Obscured: Send in the Clowns

[Director Isard]

It was midnight over Coruscant. Downtown, the spacelanes were getting busy again, the speeders and shuttles picking up and dropping off people from homes and nightclubs, late-night shopping malls and restaurants... bright lights illuminated the sky, painting the buildings and towers in shadows and light. Only every now and then did another Imperial patrol ship cross the lanes and rent the skies apart with the bright white beam of its searchlights. But even that could not take anything away from the celebrant atmosphere of the night.

Deep down in one of the understructures, in a building that had stood empty for longer than a lifetime, a family of slashrats was making a meal of a stack of datacards. That species of rats had not been native to Coruscant, nor had it been born to digest plastic and fibers, but after centuries of living in the sewers of this planet, the species had adapted to live on what little it could find besides fresh meat. So it was with this family, which seemed to be having a good feast of what they had found.

Until a shot rang out in the low-ceilinged room, and hit one of their members through its head. Then the feeding frenzy began for good, as the rest of the family fell over its downed member. It was food now, not family.

At the entrance to the room, a lone figure stood, pulling off her face-cover and wiping her brow with it, as in the little light that filtered in through holes in the window shutters she observed the beasts and what damage they had done. Then she put her blaster back into its holster and simply stood there for a moment, thinking of what she had to do; finally she began crossing the long room to the other side. Water had gathered on the ground - was even now dripping down from the ceiling - and she stepped around it, still keeping an eye on those rats

Ysanne Isard, head of Imperial Intelligence, had returned to Coruscant. She had come alone to this place - no one knew it even existed, much less was a part of Intel's storerooms. A secret passage had led directly from her old office to this place - a passage known to only two people: Armand and Ysanne Isard. But her father was dead now - fortunately; and what had belonged to him now belonged to her.

The feeding frenzy at the other corner had abated a little, and she turned her spotlight on them to check. There was no sign of the rat she had killed, and the eyes of the remaining rats glowed red as blood in the light. They looked hungry again. She pulled out her blaster again and snapped another shot at the pack. Something screamed within it, then the rats lost their interest in her and turned on their new meal.

Dumb beasts, she thought, with a slight sneer on her face, they lack finesse in all they do.

Finally she arrived at the far end of the room, but her search was not done yet. Taking off her leather gloves as well, she felt along the wall for a small dent: an inlet in the wall that hid the button to activate the mechanism, covered by fake elastic paint. With a triumphant glimmer in her red eye, she finally hit the right spot and a low rumbling filled this end of the room. Then a round patch of the floor slowly elevated a few inches, and a holographic image began to flow together out of the empty air - until the face of her father stared back at her, smiling coldly.

"Ysanne - so good to see you. Not that I can see you, of course - as you are viewing this, you probably succeeded in finding a way to get rid of me. Congratulations.
Enough of this idle talk - you've come here for a reason, I believe, and I won't keep you from finding what you came for. Just step inside this circle, and the mechanism will do the rest."

Isard looked at the face with misgivings. Step onto a circle and let the mechanism take her? It could easily be a trap devised by her late unlamented father - a final revenge. Why else would he so easily give her access?

From behind her came a snarling noise. She turned around, to see that the rats had finally caught on to her presence - they were already half-way across the room, intent to make her their next feed. Pulling out her blaster again, she realised that it was too late for that - even if she were to hit another one of them, the others would not stop: once the kill was in sight, they rarely stopped for anything else.

Well, she didn't intend to die here - she stepped onto the circle. And the floor fell away underneath her.

[Director Isard]

Minutes later she found herself lying on a dusty stone ground at least two floors down, and somewhere north of where she had been. But that was something she could only guess at - the tube she had fallen into and slid down had gone around for a few seconds before suddenly ending 5 feet off the ground in another room. It could only be hoped that her father had also provided her with an exit - and not durasteeled all the doors in.

She slowly got up, and brushed the dust off her black combat tunic. She would have bruises later on, but now she forced herself to ignore the dull pain in her ankles and back from the fall. There were more important things to do here.

Looking around, she finally saw an exit door at the opposite side of the room. The room itself was by no means large - an average sized store room in offices, maybe. At one side, there stood an old rickety bed, and the center of the room was taken up by a computer console and a chair as old as the bed, if not older. But against the walls were shelves, and on the shelves, in neat stacks, were her inheritance: her father's treasure, his hidden cache - the complete datafiles on every operation Intel had ever been involved in, and more. This chamber contained files not even the Emperor had seen or known about.

And now it was all hers. Triumph and glee blazed in her mismatched eyes, as she brushed her fingers over a datacard stack. It halted in mid-movement when she caught the inscription on its side:

Operation JL-8813/24

It brought back a vague memory of a rumour she had once heard going around Intel when she had first joined. Operation JL had been something to do with cloning, but whatever it was now, she could not remember the details.

There was only one thing to do - now that she actually was in possession of the information itself, she could view it, of course. Activating the computer console in the center of the room, she sat down and inserted the card into the reader-slot...

----------------

The guards at the door exchanged puzzled frowns when she walked towards them. Of course - they did not know how she could come back inside if to their eyes she had never left the office. But the frowns were replaced by their usual impassive and blank faces as she passed them and re-entered her office.

Once inside, she strode to her desk and sat down behind it. In the past 6 hours since she had found the hidden cache, she had done much thinking. The plans she had made previous to this day needed a revising, but only to certain parts of it. What she had uncovered this day - she would benefit in many ways, if only she could employ the information wisely.

Of course, she would have to move the cards somewhere else - herself, for she would not trust anyone with this. Not Tondry, not Jekaan - none of them could be trusted, especially not her 2nd in command. No - she would have to do it herself, and everything would be safe.

An amused sneer puckered her thin lips as she thought of what it would do to Tondry if he knew that the information she would leave him was worth nothing compared to this. Of course, she would never tell him until it was too late, and let him curse his bad luck for the rest of his miserable life. Maybe she would even play with him - drop pitiful morsels of her treasure into his lap, then hint at the truth; and have him whittle away the rest of his life seeking for her treasure. He would fall for it - he would: Tondry was as much obsessed about knowing things as she was. Of course he would react to it in a predictable way.

But that was for later. There were more important matters to pursue right now.

She pressed down her finger onto the button that summoned Jekaan Oludh, her fawning assistant. A coughing noise came over the line.

"Yesh?"

Her eyes blazed with cold fury at his insolence, and she wished she would have the idiot here in the same room so she might throttle him until he remembered the protocol.

"You will address me as Madame Director, Jekaan. I do not care what excuse you have this time for your lack of manners, but it will be your head on my dinner table the next time it happens. And I am looking forward to it, even if the sight of your head will most likely spoil my appetite."

Another cough could be heard, as her assistant cleared his throat.

"Yes, Madame Director. How can I be of assistance?"

She grimaced. As much as she wished to catch him a second time, she was relieved she didn't - he was an able assistant, in spite of all his shortcomings.

"I would like you to send out a message to Jedah Lynch, of the Sith Empire. Make it a request to join me for dinner here, in 48 hours from now."

His voice came back somewhat surprised.

"Request? Not "Invite" a Sith?"

She would have sneered at him had he been in the same room, but the gesture was wasted like this, hence she contained herself.

"You wish to question my decisions, Jekaan?"

He immediately returned to his usual obsequious self.

"Of course not, Madame Director. It will be done immediately."

As an afterthought, she decided on something else, more to confuse him than out of necessity - there would have been time for it later. But it would not hurt anyone if she did it now.

"Oh, and send out the same request to Rama Sha, Ogre and Dalethria Mal Pannis, Lady Vader, Saurron and Sanis Prent. The latter might be a little difficult to convince to come here, but I trust you shall find the correct way to deal with him."

She ended the conversation before he could ask any more impertinent questions, and sat back. This should be an interesting week.

[Jedah Lynch]

They thought it was the promise land.

It must have been.

It was what they were promised.

Another broken promise in a life of broken promises.

It was not Heaven. Not a place where they could live happily. Live without the fear of war. Live with the knowledge their children would grow up with a bright future in harmony.

It was the ultimate dream.

It became the ultimate failure.

They had been living peacefully and then the Sith had come. Beings with strong powers and a connection to something that was uttered to be the force which connected all living things. Instead of helping others with the force these Sith invaded and took whatever they wanted - destroying anyone and anything in their way without remorse. Without regret or a second thought to the life that was snuffed out in a matter of seconds.

Even if the people could have fought against these super humans then the war machines of the Sith were another matter. How could one destroy an extraordinary being that seemed to be an evolution of the species when they also possessed huge ships of war that had sustained those such as the Emperor and Vader in the past. The planet conquered and enslaved the people were forced to give up their own identity to work for the The Sith Empire. Still did they have their own government yet it was one chosen by their new rulers. One that was loyal out of fear or appointed for having served the glory of the Sith for many years.

And so it went, a life of co operation under one government had ended while another one of servitude had formed under a dark shadow cabinet. The planet of peace had become a battle ground. Now it was just another Sith owned planet.

Every so often an individual would rise up against their rulers. Often these people were brought down violently, brutally and in front of others to show such folly would not be tolerated. One village had then dared to speak out, secretly of course among the many. An established underground resistence movement against their Sith Overlords. They had dared to hope they would not be discovered. They dared to dream once more of a life free.

It was the ultimate dream.

It became the ultimate failure.

The Sith had been tipped off. There was nothing on the planet they did not know of. Nothing they could not find out through their various spy network. An example had to be made of.

Daybreak had barely arrived when the ships first appeared over the landscape, followed by an army of troopers and other assorted beast never seen before. Those who survived later came to hear of the name Invid. The newest offensive and defensive living weaponry of The Sith Empire. Some looked human, others were entire new species standing 25 feet tall with blade arms that looked like scythes attached to limbs.

For three days the village had been encircled by the assembled Sith force. What could this village do except prepare and await the inevitable and pray their children would wake to see another sun rise. It had been mid day when the first signs of something was about to happen. A winged man high in the air at the vanguard of the Sith forces had appeared. For half an hour he did not move only casting his gaze over the village until at last he held up a small metallic device and a dark red light ignited from the object.

A lightsaber. A weapon of the Sith. The Sith had returned, the signal was given. Blood was to flow through the streets. The damned to die.

Laser fire and missile fire ran down upon the village cutting though buildings and people alike sending the trapped people into an panic and search for shelter that would offer them safety. Offer them some fashion of a chance of survival. Doomed as it was under their righteous order.

Buildings cracked and moaned as they were raked by laser fire and burned by the flames ignited. Those unlucky enough could be trapped by the debris as a fire raged around them scorching their skin until at last the fire burned over their skin and devoured their flesh among pleas of mercy.

When the sounds of laser and missile fire had halted the sounds of marching could echoed downward at the villagers. The Doom Guard they had been called. Any sight of movement would instantly be fired upon from the troopers who marched in steady and unyielding rolls at their disobedient citizens who might exit from their hide away spots in their homes. Some ran from their houses making pleas, begging that their children be spared. Man or woman these people would be cut down by several laser blast before they could barely start to speak.

The Invid Scythe ravaged the buildings slicing into metal and wooden structures alike with their massive frames that could withstand all but the toughest of weapons. It did not matter to them who they found in a house, old, young, boy or girl, all would be sliced by their bladed arms in one stroke. Many more hiding were trampled to death beneath the girth of these unholy creatures.

In several hours the village had been reduced to a flaming pile of broken dreams. A vast portion of those who had been in it were now dead or injured. The village Mayor himself had been taken prisoner along with his family. Held at gun point they waited for the one promised to deliver judgement on the village.

No sooner were they told of this then did the sounds of wings flapping echo above them. From on high did the man descend on wings of leather and bone. Not an agent of Heaven. Not one of the holy choir of angel but an devil who once had the appearance of an being of good now altered to a more evil look and form to suit his nature.

Feet touched lightly on the ground as the wings wrapped around his chest and shoulders over his cloak that hung from his shoulders. The Siths dark forbidding look was only second to the captive green eyes that held many secrets and could spellbound those that dared to try and look at what rested in his soul.

A trooper holding a high discharge plasma blaster strolled up to the Sith giving a low bow and salute to the Sith Overlord. "This is the mayor and his family. We have been told he was involved with the resistence of the people against the Holy Order of the Sith my Lord." A glance at the people told him the story and he wondered how long before the mayor would wait before trying to make a fool hardy attempt to save himself if not his people.

It did not take long. Stepping up with his hands resting on two of his childrens shoulders protectively he sought the will to speak in company of those who held his and his families life in the palm of their hands. "I..I welcome you my Lord to my poor Village.....and wish to ask forgiveness....we did not mean to upset our Sith Masters.....it was a few who dared to speak out....they would have been dealt with....I.."

A gesture of the Siths hand silenced the Mayors plea and soon held up a small holo cube that projected in a blueish light a recording of the Mayor talking with some of the dissidents that made up the resistance council. The mayor looked at the Sith with quivering lips attempting to form some sort of protest.

A second trooper came up to the Sith dropping in a low bow waiting for the Sith to acknowledge his presence before uttering a sound. "Speak"

Standing up straight and saluting the trooper slung his blaster over his shoulder. "We have received an communications to you my Lord from the network. Your presence has been requested by an unusual source."

Staring at the trooper wondering what the man had been babbling about the Sith soon listened to the audio broadcast of the message. It had been verified as authentic so there was no deception. Not in the request at least.

For a moment the mayor dared to hope this message had taken away the focus from him. Perhaps he would escape for another day. He dared to hope in the impossible. The Siths green eyes soon bore down on him once more with a deadly light in his eyes. "For you and your peoples crime against the Justified and Holy policing of this planet I hereby sentenced you to death. Your shall be skinned alive and kept breathing as long as possible for all to bear witness too while your skin is hung where the flag of your Providence is now located..or shall be located at the rebuilt government facility. Two of your sons are to be executed. The old here shall be executed and so shall any newborns less then a year. The rest shall be introduced to a drug that will keep them firmly under lock and key. Those who dared to rebel shall also face public executions in the most gruesome of ways I assure you. The citizens who survived shall then here forth provide a portion of the economies income to the branch of government located on this words main providence in penance. Also the people here shall be re educated to erase their blatant religious and social prejudices."

A grin formed on the Siths lips as he turned to leave only to stop in his tracks. "One other thing.....I'am quite famished after my trip here. I shall request the company of your dear wife to help pass the time during my voyage though the darkness of space. Guards you may now carry out the assigned orders as spoken, let them be written, let them be done..... and send a message to Director Isard informing her of my pending arrival at the arranged destination."

His cloak flapping behind him as he walked away hearing the cries and screams of those behind him being subjected to his holy command the Sith allowed a moments sense of pride to course through his mind. Once more in the name of the Sith the proper order of existence had been re established. The garrison and troops here under loyal command would see to the rest of the problems and write up a report for him. Aboard the Raven with his "guest" for the trip he sailed though the vastness of space pondering what the good director had wanted with him. Soon he would find out he mused.

[Jekaan Oludh]

Something was going to happen. Something big - something huge, if she was slinking around the place as if someone would spy on her thoughts even. Something was going on in that oh-so-devious mind of hers, and she sure wasn’t making his job any easier with it.

There was that whole business about her disappearance the other day - he didn’t know about it until hours later, when he had overheard one of the guards who had been stationed at the door to her quarters. Of course, the talk hadn’t been about her disappearance, but rather about her mysterious re-appearance. How could a woman who had never left the room suddenly re-enter it again? Of course the rumour-mill was running hot now - all kinds of stories about the Director’s habits were making the rounds; and not long after he had found even the most serious staff members knocking against the walls, feeling for suspicious inlets that might lead them to the secret tunnels that the Madame Director had to be using. Just a few hours ago, he had caught one of the minor secretaries trying to sneak into her office unnoticed while the Director was out - the unfortunate man had paid for his unsolicited curiosity and was even presently going through a thorough questioning by Isard. Jekaan’s upper lip drew itself into a hint of a smile, but it failed to look even the remotest bit compassionate. No, the man deserved what he got.

And the cleaning crew would get a taste of it themselves once she would be finished with the guy - he could imagine their curiosity about secret tunnels to die down really fast once they would see what happened to those who took their curiosity a little too far.

“Hee hee hee hehehehehe…”

Chuckling to himself, Jekaan Oludh, the Madame Director’s personal assistant, prepared himself for the next few hours. He had intercepted the reply from that Sith Isard had been so bent on meeting - the man would arrive in a matter of hours. And it was up to Jekaan to see that everything about the meeting would go smoothly - well, as smoothly as anything could go if there were Sith involved. He didn’t trust those damn Sith one bit - didn’t know what in drokkin space Isard wanted with the lot of them anyway.

That was the second thing - what the frakk was going on that she would suddenly invite a Sith? And not just one - but a whole bunch of them… it was highly suspicious. And even more so was the sorry fact that in spite of his best attempts, he still would not find even the slightest hint of what was behind all this whole business with the Sith. And if not even he, the internal security chief and her own closest confidante could not find out what was going on, then indeed something big was going on.

But simply because he hadn’t found out anything so far, that didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be a chance yet to come. He would just have to make the necessary arrangements… slip a micro-rec device into her quarters while he arranged for the dinner, or something equally cunning. Maybe he needed to have a closer look through his little collection of gadgets that their engineering chief had cooked up in the past - if luck was with him, maybe he could find something Isard had failed to notice before; however unlikely that was, one could never know.

Chuckling again, and clutching his battered-looking datapad to himself, he hurried towards his own inner sanctum - a little secret chamber of his own, that he had hidden in the encrypt lab.

And returned, not more than an hour later, without the datapad, and patting an almost unnoticeable bulge inside the pocket of his lab-coat. Things were going just fine.

~~~~~~~~~

Later in the evening, he stood with a satisfied smirk next to the Madame Director, within the landing zone inside the small hangar that the building provided. The entrance from the outside was conveniently camouflaged by a huge advertisement for Fizzyglug - an elaborate projection that cost them far too much to keep up each year than it was worth, but then again, it did have its use.

One of the grey-clad officers ran up to him and saluted.

“The ship is now approaching the building - shall we shut down the projection?”

Jekaan was about to answer when Isard bent her head forward and looked past his face towards the officer. The look in her mismatching eyes was unreadable.

“Keep it up - let him fly through.”

She returned to her rigid posture then, and Jekaan thought it better to leave that decision unquestioned. After all, she was the boss - and with him still not having the slightest clue what this was all about, he knew better than to question her actions.

The officer looked a little non-plussed, but turned and went back to his console at the wall. Words occasionally drifted over from there as commands were exchanged with the incoming ship, then a low humming drew steadily nearer and higher in pitch. Finally, the nose of a ship pushed through the projected image, and with a high wine, it set down on the pad. The engine noise dropping lower, the landing ramp slowly began to lower.

And Ysanne Isard, Director of Intel, stepped forward to greet her guest.

[Jedah Lynch]

Touching down upon the landing pad the crafted came to a gentle stop with not so much as a shake inside the craft stirred the Sith who sat in his seat stroking the females face that lay on its side on his lap. A hand ran through the strands of hair on her head before his fingers came to rest on her cold pale cheek.

How the woman had been fearful when she first was brought into the craft, at first she had hid in the back cowering, crying over the unknown of what was suppose to come. Her family had been taken from her, all would be killed if not already dead and rotting in some God forsaken pit by now she knew. The sound of a door opening echoed in her ears as she looked up seeing the darken form of the one that had caused ruin to her people, her family.

Her sobs as she held her arms up in front of her face in some manner as if to ward off the evil that stood before her. Her tears ran endlessly down her face as her body shook in fear wishing to flee, to run away as fast as her legs could carry her. If only she could. No where to go, no where to hide she knew she was at the mercy of this monster.

Daring to look up at him she saw the green eyes that shined in the pale light of the hold of the ship, eyes that looked back down at her into her own eyes. She knew she should turn away, to lash out, to perhaps strike at the Sith and earn her freedom. She did not. All she felt she could do was let herself drift away into the light that was his eyes, the comfort that she felt to find in there.

The crimes he had committed against her own blood and people slowly vanished in her mind. Still she cried yet the reason was by now lost to her, holding out his hand to her in a gentle invitation was enough to cause her to rise to her feet and embrace him as she rested her face to his chest and wept. She was safe here, safe as long as she held onto him, his arms around her eased her troubles, her worries. What they were she no longer remembered, so distant the problems that had plagued her now were no where to be found.

His soothing voice erased all doubt, this she knew to be true. In his arms she was safe from all the dangers that had chased after her through her life. Everything would be alright, she knew that. She knew that as she brought her lips to his and kissed him deeply. She knew that as she gave herself to him time and time again during the trip through space with the echos of moans drowning out the beeping and sounds of machinery throughout the ship.

Promises of immortality whispered in her ears made her believe she could live forever, to be powerful then most mere mortals. To exist free of the limits imposed on mankind as one of the children of darkness. To be one with darkness, she had smiled, had whimpered when she felt his fangs break through her skin and start to drink from her blood. She had held tight to him letting her nude body caress his as she felt the life drain out of her waiting for him to shed his blood and make her one like him.

Now her body lay there cold and lifeless, drained of the crimson that gave life to all living beings. Perhaps he would have the Imperials dispose of the body. Discarding the thought he dragged the carcass to a container in the back and laid it down inside to rest. The lifeless eyes looked up at the Sith as he smiled down at her and slammed the container shut over her body, punching in the security code he would later get rid of it in space.

It was time to meet Isard.

Walking down the ramp he saw a female not far away along with a male who at best seemed to be on the verge of leaping out of his own skin as his eyes flickered this way and that. The mans characteristics reminded the Sith of the type that would rat out their friends and allies if the opportunity to gain higher status or money presented itself. Why an director would keep such a person near her was lost on the Sith, such people as the man always met a bad end.

Jekaan Oludh smiled as best he could while he strode up to the Sith seeking to maintain his composure. Sith. Why did the director have to invite such an thing here. Giving a salute to the Sith he bowed slightly. "Greetings to you, the Director is ready to met you, if you would be so kind to merely step forward and speak to her." Stepping to the side of the Sith Jekaan placed his hand on the back of the Siths shoulder in an attempt to tell him to go forward. The look from the Sith told Jekaan to remove his arm before he lost it.

Leaving the foolish person behind him the Siths green eyes locked onto that of Isard. Some said the lady was cold as Ice. The look on her face was certainly made of stone. If he could have sworn, he would have thought her a Sith with her grim visage.

[Ysanne Isard]

The merest hint of an amused smile played on the edges of her thin lips. How interesting, she thought, that her usually so cowardly assistant – at least when it came to dealing with Sith – would step forward to greet the man, completely out of his own volition.

She hadn’t asked him to do that. It wasn’t protocol. So what was behind it?

Ysanne had watched him rather closely, and thought she might have detected something in his movements that he had tried to hide. A dangerous glint of cold calculation crept into her eyes, and returned there whenever her eyes fell upon Jekaan afterwards.

Foolish. He must be getting careless… too bad. For him.

It almost made her forget why they were all here – but only almost. The reason for all this was now approaching her rapidly, and by the look in his eyes, it was a wonder that Jekaan still possessed both his arms. The Sith’s eyes locked with hers; they were green and would have given any ordinary man cold shudders of dread. But with her, the intensity of his cold stare simply faltered as they met her own, and faded away; she didn’t even blink an eye.

As he finally reached her, she coolly lifted an eyebrow, and, with a voice that dripped with false enthusiasm, she welcomed him.

“Ah yes…. Jedah Lynch. So good of you to finally get here.”

Her choice of words made it seem as if she had been waiting for him for a long time, and was now trying not to show her annoyance at his tardiness. Of course, no such thing was the case – there had been no particular hour of the evening appointed for this meeting – but it gave her a kind of security; she had gained the upper hand in this, and was determined to keep it that way. So she went on, before he could say anything in return,

“But pardon me if my address should displease someone of your high standing within the Sith Empire. What is it you wish to be called these days? Mr Lynch? Lord Lynch? Your Excellence? Your Majesty?”

[Darth Lynch]

What a delightful woman this Ysanne Isard was indeed, all the manners of a host with all the apparent emotions of an corpse. In his undead state the Sith Master on some levels was not much more than that himself. The way the woman however flat in tone did reveal cynicism in her way of addressing others - she did not give off the ludicrous rants most in power tended to prattle off from their tongue, he could easily foresee many that met with the director would be offset by her cold demeanor, a trait of hers that no doubt gave her an advantage over most and kept the officials around her firmly in check.

"Lynch will do. Now how should I address you? Isard? Dr. Isard? Madame? Director? Madame director or simply dear Ysanne?" Looking at Oludh the Sith almost smiled. "Or shall I skip any false flattery for those that wish their tongues to be cut out and place upon their dinner plate to eat."

A bead of sweat ran down from the side of Jekaan's brow, eyeing this Lynch stood there waiting for the good director to speak up. She did not have the air about her who cared for petty chat or the mindless rambling's of politicians, something that the dark male loathed dearly.

[Ysanne Isard]

Her cynicism had not been lost on him - and had been returned in kind. That was a refreshing change from the usual breed of visitors who would not dare to speak up for themselves out of fear of her.

To be feared could be of great benefit. But it made one feel old, and alone, at times; and quite bored.

Ysanne decided that she found this Sith to her liking. More so, because he had given her an idea with his last statement - an idea that was beginning to grow in her mind now; a sort of triumphant culmination of this visit it would be - or maybe just a special entree to the talks that would take place between them.

Her eyes slowly turned to look at her assistant who was still cowering abjectly behind the Sith, eager to ingratiate himself. If what she had observed earlier was indeed what she thought it was, then this new plan of hers would succeed excellently, indeed.

But she was wasting their time now - the sooner they could start, the better. And she still owed him a reply.

"Isard is good enough, Lynch."

She indicated the gate to her left as she addressed the Sith again.

"And talking of food - you have travelled far; it seemed appropriate to prepare a little nourishment for you. If you will accompany me to my chambers, please?"

With a smile she took great pains to supress, she noted Jekaan passing before the Sith and hurrying towards their destination.

...oh do hurry, indeed - into the trap you're setting for no one but yourself...