Hokusai (Pierce)

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

Dim light glowed in the opulent room. On a tucked-leather ottoman, J'ktal sat, his mind engrossed in his work. On the table beofre him were the various parts of an old slug-firing handgun. With the precision of a watchmaker, the grey mongoose cleaned and tooled each part to exacting specifications. Cleaning his aresnal was a weekly chore for the Death-Shadow, but one he enjoyed.

This time, though, his face was a picture of grim dissatisfaction. The spring in the recoil mechanism was too weak now to use again safely, he would have to order another, and wait nearly a month to get it.

J'ktal had little time to grouse as the shadow of a bair of feet became visible under the crack of his door to the outside hallway. They were men's feet, and appeared to be boots. Setting his brush down, the mongoose withdrew another, smaller handgun from his belt and mentally tripped the door open switch, aiming the barrel of his pistol to the dead center of the door, still unsure of who was there, and why they hadn't rung the bell.

[Pierce Tondry]

Light flowed around the figure standing in the doorway into the dimmer area of J'ktal's room, but it quickly evened out into a visible shape.

Pierce Tondry stood in the doorway. A lightsaber hung from his belt and no other weapons were visible on him. Anyone aware of Pierce's reputation would guess at least one or two items to be hidden on his person, and they would guess correct. What drew attention from any armaments Pierce might be carrying was instead what he was wearing- not the simple and functional shirt and trousers, but the blindfold across his eyes. It lent his already stern appeance a much deeper gravity.

For a moment, neither moved; then Pierce broke the silence.

"You will want to put that down, Padawan, before I take it as a threat to my person and act accordingly."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

When he realized that it was Pierce, and not another member of his own sect, J'ktal uncocked hsi weapon and set the safety before putting it back in its holster.

Rising from his seat, the mongoose said, "My apologies, Mr. Tondry, It is my nature to be suspect. What can I do for you?"

[Pierce Tondry]

"What you can do for me is not at issue here," Pierce replied. "What I need to do for you, is."

His head tilted as though he were gazing at the doorway through the blindfold. "Were you going to invite me in, or will we have this discussion in the hallway?"

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"You seemed to invite yourself down here, so I presumed you could invite yourself in just as easily, Mr. Tondry," came J'ktal's response.

[Pierce Tondry]

If the Nehantish had any fear of Pierce, it did not show. J'ktal probably estimated himself the better combatant; something about his demeanor suggested an ego.

"Sejah is my friend," Pierce said. "If I had wanted to kill you for anything regarding him, I would have moved to do so before now. What disturbs me the most is that you decided to follow your orders."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

Paging around the small table, J'ktal wandered to the kitchenette and pulled a bottle of soda from the refidgerator. "What disturbs me is that you still do not realize that I bear no ill will toward Mr. Haversh. Were we under better circumstances, I would call him friend as well. Care for a soda? I have cola, grape and orange."

[Pierce Tondry]

"Ill will or not, you hold a conflicting loyalty to that of the Order's."

Pierce stepped into the room and calmlyclosed the door. "I'm not much for fuzzyglug or the like. Do you do tea?"

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"But of course," J'ktal replied, setting his bottle down and opening a cupboard. Selecting a canister, he then set a kettle of water on the stove. "It will be a few minutes. Please, have a seat and tell me about this theory of yours."

[Pierce Tondry]

"No theory about it." Pierce glanced sideways in the direction of the kitchenette. "You still hold prevailing loyalty to the Nehantish who rule. Otherwise, you would not have pressed this issue when you have had plenty of time beforehand to do so."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"Then you think it better that I should have turned over that order to the local police, who would have been forced to take him away and deliver him to those with far less leniency than myself?" J'ktal said.

"What, did you come here just to insult me, Mr. Tondry? Do you question my integrity so much that you, so freshly made a knight, must come down here and 'set me straight'? For your information, I went to the council within the hour that I recieved that summons, and you do not know what transpired within the Council Chambers for you were not there. I suggest you let your superiors handle this matter, Mr. Tondry."

[Pierce Tondry]

A wry smile slid across Pierce's face. "So, when does a Jedi Knight become worth listening to? Roundabout the time they're in for a Master's trial, perhaps?"

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

J'ktal cracked the lid off his bottle with his paw and said, "The time of your promotion is of no issue here. The issue is that you do not trust the Council."

[Pierce Tondry]

"I trust the Council just fine." Pierce's gaze turned hard. "It's you I don't trust."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

J'ktal met the stony look with one of his own. "If you trusted the Council, then you would not be here. I am following their instruction, so by your own presence you believe that I must be plotting some kind of other retaliation that would surely result in my expulsion, and the failure of my original mission."

Taking a swig of his soda, the mongoose shook his head. "I have given you no reason to distrust me, Mr. Tondry. Your suspicions have no base in facts, and I find you to be dangerously accusatory. Tell me right now why you so baselessly hate me or get out of my house."

[Pierce Tondry]

Truthfully, it felt to Pierce like J'ktal's points were getting the better of his own. It irked him in a nebulous way, even as he tried to remind himself that there was no real right or wrong here, just danger and caution. He steadied himself, straightened the frown at his lips, and thought carefully over what he intended to say.

"I may be a little blunt," Pierce began. "But no one questions where my loyalties lie. I was a solider for years before becoming an Intel operative, and I've made it clear to my superiors in the Republic that I believe the Jedi calling is an important one. The reason I wear two hats is that I'm in the unique situation of being able to do things no one else can in the field. Things that need to be done."

"I see you in the same situation. You were trained for years to do one thing and be loyal to one voice. So was I. But eventually that loyalty came into conflict with what I felt I had to do. By then, I was in too deep. The only way out for me and everyone who trusted me was combat."

"Not everyone survived."

It was an understatement at best. The schism in Imperial Intelligence's forces had been brief, sharp, and brutal. At the end, Ysanne Isard's loyalists retained less than twenty percent of their number. Even with aid from the New Republic, there were still hundreds among Pierce's own forces dead from his decision to take what he could and defect.

"What I think, and what only you can truly determine, is whether loyalty to that one voice still commands you. Do you go on missions on behalf of the Nehatish governmentl? Do you not tell the Jedi? Do you plan your days out carefully so you can accomplish your orders and not be missed? In personal combat between your Sultan and your Jedi Master, who would you side with?"

Pierce held up a hand to forestall comments, even though he couldn't see whether his listener was inclined to say anything or not. "I'm not suggesting you do, I'm giving you examples of how a being can have a split loyalty and be unaware of it. I watch the Order like a hawk, keeping an eye out for threats from both within and without. Normally, I don't involve myself in matters unless they threaten to get out of hand. Most of the time, my place isn't to decide what outcome is just, and what isn't. I'm not here to lecture you, I don't want to fight you, and I'm not prepared to kill you under the current circumstances."

"What I want to do is help you see how precarious your position can be. Because you see, J'ktal, I don't hate you."

"I fear you."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

The kettle behind him began to whistle, and J'ktal took another drink of his soda beforee setting the bottle down and turning to pour the hot water into a teacup, then dropped in a small mesh tea strainer filled with shredded Nehantite tea leaves. Setting it on a saucer, he turned back and held it out to Pierce.

"Your tea, be careful, it is quite hot," he said, then paced over to a pair of armchairs by the coffee table so that they could sit down.

"You raise good points, Mr. Tondry," he started, "Yes, I do still go on missions for the Nehantite government. No, I do not always tell the Jedi. I always structure my days, even when I have no major plans, and yes, I am quite aware of what split loyalties are. Now, let me defend myself.

"You should fear me. That is a given with a Death-Shadow, even one you might call your closest friend. Such is our nature. But you also misunderstand that nature. We are not trained to be loyal to one voice. Far from it. The Death-Shadow pledge no allegiance to any government or ruler. We are above the Sultan, and not punishable by law under any circumstance. We do,, howerver as a corps watch out for, and keep order and honor amongst our own. I fear not retribution from the Sultan, Mr. Tondry, but from those I trained and serve with.

"You do your job well, and I have expected you to be suspicous of me. How could you not be? I am a trained assassin taught in the arts of deception and manipulation and could in fact be lying thtough my teeth right now but doing it so well that even the Jedi Masters would be incapable of discerning the truth. I will tell you that I am not, though, and hope that you trust me.

"I know fully well the dangerousness of my positon here, and need not be reminded of it, though your intent was well-meaning. However, tomorrow I will take Sejah before the council and spend exactly one hour beating him within an inch of his life, and there is very little that can be done to change that. It is the only way he will live through this ordeal, so if you care for him as a friend, you must accept that. How is the tea? I hope you like it."

[Pierce Tondry]

"Hot." Pierce swished the liquid around his tongue, testing and tasting. "But kinda interesting. Tastes like you've got some nutmeg or khadana spice in there. I like it."

Pierce set the teacup down on the coffee table, the surety with which he did so a clear indicator that the blindfold did not inhibit him. Then he clasped his hands together. "I've already said I don't trust you. I didn't before I knew you were part of a secret policing society and I still don't- that kinda thing's got its own pitfalls. Only thing'll change that is time and better circumstances. Right now, both those are in short stock."

"I am gonna have to sit while a friend of mine goes through hell, and I am gonna have to like it whether I really do or not. But if you get it into your head as you're laying into Sejah that one less Nehantite is a simple fix to this problem..."

Pierce smiled wryly and tapped his blindfold. "Justice may be blind, but it'll find you."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

The grey mongoose wanted to roll his eyes at the last thing Pierce said, but he thought better of it. "I will be punishing Mr. Haversh for crimes he did commit, and admitted to committing. Some of those crimes are that of murder. Do not pretend that he is a blue-eyed innocent, Mr. Tondry. And because I will be 'laying into' Sejah, there will not be one less Nehantite after this incident. I will even endeavor not to break his spine or cause brain damage, just to let you know."

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce shook his head, more at himself than at J'ktal. The words and the 'talking to' just weren't coming easily in this situation. "Didn't mean that. I know good people can do bad things- hell, I was the damn example for years. But if I know one thing, it's this: the Force doesn't care what we want or what our concerns are. If someone bites it in the rear, that person gets it back in a bad way."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"Just as Mr. Haversh's past has come back to bite him," J'ktal carried the theme across to his own reply. "I am sorry, but you will not be permitted to witness the beating, though I am sure that Mr. Haversh will appreciate your company in the medical ward afterward. Friednship means a great deal to him. Is there anything ese you wish to discuss, Mr. Tondry?"

[Pierce Tondry]

"I wasn't going to ask to watch," said Pierce, the wry amusement was back in his tone, but it had an accompanying edge that came from too many bad memories. "I've had my fill of torture in any form."

Pierce quickly shuffled aside his thoughts on that subject towards different ones. "If you don't mind my asking, how skilled are you in infiltration and spot analysis?"

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"You have a lovely painting hanging on the south wall of your living room, but it is a fake," came J'ktal's reply before he took another drink of his soda.

[Pierce Tondry]

A chuckle escaped Pierce's lips and he let it go. "About the kind of answer I'd expect. If you ever get tired of policing the Nehantish, come talk with me."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"I cannot stop being a Death-Shadow, Mr. Tondry," J'ktal admitted. "Not until I am at least fourty years of age. But should the Jedi require my more specialized services, I will make myself useful."

[Pierce Tondry]

"You take things pretty literally, don't you?" Pierce interjected a hand into his subject again. "Rhetorical question. What I meant was, when you get some more training under your belt and if you think you can handle a challenge I have a project I'm working on that I think you can help with."

He took another, longer sip of tea, which had cooled to a more palatable temperature. Talking so much had dried out his throat.

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

J'ktal was quite direct in his reply, "What kind of project and what further training do you feel I still need?"

[Pierce Tondry]

"You'd need Force specialization and further skill with a lightsaber," Pierce's reply was also frank. "You'd likely be dealing with Sith at some point, and I'd bet you've never seriously infiltrated one of their dens."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"That is a safe assumption," the mongoose said with a nod. "Though I will ahve you know that I can beat, and have beat Sejah in a fencing match. My skills with a blade, be they material or plasma, are quite formiddable."

[Pierce Tondry]

"Then I'll have to challenge you some time to see how good you really are." Pierce swallowed the last of the tea. "I appreciate your hospitality, Padawan. I didn't mean for us to get off on such a bad foot. Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting a gun at the door, though."

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

"It was not the only one trained on you," J'ktal said. As Pierce moved, the a small sentry gun shifted to follow him. "Sentry gun, fully automatic with heat and infra-red sensors. Motion tracking and target-locking. I am sorry, we Death-Shadow can be paranoid sometimes. It was a good talk, and perhaps in another week we can arrange a match. I am afraid my schedule is full until then."

[Pierce Tondry]

"I bet it's full." Pierce tried hard not to concentrate on the upcoming beating for Sejah as he stood to go. "People like us tend to get and stay busy. Thanks for the tea."

He turned to go for the door, then a thought struck him and he paused. "Out of curiosity, have you gotten to know Sejah at all?"

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

Standing to see Pierce out, J'ktal replied, "Not very well. He does not appreciate my company, so I try not to bother him. It also makes it easier for me to perform my duty tomorrow, which I would do even if he were my own brother, to let you know."

[Pierce Tondry]

"Try talking with him some time. He might surprise you."