A Call to Order: Ambition

[Senator Thareena]

The petite auburn haired woman stood as her visitor...visitors? entered the office. "Mistress Vide, I am honored at your presence. And your ...friend as well." The slight hesitation was a mistake on her part; she knew better than to reveal surprise to an opponent.

Although Vide was not an opponent. Not yet at least. Maren was the thorn in her side. Vide was a possible ally, and not to be treated haphazardly, unexpected companion or not. "Please, have a seat, both of you." Fa'un Thareena ordered her secretary to leave the office with a quirk of her eyebrow, and then took a seat as well in the small sitting area away from the desk.

It was as equals should sit, although she was sure Vide was lowborn. Her friend had a feral look about him, although he was dressed nicely enough. Both wore dark cloaks with hoods, but Thareena was good at catching the nuances of a person from just a few glances.

"I understand you wished to talk to me?" Political assistant and former opponent of Senator Maren, Mon Thareena stood in a place most would envy. But it was not enough. It would never be enough for her. Until she could address the Galactic Senate as Senator, she would not be content.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De’Ville sat in the chair indicated, and turned to the politician. “I apologize, but I am not much for small talk.” In the shadows of her cloak, an eyebrow arched upwards delicately.

Thareena seemed slightly off put, but inclined her head graciously. “Chandrila has a history of saying what must be said, no matter the consequences. Do not restrain yourself on my behalf.”

The thin woman nodded, and reached up with birdlike hands to pull her hood away from her face. The soft light of the office hit her feature for the first time, and Thareena felt distinctly uncomfortable. De’Ville’s eyes were decorated with twin jagged lines from forehead to cheekbones, and the politician had never seen facial decorations of that kind before.

The Dark Jedi settled into her seat, although her silent companion did not, sitting straight, alert underneath his cloak. “Your senator has been a thorn in your side for a long time, has he not, Thareena?” Again the eyebrow twitched, as though the woman was slightly amused at the whole proceedings. “The Hand, whom I represent, can help you obtain your goals.”

The Chandrilan seemed to consider the meaning held within those two sentences, and De’Ville continued, “My siblings and I desire what you desire. We require only the assurance that when we call upon you, you will not forget who put you where you will be.” Her eyes glittered dangerously, “When we are not concerned with an issue, your actions will be your own, and Chandrila’s, of course. Yet our goals are not so different. Peace, order, and freedom in the galaxy.

“The Empire offers order with no freedom, and the New Republic offers freedom with no order. We do not align ourselves with the warlords of the Broken Empire, but with the New Republic.” De’Ville leaned forward. “If we are to assist you, then you must swear to uphold what we are both striving for.”

She paused, tasting the ambition and fear in the room that flowed from the politician across from her. “You wish to stand with us, I can sense it. What holds you back?”

“I will not sell my people into another type of slavery. My great grandmother, Canna Omonda, was senator under Palpatine’s regime. She was excecuted after being tortured into confessing crimes she had never committed.” Thareena seemed to grow taller in her chair. “I -”

“The Hand has no interest in placing the people of Chandrila in harms way. But the Senate is useless without strong leaders. As it is, sessions turn into bickering matches between toddlers, and the Jedi control their every decision. Even one of your contemporaries is a Jedi Knight.” De’Ville spread her hands in helplessness. “The corruption of the New Republic is almost as deep as that of the Old Republic.”

[Senator Thareena]

Thareena felt slightly worried as the conversation rapidly turned serious. She had counted on a few minutes of chatting about the weather, and recommending the sights in Hanna City to her guests. The woman, this Vide, was making her feel like she was the guest, and that she was doing her the favor by seeing her.

But then, perhaps that was not so far off from the truth.

As the thin woman across from her continued to talk, Thareena’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Jedi in the Senate. “Evenstar, isn’t it? That upstart from Arcan IV. They are sending her to Carshoulis Prime with Jedi to negotiate peace between the Republic and the Pride on the issue of Calan.” She frowned. “I was to be sent, but at the last minute the Senate decided that a full senator should go. Instead of the logical choice of Chandrila’s senior senator, they turned completely around and chose Evenstar. Arcan IV has less than one sixteenth of the political sway of Chandrila.”

Vide’s eyes seemed liquid pools of knowledge as Thareena glanced at her, or perhaps sponges, soaking up everything in the room. The woman shivered, and glanced at the other visitor, still cloaked, and much bigger than this tallish woman with the black lines on her face.

“Who is you companion? You said nothing about another when we set up this meeting.” Her voice betrayed a sudden streak of nervousness. Someone will find out, and I will be ruined.

The thin woman turned to her friend, and gestured. “His name is Vega, and he is my sibling. He is here to help me answer your questions.”

The other being did not uncloak, remaining hidden in shadows. Thareena felt distinctly uncomfortable. “How can the Hand help me? I am ready to stand by your side, Vide, but you have given me no assurances in your rhetoric. Only conditions.”

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“You have no cause for concern when it comes to the validity of our offer, I can assure you.”

For the first time the second being spoke and instantly Thareena felt some of her grounds for worry affirmed. The manner in which ‘Vega’ spoke was in keeping with the impression she had gotten of him; his accent was a mixture between some form of aristocratic upbringing and a growl, which provided a faintly threatening tone to each word spoken.

Baring in mind the man’s size, it wouldn’t have been too hard to imagine him as being ‘insurance’ that the agreement went in Vide’s favour.

“Think of the deal as being limitless. Whatever you should require, it can be supplied.”

This sounded fairly promising.

“Whoever is troubling you, or hindering in the task at hand, can be persuaded to do otherwise.”

This was slightly worrying, but at the same time strangely reassuring. All politicians spoke the language of metaphors and could understand the not-so subtle secondary meanings of words like ‘persuade’ or ‘dealt with’.

[Senator Thareena]

Thareena stared at the cloaked being, measuring his words. She could not deny the tingle of anticipation that threaded up her spine at his offer. “Anything I want? What I want most of all you have already offered me. However, I hear your words, and I ...”

Did she accept? To say these were strange bedfellows was an understatement. The female was as hard edged as any she’d met, and the other’s refusal to uncloak completely unbalanced Thareena. The eyes were important in politics. There was much to be learned there...lies could be seen, mistrust read.

Although if these were who they said they were, or at least, a part of what they represented, then they did not need her eyes to read her untruths. Not that she was telling any. Or had she? Thareena thought for a moment, then caught herself. Back to the point at hand. “You can read me, can you not? I have no falseness in me when I say I would be a fool to trust you. But I would also be a fool not to accept your words. So.”

The female, Vide, seemed to smirk without moving her lips. “Then we are at an impasse.”

“Perhaps not.” Thareena’s mind raced. Dare I?

“Oh?” Again the eyebrow, stained with paint, arched upward.

Thareena changed topics, “Apparently you trust me. Or at least you appear to.”

“Your work with the refugees from Corellia goes before you.” Vide inclined her head graciously, although her warrior eyes never wavered from the politician’s face. “The proposal for the death sentence on Chandrila also...you are humanitarian, yet ruthless. A female after the Hand’s own heart.” She paused, then continued, “Tell me, what do you think of the state of Corellia?”

She shrugged lightly, reaching up to straighten a rumple on her white robes. “The Corellian System is overrun by the so-called Sith Order. Talus and Tralus, Drall, Selonia...Corellia herself tainted by their evil deeds. The Corellian people, the Drall and the Selonians all suffer needlessly under their regime, working almost as slaves to support the war machine of the ‘Sith.’”

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De’Ville listened to the politician talk about the ‘Sith,’ and nodded, then interjected, “You do not seem to believe they are actually Sith. Your feelings betray you.” The woman looked up sharply at her words, and De’Ville almost smiled again. It was too easy to bait this woman. If all politicians were as easily played as this one...but then she was not in her natural habitat.

Put Mon Thareena behind a podium, and beware the person who spoke against what she wanted! This idle talk about things not related to the point was rattling her, yet she spoke easily enough. “I do not believe anything I do not see with my own eyes. Ruthless? Yes. Impractical in their excesses? Indeed they are. Sith...or even Force users? I have never met a member of the Order, unlike the Hand.”

Lilaena lifted her shoulders and let them fall back. “Do you question our ability to back up what we have said before you?”

The auburn haired woman made a small dismissive gesture. “I would not want to think that the Hand was merely talk, and I do not, yet the thought did cross my mind.”

De’Ville picked up her water glass with her left hand and threw it at Vega, hard and fast enough to hit him in the side of the head. The way his cloak was positioned, he would be hard pressed to even see it from the corner of his eye.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

The glass was half way between De’Ville’s hand and Vega’s head when it froze. The water had already begun to pass into the air, yet it still held a solid shape.

Between his head turning to the side, and the glass shooting off across the room, there was barely enough time to blink. The container shattered against a wall, its contents splashing to the floor. Underneath his hood, Vega smiled.

It was time to set the politician at ease a little, the Lupine had decided. A moment after his small display of his skills, Vega reached for the top of his hood and with one hand pulled it back. Silently, he was daring her to see his eyes and actually feel any better about him. He looked almost as outlandish as Vide did, with sharp cyan eyes that resembled a wolf’s and a small collection of scars littering the plains of his face.

“I do hope you will reconsider your opinion of the Hand,” he intoned, his speech betraying canine’s that were far too large to belong to any normal humanoid.

[Senator Thareena]

Thareena licked her suddenly dry lips and reminded herself of the old saying. Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it. Well, here it was. His eyes were enchanting and terrible all at once, and she found it hard to look away.

Of course, then there was the matter of the rest of his face. It spoke of battles; this one was a fighter. Vide didn't seem the type, but this one... He radiated deadly grace and an attitude that stripped away all pretentions except his own. The Aide to the Senator of Chandrila smoothed her robes again.

"I require no further confirmation. I do believe that you are as you say you are." Choose your words carefully, woman. They may be your last. If you bed the devil, don't tell him you've had better. Or something to that affect. She'd jumped when the glass had hit the wall, but now that it was a small pile of shattered glass on the floor, she was feeling a little better. "What should I do?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville blinked slowly, and swiveled her head to look at Van Derveld. His eyes tracked to hers, and then back to a point somewhere three inches behind Fa'un's eyes. Mon Thareena got the distinct impression they were telepathically communicating.

They were not.

The woman she knew as Vide cleared her throat and made a small, dismissive gesture. "You need do nothing. Yet." Their eyes met, and locked. Lilaena found what she was looking for inside the woman's head, and put slight pressure on one of the nodes in Thareena's head.

The Aide to Senator Maren of Chandrila leaned forward, feeling slightly euphoric. "I want to help you."

"I require only a hair from your head." De'Ville steepled her fingers underneath her chin.

[Silus Xilarian]

Hanna City was beautiful this time of year. Silus wore a light coat and jeans. Nothing flashy, nothing that could hide a weapon easily. Today, he played the part of a tourist, marvelling at the city and taking endless amounts of pictures. One of the grandest sites was Senator Maren's Villa, which was surrounded by an awe inspiring garden. Many a visitor have longed to stroll through, taking in the beauty nature had provided. Ruining the scene however, was a tight perimeter of armed guards, posted in intervals around the property.

Silus casually strolled around, choosing to enjoy the outer beauty of the property, rather than ask for a tour (tours were strictly prohibited, and were only allowed for very important visitors).

On the outside, it appeared as if he were taking in the sites, and being amazed. On the inside, he was making mental notes of guard positions and other such security details. Right now, he would only look. It was daylight, so any further "sight seeing" would be delayed til later.

[Senator Thareena]

"A hair?" Thareena's feeling of well being vanished. "What for?" Do they want to clone me? Cloning was illegal, but she didn't think that would paticularly stop her two visitors if they had the means to do it.

Fa'un Thareena looked at the cyan eyed man, and found herself pulling a hair from her head. "Here." She handed it to Vide.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Vega quirked an eyebrow at the odd request of a hair. No doubt it would prove an invaluable reagent in some hex later on – a little disconcerting considering the fact that if a hair was all De’Ville needed then the Lupine himself could have been cursed in the blink of an eye. None the less, he offered a reassuring smile to Fa'un.

“Thank you for your time,” he rumbled, gathering up his cloak at his waist as he rose to his feet.

“I believe our business here is concluded, is it not?”

His head turned to ‘Vide’ as he held back a grin.

“We have many other matters to attend to whilst here, beginning with finding residence for the evening.”

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She secreted the hair away, and also stood to her feet. "I will be back, Thareena." With an oath for you to swear. Fealty to the Hand above all else. The Aide smiled faintly, and also stood, smoothing her white robes.

"There are quite a few good hotels on the main thoroughfare." Thareena was being polite to the last, although the emotions coming off of her felt slightly sick. As though she might vomit at any moment. De'Ville shook her hand, nodded, and then she and Van Derveld took their leave.

Within a few minutes they were entering a cab and heading towards the main street of Hanna City.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

As Vega sat down, he glanced sideways at Lilaena and smirked.

“What’re you planning,” he murmured, careful not to raise his voice so loud that the driver of the car would hear (truthfully, even if he did it would make little difference, since such faceless people tended to know when to keep their mouths shut).

“I feel as though I’m preaching to the choir, with no knowledge of the god I’m promoting.”

[Silus Xilarian]

In a small diner just down the street from Senator Maren's villa, Silus sat going through his photos. Security seemed pretty tight, but if there was one thing Silus knew, it was defensive coordination. This also meant, if there were one flaw in the perimeter, he was just the guy to find it.

During his trip to the Villa he had, quite nonchalantly and not to mention unsuspiciously, made a complete circle around the place, and managing to photograph every inch of the perimeter.

He had nearly gone through the whole set of photos, which was indicated when he came across the photo of a cute redhead he'd met there. He grinned to himself and stuffed the photo into his pocket next to her comlink number. He quickly wiped the grin off his face though, after all, he had to be serious!

He crossed one photo that caught his attention again. At a corner of the perimeter there was a spot where the security camera was pointed away from him. Also in the picture, two guards were passing each other, walking in opposite directions. In the next photo the guards were gone. In the next photo after that, the guards were almost passing again. Quickly he flipped the photos over, looking at the times he had written on the back.

1335 hours
1340 hours
1344 hours

This was the blind spot he had been looking for. However, it left a maximum window of 5 minutes for himself, De Ville and Van Derveld to jump the wall and go. He would give them 2 minutes to be safe, but 5 minutes was the ABSOLUTE longest.

As quick as he had came, Silus gathered his photos and left...

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Preaching to the choir?" De'Ville smiled at him, and volunteered no more information. Vega exhaled, his expression and body language suggesting frustration. They traveled in silence to their hotel.

After checking in, a silvery droid showed them their two room suite. Kitchenette, couches and vidscreen in one room, a large king sized bed and bathroom in the other. De'Ville shrugged out of her cloak, and looked at Vega who was peering into the bedroom. He looked back at her. "I thought two rooms meant two beds." To his surprise she managed to blush.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Vega, internally, groaned. It was not an audible noise, but there was a visible sag in his shoulders that suggested annoyance. He paced to the petite couch in the room as he removed his robe and draped it over the arm of the chair, his hand remaining planted on the cushion. Even under just the weight of his hand it seemed to strain and the Lupine could have sworn he heard it squeak.

“Well couch, old friend,” he muttered, looking down at what would be his bed for the night – after all, he didn’t imagine De’Ville would approve of sleeping with him, nor was he keen on being vulnerable around her.

“So we meet again.”

[Silus Xilarian]

Senator Maren's Villa - 2340 hours

The guards at the villa were amazingly precise. Just as it had been earlier in the day, the blindspot held up. Every hour on the hour.

Silus had taken precautions. He wore all black. His clothing wasnt very tight, but it wasnt so loose that it would be easily hung on anything if Silus were to have to beat a hasty retreat. On his back, he wore a black backpack to keep his supplies, which consisted of a lock pick, light enhancing binoculars, comlink, and a laptop computer. On either side of the backpack was a blaster, in case the situation got hairy, and strapped on the inside of the backpack was Silus' lightsabers, just in case the situation got really hairy.

The wall in front of him wasnt very high, as it was more for privacy than security. With a running start, Silus jumped and grabbed the edge of the wall, quickly pulling himself over and dropping to the other side.

As soon as he landed, Silus quickly took two steps to the right, covering himself in shadow completely. He removed the binoculars from his backpack and started looking around. All the cameras along the wall stayed pointed toward the outside, and Silus scanned the scenery a few times over, just to make sure his theory was correct. As he had expected, no cameras recorded happenings inside the outer walls. Most likely, Senator Maren asked for this personally, so that he could bring a mistress here without worry of his significant other finding out. You gotta love politicians.

The outer gardens werent much of a problem to navigate, but making his way through them was slowgoing, as Silus wanted to avoid getting any mud or water on his shoes. Conveniently enough, all the walkways were cobblestone, which meant zero footprints. Even better, a cobblestone walkway lead straight from the garden to a patio.

As he expected, the door was locked, so Silus removed the lockpick from his backpack. In a matter of seconds, the door slowly opened and Silus was putting the lockpick back into his backpack.

There was nothing overly special about the interior of the house, nothing worth mentioning at least. The decor was nice, and reflected Maren's wealth.

Silus proceeding up the stairs, opening each door he came across til he found the master bedroom. It was too hard to pick out from the rest as it was the largest, and most elaborate. As Silus walked in, he checked the chrono on his wrist. He still had 30 mins before he needed to get going, so he resisted sitting on the bed (which could leave an imprint for Maren to see the next time he was at the Villa), and sat on the floor, removing the labtop, binoculars, and laptob from his backpack.

He plugged in the binoculars and uploaded the images that were saved when Silus scanned over the landscape. He then plugged his comlink into the laptop and held the earpiece over to his ear before sending a transmission to Vega's comlink...

"You guys still awake over there?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville shrugged, "You can have the bed." She walked to the kitchenette, and was opening the refridgerator when her commlink chirped.

"You guys still awake over there?" Xilarian sounded a little tired.

"Yes. What do you have for us?" She walked back over to Vega, and plugged her commlink into a blank datapad in case he had anything to upload.

[Silus Xilarian]

As soon as Lilaena plugged in the blank datapad, an encrypted transmission was sent. Before her eyes, the images from Silus binoculars appeared on the datapad. Using the pad and a stylus, Silus circled the outside window that lead into Maren's bedroom, and made a quick trace showing the path he'd taken once inside. A few pictures of the outer security were sent also, mainly of the soldiers and guards, with a quick description of visible weapons and such...

"I dont wanna keep this connection very long, so we'll go over the details when I get to the hotel, or in the morning, if you two are about to hit the sack. Where are we staying tonight?"

[Vega Van-Derveld]

“Some god awful place with a big crown hanging about the door … the King something,”

Vega watched the transmission with internet, taking in what was being shown and committing it to memory. Though he more often than not favoured a direct approach – i.e. kicking the doors down and filling everyone insight with bullet wounds – he did indulge in a little cloak and dagger skulking when it suited him – i.e. now.

“We can go over the details in the morning,” he added, before turning away – De’Ville had offered the bed, and he wasn’t going to give her the chance to change her mind.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Get here as soon as you can, we will be leaving in the morning." With, or without you, she didn't need to add.

Silus acknowledged, and cut transmission.

De'Ville slipped into the refresher before Van Derveld could, and washed her face with hot water. She looked at the face in the mirror....a little wan and pinched. As though she'd been stretched. She sighed, dried her face, and exited the 'fresher.

She grabbed a blanket off the bed, and exited to the couch, where she snuggled up on the cushions.

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus walked casually on his way back, content to stare at his shadow in front of him from the light that was cast from the streetlights above. He'd remembered seeing the hotel earlier, though it was a decently long walk from Maren's villa. It dawned on him as he arrived at the hotel that neither De'Ville nor Van Derveld had taken the time to mention which room they were in. He bypassed the guy at the desk and started down the hallway of rooms, walking til that little feeling in the back of his head yold him to stop. He walked up and hit the button for the door to open, and stepped on in with a feeling of relief that they had decided to leave the door unlocked.

He wasnt happy at what he saw.

Silus was under the impression that they were getting a two bed room, which would leave the couch for Silus. Even worse was the fact that De'Ville was on the couch, due to the fact that if Silus had to choose who he'd rather sleep beside, the choice would obviously be a woman. He was too tired to worry about it now though.

Silus walked up to the bed and dropped his backpack and his coat by the front corner of the bed, then let out a heavy sigh as he pushed Vega to the far side of the bed, then laid down and shut his eyes.

Sleeping on the floor was never considered by Silus...at all.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

The Lupine awoke to an odd feeling and realized, as he turned to push himself out of bed, exactly why this sensation was rumbling in his gut – the bed had not been his own throughout the night. Still laying dozing was Silus, whom Vega woke with a start before even considering approaching De’Ville.

“Morning, sunshine.”

He grinned and swung his legs down to the floor – opening the curtains within the room and flooding it with harsh early morning sunlight as he walked into the refresher.

“Rise and shine, kids!”

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville rolled over and then sat up as light from the bedroom filtered into the sitting area. Silus was here...he'd arrived during the night. She hadn't been asleep, although he had assumed she was, but she'd been content to pretend, so he'd just leave her alone.

It was getting harder and harder to sleep through the night.

"Xilarian, good work yesterday." She was throwing her boots on and checking her chrono.

[Silus Xilarian]

"Thanks"

He said as he sat up. Vega seemed bright and chipper, while De'Ville acted as if she were about to walk out the door. Silus had only gotten about three hours of sleep, thus getting out of bed wasnt something he looked forward to. He glanced over in time to catch a glimpse of De'Ville walking into the kitchen..

"Nice to know I have a fan..."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She snorted but said nothing in reply to Xilarian's egotistical remark. Opening up the refridgeration unit, she pulled out a bottle of filtered water, and cracked it open before walking to the doorway of the bedroom. "You two ready to go? The sooner this planet is behind us the better."

Lilaena turned away from the door, and walked to the front door. "I am going to check us out. Meet me at the ship." She hefted her small overnight bag, and left the suite.