Does It Make You Better Or Worse? (Jedi)

[Emic Lai]

Emic looked to the center of Malidris, where the Imperial command center struck toward the sky like lightning and made ants of the Zabraki’s hard works. Their shallow human bodies bathed in the wealth they did not build but flayed from the backs of aliens. And they took the Iridonian for everything it had, even the etchings that marked their lineage, so that they would forget the ancestors that stand at their back– so that they would become alone.

Here was the future Emic joined the Sith to prevent. Here it was before her eyes. And yet, in Sith hands, Iridonia would suffer far greater.

She recorded a holo. “To the Galactic Alliance: my name is Emic Lai. Sith special operations unit Aurek-112, codename ‘Kings in Yellow.’ I have participated in many covert and overt operations alongside the Sith regular army and otherwise, answerable only to the Dark Council.

“I seek to negotiate my defection.”

“Send whoever you like– but no more than three– to the Lai family estate in Malidris. I will discuss the details in person only. End message.”

She picked up the net address of a nothing Alliance border post on her sojourn back home. To find the leader of the feared Kings in Yellow messaging them would be a stern surprise. She wished them luck in all the paperwork, as she leaned back in her patio chair and lit a cigarra.

[Zasabi Ray]

Zasabi hated official assignments.

He couldn't smoke, couldn't drink, and they always had a damn catch to them. He had to go in by someone else's planning and setup, which meant that he couldn't make sure for himself it wouldn't get him killed.

And the ships they used were boring.

He adjusted the tie of his suit fitfully, displeased from the ground up with what Alliance spec ops wanted him to do. A negotiation like this wasn't usually in his wheel house. Demolitions, assassinations, planetary revolutions... those he could do. Negotiate the defection of a known Sith asset who had killed an appalling number of GA personnel personally and commanded a team of troops who each had done the same... That was a somewhat more delicate matter.

Still, the circumstances were what they were. A Jedi negotiator would be too close to the matter to objectively determine the utility of the asset, and a normal negotiator would be too easily swayed by Force trickery or simple main force. Someone capable of convincing or killing the target with equal ease was needed. That someone had ended up being Zas.

Despite GA Intelligence taking charge of the assignment, they weren't the only ones involved. The message had said that up to three could come, and so three had. The pilot and his other associate were all core members of the plan. They represented their respective areas of the GA and would help determine whether it was worth accepting the offer... or if the offer was in good faith at all.

[Adar Bolner]

The defection of Emic Lai, the leader of the Kings in Yellow. Now that was something Adar had thought impossible.

He had been summoned to the Jedi Council to be assigned a mission by the GA. This had become somewhat of a regular thing. Despite being only a padawan, the Galactic Alliance regarded him amongst its best operatives. He had developed into one of the best scouts, in no small feat thanks to his Force training. But it wasn't all Force. He had a very tactical mind, and thus was extremely efficient on his pathfinding and his stealth.

But the mission brief shocked him. Emic Lai, defecting? The young man didn't know how to react. He most definetely had a grudge against Emic. After all, it was her group that had taken the padawan Evelyn Swann into the Sith, a person he knew only for a moments, but lead him to the path he is right now. But a mission was a mission. He would not let his emotions mess with him.

He paid close attention to what the Jedi Masters told him. He was to go on a team of 3, in an Imperial planet to negotiate there. He pondered for a moment. A non scouting mission without his master? Now that was a first, but at least there would be others. Adar was to represent the Jedi's intrests, but he was forbidden from taking lead of the negotiations. Apperantly the GA did not trust the Jedi to stay objective with an infamous sith agent, and they were right. But the Council demanded representation, and so they got it.

As the ship soared through space, Adar was piloting it, with the occational streching. Along with him in the pilot cabin was Ghost, his little modified lightsaber training drone, flying around and having a good time. The young padawan was wearing a more... formal wear than his usual cloak, but it was important to dress for the occation. And hopefully, this was going to go smoothly.

After a while, he set the ship to autopilot, and headed towards the other two in this GA team. They had much to discuss as they neared their destination.

[Varn Badaash]

-shuttle en route-

Senator Vsil Risohr, representative from the system of Sluis Van, slithered down the main hold towards the cockpit. She was a deep green scaled Sluissi representing the Senates interests in this potential defection. Since last time Alliance Intelligence went and took on a turn coat from the most wanted lists didn’t end so well the senate wanted to make sure to at least have a voice in things this time around. As Vsil slowly approached the cockpit she turned her reptilian hood head towards Zasabi.

“Mr. Ray, I have read much about your career,” the reptilian spoke, her voice much more refined and practiced in galactic basic then many of her cousins. “I look forward to seeing how you navigate this tense situation.”

She gave him a warm smile before poking her head into the cockpit. “Master Bolner,” she continued, “how soon will we be arriving?”

-just outside the star system-

While the leader of the Kings in Yellow had made the demand for only three individuals to come didn’t mean the Alliance military wasn’t going to be on stand by with a threat response team. Range Captain Badaash and the Mynocks were among said response team aboard the CR-90 Corvette Diligence. If the negotiation team didn’t check in or reported this to be a trap the ship could be on sight within an hour to secure the area.

Varn himself paced in the ships small hanger, he could honestly say he hated the Kings in Yellow, and he hated this whole scenario. He really hoped things were a set up so he could come in guns blazing and remove the head from this beast.

[Emic Lai]

A quick run of a comb through the hair. A scrubbing of the face. The best clothes she could manage out of her closet in her old bedroom. Emic floated through the house as if by autopilot. For all its rage and flashing of blasters, the decision to leave the Sith was an easy one once the illusion began to crumble. What was harder was the anticipation. Though she knew this door she had opened may lead to a prison cell or to the gallows, she did not fear it; what made her uneasy was that it wasn’t happening now. She figured the trial would be this agonizingly slow too. If it goes to that point, she may plead guilty just to get her execution over with.

What she did have control over in this moment– indeed what she was distracting herself with– was the preparation for the delegation’s arrival. Out of all the things that could be said about Emic, she was certain that none of them would be that she failed to provide adequate hospitality in her great-grandmother’s house.

The table dusted, the chair cushions fluffed, the tea on the boiler, and a fresh case of Iridonian cigarras opened for the guests. All that was left to do was wait, in an ever-oppressive quiet, for the ringing of the doorbell.

[Zasabi Ray]

Zasabi gave a professional but warm smile to the reptilian senator. Smile #4, he liked to call it. Internally, he was both bemused by the Senator’s confidence in him and interested in just what lies the intelligence division had fed him regarding his career. Considering that his life had seen him being a Direx, a Shadow terrorist, and a bounty hunter, he wasn’t entirely sure which parts of his career the senator was privy to.

Rising from the acceleration couch, he followed Senator Risohyr to the cockpit. He noted with some warmth the presence of Adar Bolner. He had incidentally led the boy to meeting with the Jedi what felt like a lifetime ago. He hadn’t had a chance to speak with him yet, but he was eagerly anticipating seeing what the youth had learned.

“When we get there, make sure to follow the code phrases to the letter,” he reminded Adar. “Iridonia isn’t exactly under the most stringent protection, but they’ll pay more attention to where we’re going if you don’t get it right. Last thing we need is an Imperial interruption.”

He didn’t stay long, turning away and returning to his quarters to go over the mission details once last time. Zasabi had his job, and now he had to trust the young Jedi to do his own.

[Adar Bolner]

Before he could exit the cockpit, he heard the two others aproach him. Ghost quickly dashed into his backpack, and Adar welcomed the two others. One was some senator Adar had never seen. He seemed alright, though politics was not something he was currently keeping up with. He was much more focused on his Jedi training. But the other one, was a familliar face. Zasabi Ray, someone who he had run into back in Naboo. That encounter with him set him down the path he currently walked. The young padawan wondered for a moment what would have happened if he had joined him in Force training and his adventures. A momentary conteplation was all Adar did, because he was on the right path and was certain of that. He wasn't sure if he should thank him, but he was going to show him how much he had matured since then.

He was sure the two of them would catch up again later. But right now, he listened to what Zas told him. As the man finished, Adar was a bit nervous, but he knew that everything would be fine.
"You got it. Let's hope the codes we have are still working." He said, jokingly.

They both left the cockpit, leaving Adar to pilot the shuttle. He had been in enemy territory many times to scout places of intrests, gather intel or simply a get in get out type of mission. But going this deep into Imperial territory for a negotiation? That was reckless, and it would not have been undertaken where it not for the notoriety of the defector.

As they closed in on the planet, a communication came up. The Imperial outpost was requesting landing codes and for them to state their business. He had been briefed by GA intelligence on what to say, and he simply said that they are visiting a relative in Malidris for a day. That and the codes seemed to do the trick. Adar then relaxed, and started descenting towards the surface. Ghost's frame spun around in joy, and the young Jedi gave him a thumbs up. He set the autopilot for a moment, and headed towards the main chamber of the shuttle to inform the reptillian Senator and Zasabi that they will be landing soon. After that, he headed to the piloting seat until they touched the ground, near the Lai family estate.

[Zasabi Ray]

It wasn't long before touchdown. Going over his supplies one last time, Zasabi took in a deep breath and settled his mind.

Zasabi was not an especially strong Force user, but the Sith had been able to track him for the better part of two years by detecting his presence from a distance. It had led to him developing a version of the Force masking technique that made it very, very difficult to tell that he was anything but a normal sentient. Engaging the technique deadened his extra-sensory perception in a way he found disturbing after using the Force for so long, but it meant he could go effectively unnoticed by those seeking out Force sensitives.

Emic Lai did not inspire confidence in him, but even if the Sith soldier was being honest about her intentions, it didn't mean that the other Sith weren't keeping tabs themselves. If this was going to work, they needed to disturb as little as possible. He hoped that Adar had the foresight to learn how to conceal himself before setting off on this mission, but it was too late now either way.

Opening his eyes, he settled them on his briefcase one last time. A datapad, a sizable number of GA issues credsticks, and a sonic baffler that could prevent their conversations from being intercepted. Standard affair for the majority of agents in such circumstances. All of them were more than they seemed.

The sonic baffler was, in addition to it's standard function, equipped with a small non-lethal detonator that would blind and deafen within three meters of it. The briefcase was lined in a sensor-deadening material that hid both the presence of the obvious tools in it and a secret one he had hidden himself; his three sectioned lightspear. The credsticks held a potent virus that would drain the contents of any datapad it was shoved into before making every effort to send that information back to the GA. The datapad, in addition to falsified intelligence reports buried in it's records, also had a hardened edge that made it useful as a bludgeoning tool.

He let out a brittle smile. Time to go to work.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Lai estate didn't impress Zasabi, as far as these things went. He had a palace of his own that put most such structures to shame almost as much as it's opulent nature put him to shame. Youthful indiscretions and that sort of thing.

He waited patiently with the rest of his retinue, doing his best to present as non threatening and pleasantly as he could. Finding what looked the most like a doorbell of some sort, he pressed it and began his pitch.

"Greetings! We're here to speak to you about your insurance policy."