A Road Twice Travelled Is Never As Long

[Tionne Thanewulf]

With so much that changed over the course of past twenty five years, Tionne knew not what to expect whilst travelling to Coruscant: now the center of the Galactic Empire. Once it was a dignified world that prided itself as the cradle of democracy, the exemplar of luster forged in thousands of years of prosperity and peace; even the durasteel walls of the oldest of buildings so rarely witnessing the devastating aftermath of war. Perhaps this is why the Coruscanti valued order and propriety above all, so much they traded equality and liberty for comfortable safety of an absolutist monarchy.

The squabbling Senate delegates that so eagerly protested against concentration of power in hands of just one individual now savored the sovereignty given by the Empire to oppress within their respective authority over different sectors and systems alike; the corruption that slowly ate away their hearts and minds in the time of the Clone Wars surfaced, their true nature taking form. If there was one type of people Thanewulf particularly loathed were politicians; she had met far too many who masked self-interest and personal gain behind proverbial righteousness.

Tionne knew the Republic was rotten long before it fell, the vines of malfeasance tightly gripping around every segment of society – the end was inevitable, but unlike the Order, Thanewulf accepted as a restraint she had no influence over. The hours-long flight along the Perlemian Trade Route were spent in deep contemplation over this, little regard given to the rest of the passengers aboard the light freighter that raced across the planes of hyperspace. The sole triviality that resembled the Knight to this collection of sentients was the knot that formed in her gut as the ship neared the Core; no matter what awaited on Coruscant, it was still to be considered home.

The sensation only intensified when Eastport emerged on the viewscreen as the vessel plummeted through the busy stream of starships that prepared to dock onto one of the planet’s most busy ports. The scenery of Gate 3700 remained literally unchanged from how Tionne remembered it; with a few technical modifications, it was as chaotic and crowded as ever. Coruscant was still the center of the civilized universe, which was sad in itself.

Upon disembarking, the red-haired Knight meandered through the river of people that flowed towards a bottleneck checkpoint established just before the entrance to the docking bay. Clad in a black leather jacket zipped up to her neck and tightly fitting pants of the same color, Tionne looked like any other member of the planet’s alternative youth; the only thing that made her stand out was her long ginger hair that flagged behind her, red locks hopping and springing across her lower back. Her Force signature had been pressed far under the threshold of tangibility, but apparently it was her fair hair that attracted the attention of security officers.

‘’Excuse me, miss…’’ a tall official voiced, extending a hand to gently grab Tionne’s elbow –
‘’Your ID card, please.’’ he demanded, albeit in a civil tone.
‘’I left it in my luggage.’’ Tionne answered readily, her lips stretching into a smile.
‘’Then you need to come with me.’’ the man stated, his grip slightly tightening. The Knight could not allow for such a thing to happen, thus she resorted to more subtle methods. Leaning in, her look grew more sensual, her features softening. Wrapping the Force around the mind of this individual, she laid out the mental cushion and tricked him into threading ground his gender so delightfully wandered across.

‘’All you really need is my number.’’ she whispered across, a short distance from his ear. The stench of his sterile uniform filed against her nostrils when her hand gently swayed in front of her in a suggestive manner. The man tilted his head, visibly unaffected by the trick. Or so it seemed.
‘’Like a girl like you would ever give her number to a guy like me…’’ he replied, still holding onto her elbow. Before he could say anything else, the Knight produced a piece of durasheet with a seventeen-digit number jotted down on it.
‘’It must be your lucky day, soldier.’’ she said, tucking the paper into the crease of his uniform, then wiggled her way out of his grip.

His lips parted in a self-confident grin as he watched her walk away, with Tionne casually glancing over her shoulder to prolong the effect of the spell. A fellow officer approached him, eyes shifting between the piece of durasheet and his cocky smile.
‘’So, what’s her name?’’
‘’Who cares. I have her number.’’ the tall man replied, jealously stashing the number into depths of his pocket. The only thing Tionne would regret is not seeing his face when he dialed it and realized the number belonged to an escorting agency she memorized off an advert while browsing through a magazine onboard. He looked like he needed quality service anyways and who was Tionne to deny help to his futile bundle of xy chromosomes?


***

Ambling through the streets of Coruscant, Tionne absorbed every fragment of her environment. Life had continued as nothing had happened over a quarter of a century ago; people went about their business, visibly unconcerned with the shift in regime. This was understandable given the fact that Thanewulf was surrounded by humans solely, with very few aliens loitering about. The fashion and the attires were far more profound then how she remembered them, with darker colors dominating over the formerly widespread palette of shades and textures that celebrated the diversity of cultures and species in the galaxy.

Far less cosmopolitan than it used to be, Coruscant seemed orderly, somewhat ascetic and thus flavorless. A smile came across her lips upon finding out her favorite tobacco shop was still there and operating, as this was the primal reason why she traversed into the Imperial den in the first place. A part of her hoped she would also see old Smokey alive and well.

‘’Who goes there?’’ a shaky voice reverberated behind the counter when the door sounded upon being open, with the Knight reluctantly entering inside the confined shop. Tionne recognized the tone of the voice over its raspy texture; a sigh ensued. It was a relief to find at least one fragment of her life where she left it.
‘’A package of Gammorean Havao Tabac.’’ she said in reply, laying her elbow on the counter.

Soon enough, an old man rose from behind a cart, his milky white eyes staring into the distance. Tionne’s heart sulked.
‘’A woman smoking Havao Tabac? Now that is a rare sight.’’ he said, quirking a curious silver brow.
‘’Smokey, you always said I was not the kind of girl that smokes cigarettes, remember?’’
Smokey had also given her a lecture on how smoking damaged health, a thing he did only for customers he cared immensely about. But everybody had their vices.
‘’Tionne….’’ he managed in awe, stumbling forwards to almost trip over his own feet. Luckily, the redhead caught him before he did.
‘’I ran out of tobacco. And nobody has such a blend as yourself.’’
The old man blinked.

‘’But you haven’t been here for over….’’ Smokey trailed off, unable to comprehend.
‘’Over twenty five years, yes. What can I say – I smoke far less these days.’’ she commented wittily, glancing around the shop as if looking for something.
‘’Where’s Balthar? Is he here to continue the tradition and take over the shop?’’
Smokey shook his head, motioning to the holopicture of a young man in an uniform that was hung on the wall.

‘’He’s a Lieutenant in the Imperial Navy, the best in his class. I’m afraid the shop dies with me, Tionne. My grandson is destined for far bigger things than me.’’ he stated in a gratified tone, then placed the package of tobacco before the Knight.
‘’This one is on the house, Tio. I think you will need a smoke.’’
‘’You bet I do. Thanks.’’ the redhead retorted, then patted him on the shoulder. Smokey was wise enough to put two and two together. No need to ask any further questions.
‘’I’ll see you around, Smokey.’’ she said upon leaving the shop and the man in it. It would be the last time a Thanewulf would purchase anything it that store.

Once again in the streets of city, Tionne stopped by a large window to light her pipe. When smoke finally emanated from it, the Knight sighed wistfully, nibbling on the very tip of it in a nervous manner. It was only then that the holonews that flashed on one of the screens before her had caught Tionne’s attention. A ginger brow was lifted in curiosity.

‘’Our reporting team is now on the field, Maryn Thores reporting live from the crimescene. Maryn, what is happening there….?’’

‘’Apparently, there has been some sort of criminal activity in the Imperia 500. Glass was flying everywhere, we have seventeen people injured at least. Strong security forces have sealed the entirety of the district away…there are eyewitness reports of two individuals fighting with some sort of laser swords…’’

Tionne’s eyes widened in discredit.
‘’That’s just a block away from here…’’ was the single thought that lingered in her mind. Instinctively turning in the direction of the designated district, Tionne dashed towards the most elite building in the entirety of Coruscant, When she finally reached it a few minutes later, there was much to behold. Injured citizen, some of them children, and medical units attending to their wounds. Guards restricted access to the building as the curious crowd amassed, Thanewulf amongst them trying to get a better look. A familiar sensation brushed against her spine, producing goosebumps all over her skin. The Force field dithered, unbalanced,shaken. Fowl forces were at play here, but the Knight was no stranger in such perilous lands. Knowingly, she wandered into the playground of the Dark, yet remained observant and attuned. They were near.

[Rossos Atrapes]

Twenty minutes after To Hunt the Hunter



The office wasn't all that large, truth be told. Inquisitor Atrapes eyed the room critically as the police and security personnel continued to test the office for anything in particular.

“Check the shards for blood. The Togruta claimed that a relative of his was employed by the Empire as a 'mail-clerk' with the military. If so, there should be something we can use.”

The security officer nodded and bowed.

“At once, sir,” he said, and turned to direct the analysts to the shards of glass that covered the floor.

Silent as a ghost, another Inquisitor seemingly appeared beside him. Atrapes appeared unruffled.

“The building has been cordoned?” he asked. The other Inquisitor, a very ordinary looking man, nodded. “Good. I want no contamination of this scene or the building. It's bad enough that the duel was as public as it was.”

“The assailant has gone into the Undercity, Inquisitor Atrapes,” the ordinary looking Inquisitor murmured quietly. “So far he has evaded capture.”

Atrapes frowned a bit, but nodded. He'd soon have what he needed to bring that Togruta under heel anyway, and it was likely the alien could hide and make his escape soon with the aid of the Force. They wouldn't catch this being today.

“We have something sir!” exclaimed one of the analysts. “Slight blood spatter and trace amounts on the glass shards. But there's too little for the force the assailant must have hit the glass with. There should be blood everywhere.”

“Take them to the Citadel once they are properly contained. The Inquisitoriate will do all the testing on this,” Atrapes commanded, knowing full well that such an impact was nothing to one with the Force. The analyst and officer bowed in acquiescence, and Atrapes strode over to the gaping hole that used to be the window. He glanced down.

A crowd had grown below on the different observation decks and platforms that connected with the building itself. Security personnel had formed a barricade to keep any watchers from getting closer, while ambulatory services were getting the wounded into different speeders to take them to the hospital.

A commotion began; a young child had been placed onto a stretcher and a woman and a man were shouting and trying to push their way past the barricade and ostensibly to the child. Atrapes watched with indifference as the security officers drew their batons and began striking the couple to keep them away.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

Tionne was never the righteous kind, never the valiant guardian that took the bullet for his fellow colleagues. Perhaps it was her fragility that made her into an illusive player, an agent of intelligence rather than the fist. Her method was as refined as it was flawless, especially if applied against sheer brutes. Despite the peril that was to be felt in the vicinity, the redhead decided to act and intervene, something she would have never done back in the days of the Purge. The altruist in her screamed so loud she could barely hear her thoughts; thus she stepped out and leaned over to the guard that readied himself to bat the devastated parents away, prodding him with her index finger lightly.

''Excuse me, sir...'' she started off in an innocent tone and a barely unchaste tone -
''But your fly is open.''
The guard turned to face the Knight, his face plastering with puzzlement. His own gaze fell to his crotch for the briefest of instants, leaving Tionne with enough time to conjure a feathery mental trap he would so gracefully fall into. Her hand was lifted in the air as she let the Force resurface, her own Force signature vibrating vividly within the field.

''Let them pass. The child is not going to speak if mom is not near.'' she voiced, watching herself gain influence over the burly man before her. Just as he readied himself to babble out a manipulated reply, Tionne lifted her gaze into the heights. And there he was - she could feel him, potent and tenebrous, austere and purposeful. For several moments, time seemed to have stopped; the Coruscanti could not hear the guard speak nor the sirens of the medical units that ripped the air previously. All earthly commotion died out, except the sound of her heartbeat and deep breath. And now he could hear it. With head canting away from the sight of him, Tionne could felf the weight of a decade long hunt pressing upon her once again. Without rushing, she turned on her heel and headed out of the crowd casually, hands stashed into the pockets of her jacket. If the Jedi was to run, she would only die tired.

[Rossos Atrapes]

When Inquisitor Atrapes felt the woman let him go from whatever it had been that had connected them, he turned to see the other Inquisitor looking at him intently.

“You felt it as well?” he asked. The other Inquisitor nodded. “Stay here. This feels different somehow than earlier.”

The Inquisitor bowed. “Very well,” he replied.

He could still feel her. She was drawing away, but not very quickly; it seemed she wasn't running. He turned down the corridor and stalked quickly to a speeder pad on the side of the building, out of the way of the eyes of the crowd below, and jumped from it to the walkway on the other side.

He closed the distance quickly, despite the fact that he wasn't running. That moment had burned her presence into his mind for the moment, and he had no fear of losing her the way he had lost that Togruta.

She glanced back, and their eyes met. He picked up his pace, and began to run. A smirk wound its way across his face.

There was no hope for her now.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

Thanewulf had long fought her instinct that told her to run as fast as she could, nothing in the way she meandered through the crowds showing she had been intimidated by his dark presence. It was not the first time Tionne had one hunting her, not the first time she felt an even darker umbra over her own shadow. The hunt felt natural, with both sides assuming their respective role; the predator and the prey caught in a perpetuity that gave both purpose and meaning.

Her steps remained soft even when she picked up pace too, responding to his initial impulse signalling for the game to begin. The Knight slipped past countless citizens who went about their business, oblivious to the primordial chase taking place right before their very eyes. Tionne turned sharply, disappearing around a corner only to jump onto the ledge that lead onto a low balcony of some five star hotel, then continued her haphazard ascent, climbing and jumping from one extrusion to the other, heavily relying on the Force.

Only briefly glancing backwards to see if her pursuer would follow, she then concentrated on the busy traffic circulating through one of the busiest hyperlanes of Coruscant. Taking one step into the void, the Jedi landed onto the back trunk of a black, limo-speeder car probably transporting some big-shot residing in the hotel; as the vessel rose into the air, Tionne pressed her knuckle against her hip and offered a bewitching smile to the man she left behind on the platform. If he was to follow her, he would have to discard any fear of heights he had.

[Rossos Atrapes]

It was with a feeling of supreme annoyance that the Inquisitor watched the young woman step onto a black speeder and give him a cheeky little grin as it flew away. He debated drawing his blaster, but decided against it. She would likely parry his shots anyway.

It was with a slight gesture that he ensnared the mind of a passing driver. This time, it was occupied by more than one person. The driver was a young man in his twenties with light brown hair. In the seat behind him was a younger boy of about twelve with hair the same colour.

“Mattie, why are ya pullin' back here for?” the pre-teen was saying in annoyance, but he soon quieted when he saw the Inquisitor standing there. Atrapes dropped gracefully into the speeder, and gestured.

“Follow her,” he said, lacing his voice with the Force. It was as easy as breathing now to do so. The man swiftly pulled out into the lanes and began to dangerously swerve and dodge traffic as they caught up to the limo and the red-head on top.

“Mattie...?” the young boy asked fearfully. Neither Mattie nor the Inquisitor answered him. Mattie was deep within the hold of the Inquisitor, who was himself intent on the figure ahead of him.

Anything else the boy was going to say was lost when the Inquisitor pulled his blaster from its holster, and readied it for fire.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

The hyperlanes of Coruscant were no unfamiliar ground for the dexterous Knight; she had often practised the art of Force Jump whilst leaping between speeding cars as a teenager. After all, Tionne was born and raised in this steel jungle, threading both the residential estates and underworld slums extending deep into the abyss below. Crouching down into a lower position for the sake of aerodynamics, the redhead eyed her adversary and his meticulous technique of pursuit. It was not often that she ran from such a sleek pursuer; most of the Inquisitors back in the day would simply chop their way through traffic just to get to her. His modus operandi was to be appreciated; elegant and profound, it was deadly nonetheless.

For that very reason, Thanewulf shifted her attention to the parallel lane, where vessels speeded in the opposite direction. It was without a moments thought that the Jedi sprung sideways, firmly landing on top of a civilian airbus. Erecting herself to her full height, the redhead leaned on the upper part of the hull as the airbus slid past the speeder car the Inquisitor was to be found in. Courteously bowing, her head canting to the side in an almost taunting, yet charming manner, Thanewulf pressed the tip of her fingers against her pursed lips and simulated an airy kiss that was to be sent his way. For a fraction of a second, her eyes met his and the Knight unpacked her presence in the Force, like a beacon so that he could follow her. Two failures in one day would be far too much for anybody to bare, let alone an Imperial Inquisitor.

[Rossos Atrapes]

It was with a calm hand that he followed the red-head's leap from the limo to the airbus with the blaster sight, and fired twice, prompting a whimper from the boy, which he ignored. Mattie, for his part still under the control of the Inquisitor, turned the speeder in the middle of traffic, and sped after the woman once again.

The Inquisitor didn't take the blaster off the woman's form. He fired twice more, but both shots missed as the woman ducked closer to the airbus roof. Atrapes stood to get better aim. He'd not do anything else too noticeable until he'd managed to force the woman out of the lanes and into more out of the way places. There, he'd be able to bring his lightsabre skills to bear against her.

His next couple shots went wide purposefully, scorching the roof of the airbus, which was steadily pulling ahead of them, though not by much.

“Pull out to the side of the airbus,” he ordered, and the enthralled civilian complied quickly, pulling the speeder to the side and behind their quarry. Atrapes smirked slightly. Now he had a much better line of sight on his target: the driver of the airbus.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

The Knight frowned, ginger brow furrowing. She hated when others used weaker entities to accomplish their goals, but the Inquisitors were hardly the honourable kind. Tionne induced where his method was heading, the means of civilian casualties giving her no other option but to resort to more desperate, albeit dangerous choices. She erected herself to full height, regardless to the fact that her current position would give her pursuer a clean, direct shot and made a few steps backwards as she watched the speeder car near the airbus. With her eyes fixed on the Inquisitor himself, also standing up, her arms spread out into imaginary wings; one last gentle step backwards pushed Tionne into freefall, her body racing on a downward trajectory.

Copper mane flagged behind her like a tail of a lustrous comet as she reached terminal velocity, the thrust of air almost compensating for the gravitational pull. Hardly in control of the situation, Thanewulf managed to stir herself towards an abandoned building in the lower levels, in the slums she threaded in her earlier days. As she slid past a pole extruding from the roof of what seemed an deserted hotel, both of her hands grabbed firmly against it, the Knight using it as a lever to decelerate herself. Heavily relying on the Force to absorb the momentum and come to a full stop, Tionne hopped down onto a lofty, yet eroded terrace that overlooked the thin line separating civilization from the underworld.

The redhead ambled to the ledge and seated herself there, back leaning against a durasteel wall. Her hand reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her pipe; a moment later, it was lit, sweet scented smoke emanating from the finely crafted opening. The Coruscanti sighed in relief, then elevated her gaze into the heights, remaining observant and receptive, waiting for him to follow the trail she left him, indulge his passion to hunt. And passion was a weakness.

[Rossos Atrapes]

He pulled the blaster sight from the driver with a sense of satisfaction. It was likely that the woman would have continued that little game indefinitely if he had not done something. It was all the more satisfying given that all it took was the threat of such action and she had fled. He had met more than a few Jedi who had forced him to kill civilians, either out of the disbelief that he would, or out of some sense that he still had something redeemable about him and tried to push a crucibilic moment where he would see the horror of his actions and forswear the Empire. It had never worked, and he took a bitter pleasure in killing them, proving that he was indeed beyond all hope of redemption.

Without having to say a word, 'Mattie' turned the speeder and brought it down to the terrace where the woman stood, smoking a pipe and waiting for him, it seemed. He stood, his blaster still in his hand. The young boy sat quietly, eyes wide as he tried to take all that he was seeing in while remaining unobtrusive from his hiding place in the back seat.

“Finally stopped running, have you?” he asked. “Good. Perhaps now, Jedi, you will accept your place as a dead ghost of the Republic, and that failed experiment known as democracy.”

[Tionne Thanewulf]

The Knight nervously bit on the tip of the pipe, causing a small shard of wood to detach and make its way to her throat. A gasp followed, sounding as if somebody was vigorously choking her; Tionne's eyes almost popped out when she ironically continued to suffocate on something so ridiculously simple as a wood splinter. An Inquisitor was threatening to end her life and yet she did quite well in forestalling him. Thanewulf finally mustered to force the last of air from her lungs, shooting the chip out of her mouth in a parabolic trajectory. She coughed, shaking her head in discredit.

''Excuse me.'' the redhead managed, upon catching some air - ''I would come up with some...courageous line, but I was busy choking to death.'' The Jedi coughed again and again, seemingly compelled to cough her bronchi out.
''Haaaah....'' she wheezed, leaning back in her place again with pipe stuffed back in her mouth. Tionne eyed both the dark man before her and his peculiar company, a petite wiggle of her hand greeting the boy that hid behind the back seat.

''To be frank...'' the Knight began in her trademark sarcastic tone - ''I've never imagined myself as a ghost. Certainly, a number of Jedi have either practised or achieved this state and I can certainly see why such an afterlife might be popular. The ability to peek into the showers without being seen, mysteriously appear in places most outlandish and give random advices on fate and fashion alike. The part I do not understand is - why would anybody listen to a dead person? Especially if he or she had been killed by the Inquisitoriate.'' she discoursed with a rasied eyebrow. A meek smile augmented her words.

''And I must say, I like how you redecorated the place. However, seems like you have as much crime and corruption as there was with democracy. Guess it is in human nature to be imperfect, no?'' the Knight inquired with a nod and an acknowledging tilt of head.

[Rossos Atrapes]

There was a moment of stunned disbelief as the young boy and the Inquisitor watched the woman hack and cough out a splinter. The Inquisitor’s reaction was a slightly raised brow, coupled with a sense of amusement. The boy’s reaction was more of disbelief. The gravity of the situation was only slightly lessened by the impromptu splinter.

“So,” the Inquisitor replied, “You are a Jedi. Though it escapes me as to how you would be aware of the level of corruption and decay that was of the Republic and compare it to the Empire’s own.”

Inquisitor Atrapes smirked, and pulled his lightsabre from it’s place on his belt, though he did not yet activate it.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

The Knight rolled her eyes upon seeing the Inqusitor grip his weapon. Tionne was hardly the pacifist type, but unnecessary violence was something that annoyed her to the bone. Unlike most Jedi, who would have already drawn their weapon, she remained calm, enjoying the scent of her pipe for the time being. Nothing in her posture indicated the Knight was readying herself for an incoming attack. One of her legs slipped down and wiggled over the ledge idly, swinging back and forth.

''Well, excuse me for having eyes and a central nervous system that is far more than a single neuron cell.'' she retorted, her head shaking in discredit. It was ironic that, out of all the archetype Jedi, the least conventional one survived. The one Darksider were hardly every acquainted with, for those often fled right before their very noses.

''The idea of democracy does indeed sound smashing on paper. However - whoever wrote that defunct doctrine on paper forgot to include human nature in the model - greed, lust for power, money, pleasures of the flesh. One cannot override settings installed by nature. And correction - I was a Jedi.'' she discoursed, eyeing the Inquisitor through the smoky haze encompassing her. Her head gently canted to the side, as if to signify additional weight her next words would be bearing.
''The Jedi are no longer.'' the redhead stated, turning her pipe upside down and emptying the burning contents into the void below. After tapping it against the wall to clean it, the pipe found its way into the interior of Tionne's jacket once again. This time the Knight conveniently left the zipper open, black tanktop showing underneath.

[Rossos Atrapes]

“The Jedi are no longer,” the Inquisitor repeated in affirmation, regarding the woman with curiosity now. He replaced the hilt of his lightsabre on his belt, and holstered his blaster pistol. “Though I meant that nearly none exist now that have experience with the Republic. All those who were once Jedi are now dead, in hiding, or have turned to join the Empire. Only the odd apprentice can be found out in the open now. And none can hide forever.”

He regarded the former Jedi with a speculative air. She was without a doubt a beautiful specimen of the human species, but Inquisitor Atrapes had long since conquered his impulses, and pushed all such distracting thoughts away; distractions only hampered one’s connection to the Force. Still, he was able to see how useful such aesthetically pleasing features could be, especially to an agent of the Inquisitorius.

One could have taken her last words to mean something else though... Perhaps she was not as unwilling to join the Empire as he had once thought. Or more likely, she felt that both the Empire and the Republic lacked that something that would ensure the greatest stability in the galaxy.

He mentally shook himself of idle speculation. This meeting should end only in two ways: either the woman was captured for attempts to convert her, or she would die by his hand. But, perhaps there were other methods for conversion. Ones that held to a longer point of view.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

Thanewulf hopped off from the ledge, a loud clang signalling the moment when her heavy, knee-high boots stomped against the durasteel floor. She approached the Inquisitor, canting her head to the side as her eyes grazed the sterile uniform he was clad in, stern fabric wrapping his body into a shell intended to frighten. But the Knight was hardly intimidated, albeit the most rational sensation one could muster now would be fear. She was deep in his territory, threading his own turf; such boldness had to account for something - even insanity.

''I'm a Knight, not an apprentice. And if you look into my birth certificate, you would also find out I am old enough to be your mother.'' the redhead stated and began to slowly pace around in circles. Her step was soft and catlike, her eyes fixed on him.

''But the Inquisitoriate conveniently destroyed all data on the Jedi, so I guess confirmation is not just a click away. And I kind of liked the shot of myself attached to my file in the Temple - I believe it accentuated my good side.'' the Jedi discoursed sardonically, then bitterly smiled. Coming to a full stop, she let her hands find their way onto her hips, making another step forwards to face the Inquisitor.
''I am quite aware nobody can hide. But I am not nobody. And I am also not hiding.'' the Courscanti finalized, mercury coloured irises locked with his dark, lifeless orbs.

[Rossos Atrapes]

“You should be hiding,” he replied shortly. “I should never have seen you, no matter who you are, if you wish to live in peace.”

Her eyes held a determination he’d not seen for some time. Why had she come to Imperial Centre? Didn’t she know to come here was to die? And what good would come of her death beyond another fallen enemy of the Empire, who were like great fields of wheat before the mechanical scythes of the reapers?

“But you are here,” he continued. “Why?”

[Tionne Thanewulf]

''This is my home, the place I was born. And where my father was born and his father before him. Is it not natural to feel homesick?'' the redhead explained, only to turn away from the Inquisitor. There was no hidden motif behind her return to Coruscant, apart from testing whether she could still come home without being noticed. In the very depth of her soul, she missed this place; not the Jedi Temple and its cavernous halls, but the streets and the busy airlanes, small restaurants and museums, libraries and all other trademarks of the civilized world. Despite quarter of a century of Imperial reign, hardly any of it changed.

''When one has nowhere to go, one can always head home - to either die or live in peace. Many species, sentient and insentient alike, return to the point of their origin to mate...and wither away. It is all but natural, all but expected...'' she trailed off, walking closer to the edge, eyes fixed on the horizon outstretching above them. The endless line of towers jagged the line of sight.
''I also missed the sunset. And hope to live long enough to see it again.'' the Knight added, her voice laced with melancholy.

[Rossos Atrapes]

“One’s past is past. We may learn from it, but to it we can never return,” the Inquisitor said. Now the Force began to weave its way into his voice and words, strengthening the conviction he held, and making them all the more convincing for that. If it would work with this Jedi remained to be seen. He would try anyhow. It was like what he had used to ensnare the driver of the speeder he stood in, but was much more subtle.

<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 56.7pt } P { margin-bottom: 12pt } P.western { font-family: "Garamond", serif } --> </style> “And you may yet live to see the sunset,” he said slowly, letting the agreeableness of his words reverberate through the Force. “The Empire must change; it will change. I have seen this, I will work towards that end. You know the perils of democracy; one such as you would be a great help to the Empire against the Rebellion. Help me make the Empire the bastion of order that it can be.”

Even as he spoke though, he knew that as sensible as his words were, this one would remain true to her principles. It was admirable in a way, he felt, but in the end he needed to remain true to his own. Any who could not be made to turn must die due to the threat they posed to the Empire and its reign.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

The impenetrable barrier in Tionne's mind remained untouched by his subversive suggestion; one of her rare specialities was mental resistance to any manipulations coming her way. She turned to look at him meekly, a gush of wind from underneath elevating copper locks to partially obscure her face. Mercury coloured eyes watered, their clearness turbid with a single tear. It ran down her cheek, following the curvature of her pale flesh only to reside in the crease of her lips, leaving a salty mark before evaporating into thin air.

''I still bear the mark of those who have succumbed under the Empire's mighty fist and become its instruments. I could never inflict the pain they have inflicted me with, for I am familiar with the agony of scorched flesh under the luminance of a rapier of light that was intended to be a shield, not a weapon... If I were to become as they were, I would be worth less than the dirt on their boots.'' the redhead discoursed in woe as she approached the Inquisitor. Stopping only a foot away from him, close enough so that he could smell the scent of dew emanating from her freshly washed hair, her voice dropped another tone in amplitude, turning into an almost inaudible whisper.

''But I wish to see the sunset again.'' were her last words, intertwining with the gentle breeze that fluttered the Inquisitor's crimson cloak outwards, dark shadow cast over the worn durasteel floor.

[Rossos Atrapes]

The look the Inquisitor fixed the Knight was now piercing, as if he were trying to unveil the complex answers that were what made her what she was. Whatever he saw, as with most things, he remained silent and said nothing about them.

“Everything is a weapon,” he said. “A lightsabre is elegant yes, but its very nature is violent and bloodthirsty. It was made to kill, not to protect. And to become an agent of the Empire is to keep chaos from reigning in the galaxy once more. The mere rumour of my existence brings order to those who fear what I can do to them. Any sacrifice is worth that goal.”

He turned, his eyes going to the young boy who was hiding in the back of the speeder. He raised his hand, and his fingers twitched.

“Sleep and forget,” he said; the boy collapsed. He looked back at the Knight. “Come. There is much to be done. We will continue talking on the way.”

[Tionne Thanewulf]

Tionne watched the boy doze off into a dreamless slumber, induced by a mere twitch of the Inquisitor's fingers. To the untrained eye, it seemed as a magic trick, a delusion aimed to entertain the masses. Thanewulf knew this particular Inquisitor was indeed a skilled mentalist, the very kind she was immune to. But he needed not to know of this, for the time being. Letting her confidence wear off into melancholy was clearly doing the trick.

''Jedi were taught that a saber was a shield, yet it had been excessively used to inflict pain to others. Whilst employing hardly pacifist methods, the Order preached preservation of life as its ultimate goal. Hypocrisy, no?'' the redhead discoursed once she found herself in the back seat of the speeder, casually leaning against the leather lining. Her hand was placed on the outside hull of the vessel, gently caressing the smooth metallic surface.

''I've dealt with your kind before, Inquisitor. But I was always one step ahead of them - because they had their prejudice about the Jedi. Certainly, these have proven correct, given the current number of members of the Order scattered across the galaxy. It's ironic that the ones who were scolded the most - survived.'' she remarked, eyes set into the distance, as her gaze absentmindedly scraped against the urban landscape.

[Rossos Atrapes]

“The Jedi were not expecting to be mercilessly slaughtered wholesale,” the Inquisitor said. “Nor should they have been expecting to. The trap was designed for that. Those who survived tell the rest of the galaxy nothing about the nature of the Jedi as a whole, but much about their own natures.”

It struck him then that he was defending the Jedi, in a way; he found it amusing. He cast his senses back, studying the Jedi without looking at her. He didn’t trust her one whit at the moment. He couldn’t believe that she had turned so easily. Even Vel Aath, his most resounding success, hadn’t turned this easily.

“But enough of this. Tell me your story. Start with your name.” He pulled out a small datapad, and his fingers flicked deftly over it, opening and creating a new file. The speeder turned, and the Inquisitor suspected that the Jedi knew he was taking her back to the building where this encounter had first begun. Through IMP, he warned Besh of his arrival, and he received the other Inquisitor’s acknowledgement.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

The Jedi focused at some distant point in the upper levels of Coruscant, her eyes skimming the horizon to gaze in the general direction of the devastated Jedi Temple. Her gaze grew gloomy and distant, as if she was reminiscing an old tale, a myth even, which she overheard from some bard as a child. It felt as if centuries had flown by, the weight of age pressing against her frail shoulders. A fragile hand was laid on the side door of the speeder, gushing winds fluttering ginger locks backwards as long copper strands bathed in the ascending light of Coruscant Prime.

''My name is Tionne Thanewulf. Daughter of Snorr Thanewulf, Head of Department of Sentientology at Coruscant University and Aneraah Thanewulf, a famed engineer from Corulag. Granddaughter of Harald Thanewulf, Jedi Shadow. I am the last of my kin.'' the redhead stated solemnly, as if speaking of somebody else. Her pale visage plastered with timidity, full lips pursing as if struggling to utter the right choice of words.

''I've served as a Jedi Watchman during the Clone Wars - Corellia and its sector were under my direct supervision. Also, I was often sent to special missions by the High Council. More often than not were these secret.'' A brief pause ensued, used to recollect thoughts.
''Unlike many Jedi, my expertise went far outside of the ethereal framework of the Force; I hold a honorary doctorate in xenobiology from Coruscant University, with concentration in genetics. When the Clone Wars broke out, I was assigned as the eyes and the ears of the Order for one reason alone - like my grandfather, I was gifted with the rare ability of completely blocking my Force presence so that I even remained intangible for even the most attuned Force users. If there were no traitors among the Jedi, I would have walked right under your noses even today.''

A small smile tugged the corner of her lips as her look diverted to the Inquisitor.
''You must ask yourself...how come I appear so young? A woman of my age certainly deserves a compliment regarding how well I look for my age, no?'' the Knight taunted, smile tinged with mischief widening.

[Rossos Atrapes]

“A woman of my age certainly deserves a compliment regarding how well I look, no?”

Atrapes didn’t look back, or favour Thanewulf’s comment with anything but a small grunt.

“There are many ways for such a thing to be done,” he said, keeping himself brusque and business-like. “But that does not concern me for the moment.”

Mattie had brought the speeder down to the same building where the two had met, though not in the front, where a slightly smaller crowd was still gathered, but around the side, to a service entrance. Atrapes opened the speeder door and stepped out. Thanewulf did the same, and Atrapes released the man from his enthralment.

“You have been paid for your services. Go about your day,” the Inquisitor commanded. Mattie, for his part looked a bit confused, but nodded and pulled away.

Atrapes turned to Thanewulf and gestured for her to follow. “I have some questions for you now. You must answer all truthfully, as far as you are aware. Understood?”

He didn’t wait for an answer and entered the building, obviously expecting Thanewulf to follow him. Waiting for them was the other Inquisitor. Atrapes handed him the datapad. “Take this to the Citadel and enter the information. Everything that is necessary for the moment is included.”

The other Inquisitor nodded, and swept out the service entrance without a word.

“Let us continue,” Atrapes said, making his way down the corridor to the turbolift. “You mentioned that you were a Jedi Sentinel. Since you are a Jedi, I will assume that you know where the Jedi are now. You will tell me where they are.”

There was a slight pause, punctuated by the turbolift accelerating upward, but it was clear that Atrapes was not expecting an answer yet. “This information will not be told to any other in the Inquisitoriate yet, understood? We have enough to do now within our own structure than to go and win a bloody victory over the Jedi yet again. There is also the added benefit of having an enemy to concern ourselves with as long as they exist. Idle hands oft destroy what they touch.”

The turbolift halted, and with a small melodious chime, the doors slid open, revealing a busy hallway. Imperial agents and security officers were packing up, and preparing to leave the scene. Despite the number of people within the corridor, all stepped aside as Atrapes and Thanewulf made their way to the office that the Togruta had thrown himself through.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

The Knight blinked a few times, as if unable to believe what she was hearing. Surely, she expected some form of physical extraction of information to begin with, not a patronizing attempt more suitable for an enraged nanny serving in the Imperial kindergarten. Or maybe the Inquisitor already sensed the thick, impermeable wall that surrounded her mind, finding himself inapt to drill through the shell. Either way, there was nothing Tionne could tell him regarding the exact location of the Jedi.

''Why do you assume there are more of us? You think we have some secret, grand army of light-side Force adepts just waiting to knock down that Imperia 500 tower your esteemed Empress lives in?'' the redhead retorted in sarcasm as the elevator ascended, an array of lamps blinking to indicate floors the turbolift passed swiftly.
Idly rolling her eyes in mild annoyance, the Coruscanti waved her hand outwards in a dismissive manner.

''Oh please... It takes years of practice and dedication to become a Jedi. Decades even. So I guess... you have another...what... two to three hundred years until you really need to start worrying about our numbers.'' the Knight concluded sarcastically when a chime sounded the destination floor had been reached. Deeply stashing her Force signature well under the threshold of detection, Thanewulf followed the Inquisitor in a series of catlike steps. Strolling besides Atrapes right through the parted crowds, the Jedi smiled inwardly.
''All make way for the daddy.'' she projected mentally through the Force, quite sure her thoughts would be heard by Rossos if he was still attuned.

[Rossos Atrapes]

“All it takes is one,” the Inquisitor said, looking at her with something akin to remonstrance. “Skywalker proved that. His death was mere chance; an accident that should not have occurred.”

They entered the now nearly empty office, save for two technicians, who studiously ignored the presence of the two force-wielders. The comm chirped twice, and Atrapes pulled the device off his belt. A miniature holographic representation of the other Inquisitor bowed.

“We are running tests on the blood samples now. Given the general lack of non-humans in the Imperial military, we should have the results in less than an hour,” the other Inquisitor said.

“Once you have found her, I want you to retrieve her, dead or alive. Find out all information in the records, and bring her to Imperial Centre. She will be useful in either case for subduing this fugitive.”

The nameless Inquisitor bowed once more, and the connection was severed. Atrapes turned back to Thanewulf.

“Numbers are not meaningless, but neither are they as important as many think. Otherwise the sheer weight of the Imperial military would have overcome the Rebellion long ago,” he continued. “The Jedi must remain weak. It is in weakness that they are their strongest, able to provide that light which draws the malcontent to their banner, away from the Empire. But weakness it remains, fragile, always a hair’s breadth from complete destruction.”

The technicians stood. “All our tests are complete, Inquisitor. The Citadel has been updated and records are archived.”

Atrapes nodded. “Good. Well done.”

He raised his hand, and with his thumb and index finger extended, he crushed the throat of first one, and then the other, before either could ask to leave. They both asphyxiated within moments.

He turned back to the window. “There is black and white, Thanewulf; but not only that. There is also a larger mass of grey. Not as strong as either, but infinitely more adaptable, more flexible. It is within that mass that most people live. Instead of swinging wildly between the blindness of pure light and the blindness of complete darkness, the Empire must become that restful institution that lasts, ever making its way between them. That is why I will let you live.”

<style type="text/css"> <!-- @page { margin: 56.7pt } P { margin-bottom: 12pt } P.western { font-family: "Calibri", sans-serif } --> </style> The comment would be taken as arrogance, no doubt. Atrapes was somewhat hoping it would be. She would underestimate him, at least by a small amount, and that was an advantage in itself. Even if he himself did not kill her, it was only a matter of time before the inexhaustible resources of the Empire, and the numbers of the Inquisition itself wore her down. They only needed a victory once. She needed to win every time.

“The Empire needs such individuals such as you, Thanewulf, to counteract individuals such as myself. People such as you are necessary to remind us that we have the higher goals of peace and justice; while people such as myself are necessary to achieve those ends through the means necessary and available. There are Inquisitors who make exclusive use of the Light you know. But far too few, and far too marginalized to make a large difference. It is not only the Jedi that the Empire hunts, remember, but also the Sith and all those in between.”