what goes on in the Rostrum in the closed sessions? What of the Senator's offices on Coruscant?..."

The crowd starts to get a little restless and begin to drift off. For many (the employed) it is likely either approaching the beginning of their shift, or is reaching the end of their mid-shift meal break. For the others, they seem to have heard this before and are paying it no heed. Within five to ten minutes the crowd has thinned out to almost a tenth, and the Duros winds down her speech. The remaining people disperse, only a few remaining around to talk with the agitators.

Zero says, "Well, it's hardly an uprising..." Freyja watches and listens quietly to see what the agitators do now... and to see if now, when there's no crowd, is when government intervention might occur. She'd actually be a bit surprised if it did, at this point. The populace seems almost utterly uninterested in this issue. Labor agitation? More likely labor soak, she thinks with wry amusement.

The three beings -- the Duros and the Humans -- talk with the lingering Commenorians. As even those leave, they talk amongst themselves briefly. Freyja murmurs softly to Zero, "Sounds like it's the Senator from Balmorra to Coruscant that this group is trying to get into trouble." She quietly adds to the information on her datapad, for her Mother.

Zero says, "Well, it's not like he doesn't deserve it. But Deno might be sending some more welcome wagons if this gets out of hand..."

Freyja glances up at the Wookiee, "Master Roakkana... would it be all right if we tried talking to them?" There's a hint of pity in her voice as she adds, "They seem... well, the Humans, at least... they seem so... disappointed. Almost downtrodden...?"

Roakkana blinks. "Well, it couldn't hurt, child..."

Freyja grins in relieved happiness, "Thank you!" then heads quietly for the small, dispirited group.

Zero hrms. "Well, I guess I'd better go with. Say, Master... why don't you and Vakkal and I keep an eye out for anyone else paying undue attention, hey?" He tips the hood of his long black coat up over his head, shadowing the upper half of his face. "I'll just get close enough to listen. I've heard them making reference to Quiet in the last couple days... it wouldn't do for talk to get around." He offers a winsome grin and circles off into the crowd.

Roakkana grins and nods, "Of course, Zero. Let me know how it goes." Vakkal, of course, is already alert and keeping both eyes out.

Freyja gives a simple Balmorran salute, bringing her loosely closed right fist up to the left side of her chest, over her heart, "Haiyo, kurasai. May we join you?" Her hood is still up, since she's not sure if any of them are Balmorran or not, or whether they might recognize her. True, she's changed some, apparently... but she's prudent enough not to trust utterly in that to disguise herself, or to prevent suspicion on their part.

The man notices Freyja's approach first. He is tall and was once powerfully built. He has since apparently not so much gone out of shape as simply paid more attention to other things. He is still in good shape, however, about Freyja's height and with ash-brown hair and large eyes of an unusual pale red hue.

He nudges the woman a little, who stops her own conversation with the Duros. She is slightly taller than the man, her gold-blonde hair oddly shot through with midnight-black strands. She has gray-blue eyes and a pale complexion -- if she weren't Balmorran, that would be a surprise. She catches the 'kurasai' and her eyebrows visibly rise.

"Of course. Please, feel free." The man's voice is a gentle, quiet tenor. "My name is Suis-van Kong of Alderaan; this is Gurtrud Sugatamitra of Balmorra and Lai Nootka of Duro Prime-6."

Freyja nods politely to the group as she's introduced, then replies, "Padawan Freyja. Ah... would it be untoward to ask what the goal of your group is?" She adds diplomatically, "It would seem this is a difficult crowd to stir to action, hai?" Zero circles about in the background, mostly keeping his eyes out for anyone else doing what he's doing. It wouldn't be like Kallatis not to have somebody with an ear to the ground for him. Hm.

Freyja quietly analyzes the woman, from what she knows about Balmorra. She'd guess Gurtrud was born in Southern Balmorra, judging by her name. From her looks, her family is probably mid- to upper-class. Considering 'Sugatamitra' is not a name more than passingly known to Freyja, she'd guess the woman is likely born of the upper middle class -- possibly either a traditional line of managers to a manufacturing company, or hereditary huskarls or retainers to a minor Human house.

The woman grimaces a little and looks downward. The man gives a slight smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Padawan Freyja. Well, we can always hope."

The Duros, Nootka, says, "To even get people to examine the records of their pseudo-elected officials is difficult. It would be easier to have them question the records and motivations of their own directly-elected local government, but it's not them-" She breaks off, and inclines his head. "Forgive me. This is a subject near and dear to my heart, and I tend to go on about it."

Freyja raises a thoughtful eyebrow under the hood... she's not absolutely sure, but just before the Duros broke off, the Balmorran woman appeared to quietly nudge her companion. Cause and effect? She glances around to be sure no one else is near, taking that time to make sure her body language is as friendly and non-threatening as she knows how to make it. Once she's settled, she murmurs to the small group, "In the interests of expediency, may I be blunt? It would appear a certain Rodian is the target of your desire for investigation, hai? He is ours also... do you know who aids him?"

All three blink and stare at Freyja for a few moments. After a moment the woman murmurs softly, "Yessss! Finally the nerfherder caught the attention of the Jedi!"

Freyja shakes her head quietly, "Neh, kuras, forgive me for not being clearer. He has caught our attention. We cannot point him out to anyone else without stronger proof, however."

Zero sighs a little. I can't see a bloody thing. Ah well. He steps out of the way and closes his eyes. He waits a moment to find his center, then reaches out carefully to find Freyja; she's not hard to find. Like the Master, she's a blazing beacon in the Force to him. And it is getting easier... he can pick out all their ripples in the Force, including Vakkal's, with little effort. He whispers into the Force, Ask them to keep it quiet we're onto him? Khoud is a Jedi too.

The woman takes a moment to digest that, then her shoulders slump. "I... see. Still, that's better than nothing."

Kong coughs a little, casting a glance at the woman. "Well. If you know anything about him, Padawan Freyja, then you know that... well, he's a Senator. We're just concerned citizens."

Freyja tilts her head slightly at the quiet touch in her mind, then sends back assent. At the man's comment she murmurs amusedly, with a gently teasing smile, "Oh, hai, kuras... and I'm just a simple Human girl. Kurasai, perhaps we can establish trust more swiftly between us if I give you some information, and a warning request? The first is that you need not fear Quiet any longer... and the second is to please keep the information I've just given you, regarding both our suspicions and Quiet... quiet." There's a hint of a smile in her voice at the end of her sentence.

Zero quirks his lips a little. He raises a finger to them, thinking. I hate being famous.

Both humans seem immediately wary at the mention of Quiet. "Well..." Gurtrud murmurs, "it's not like Quiet's name isn't known here and there. Why shouldn't we be wary of him?"

The man frowns slightly. "I think I can say with assurance that we won't speak of anything of that to anyone."

Freyja says politely to the Human male, "Thank you, kuras," then adds to the Human woman, "Because Quiet is no more."

Both Humans look thunderstruck at this pronouncement. "How did... how did he die?" the woman asks slowly.

Freyja says gently, "I did not say the man died, kuras Sugatamitra... I said Quiet is no more."

The man and the woman exchange glances. Finally, the Duros says dryly, "Interesting distinction."

Zero leans back against the wall and folds his arms, trying to hide a grin in the fold of his hood. He touches Freyja's mind again, You should tell them you killed me. His thoughts practically hum with amusement as they reach Freyja.

Freyja smiles at the mental comment, then sends back with quiet amusement, Neh, my friend. I have nothing to prove to them -- they will trust or neh, and must live with the consequences of their decisions. Even if I did wish to prove something to them, I would not try to do so via deceit, or someone else's death.

Zero rolls his shoulders a little and tries to straighten up. Well, I suppose if we get involved in this, they're going to find out sooner or later. Still, it would be funny!

The man nods at the Duros' comment. "Indeed. Well... Padawan Freyja, if you know Senator Kallatis, then you know how he and a goodly number of other senators operate. If Quiet is no longer in his employ, he has other cat's-paws, and has hired a replacement for Quiet."

Freyja grins, and Zero can feel her amusedly affectionate half-emotion, half-thought, Silly! To the little group she murmurs quietly, "Padawan Zero is his name now. He is a different person... someone I am proud to call my friend and sibling Padawan." She pauses, then adds quietly, "That information -- regarding new cat's-paws -- is a given, and you do not need me to tell you that." She then politely adds, "And... you were perhaps going to tell me something helpful that we might use to bring about the downfall of the Senator...?"

At that pronouncement the Human woman and man almost fall over. "He's a Jedi now?!" Gurtrud asks incredulously. "Stang... I mean, with what he knows alone, he could bring down Kallatis-!"

"And likely," Kong says gently, "get himself killed relatively quickly if he did. Just like us."

"Stang, Suis-van, and you say I should be more subtle-?"

Zero grins and sighs to himself, Ah well, so much for the charade. He pushes off the wall and fades up near Freyja's side. He grins a little, half his face still shadowed by his hood, and raises a finger to his lips. "Shh."

Freyja gives Zero an exasperatedly amused look, "Would you cut that out?!"

Zero smiles. "Sorry. Old habit."

Freyja snorts softly, her smile amused, "Hai, one you remember when convenient."

Zero shrugs a little and grins, "Weren't we talking about the Senator?" Freyja looks back at the three conspirators with a faint sigh, wondering if they're too badly scared now to trust. She hopes they can... for their sakes, at least.

The conversation between the Humans ends abruptly when Zero suddenly appears. The man and the woman both blink, then exchange glances. Kong says slowly, "All right. It's Quiet -- er, Zero, and we're still alive. I'll take that as a good sign."

"Optimist," Gurtrud murmurs wryly.

Freyja smiles, giving a slight bow to the man, "In regards to getting quickly killed, you perceive our predicament precisely, kuras."

Kong nods. "And you may perceive ours. I do not know if Qui- er, Padawan Zero recognizes us, but we -- Gurtrud and myself -- are formerly liaisons between the Sector Cabinet and the office of Senator Kallatis, and Nootka is a former undersecretary for one of the sector cabinet ministers."

Freyja nods, "So you have lost your jobs then?"

Zero grins wryly. "I remember you. And it's not me you've got to worry about now -- pleased to see you again, by the way -- I've found much more rewarding employment than our mutual associate the Senator. I'm afraid my sister in the Order is correct; despite what we know collectively, there's little we can do about it yet. A case against Kallatis would have to be completely airtight -- and kept in the dark until the last moment, if possible. I doubt the Senator's new hands and eyes are going to be as subtle as the old ones."

Freyja nods ruefully at Zero's last comment, still watching the former liaisons. Zero routes a passing thought to Freyja, I almost wish the other three were here. All the more evidence against the Senator, and professional skill as well.

Freyja mentally murmurs, Half of them are dead, Zero. No wonder these poor folk are spooked... and were we not Padawans and attuned to the Force, I doubt not we'd be numbering among the deceased also. Lack of subtlety doesn't make the victim any less dead... unfortunately.

Zero replies, I'm not quite dead yet. Argent... There's a pause and a brief passing regret. Argent's dead. Well, at least Uri could be bought. Ah, hells. I'm getting sentimental in my old age, ignore me. Freyja smiles quietly. Zero can feel her gentle telepathic hug.

Gurtrud nods to Freyja. "We don't work for the sector cabinet anymore, no. We left of our own accord six months ago when this whole fund-sloshing thing started."

Kong provides, "Each sector has a number of funds which are earmarked for certain concerns and emergencies. Fund sloshing happens when monies from one fund are moved to cover expenses in another fund that is running over budget, and those monies are in turn replaced in time by monies from other funds... it's not supposed to happen; supposedly there are strict controls on the transfer of monies from one fund to another. But it's been happening in Balmorra sector a great deal. And we learned the key funds are the commerce and trade fund, the labor fund, and what's come to be called the 'war effort' fund."

Gurtrud picks up the monologue, "And that leads to what made us leave. And why our own case isn't as airtight as we'd like it to be. There's nothing seriously wrong with fund sloshing -- in fact, sometimes it's important -- the funds to get a ship to Sedrak recently came from fund sloshing, from an astrophysics research fund to the emergency management and acquisitions fund. But the 'war effort' fund goes to programs in Balmorra sector that finance development of weapons systems for the Republic. Specifically, the biggest weapon systems exported out of the Sector: war droids."

Freyja nods, listening intently and making mental notes. Zero absently licks one of his canines, thinking to himself, I can guess where this is going and do not like it at all. Freyja says carefully, "Please, continue?" She wonders why they left before accumulating proof... maybe they felt their lives were threatened?

Nootka provides, "And that is how I came to meet Suis-van and Gertrud. There were discrepancies in the war effort fund accounting. Obvious clerical errors and mis-accounting. Even droids can make mistakes when trillions of credits are being... how do you Corellians say it, Suis-van? 'Bean-counted.' These mistakes should have been caught at the senate level, yet they were not. I did some research of my own and found that some of the fund money which was spent on something undefined actually was 'sloshed in' from a resource outside the Republic proper. With some research, I found that these monies came ultimately from private holdings on Kessel."

Gurtrud adds, "Not long after he reported that to the sector cabinet, one of Kallatis' cat's-paws was seen poking around the cabinet offices, and then went to Kessel. The cat's-paw died there. We got out of our jobs before circumstances made us run into anything else that could get us just as killed -- if not from the Senator's cat's-paws, then from whomever killed Argent Ling on Kessel."

Kong sighs, "Of course, us leaving is almost moot now, now that the sector's computers were sliced. One of Nootka's friends says that the information we needed to trace that money is simply not in the computers anymore."

Zero's teeth click together as he tries not to frown. Kallatis! You did have him killed! I knew it...! Freyja blinks slowly as it all falls into place for her... then sighs quietly, "No wonder the slicer died so conveniently."

Kong nods. "We don't know if he was a scapegoat or if he really was in Kallatis' employ. But you can understand why we were concerned about getting a visit from one of the Senator's cat's-paws." He doesn't quite look at Zero as he says that.

Zero catches Kong's expression and smiles wanly. "I'd feel the same way in your position. Don't worry about it."

Freyja frowns thoughtfully, considering. Finally she murmurs, "Well... I think we need to call in people that are more subtle than us, to do the next layer of searching." She reaches out to gently touch Nootka's sleeve, "Please... may I enjoin you three to do something else a bit less dangerous? I have someone I'd like you to quietly go see... who I think could perhaps offer you meaningful employment. Can I persuade you to do that, instead of trying to agitate amongst those who do not understand your cause, and thus do not care?"

The three are quiet for a bit, then Kong says, "It would be safer than what we're doing, probably. What do you have in mind, Padawan Freyja?"

Gurtrud sighs, "We'd hoped to have some sort of reaction to Kallatis from the roots of the Republic: the citizenry. To do anything about him otherwise flies in the face of democracy."

Freyja smiles at the Balmorran woman, speaking directly to her, "When the kurasai do not respond, shouldn't you then turn to the aristoi?" Her next words are inclusive, to all three, "I would entreat you all to quietly appear to give up here... and go to Balmorra. I would ask you to talk to my mother... the Baroness Rigg."

Zero murmurs, "He's got a lot to answer for. More than you can safely tell about him. Take it from me, please. Just trust us on this... let us take it from here. We don't want anyone else to be hurt by his proxies." He takes a breath. "I have a lot to answer for, too. Take my word on this as Quiet if nothing else; please, trust my partner on this." Freyja smiles at Zero, pleased to hear his words. She leans against him companionably, looking back at the small group as she does so, waiting for their reaction.

The Duros nods. Kong merely blinks and arches an eyebrow, while Gurtrud's jaw drops to her chest. She shifts her position a bit, wondering if she should bow or kneel or genuflect or what. "Uh... oh, stang... oh, gosh, I should have known... uh... I'm sorry, Arving Lady! Gah... I knew the Baron's eldest was a Jedi, but I didn't think...! And I read about your betrothal lately, too... and I should have recognized the accent..." She blinks. "But your hair... it wasn't aristoi-gold in the holos of the betrothal..."

Kong lightly places a hand on Gertrud's shoulder. "We'll do that, Pada- er, Lady- er, Padawan Freyja, thank you." He nods solemnly to Zero. "And thank you, too." Gurtrud still looks flustered.

Zero shakes his head, "It's nothing. Better for everyone this way, aiyah?"

Freyja looks a bit embarrassed at Gurtrud's confusion, "Please, kuras, I'm just a Padawan right now." She smiles, adding, "My hair, it, er... well, actually I know not why it changed color." She nods to Kong in relief, "Thank you. I will send notice ahead to Mother to expect you." She adds with quiet intensity, "Please be very careful, hai? All of you?"

The three nod. "We will do that," Nootka says quietly. "In fact, since there is nothing we have outside of what is in this speeder, allow me to take us three to the spaceport forthwith."

Freyja thinks a moment, then adds, "Let me give you a code word first, please, so Mother will know it is you." She whispers one of the family's recognition codes to Nootka, who seems somewhat to be the calmest of the three, then steps back and gives a polite bow, "May the Force be with you all."

Nootka nods, and the three -- the Duros slowest to pick it up, likely not having been born to a system with aristocrats, but doing so nonetheless out of politeness and tradition -- bow in return to Freyja.

Zero nods. "Sooner the better. Be safe until you hit Balmorra." He turns to go, then pauses after a step or two. "Oh... one more thing, hey?" He raises his head a little, letting the hood fall back enough to finally expose all of his face. "Let me stay dead for a while? I have a lot to own up to... I'd like to make it right before that happens, if you don't mind."

Gertrud nods to Zero. "Hai, we'll not make any mention of it."

Zero smiles wanly. "Thanks. Force be with you. Fly straight." He slips his hands into his pockets and turns back to head toward the Master with Freyja.

Freyja smiles at Zero, rather proud of him, then waves quietly to the three. Then she turns and follows Zero back towards Master Roakkana. She murmurs quietly to her friends, once they're all together again, "I don't know if they'll make it... but I wish them well through the Force. Mother will take care of them if they can get to her."

Roakkana nods slowly. "I think you did well to tell them to leave, child. Call it... a little whisper in the Force."

Freyja nods gravely to the Wookiee, "I think I felt it too, Master." She'll later send the encoded missive containing the information, on both Kallatis and the threesome, that she'd managed to gather onwards to her Mother. She'll also spend some time meditating within the Force, unsure if that will help the three succeed in their flight, but making the effort nonetheless.

Zero stays quiet mostly; Freyja can still feel something like regret clinging through the residual connection to her thoughts. He raises his head to nod agreement; "If they can get as far as the spaceport they should be okay... I don't think any of Deno's cutters have the flash to pull off a strike in mid-flight. Call it a hunch; but given their past record, I don't think they're all quite that sharp. Let's hope so, anyway."

Murno Down is a small spaceport city; it is neither the center of Commenor's population, nor the largest city. Events tend to be noticed. Therefore, as the four approach the hostel it is not hard to notice the faint yellowing of the sky near the low-income area of the city, or the alarms of public safety service land- and air-speeders as they converge on whatever emergency is taking place.

Such scenes happen all the time in a city. Even when, according to a local newscast overheard by the group, an unexplained explosion takes out part of a traveler's hostel in the low-income district. Just another story in a galaxy full of cities filled with such stories...

Zero frowns. "Yellow. Let's see," he says wryly, "Fire or explosion?"

Freyja goes a bit pale, "Hela's breath... I hope Nootka wasn't kidding when she said they were going directly to the port..." She looks at the Wookiee, "Should we go offer to assist, Master Roakkana?"

Zero grins faintly, "Well, my Master... we are representatives of the Jedi Order, and as such it is our duty to assist in the defense of the citizenry..."

Roakkana considers for a moment. "Let us look into it, at least. Though if this was an attack upon where the three we met today were living, then the attackers are likely long gone."

Freyja nods grimly, then mutters under her breath, "But if I see that Logi-spawn lurking around anywhere, watching...!"

Zero flags down a speeder headed in that direction. "You're a credit to Kashyyyk, Master; a real civil servant." He grins a little, pleased to have some new crisis to occupy his thoughts instead of the sour old one that seems to be dogging his steps lately.

Freyja gives Zero a startledly amused glance at his words. She can feel faintly in his mind the cause of his lingering regret -- it centers around Argent's death. Apparently Zero feels partly responsible for that... his past seems to be catching up unpleasantly to him lately. Reassuringly, she can even 'feel' that he's finally starting to come to grips with being a Very Bad Person for a long time -- and he doesn't really like it. She'll wait until they're settled into the speeder, with her squeezed in next to Zero, before she whispers quietly in his head, You weren't responsible for Argent's death, Zero... and if I can help you fix things, you know I will.

Zero is very quiet for a while. Finally he responds, I should have warned him... we knew Kallatis was crooked, we knew it. He sighs heavily. None of us were 'good', but Argent was... an honorable man. And a damned good fighter. I... kind of miss knowing he's around, that's all. Thanks, Freyja. Freyja quietly hugs Zero in silent companionship.

The four arrive on the scene. The devastation is surprisingly limited; one floor of the hostel is blown out, the plasteel shards scattered all over. Some fires are still burning, though most have been tended to immediately. The hostel is a total loss, however; there's no way it could be considered for habitation now. And while the destruction was limited, the handful of speeder ambulances departing the scene, as the four arrive, attest to its all-the-same lethality.

Zero frowns. "Blast. Look at this place." He runs a hand through his hair and looks around, "Well, Freyja... you want to see if there's any wounded here we can tend to?" Freyja nods quietly to Zero, her eyes (and mind, through the Force) already searching the debris as she sinks into deeply centered calm. The why of this destruction is not currently important... saving lives is.

There aren't many life signs that appear to be trapped. The building is mostly intact; there are just lots of pieces of plasteel all around. Most of the injuries appear to be cuts and abrasions from the flying pieces thrown about by the explosion. From all appearances the blast originated from one of the corner rooms on the third floor of the seven-story building.

Freyja takes a few moments to be sure, then quietly announces to her friends that the few trapped life signs are being pulled out already. Zero takes a breath as he lets his senses pull back from surveying the wreckage. "Looks like everyone's already being taken care of. I think the blast started up there, on the corner suite. Let's have a look?"

Freyja blinks at Zero... then looks interested as she follows him, "All right. Which one?"

Zero circles around to one side, pointing. "There. Look; see the blast marks? And here, how the glass all fanned out? We should be able to get there from the outside. There's got to be a fire escape of some kind."

Freyja looks around as Zero points things out, then adds cautioningly, "If it's still structurally sound. We should be careful, hai?"

There's an outside stairway. As they approach it, however, one of the public safety officers spots them. "Hey!" the Rodian calls out, dashing over. "Get away from there, we're still invest- oh! I beg your pardon, Jedi! Officer Tryin, at your service."

Freyja smiles politely to the Rodian, "May the Force be with you, Officer Tryin. May we go examine the wreckage above? We believe the blast originated there."

Zero looks up at the structure skeptically. "It's a firebomb. The vacuum pressure blew the cheap glass out and strained the walls. It's actually a marvel that lousy plasteel held. Fortunately if it's cool now it should be just about melted into place... oh, hey, Officer. Sorry to intrude... yeah, it looks like a firebomb, there on the third floor. Has anyone else been up there yet?"

Freyja adds courteously, "We will do our best to disturb nothing, of course."

The Rodian frowns and nods, "We think so, too. It's odd, but it looks consistent with a gas canister explosion. We get that now and then here -- a doleist gets hold of a fuel gas canister and tries to use it for a heater or cooker. Usually nothing happens, but once in a while-" He blinks to Zero. "A... firebomb? No, nobody's been up there yet..."

Zero nods. "I had quite a bit of weapons training before I joined the Order. That looks like a firebomb to me... look there, the heat was intense enough to actually bow that wall out from the weight above." He grins a little, "But I'm not a forensic detective, of course. Just... a Jedi's intuition."

The Rodian nods to Freyja. "Yes, please. Ah... I hadn't known the monastery was interested in this incident, I'm sorry- oh! I see," he says to Zero. "Thank you, Jedi. We're always grateful for any help from the Order."

Freyja smiles and thanks the officer, then murmurs to Zero as she gazes up at the wall he's just indicated, "Do you think it can support all three of us?"

Zero smiles, "Interested? Aiyah, Freyja, what do people think we're doing over there? Of course we're interested, Officer, something exploded! We're Jedi, we're here to help." He laughs quietly.

Freyja laughs softly at Zero's comment, then grins at him, "You're silly. So, shall we give it a try? Do you think it's sturdy enough still?"

Zero nods, "Yeah, I think so long as nobody goes leaping around on the floor, it should hold."

Freyja nods, pushing the sleeves of her cloak back a bit and tightening her sash. "All right. Lead the way!" She glances at Vakkal, "Ready?"

Tryin fidgets a little. "Ah... yes, well, it's just... well, even the entire public safety department doesn't respond en masse to every situation, eheheh..."

Freyja grins at the Rodian, "Don't mind him -- he's just teasing."

Zero says, "Ah, you want to come, Officer?"

Tryin nods, "Yes, I would, thanks." He waves to one of the other officers, and explains what's going on. Vakkal nods as well, while Roakkana demurs and remains on the ground.

Zero grins lopsidedly. "Then it's your lucky day, aiyah? Let's go."

Freyja grins at her large Master, "Don't blame you!" then laughs, "Be nice, Zero!" She'll make sure the officer is between her and Zero, so there's both direction on where the officer should step next... and someone to catch him should the structure give.

That corner of the floor is wiped out; only the structural strength members and load-bearing walls remain. The rest of the walls -- which were never really thick to begin with -- are simply gone, rendered into thousands of bits of plasteel. That's the trouble with plasteel: it's very strong, but when put under enough stress it bends, then shatters. The walls which remain are blackened, the thermo-coating on them having caught fire with the heat of the blast.

Zero mms. "Tch. Yeah, it was a firebomb -- look. The back draft sucked the glass out first, then the walls softened and just popped from the weight above. Bet it was quite a sight when the windows went... all that oxygen all of a sudden..." Freyja looks around thoughtfully, wondering if the structural strength members would show any sign of where precisely the bomb was... and therefore where any remains might have fallen.

Zero says, "A firebomb usually doesn't leave a lot by way of remains... usually it's hot enough at the ignition point to wipe most of it out, but I bet the Public Safety people could get a sample of the accelerant... or accelerants... that the bomber used, if we find the point of origin."

There's not much at all to tell where the blast originated from, though even to an untrained eye the patterns seem to point to rough cooking area. Tryin nods, "Like I said, we see that every so often with fuel gas canisters. We're just lucky that there weren't any people killed. Lots of injured, but no deaths that we've been able to spot. And if you're sure there was a firebomb involved, well, it's hard to hide that sort of thing."

Zero says, "I'm not ruling out that it was a gas canister. But... still, this burned pretty bloody hot for a cooking fire. I've never seen a gas canister burn a plasteel wall out."

Tryin frowns a little. "Well... true, there is that..."

Zero says, "I'm not trying to gainsay you, Officer, honestly... this is just my gut feeling." He smiles a little, "You know how we Jedi are, hearing little voices and all that." Zero's tone is perfectly easy, just trying to put the officer at ease. Freyja pauses in her examination of her surroundings long enough to give Zero an amused glance... then goes back to staring carefully at the structural beams.


Fortunately, as the four later find out by chance, the three would-be agitators apparently made good on their intention to go straightaway to the spaceport, and had not returned to their room at the hostel -- the very room which had blown up. Big surprise there. The next couple of weeks pass quickly, and the deadline for the rendezvous with Fhazil rapidly approaches. Freyja, Zero, and Vakkal make the trip to the Vermillion about an hour before local noon.

Freyja is relieved at the news about the (apparent) successful escape of the three former agitators, and crosses her fingers for their reaching her mother safely. She spends a great deal of time meditating in the next few weeks, both on her new lightsaber... and on Vakkal, if he gives her permission. She's becoming more and more positive, although she's not sure exactly why, that Vakkal's problems with healing are resolvable... she just has to figure it out.

At the Vermillion, Zero yawns a little over his tea. "I wonder if it's safe for me to be wearing this big black coat anymore. I could be mistaken for another Sith, wearing this hood," he grins lazily, making idle conversation.

Freyja is quietly excited -- and a bit worried -- about meeting Fhazil. Will he still like her? The Sith lord Ghang knows where he's meeting them -- will he let his apprentice go so easily, or should they worry? She runs one finger idly around her tea cup... around and around and around... and grins wryly at Zero, saying teasingly, "Hey, we put in silver embroidery as well, with violet touches. What, you want neon next time?"

Zero grins. "Actually, I suspect everything will become clear if the real Sith show up."

Freyja smiles a bit worriedly, glancing around surreptitiously, "I... hope he does... and that everything goes well..."

Zero says, "Ex-Sith, in his case."

Freyja says, "Er... who?"

Zero says, "We are talking about Fhazil, aren't we?"

Freyja nods, "Hai... but I don't think he's an ex...?"

Zero says, "Ghang may feel differently."

Freyja takes a slow, nervous breath, looking around again, "Hai... that is something that's worrying me..."

Vakkal seems perfectly calm, and doesn't fidget at all. He appears and feels like he's comfortably anticipant. "Well," he says wryly, his voice lowered, "it's been said that one does not need the Empire to be Sith. Though calling him a Sith outright in a Republic crowd might cause a bit of a panic, as much as he might appreciate the spectacle. Though... well, you have a point, there. I do not -- yet -- know the nature of his departure from Lord Ghang."

Zero says, "It may be better for him if he considered himself ex-Sith, at least for the time being."

Freyja rolls her eyes in slightly nervous amusement, "He certainly told him fast enough where and when!" She grins, adding, "Although I suppose I shouldn't hold that against him... I'd have trouble not telling Master Roakkana in similar circumstances."

"The Sith can be at least as adept at scrying and farseeing as the Jedi. Besides... outright lying to Lord Ghang would be as hard for my Brother or I to do as it would be for you to Master Roakkana."

Freyja nods to Vakkal, "Not surprising, really." She considers, then adds thoughtfully, "I think the only way I could keep something from Master Roakkana would be to ask politely that he not ask."

Zero frowns a little, "Well, under the circumstances I can hardly say anything to that effect. We're on the cusp of doing something that may well have us all cast completely out of all our respective orders." Freyja glances worriedly at Zero... then just gently lays her hand on his. Zero grins a little, "Ah well, too late for those kind of worries, aiyah? We're committed now."

Freyja grins and gently squeezes Zero's hand... then adds amusedly to Vakkal, "Maybe he'd appreciate the spectacle, hai -- but let's not go there, eh?"

Vakkal grins, "I wouldn't suggest it myself, no." Freyja sighs quietly, glancing again at her chronometer, then restlessly away again. She grins ruefully, realizing she's fidgeting, and takes a few deep breaths to calm down.

The time quickly dwindles to a few minutes. There is the roar outside of a low-flying spacecraft. A few of the pub's patrons look up and mutter to each other, before turning back to their meals and drinks. Zero says, "That'll be our boy now..."

Freyja raises an eyebrow, tilting her head so she can see the door easily past her hood. She murmurs, "Let's hope it's him... and not any unwanted sidekicks..."

The spacecraft sound dwindles into the distance, quickly followed by some high-pitched engine whines -- perhaps three. This gets the patrons even more interested. One of them calls out to one of the bartenders to turn on the newscast, to see if there's something odd going on.

Freyja frowns, worrying a bit, and glances at her chronometer again, then back at the door. Zero says, "I'd welcome the challenge, under the circumstances... I haven't ignited my saber yet; I was hoping to see how good my work was."

Freyja gives Zero an amused glance, "You and Kuras Taas are going to be terrors on any sort of subtlety, aren't you?" She grins.

Zero mms, "Tsk. Can I help it I enjoy being good at what I do?" He smiles nonchalantly.

Freyja laughs softly, then murmurs dryly, "Why do I think I'm going to be hearing that a lot from you both?" She glances at the newscast curiously.

There's nothing on the newscast at first, but then the regular bulletins are interrupted. "For persons in the Landing metro area, Space Traffic Control reports a set of spacecraft which were flying unusually low. Space Traffic notes that they were not in violation of the established 'floor,' neither were they violating velocity limits -- but they were close. We'll have more on this later. Meanwhile-" A little more time has passed... and then the clock strikes local noon.

It's not quite on cue, but it's close enough. The door is pushed open, a figure dashes in, then closes the door hurriedly and leans against it. Most of the persons in the front room of the Vermillion pause to look at the weirdly acting new arrival. He is wearing the clothing you'd expect from a fringer; kind of scruffy but solid and utilitarian, having seen many a mile. The all-weather cloak's hood hides his features in shadow. He looks around briefly, then shucks off the hood.

It is undoubtedly Fhazil Taas.

His hair is a dim silver now, and his eyes a vibrant yellow. His complexion is a bit dustier, a little rougher, but otherwise it is unmistakably him. He looks around and spots the table with the group. His expression is happy and pleased as he straightens, smiling as he starts to walk over to the table.

Zero says, "He likes an entrance even more than I do." Freyja watches puzzledly, wondering who was following Fhazil's craft... and if they're going to burst in after him. She scans silently with the Force to see if any Sith are following him.

Freyja is not disappointed -- or perhaps she is. Either way, her curiosity is satisfied; it is not Sith following him, at least. Freyja senses no Sithstain or blight or anything Force-aware approaching, when the door is blasted inward. She shakes her head amusedly, "Why am I not surprised?" even as she flips the table forward to take the blast for them.

Zero rolls with the blast, hood flying back. "Stang, Fhazil, what kind of tail did you bring in with you?!" He instinctively reaches for his lightsaber, surprised inwardly when it's the texture of Kuwatuara and not the borrowed lightsaber that meets his hand. The surprise is replaced with a pleasant anticipation. Now we'll see what kind of team we make, you and I.

Freyja is half-crouched by the table, waiting to be sure Fhazil gets safely to them even as she scans for a back door. Fhazil is thrown forward by the blast, rolling with it and impacting the table with a heavy, "Ooof!" A number of patrons in the front room shout and yell, garnering the attention of the patrons in the other rooms, who start to congregate to see what the commotion is, even while the patrons in the front room are trying to get out of there.

Freyja grins, glancing down from within the hood at Fhazil, "Heiyo, Kuras Taas. Vakkal, can you clear a path to the back door, please?"

Zero says, "Go, we'll cover you!"

Freyja nods to Zero, then reaches to grab Fhazil's arm to help him hastily up, "Come, please!" She can't resist a faint tease also, "Most people hide behind tables, you know?"

Fhazil manages to recover enough to gather himself, pushing strands of dull silver hair from out of his eyes as he looks up to Freyja with a quiet grin. "Would it help if the first thing I said was, 'I miss you'?"

Vakkal rolls his eyes, reaching forward to grab Fhazil's arm as he starts to plan a plow through the crowd. "Merry met, blah blah blah, we'll talk more about your technique later! Move!" Freyja laughs, following swiftly -- and resisting the urge to suggest laser sights for next time!

Zero rises as Freyja reaches for Fhazil, igniting Silver Guardian as he does so, and turning to face the attackers as he rotates the handle in his hands to make the spinning weapon a shield against blaster attacks. Most lightsabers, when first ignited, give off sparks. This one actually gives off a pair of small bursts of silver fire as the twin azure blades spring to life.

Vakkal pushes the two through the crowd, shouting, "MAKE A HOLE!" before turning back with Zero, keeping clear of the spinning blades and igniting his own topaz blade. Through the front door are coming what look to be a trio of... droids?

Freyja blinks, noticing the droids and automatically scanning to see if they're family make. This doesn't prevent her from pushing Fhazil determinedly on in front of her, however -- especially when she realizes they're no make or model she's ever seen before! She wonders worriedly just how fast the Sith are reproducing Republic-style droids.

Fhazil moves with Freyja , pulling a concussion carbine from under his cloak. "They've been following me since Bilbringi. I thought I lost them at Balmorra but then I ran right into them when I got here...!"

Back in the front room, Zero says, "Hey, Vakkal. You didn't have to stick around with me."

Vakkal grins a bit, giving his own saber a whirl. "Maybe not. But two sabers are better than one, eh?" He glances over to Zero's saber. "Okay, make that, three are better than two..."

Zero grins, not taking his eyes off the enemy. "Thanks, brother. Now let's offline these things before they hurt somebody."

The droids pause once all three of them are finally inside. They are about human sized, in a mottled pattern of grays and blacks, and are a little stockier than most droids. The long, articulated arms, however, are distinctive, one ending in a manipulator of some kind, the other ending in a concussion rifle. The other patrons that haven't fled yet are peering back or around corners as the droids scan the room.

Zero smirks, turning Silver Guardian in his hands, catching the back of the long handle in the pit of his arm, taking a ready stance with his free hand extended, palm out. "All right, Vakkal, you ready? Let's show these jokers who the real hunters are."

Vakkal grins and nods, "I'm with you... brother." He notes their pause. "They appear to be programmed only for Fhazil..."

Zero says, "Great, they won't notice when we trash them. Save the heads; maybe we can get something out of them later."

Vakkal nods. "Sounds like a plan," he says, getting into a ready position. The droids apparently come to a decision, seeing the two weapon-wielding beings before them. The concussion rifles snap up to firing position.

Freyja blinks at Fhazil a bit incredulously as they keep moving through the rooms of the Vermillion -- and with a touch of suspicious amusement, considering Balmorra's her home world, "What were you doing on Balmorra?!" Once they reach the next door she pauses, sending a mental message back to Vakkal and Zero as to their current location... and that they'll be waiting outside.

Fhazil glances to Freyja with an apologetic grin. "Well... I've never seen a betrothal before. I was hoping you wouldn't mind if I showed up... but I got the dates all wrong. I arrived there three weeks ago..."

Freyja laughs incredulously, "Oh, Lady bless! I'm glad you missed it -- I think I'd have choked if I'd looked up and seen you!" She giggles, her eyes sparkling as she impatiently pushes her hood back and heads for the outer door, "Let's see if we can find a speeder to borrow for a bit, hey?"

Zero remembers to reply to Freyja as well, Three bucket heads. Vakkal and I will keep them from hurting anyone in the Vermillion, won't be long. Zero and Vakkal can 'feel' the laughter in Freyja's mind as she sends back assent and understanding, and her intention of trying to find a getaway vehicle.

In the main room, Zero takes off. Tumbling over the table as he zigzags toward the droid on his left, Kuwatuara blazes upward in a rising arc as Zero gets within range. The droid moves with astonishing agility, evading the worst of the lightsaber's strike, though Zero's blade cuts a shallow, superficial gouge against the casing. With a weirdly digital/mechanical sound -- possibly this model's equivalent of 'Stang!' -- it barely recovers. Zero hops back two feet or so, bringing Kuwatuara up to a ready position again.

One of the other droids whips its rifle around to bear on Zero, letting loose a ripping bolt of force at the Jedi. Zero sees the blast coming and, naturally as breathing and without thinking, swings the trailing blade of Kuwatuara into the path of the bolt. It bounces wide of the enemy droid, but Zero seems pleased enough anyway as he twirls the saber-staff back into readiness. I should never have doubted this weapon.

Vakkal bares his teeth and leaps forward to the opposite side of the droids from Zero, splitting the droids' targets up. He swings his lightsaber at the nearest droid -- the one who had fired at Zero. His slice goes horribly wide, however; the droid doesn't even have to dodge much as a counter top is rent in twain by the topaz blade.

Meanwhile, in the back room Freyja can see a shape moving across the curtained window beside the back door: similar if not identical to what Zero called a 'bucket head.' Freyja pauses, putting one hand on Fhazil's arm, her head coming up alertly. Fhazil also spots the shadow against the back window, and swallows, raising his rifle and bracing it but not firing just yet. He glances to Freyja. "I'd really hadn't planned on bringing any guests, Freyja, honest."

Freyja murmurs calmly, as she looks around for an alternate escape route, "I know, Kuras Taas. Do you know who sent them?"

Fhazil shakes his head. "No, but I have some guesses," he says quietly. "I think they might be Oather. I picked them up fairly close to the front, out near galactic north where the front meets the Outer Rim."

Freyja gets a slightly puzzled, thoughtful look as she glances hastily about the room, "Really now... you're sure they're not a, ah... present from Sith lord Ghang? Not to impugn his honor... but I imagine he's not thrilled about losing, in effect, two apprentices?"

The droid outside the back takes that opportunity to kick down the back door, but is apparently not expecting to face the business end of a concussion rifle -- to say nothing of the warm Awatea lightsaber at Freyja's side. Fhazil blinks, then comments, "Interesting story that, remind me to tell you about it after this!" He fires the rifle at the droid.

Freyja looks around startledly at the crash, then sighs with faint amusement, "So much for no property damage... ah, what story is that, please?" She reaches for her lightsaber as she speaks.

The concussion blast just narrowly takes the droid, piercing the armor shell to it and making the mottled construct stumble. "The one about when I left Lord Ghang!" Fhazil replies with a roguish grin.

Freyja pauses, straightening to see if the droid's finished, "Ah, hai..." she grins, teasing gently, "-considering how quickly he seemed to find out the when and where of our meeting!" She sends a mental missive to Zero and Vakkal, asking them to either collect or destroy the brain boxes of the droids -- since they might be Oather, and she doesn't want any useful information getting back.

In the front room, the first droid through the door (the one Zero attacked and struck) takes this chance to try and ventilate Zero, who takes a step back as the droid turns to face him; Kuwatuara slices across the beam path. The bolt bounces back and catches the droid's carapace solidly. Zero grins, the blade humming back again to catch under his arm, his free hand open and extended to the next droid in line.

The droid eats its own conc-bolt, taking it straight to the internal workings. It looks like it will still fight for a moment... then fizzles and collapses to the ground. Zero's mental reply is, Think we got it under control here.

Freyja sends understanding back, then steps cautiously forward one step to see if the droid they face is finished. Doesn't look like it, though... she draws Kourakani, and a moment later a golden tongue of flame licks forth from the gleaming handle.

The third droid of the trio that Zero and Vakkal face, the last one in the door, takes a shot at the one who's causing the most damage to them: Zero. He can't quite swing Kuwatuara into the path of this blast; the angle isn't quite right, and he forces himself instead to jerk his body out of the way, letting the bolt pass by him. He still smiles, though; moments like these are when he feels closest to the Force. It's not the destruction; rather it's the purity of action, the doing without doing. He just is, and is in the moment, in that way he can never seem to find except in battle.

He has no trouble finding his Battlemind; he was sliding toward it practically from the start of the fight, and he moves now without thinking. His training and the will of the Force move him easily, fluidly into the attack, this time bringing both of Kuwatuara's blades to bear -- springing in, stabbing, and then swinging the off blade overhand.

The droid Zero attacks again moves with that astonishing agility, but while one of the blades skims by it, the other takes more effort on its part to dodge, and it just manages to recover enough to fire off a snap-shot at Zero. Zero reverses the blade again as the droid returns fire, swinging the blade upward to bounce the shot back and tag the droid's chest plate. Zero shows no sign of tiring yet, the double lightsaber humming around him in an elaborate defense.

Vakkal makes one more attempt to destroy the droid Zero has already cut; with a snarl, he swings the lightsaber at the construct. Unfortunately, his cut is a clear miss as the droid effortlessly moves out of the way, almost as if had precognitive circuitry.

In the back room, Freyja gives Fhazil a grin as she slides smoothly into stance, lightsaber at the ready. "'Be thy intents wicked, or charitable -- Thou com'st in such a questionable shape... That I will speak to thee.'" She shakes her head with slow enjoyment, appreciating the Bard quite a bit at that moment, then murmurs conversationally, "So... did you meet anyone on Balmorra?" She amusedly hopes not... she has no idea how to explain an excitable, ex-Correllian, Sith apprentice to her family -- especially one with three newly minted, Republic-tech-based battle droids on his tail!

A moment later she swears softly and unhappily under her breath, realizing what this means -- at least as far as Republic tech no longer being that advanced, compared to Sith -- in fact, it's now behind Sith tech, from what she's seen.

Fhazil glances to Freyja, smiling quietly. "It's the hair, isn't it? That's what's questionable, right?" He shakes his head quickly. "No, I didn't land on Balmorra, actually. Stopped in long enough to hear someone on a newscast absolutely gushing about how lovely a betrothal it was. Your sister officially scares me." He has braced his conc-rifle to fire again at the droid, and pulls back on the trigger. It -- his own conc-rifle, that is -- gives an almost-apologetic whine -- and no bolt of force. He blinks, looking at the weapon. "Blast, I thought I'd fixed this damned thing...!"

Freyja tosses her head back, laughing delightedly in spite of herself! A moment later she grins at Fhazil, her eyes alight with mischief, "All right, you pass!"

Meanwhile, the droid realizes it's not about to be blown to smithereens, and whips its own gun around to fire a blast at Fhazil. Freyja's eyes widen as she realizes the droid is about to shoot Fhazil, who is looking down at his malfunctioning rifle -- her reaction is utterly reflexive to protect him, "Nyeh!" and she steps smoothly in front of him to take the blast, one gloved hand flashing out defensively.

Time, for Freyja, seems to slow down. The concussion blast reaches forward. The wavering bolt of pure force -- thumb-sized, with a score gravities of kinetic energy behind it -- leaps from the droid's rifle. Fhazil's eyes widen with utter horror as he sees Freyja leap in front of the blast.

If Freyja had been expecting to deflect the concussion bolt with her gloved hand, she is pleasantly surprised. The bolt strikes her hand, but instead of a shield of the Force before her she perceives in that instant of time... less of a shield, and more of a... a cloak or cape, something that slips and slides over the point where the concussion blast hits her. She can almost see the energy of the conc-rifle's shot be soaked up by the extension of herself in the Force. She feels that extension in the Force absorb the bolt's energy, transforming it to its ultimately purest form. She feels oddly strengthened by it, feeling this protective shroud of the Force giving her some of that energy back.

Fhazil is just halfway to shouting, "No!" when he sees Freyja throw herself in front of him. He can only stare in wonder as he sees the conc blast do no damage whatsoever to Freyja. "Fr-Freyja...!" he murmurs in astonishment.

Freyja blinks in utter astonishment once the bolt is... eaten? -vanished, at least -- staring at her unscathed palm, "That... was unexpected..." A fraction of a second later she realizes she's standing in front of a battle droid! -fortunately with lightsaber in hand, "Oh! Focus, hai!" She takes a quick swing at it, then shakes her head as she misses -- she really needs to concentrate more! More practice with Zero, perhaps... and she should plan it later, she sharply reminds herself!

In the front room, the third droid joins in the fusillade against Zero. The Jedi Padawan sends the droid's weapon back on itself again, Silver Guardian true to its name and protecting Zero like an extension of his will. He just moves, reacting fluidly to each action in the melee. The droid finds its blast lobbed back at it, much to its surprise, and barely managed to dodge the blast, a little off-balance when it recovers.

Zero tumbles forward; time to help Vakkal out. He turns a no-hands cartwheel, whipping himself past the droid that he's been occupied with until now, into the space between the two remaining attackers. He lets the momentum carry him forward, stabbing first at Vakkal's target, then thrusting backward with the other blade at the droid he just passed. His blade cuts down the first droid, Kuwatuara piercing the power coil. He turns as he withdraws the rear-facing end from the second droid, blades whirling and droning. "How you doing, Vakkal?

Vakkal blinks, looking briefly at his as-yet unblooded blade. "Fine!" he quips. "Never been better, actually. Not a scratch." He considers briefly, then leaps over Zero, a brief surge of the Force lobbing him upwards and against the relatively low ceiling, allowing him to land behind the droid. He turns then, his lightsaber a yellow-orange arc of light as he brings it to the ready.

Zero turns to one side, swinging his upper body down and around, moving in perfect unison with Vakkal as his boot tips pass inches above his shoulder blades; he turns and presents a ready Kawatuara at the same time Vakkal lands. The last droid in the front room follows the flight of the canid Sith, and Vakkal lands to find a concussion rifle aimed at him and firing. The droid's blasts miss Vakkal completely, however; he does not even have to dodge.

In the back, Fhazil sees Freyja is perfectly fine -- in fact is rebuking herself for not focusing. He gives half of a self-depreciating laugh... then growls almost like Vakkal and swings up the concussion rifle like a club, swinging it over his head to bring the heavy stock down on top of the droid's head case. Unfortunately, the rifle-turned-club whiffs through the air beside the droid, who looks almost rebukingly at the dismayed Fhazil. "Focus," he murmurs. "Right. That's now next on my to-do list, too."

Freyja giggles in spite of herself, then takes a deep breath, placing Kourakani in defensive position as she centers. Definitely need focus here, please... The droid in the back room pays no heed to the banter. Instead its concussion rifle stitches a few holes in the wall above Freyja and Fhazil's heads. Fhazil again attempts to clobber the droid, grunting as he swings the rifle upward at it -- but again misses. For his efforts, he is met with another hail of concussion-rifle fire, which thankfully also misses.

Zero's lightsaber whirls up and over his head as he turns, the blade coming to a sudden stop as he freezes, one empty hand stabbing outward, palm-up. "Go low, Vakkal!" There's a sudden burst in the Force; "Seh!" A pulse of kinetic force smashes into the droid, blasting it away from Zero.

Vakkal blinks and has enough time to duck as the droid careens over him, falling to the ground in pieces. He looks over to the pile of components, then back to Zero. "Nice touch!" he says, grinning.

Zero swallows, panting a bit. Freyja, we're clear, how are you?

In the back, Freyja breaths in slowly, her eyes half-closed as she 'feels' the almost physically tactile location of everything in the room, through the Force... then snaps Kourakani out sharply and precisely at the droid. Mmm... fine here... just dancing with a droid. A piece of the droid's carapace clatters to the floor in punctuation of her thought. She lets her breath out slowly, murmuring, "Fhazil... repair your rifle, please. I'll distract the droid."

Fhazil says worriedly, "I don't even know what's wrong with the thing," but hurriedly tries to do what repairs he can while keeping one eye on the droid.

In the front room, Zero straightens up slowly, and wipes his forehead on the back of his sleeve. Need help, Freyja?

Freyja whispers softly in Zero's mind, I don't think so, but thank you. How're you and Vakkal? No bystanders were harmed, hai?

Zero looks around. No... don't think so... oh, man, we wrecked the Vermillion.

In Zero's mind, Freyja's amusement is palpable, Guess Fhazil and Vakkal have another tap cafe they're not welcome in!

Zero grins a little, looking down at the hilt of Kawatuara, humming softly in his hands. He smiles and extinguishes the blade. "Looks like we make a good team at that." He tucks the long handle into his sash. "Well, let's see if we can salvage anything, Vakkal. They'll call if they need us."

Vakkal frowns. "Let me go back and check on them first..." He starts to move towards the back.

"Well, don't go alone -- hey, wait up!" Zero trots after Vakkal, part of a sliced-up carapace still dangling from one hand.

The droid in the back room focuses its sensors with an almost audible click on the one being with an apparently functional weapon: Freyja. She defends smoothly, swinging Kourakani in a gleaming golden arc to deflect the energy bolt away from herself and Fhazil. It scores the ceiling with a faint sizzle. She can't quite bring the lightsaber around again swiftly enough to attack successfully, however.

Fhazil grimaces as he struggles with the rifle. "What the frell is wrong with this thing?!" he mutters in frustration, keeping one eye on the battle before him. The droid whirrs a little, trying for another shot at the Jedi.

Freyja continues her smooth windmill, deflecting the next attempt by the droid into the ceiling again -- then sharply reverses Kourakani, against the lulling pattern she'd established. The lightsaber slices cleanly through the unprepared droid -- and as she smiles faintly and clicks the lightsaber off, the upper half *clang*s onto the floor. A second later the lower half clunks down next to it.

Freyja tilts her head, still smiling faintly as she regards the droid... then she turns and grins at Fhazil, "What, no greeting hug?"

Zero skids to a halt next to Vakkal in the doorway. He looks at the big lupine and gestures toward the droid, "Well, stang, Vakkal. She had it all under control."

Freyja grins over at the doorway, "Heiyo!" Her eyes are sparkling with delight -- she's learned some fascinating new things with the Force, and Fhazil made it safely here! She pushes her fiery gold bangs back and adds happily, "We should probably leave soon, hai? So how're you doing, Kuras Taas? Good to see you again!" She giggles, "You certainly liven up a room, I must say!"

Fhazil is just staring at the droid, blinking only when first one half, then the other, hits the ground. In his hands is a partly disassembled conc-rifle. He shakes himself, looking up to Freyja and smiling. "If that's an invitation for one, I'd be more than happy to provide it."

Vakkal blinks. "True. We appear to be redundant, Zero. We should have taken wagers in her favor; patrons of the Vermillion enjoy gambling." He glances around. "Er. Enjoyed."

Zero says, "Well, we took care of the droids out front. And completely demolished the Vermillion while we were at it. The Order's going to get a hellacious bill for this." He glances at Vakkal, "Maybe we should high-tail it."

Vakkal nods. "Let's hope the Order's accountants are nicer than the Empire's. I agree; we should probably not be here when the city guard arrives. There will be many questions, and we can later report the incident in a more convenient manner."

Freyja grins, turning to head for the door, "Hai, I agree, guys!" She peeks cautiously both ways past the demolished door before stepping out, then turns to grin back in at Fhazil, "Take a rain check -- let's scamper for now!"

Zero sighs a little. "Here I go, a fugitive... again. Let's hope the Master got that cruiser ready for us..."

The street outside is filled with scattering people; the battle did not take all that long, after all. In the distance can be heard a number of sirens as the public safety officers begin to converge on the scene. Freyja pauses only long enough to collect the brain box of the droid, then happily dances off with her friends.

The three beat a discreet retreat through the streets of Banin's Landing, taking the vac-tube to Murno Down. They take their time to ensure there is no tail. Through the combined skills of the group, they determine that nobody seems to be following them, and it is past dusk when they finally enter the small entryway room to the hostel. The night manager Mor'thogha barely looks up except to note the familiar faces coming through the door.

A few minutes later, with a dinner they'd retrieved en passant a la carte from one of the nerfshacks by the hostel, they have returned to the set of rooms, closed the door, and can now breathe a sigh of relief. Zero starts right to work on the battle droid brain, taking especial care with it as he goes to one of the back rooms to discretely tear it apart, one moqit at a time, to find out who made it and sent it, and what its programming was.

Freyja giggles as she darts in to toss her all-weather cloak onto her bed, then returns to the main room, leaning against the bedroom door, "Whew! We made it cleanly, thank goodness." She falls silent for a moment, studying Fhazil with a faint smile. She's not seen him in 6 months, and he's changed... it feels a bit like relearning him.

    Freyja glows in the light of sun or moon; a willowy, long legged, golden skinned woman with an unruly mane of fiery gold hair; frost-blue eyes alight with serene happiness; and the strong, supple musculature of an athlete. An iridescent-blue band gleams at the end of her very long, thin Padawan's braid, swaying in constant motion. She moves as lithely as a dancer, pragmatic in well-fitting breeches and a laden utility belt, well-cared-for leather boots, a cropped athlete's top, and sturdy armored gloves.

Fhazil, for his part, looks a little more tired, a little wearier... but at the same time somewhat more energetic, or at least it seems so to Freyja. He slips off the all-weather cloak to reveal a somewhat slapdash suit of padded armor, the type one would find mercenaries wearing in the gal-north Outer Rim, with the medley of pouches, pockets, and containers commonly found on such. He brushes his now-silver hair out of the way, and turns his bright yellow eyes up to Freyja with a smile. "Do I get to cash in that rain check, now?" he asks, grinning as he always has.

Freyja blinks, then turns faintly pink, "Oh! I was just kid- er, wait, you mean you'd actually like... uhmm..." She finally gives up on trying to verbalize, as it's just making her blush worsen, and grins self-consciously, stepping forward and holding out her arms, "All right, sure! -if you'd like..."

Fhazil laughs quietly and stands up, embracing Freyja warmly and closely but certainly not improprietously; she feels him give a subtle, faint sigh, as if in comfort and relief, before (a little reluctantly) letting go. "It's good to see you again," he says, smiling, and then leans forward to lightly touch foreheads with her, much in the same way he had touched foreheads with Vakkal, so many months ago when they had met again on Marnaas.

Freyja's hug is just like she can be on occasion -- warm, friendly, thorough, utterly focused on the moment -- and the inspiration for myriad new thoughts! As she finally steps back she says happily, almost all run together, "It's so nice to see you again, but what did you do to your hair? and your eyes? and why were there Oather droids following you, and why do you think my sister is scary, and how did you leave the Sith lord Ghang, and should we be worried about him? and did you know Tavra Soon was an Oather too? but she's dead now, and I'd have tried telling you but the Sith lord said not to -- oh, how did that go, did they find the Oather lord on Ziost, do you know? "

"Oh!" Freyja gets pink again, "I'm so sorry I almost got you into trouble with Sith lord Ghang, Kuras Taas -- I really did mean to give the information on Veng's lord just to you, so maybe you'd have something nice for your Sith lord to make up for leaving so weirdly, you know? Er..." she pauses partly due to having run out of breath, and partly due to a sudden thought -- she frowns, considering Fhazil's torso intently, "Have you lost weight? Are you all right?" Almost an afterthought, she looks around and inquires, "Anyone want dinner?"

Fhazil shakes his head, smiling. "It's okay. He was just concerned about Vakkal and I, and from what I gather he had quite the event planned for Darth Pelus for when he arrived on Ziost. He was glad to know that Vakkal would also be out of the public eye soon, considering the Shadowguard had taken note of him. Which reminds me..." He moves over to the grinning Vakkal, and the two touch foreheads as well.

Vakkal says, "Merry met again, Brother."

"Indeed, merry met, Brother." Fhazil smiles to Freyja as he straightens. "Dinner sounds... wonderful. I guess I have lost a bit of weight over the past month or two. Some of the Outer Rim worlds I had to stop over at couldn't spare too much in the way of food."

Freyja gives Fhazil a curious look as she settles down and starts dishing food out for her friends, "If you can tell what happened, I know I at least would be very interested to hear?" She goes and makes sure a plate is set discreetly next to Zero, so he doesn't forget to eat, then returns to the main room and picks up her own plate, settling comfortably cross-legged and nibbling as she listens interestedly. As she does so, she murmurs thoughtfully under her breath, "Darth Pelus was his name, then? I hope he's gone now..."

Fhazil grimaces a little as he sits, loosening the gorget to the armor. "I suppose that I should first make an admission. As soon as I met with Lord Ghang he could tell something was up. Once we were alone he looked at me for ten minutes steady, then sighed and asked, 'Where are you going.' He knew Vakkal was still alive then; he said that 'if I was lucky,' I might someday be able to sense the presence of my own apprentices and my Brother through the Force. He wasn't too keen on just letting me go. He got even less happy when he found a report by the Shadowguard saying that someone from Khar Velos was the bodyguard for one of the few Jedi nobles in the entire Republic. But I explained it as politely as I could, and enough to reassure him." At Freyja's quiet murmur to herself, he adds, "Yes, that was his name. The Lord of Daeiben."

Freyja blinks at Fhazil -- then almost spills her food from laughing so hard! Fhazil blinks. "What? What's so funny?"

Freyja finally recovers, still suppressing giggles, "Oh, I'm sorry, Fhazil -- it's just that when you said that -- the 'where are you going' -- you sounded just like Master Roakkana sometimes gets with me -- and so I had this visual of Ghang doing that resigned roll of the eyes and rumbly growl -- just like a Wookiee!" She giggles over her plate again at the mental image.

Fhazil laughs, then. "I suppose that they are a bit alike, at that... er, no offense, Master Roakkana."

Roakkana chuckles. "None taken, Fhazil Taas. From what you have said, Ghang Si'yul is an honorable man. I do not think he and I would find much in common philosophically, but that is minor."

Fhazil inclines his head in thanks to Roakkana then takes a breath. "Let's see," he says, studying his plate while he gathers his thoughts, looking as if he's considering which portion of food to utterly devour first. "He said he couldn't let me take a ship from the Malice's compliment, since that would be too easily traced back. He had his Soulguard, Kang Nael, take me to a nearby system with a spaceport, and made sure I had enough currency to buy passage off-world." He grimaces a little. "Out on the Rim, a lot of things happen, and one of those things is, uh, fights."

Vakkal says with what seems like eternal patience and eternal weariness, "Not another one, Brother?"

"I didn't start this one! A couple of toughs picked a fight in a cantina, push came to shove, fists came to blasters and... erm, well, they weren't going to need their ship anymore, so I borrowed it. I don't know when I picked up the droids following me, but they've been with me a little while -- just before I entered Republic space. As I said, I thought I'd lost them, but then they caught up to me here."

Freyja raises an amused eyebrow at Fhazil, and can't suppress another small giggle at Vakkal's resigned comment. She says curiously, "So... what did you tell him?! I've been wondering just how one would politely tell a Sith lord neh!" She adds a little anxiously, "You didn't get into trouble, did you? I didn't make it worse by turning up there, did I?"

Fhazil nods, then finally begins to eat, trying not to be obviously ravenous about it. "It took the better part of a night," he says. "There was no one thing I could really say to assuage his concern. But in the end I managed to tell him that this was something I had to do, because I thought it would end up best for everyone involved. He didn't pry any more, but he did say something interesting -- he said he'd be listening for 'echoes in the Force.' I think that means that if anything big and Force-shaking happens, he'll be aware of it.

"You didn't make it worse, no. I think he was more amused and intrigued than anything. If it had been a journeyman -- I'm sorry, a knight, or a master who had done that... his reaction would have been a lot different. I gather that more than a few Jedi have attempted to farsee into the Empire, and that there are some Soulguards, Shadowguards, and Lords who... well, let's just say they look forward with scary eagerness to when that happens."

Freyja blinks at the comment about echoes in the Force... then murmurs dryly, "If what we expect to have happen happens... hope he's wearing a muffler..."

Fhazil blinks, then chuckles softly, "I'm still not entirely clear about what you're planning, to be honest. Which admittedly made it easier to avoid lying to Lord Ghang."

Freyja nods thoughtfully at the next comment, "Hai, that was one of the things I was rather hoping for. That... and for some reason there don't seem to be many female Sith lords that are that particular species. Usually when you see things like that, it means there's some social training or something, in that one doesn't immediately strike a female... even if one is harsh later." She adds with avid curiosity, "So how do the standardbred Sith lords make more? Are they like the classic deities, who didn't have enough females and so occasionally married the kinder and more lovely daughters of their traditional enemies -- the giants?"

Freyja pauses, then says, "Wait, I'm getting distracted -- hai, that was one of the reasons I didn't want to tell you the exact thing we wanted to do. I'll be happy to tell you more about it after this, if you're ready." She grins, pausing for a drink, then adds, "Well, go on! What'd you do to your hair and eyes?" Then she laughs in spite of herself, adding amusedly, "And why is my sister officially scary?"

Fhazil looks confused for a bit, then goes oh! and shakes his head. "To be honest, Lord Ghang wouldn't have hesitated if he thought you were there to work mischief, no matter your gender or race. 'In the Force,' he's said, 'the most insignificant creature can be a terrifying enemy. And before the Force, even the juggernaut must bow.' I think he got Force-slapped by a Kushibaan Jedi once.

"But you are right, there aren't many pureblood females in the public eye. I don't think it's a matter of male domination, though; I think they want it that way. I think in their own way it's their own assertion of dominance over the males. If one of the pureblood Lords feels the desire to mate -- and most eventually do -- he must go to... wherever the female purebloods are, to present himself and court one. Or a daughter may ask her father to present her formally to a specific Lord, a request that the father is unlikely to refuse even if he and the other are personal enemies, though it would make for a very interesting formal affair... though there have been a number of pureblood female Lords who step into the public view. One actually is a general under Shen Ravos.

"But you did take a bit of a risk doing that, Freyja. Another few days and we'd have been in the Empire proper, and the first thing you would have found was a warden Shadowguard itching for a fight! Weren't you concerned about what might happen if you did that?"

Freyja looks curious, "Kushibaan Jedi? Huh, I've never seen one." She adds dryly, "Force-slapped... hai, that's a whole lot of neh fun! Vakkal said I was out for like half an hour when that happened to me." She adds apologetically to the big canid, "I'm sorry about that -- I didn't mean to worry you."

She considers Fhazil's question for a moment, then says slowly, "Well... I had several small things that I thought were in my favor, as far as not getting smashed flat immediately. However... I'd have to say the real, main reason I did it, ultimately... was because it felt right -- I thought it was the right thing to do within the Force." She smiles, adding, "It didn't hurt any that I was hoping you'd gain some face in the Sith lord's eyes with that information too, really."

Vakkal grins, "That hasn't been the only time I've been worried, but I'm learning to not be quite so worried as time passes."

Fhazil winces. "I kind of felt the way he was planning on pushing you away. For him it would have been relatively gentle, but still a pretty firm way of saying 'Go away.' I'm glad you changed his mind." He blinks, then grins, "It helped, actually, that you'd risk doing that to deliver that information. It made him much more amenable to me leaving. And he also said that he was interested in Naga Sadow's and Shen Ravos' reaction to it."

Freyja gives Vakkal a faintly guilty glance, then hastily looks back at Fhazil, a bit pink, "Well... ah, I certainly didn't expect him to feel indebted... um... is that a bad thing? And... well, I guess I was kind of counting on him liking you enough that he wouldn't squash me instantly like a bug right in front of you..." she ducks her head to study her plate as she mumbles, "-uh, since you, um, seemed to... kind of like me a little..." At his last comment she hastily adds in a firm voice, "Really, how interesting! How did they react?" then realizes she's not sure precisely what the Sith lords were reacting to, in her effort to change the subject... but figures she'll understand once Fhazil answers, hopefully!

Fhazil sounds like he's blushing. "I... heh, uhm... that was kind of obvious, wasn't it? He, ah, picked up on that right away. I think that's part of the part that he was 'amused' about..." He responds equally quickly, "Oh, I'm not sure yet -- I had to start out for here before he arrived at Ziost -- but I imagine it made some kind of impression!"

Freyja says, "Oh." She gives a small mental sigh of relief, and hopes she's not still blushing as she determinedly studies her plate. Very tasty dinner, hai, indeed... oh! She looks up, adding reassuringly, "Don't feel bad about the Sith lord Ghang's almost doing a push-away -- in the end he didn't, and I imagine from what he was saying that it would have been much less ouchy than the one I'd gotten just a day or two before from someone protecting Valsha. That's the one I was referring to, that worried Vakkal and gave me a raging headache. So, um..." she grins curiously, her eyes bright with interest, "-did you just dye your hair or something? And... what made you decide Syffie's scary?"

Fhazil smiles and shakes his head. "It's hard to explain. Before I left, Lord Ghang put me through the trials to go from apprentice to journeyman. It was... kind of harrowing. When I got out, well, my eyes and hair had changed. But he said I was ready to move on to the next stage of things."

He half-grimaces, half grins. "Ah, ahem, well, ah, when I was at Balmorra, I caught a news-vid about the betrothal ceremony. They had a sound bite from your sister. Dark gods, is she that effervescent all the time?"

Freyja blinks at Fhazil, her mouth open -- then lights up, hastily putting her plate aside to lean over and give him an enthusiastic hug, "Oh, congratulations, Fha- er, Kuras Taas!" She leans back, still beaming (and with a marked family resemblance to her sister, although she doesn't realize it!), and says happily, "That was nice of him to do, I think! Admittedly, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't go on any casual strolls with him, but he does seem like he cares about you and Vakkal." She pauses, struck by a sudden thought -- would the Sith lord Ghang be someone with enough forethought to have sent a similar test for Vakkal along with Fhazil?! -that'd be wonderful, but she'll have to ask later, in case the answer is neh -- then blinks, "Er, wait. Did you just say Syffie -- my sister, right? Mine? -that she was gushing about something that wasn't her, or holovids?!"

Fhazil oofs! with the hug and laughs, returning it. "Thank you, Freyja. It's... it's a milestone, maybe not as large a one as it is with the Order, but it's still good to have done that before I left." He nods as Freyja pulls back. "Yes, she was. Though... I really couldn't follow half of what she was saying. She was really excited about it, it seemed. I didn't think I had missed all that exciting a party." He fidgets a little, perhaps uncertainly, "So, ah... how was it? How did it go?"

Freyja blinks again, still marveling, "Syf... wow, who'd have thought it?" She pauses, then adds warily, "Er, wait... exciting? Are you sure this was my betrothal?"

Fhazil blinks. "Well, it just seemed like she was gushing about how great it had been. Yes, I'm certain it was yours; she said 'my sister Freyja's betrothal,' and launched into... something that I'm not sure what it was but it sounded pretty enthusiastic."

Freyja starts to look quite confused, "Launched into... er, what on Midgaarden could she have been referring to?" Puzzledly she asks Fhazil, as she picks up her plate again, "Do you remember any of the bits you didn't understand?" She takes a bite, then grins around the mouthful and adds, "An' hai, fhe'f..." She hastily chews and swallows, then adds more clearly, "Hai, she's always that energetic. Just ask Vakkal and Zero if you don't believe me!" She giggles, adding, "Poor Zero... he whonked his head real hard that first morning, in startlement..."

Fhazil blinks. "He did? Ouch... I guess I can't blame him...!" Freyja giggles, then takes another bite, watching Fhazil hopefully as she chews. She's starting to wonder just precisely what her sister is saying about this betrothal -- and if Fafnir's all right with it, too. Fhazil tilts his head to the side. "So how did it go?"

Freyja says, "What? The betrothal?" She sighs, then shrugs with a slightly rueful smile, "Oh... it was all right, I suppose. The Arving lord Fafnir seems nice enough -- certainly nice enough that I'll do my best to take care of him, especially since he's working hard to take care of the family, too." She pauses, considering, then adds a bit sheepishly, "Um... I think we were both a bit... shell-shocked more than anything else...?"

Fhazil smiles a little. "Yeah. You looked pretty put-upon when you announced your family had decided to marry you to someone, if I remember right."

Freyja turns faintly pink as she adds, "I... apparently sent an inadvertent flash of panic through the Force right before his father signed -- I had this irrational fear that if I didn't leap up and flee before the signature, I'd be trapped... but fortunately the panic only reached a little ways away from me, and most of the folks there weren't Force-aware anyway..." She sighs quietly, then adds, "And neither of us spilled the mead while consummating the betrothal... so I guess Lord Fafnir's not too horrified by me either..." She sets her plate aside, losing her appetite, and wraps her arms around her knees. "Well... anyways. So, what was Syffie blath- er, bubbling on about, do you remember?"

Fhazil chokes back a bit of a laugh, made a little difficult by the morsel he's chewing on. "Ahem... well... she seemed to think the betrothal went very well, that it was so very important to the future of the two Houses. She seemed to grasp some idea that people were nervous about it." He looks wryly to Freyja. "And she made some mention of an attempted kidnapping...?" He adds dryly, "Sounds like I wasn't the only one who had an exciting time these past six months!"

Freyja rolls her eyes, "All right, that's not too awful... at least she's not inadvertently mis-representing my feelings on the issue. She might even do some good, from the sound of it... it'd really help if everyone there just calmed down a little." She sighs quietly, looking a bit unhappy, "Oh, hai... they tried kidnapping poor Lord Fafnir while we were out riding -- used a malfunctioning battle droid as a distraction to separate us." She shakes her head with grim amusement, "Stupid thing to do... as if I'd casually let that sort of dishonor come on my House! They seriously underestimated us... they only sent ten mercenaries."

From somewhere in the back, someone snickers. Fhazil blinks. "Only... ten. Well. Here's hoping all their future assessments are as foolish."

Freyja grins in spite of herself at the snicker, then smiles at Fhazil, "Well... none of them were Force-awakened. We were a party of 6 -- and over half of us were Force-aware. They didn't really have much of a chance, once they'd not grabbed Faf- er, Lord Fafnir instantly." She grins cheerfully, "So anyways! Enough blathering about me... anything else interesting happen to you?"

Fhazil nods quietly. "Well," he says, smiling, "I'm very glad that nothing happened to keep you from the rendezvous." He considers for a bit. "Actually, I'd first like to ask what happened to your hair?"

Freyja blinks, one hand reaching a bit self-consciously towards her hair until she stops it. Uncertainly she says, "Ahh... you don't like it? It, um... well, I -- I don't really know? It just... happened?" She adds hastily, "We were on Sedrak, after talking to the Oather worms, riding with the nomads. Um... Zero says hair changes color there sometimes...?"

"Oh, not at all! I think you look fine with hair that color! It was just a surprise. I still recognized you!" He tilts his head to the side. "Sedrak did that? Huh... interesting."

Freyja brightens slightly, smiling, "Hai, I think so..." She studies the back of one bare arm, adding, "My skin got a lot more golden colored there, too. Initially I thought it was just tanning, except that it's that color all over... I don't really know why it happened, but I like it. It's like... like firelight, you know?" She grins, "I like fire... it's always been a friend to me."

"I was wondering about that as well. I had thought that was just the way you tanned, and that you'd been somewhere very sunny recently."

Freyja grins, "Hai! The nomads on Sedrak don't wear much -- mostly just riding breeches, and they have such interestingly neat riding beasts too -- bipedal, have you ever ridden that way? Curiously different gaits -- oh, and it's lovely and nice during the day on Sedrak, too. At night it's just cool enough that cuddling up with your friends is warm and comfortable. Mm... very nice."

Pulling her braid around so Fhazil can see the end tie, Freyja adds happily, "See the beadwork? Isn't it lovely? That came from Sedrak... and so did the wonderful decorative work Vakkal and Master Roakkana are wearing too! And I got a nice piece for Zero, too." She pauses, then adds a little shyly, "I, ah, wasn't sure if it'd be too forward of me, according to where you come from, if I got you something too... so I thought it safer not to. I... hope you don't mind...?"

Fhazil looks appreciatively at the beadwork and nods, "It is nice; it's really very well done." He grins. "No, I don't mind. And to be honest, I was running so quickly through the Outer Rim I didn't have the chance to get you anything. Well... except for those flowers not long after I left Marnaas...."

Freyja beams in shy pleasure, "Oh! Hai, those were very nice, thank you! I still have them." She pats the data pad, adding, "We had to leave so soon that I missed the physical flowers, but one of the Jedi there was kind enough to send me the vid... and apparently they're now growing happily in the gardens there, too!" She turns slightly pink as she remembers the implicit message contained within the flowers, and adds a bit hastily, "I, uh, the gardener there was nice... he's apparently calling that bed of flowers after me."

Fhazil nods, "I'm glad you liked them! And even better that they're being named after you! Er... you guys didn't get into... trouble, or anything like that, over Marnaas, did you?"

Freyja looks curious, shaking her head, "Not really... why?" She pauses, considering, then amends, "Well... we're not supposed to talk about it to anyone that wasn't there, but aside from that no problems, as I recall." She considers again, remembering the dry-toned Watcher... then murmurs a touch grimly, "For now, at least..."

Fhazil nods, "I was just wondering. It occurred to me that the Jedi might believe that so much... well, bad stuff happened there that the Order might find something wrong with what people did."

Freyja says a bit flatly, "Cover up." She sighs quietly, then adds, "Well, I'm at least glad to hear the Sith lord Methel-ssa is getting a second chance." She goes thoughtfully silent for a moment, studying her hands... then looks up at the Wookiee, "Well. Master Roakkana, is now an opportune time to tell Kuras Taas about, um... our task at hand?"

Fhazil blinks, then grimaces. "Figured they'd do that. At least they didn't send you to the Pinnacle," he adds softly. He nods a bit more animatedly. "Yes, I caught that little newsbyte! She'll do well in that job, I think. It shouldn't be more than a year before the Moot has her try her hand at something else administrative, solo." He arches his brow, and listens intently.

Roakkana smiles quietly, "Well... it certainly is as good a time as any...."

Freyja gives Fhazil a faintly amused glance -- while she's happy the Sith lord has gotten a new chance, this is her home that's being attacked. She wishes faintly there were some middle ground -- then firmly reminds herself this is precisely what they're trying for. As Master Roakkana just said, might as well start on it now. She nods once, taking a deep breath, "All right. Bear with me, please, Kuras Taas... this may take a bit..."

Fhazil nods, setting his plate down and resting his hands on his knees while he sits cross-legged. "Well, I'm all ears...."

Freyja first asks Fhazil not to talk about this with anyone except them, at least for now. Once he assents, she then carefully explains what they have pieced together so far about the former war between the Dark and Light, and how the Light triumphed, at the cost of all other forms of Force usage... and yet how these different schools of thought have managed somehow to survive.

Freyja then points out the limiting nature of a binary view of the world and the Force... and explains how there's apparently a third way -- the Greysiders, which she knows Fhazil is familiar with, since he recognized Zero as one so long ago, when they first met. Then she pauses to be sure Fhazil's with her so far -- any questions?

Fhazil nods slowly, listening. "I think I see," he says finally. "I do have to admit, I was surprised when I discovered that the Sith have pretty much the same Force tradition as the Jedi -- just, well, not even entirely opposite or inverted. And yeah, I'm sort of familiar with Greysiders. Lord Ghang taught us that you can sometimes tell, by the way someone's presence in the Force 'feels,' their particular tradition or 'take' on the Force; how they view it. Greysiders have a pretty unique 'feel', compared to most Jedi and Sith."

Freyja nods, "Exactly." She takes another deep breath, then smiles, "Well... apparently there are more of them than we realized." She continues by first describing a bit of the philosophy of the Greysiders -- then explaining the truly critical point -- the triats and their creation, with one Light Mantle, one Grey... and one Dark. She pauses there, since she's pretty sure Fhazil will 'get' pretty quickly what he's being asked to do, and she'd like to give him a moment to consider before 'popping the question,' as it were, to him. This is, after all, going to be a rather life-changing event, if he agrees -- they may all of them never be able to go back.

Fhazil has heard of other Force traditions -- the Bendu, the Savalli Kho, the Valsarians -- but this is the first he's heard of the Kono, and of course the first he's heard of the triats. He gets immediately what she means by the Dark mantle, looking up in surprise when she mentions it, and absorbing it slowly. "Wow," he murmurs, "-and... you hope that somehow the war can end? That the two sides -- Sith and Jedi -- can be... I don't know, that the rift between the two can be healed?"

Freyja hesitates... does she hope that? In the Force, does this truly feel right to her? She remembers her thought, only moments ago, about wishing there was a middle way -- and that there can be one only if one is created. Firmly she says, "Hai. Hai, I do. I must. If not, we leave ourselves only one option -- that we struggle painfully against each other until one side be demolished again. That, I cannot condone. It is not only Force users who are being harmed... and I'm beginning to feel the Force itself wishes this middle path. So... that is what I shall fight for." She is silent for a moment, watching Fhazil... then says very softly, "Will you help us?"

Fhazil nods slowly. "I agree," he says quietly. "From thesis and antithesis comes synthesis, the best route for both sides. And this... conflict involves more than just the Force-aware on both sides." He nods, straightening. "I'll help in whatever way I can. Just one question, if I may?"

Freyja sighs deeply, in quiet relief... then smiles and nods, her eyes bright with happiness. Fhazil smiles also, and nods over to Vakkal. "I'm... just curious, but... didn't you ask Vakkal to be the Dark mantle?" He glances over to the canid Sith curiously.

Freyja says, "Oh, that's easy." She smiles with quiet affection at Vakkal, then looks back at Fhazil, "He's a man of honor, and has already sworn to be my Soulguard. To ask him to take on a job that would entail a conflict of interest would be rude and thoughtless of me -- would be careless of his honor." She grins a bit, her eyes suddenly dancing with mischief and her tone lightly teasing, "Besides... we need a Dark mantle who's someone brave... someone strong... someone... crazy!" She giggles in spite of herself at Vakkal's amusedly resigned roll of the eyes at that comment!

Fhazil grins. "That he is, and I thought that was what the case was." He looks mock-offended. "Crazy? Me? I'm only brilliantly unorthodox, that's all...."

Freyja laughs again, tossing her head back delightedly... then bounces over to gleefully hug Fhazil again, "I'm so glad you don't mind helping!"

Fhazil laughs also as he returns Freyja's embrace. "I'm glad, too. If it'll end the war... well, Lord Ghang did say that a warrior can find honor in things other than war. It is not as much the fighting which makes the warrior, but the heart which does."

Freyja says, "Oh!" and sits back, adding a bit dryly, "Um... I've not yet told you where we hope to get the training." Her tone is a bit apologetic, "It's, um... Zhar. In Hutt space." She adds a little anxiously, "Is that all right with you? Do you still want to come along?"

Fhazil blinks. "Zhar. Flying nerfs in a pasture! They didn't make it easy for you -- for us, did they?"

Freyja bites her lip, then shakes her head once, emphatically, her braid flying, "Uhm, neh... sorry. But they have a good reason! They were worried about being stamped out again. As it is, we should tell them as soon as we get there that we intend to return to the Republic -- maybe even the Empire, I don't know -- so they can start proceedings immediately to move to a new safe place."

Fhazil nods, "I can understand that. Wow... and yeah, that'd be the courteous thing to do."

Freyja nods quietly, "Considering our informant gave her life to keep its location secret, it seems the very least we can do." She looks suddenly like she's trying not to laugh ruefully, "Oh, and you know -- knew her... Inspector Shang." She adds dryly, "Pardon my saying so, but I'm glad you didn't succeed in, ah... capturing or killing her, Fhazil." She blinks, turning a bit pink, "Excuse me! I meant Kuras Taas, pardon."

Fhazil blinks again. "Stang," he mutters. "Shang? I knew she was part of some divergent Force tradition, but I didn't realize... whoa...." He shakes his head, "That's... incredible." He flashes a grin to Freyja. "Here now. If you don't want me calling you 'Lady Freyja,' then please, call me 'Fhazil.'"

Freyja hesitates, then says a little shyly, "Well... well, you never said that before, so I, uh... was trying to be polite... um, Fhazil." She grins, "All right, hai, Fhazil," then adds curiously, "How'd you know she was of a divergent Force tradition? Was it how she shone in the Force?"

Fhazil smiles, inclining his head. "Thank you. And you are always unfailingly polite. That was part of it, yes. Also, Methel-ssa told me that just before we first met her on Marnaas, after she sneaked us on-planet. Outside of that, I'm not sure how Methel-ssa first learned of her or got in contact with her."

Freyja nods, unsurprised, then adds in quiet warning, "What we're doing, Fhazil... well, both our sides will want the information -- to twist and use to their own purposes. Inspector Shang said the Templar manus is a distorted version of the triats... and that every triat they knew of with a Sith in it died horribly. I want -- I intend to do my best -- to make our triat be the one that breaks the trend. I want us to succeed, so we can show both sides how to be triats -- and emphatically not to have them turn this into something horrible to be used against each other. I don't think this binary thinking is healthy. It's tearing us all apart, and the Force with us."

She takes a deep breath, then grins a little sheepishly, "I... feel very strongly about this, pardon me, but we're going to get a lot of pressure from both our factions to betray the other." She sounds a bit strained as she adds, "I... thought it only fair to warn you of this ahead of time. You... all of us -- we may never really be welcome anywhere again, if we make the triat work." She watches Fhazil carefully, her fingers tightly twisted together in her lap and her eyes huge with worry, as she waits for his reaction.

Fhazil grins softly. "So the Templars took it from the Kono? That's a bit of a surprise, but I guess someone had to come up with it first." He shakes his head quietly. "Freyja... I'm not the most wise-in-the-Force of people. But I guessed while you were telling me about this that we'd not be the most popular of people. There are dogmatics in the Sith Hierarchy, the same as there are in the Jedi Order. And there are people on both sides who want the war to go on for whatever reason. At the same time, I know that there are people in both camps who would dearly love to see an accommodation; an end to this.

"If somehow the Jedi could come to accept the Sith... and vice versa... then maybe both the Republic and the Empire can coexist. And if that can happen... well, at minimum, any battles would be between the Force-awakened, but it'll at least be a start! I know Lord Ghang might hem and haw and frown, but I don't think he'd entirely disapprove. I'm with you on this. From here on to the end."

Freyja lets her breath out in a gusty sigh of relief, only then realizing she'd been holding her breath. Her smile is a little shaky, "All right. I... well, I didn't want there to be any confusion between us. I wanted to be absolutely sure you knew what you would be getting into."

She blinks a moment later, adding with intense curiosity, "He wouldn't disapprove? Huh..." She falls silent, then says slowly and quietly, "Then... that means, if you go back... that we'll meet him, someday, doesn't it..." She considers that with a touch of worry -- how will the strange and confusing Sith lords react to them, especially the sly lords of State? She simply must learn how to negate poison! -- then firmly pushes the entire problem aside for the nonce. First things first... first they need to actually form the triat.

Fhazil nods, smiling. "I'm sure. I've only recently become what I guess would be the Sith equivalent of a Jedi guardian, but that doesn't mean I want the war to go on." He purses his lips. "Maybe we will. He's a Lord of War, though, who leads from the front." He grimaces a little. "And since the fighting is about to begin again, he'll be on the front, and... well, something might happen by the time we get back."

Freyja nods slowly, considering... then sits up in sudden startlement, "Oh! I almost forgot! Here, we have something for you..." She springs lightly up, darting into her room to retrieve the old box from Ossus, and settles back next to Fhazil a moment later. She grins at him, "You're never going to believe this... but..." She explains the circumstances surrounding the box's arrival, what it contained... then opens the lid and holds it out to him, "This... is for you, Fhazil." She smiles quietly, thinking, We take the first step together, now... as she watches him look at the final lightsaber handle, waiting there for him in the ancient box.

Fhazil looks extremely surprised at the news. "But... why would Jedi want to give such a thing to a Sith...?" he asks, as he gingerly lifts out the lightsaber handle. He seems to shiver a little. "It's... it's cold... no, wait... it's getting a bit warmer...." He blinks a bit as he looks at it. "It's beautiful," he murmurs. "I've never seen anything quite like... like it...." He takes in a soft breath. "It just whispered to me. I think. What does... what does 'Korotatinea' mean...?"

Freyja smiles, her eyes bright with happiness, "I don't know, Fhazil. Ask it?"

Fhazil swallows. "I'm almost afraid to...."

Roakkana says quietly from where he's sitting, "'Korotatinea' means 'Black Destroyer.'"

Freyja blinks at Master Roakkana, startled, "It does? Interesting." She smiles at Fhazil, "Mine's a butterfly... her name is Kourakani, the Golden Dancer." She pauses, studying Fhazil's expression, then says gently, "Are you getting visions from it also?"

Fhazil shakes his head, looking steadily at the saber. "No... no, not... not visions, really. Just...." He takes a soft breath, "I saw a lot of things that worried me during my trials, Freyja. I'm... starting to have the feeling that my trials aren't over yet, as far as... as far as Korotatinea is concerned."

Freyja nods quietly, leaning companionably (and hopefully comfortingly) against Fhazil, "We're all being tested, Fhazil... you're not alone in that respect." She smiles, adding firmly, "We'll face the tests together."

Fhazil nods slowly, regaining his normal breathing pattern. "You're right... yeah. Uhm..." He regains some of his humor, and flashes a quiet grin. "I guess I need to put it together, don't I?"

Freyja grins, a bit relieved -- Fhazil had seemed quite shaken there for a moment -- and nods, "Hai! If you'd like, we'll help you learn how." She pauses, then says slowly, "What... if I may ask, what did you see during your trials that worried you, Fhazil?"

Fhazil smiles, "I would like that, please." He takes in a breath. "Well. It's... hard to say. A Marauder Trial, as they're sometimes called, is... only partly combat. A lot of it has the mind as a battlefield. Keep in mind that in the Sith tradition we're taught to use our fear." He sighs a bit. "I... got a lot of chances to exercise that particular aspect...."

Freyja blinks, suddenly worried as to whether her training in lack of fear might rub off on Fhazil -- and worse, might lessen his skill as a Sith. "Er... if one is not fearful... is that, ah... a bad thing, inhibiting one's abilities in the Force, when one is a Sith?"

Fhazil purses his lips. "It's hard to say, really. Using our fear is only one part of it, of course. It's not so much fear as it is using all emotion. Fear is just... the most expeditious emotion, since there'll always be something to fear, at some level."

Freyja looks both thoughtful and curious, "Um... all right, I guess. Then... that sounds like I shouldn't accidentally adversely affect you, if we're mentally linked during combat, hai?"

He smiles. "I don't think so, no. If triats have existed before, then they've overcome or worked with that disparity." He tilts his head to the side. "Don't I have to do something with some sort of crystals, too? Adegan crystals, the ones that go into the lightsaber? I'm sorry, I'm a little new to making lightsabers."

Freyja nods slowly, hoping Fhazil's right about triats -- this is the first one she knows of, after all, that will hopefully succeed with a Sith as Dark mantle -- then nods, "Hai, but we have some for you." She giggles, "It's all right -- we knew you wouldn't be exactly expert at it! You'll do fine, I'm sure... we'll do our best together." She adds with a hint of pride, "I made a nice new saber for Vakkal too -- isn't it nice?"

Vakkal shows it off with a flourish, and Fhazil laughs quietly. "It is, actually. Better than that 'holdout' piece the Smiths gave him!" He nods a little. "So, ah... should I get started...? Or do we have time...?"

Freyja beams at Vakkal -- she's still thrilled that he likes it! -then looks inquiringly at Master Roakkana, "Should we start heading for Zhar and have Fhazil work on his lightsaber on the way, Master, or what?"

Roakkana smiles, "Well, that depends on how quickly you wish to get there. I leave that to you. Either will work well enough."

Freyja hesitates, then looks at Fhazil, "Would you mind learning it on the way, or would you rather do it here?"

Fhazil smiles, "Either is fine. Honestly, though, if we really want to end this quickly, on the way to Zhar will be fine with me. I don't know how long it takes to build one of these...."

Freyja grins, "Moments. It's the learning that takes a while." She bounces lightly to her feet, "All right then, let's get moving -- sooner the better! Let's make sure Zero's gotten all he can from the Oather droid brain box, and we've given all the information we can to the local authorities, and then head out!" She grins at the Wookiee, "I take it this means you were able to purchase a nice ship, Master? Hm..." She pulls out her data pad with a grin, "I should check and see if Mother was nice and contributed family money instead of mine..." her tone gets more serious, "-and if the agitator-wanna-be's made it safely to her."

Roakkana nods, "Yes, actually. It's a rather nice little courier, in fairly well-use by masters of the Order but not exclusively so. It will be well inconspicuous, I think."

There is indeed a message in Freyja's drop-box, in one of the family codes and carefully worded as well, noting that the visitors whom Freyja recommended to her mother arrived, and have provided quite interesting information. They are currently guests of the manse, protected and cared for, and have so far been exemplary guests.

Freyja smiles when she realizes her mother did indeed thoughtfully use family money, and looks even happier -- and greatly relieved! -when she reads the coded message which reassures her the liaisons arrived safely. "Yay, they made it just fine!" She twirls a few gleeful dance steps, arms raised gracefully over her head and her braid flying behind, "That's wonderful news -- and even better, it's hard to find well-trained diplomatic liaisons! Not only will this help the family -- and maybe Fafnir too, he could use some good assistance! -but it's nuts to Kallatis too!" She giggles, exuberantly hugging the two startled people nearest her, then happily dashes off to pack, "Let's go -- this is a lovely start!"

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Last modified: 2002-Jul-16 16:14:54

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