The Gilded Cage (Jedi Mission)

[Kei'suke Zendu]

The end of his pencil rested on pursed lips. From his room at the top of the house, he could see large fluffy flakes of snow drifting down, blanketing the town. Naalol was often snowy, especially in the mountains. He couldn't think of a day that went by were he didn't see the ground covered in a crunchy, white blanket.

He continued to write, tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth as he put his thoughts to paper.

Dear Mum,

Being here is so boring. There are no other kids. I'm not allowed to go outside AT ALL. The people here are mean, even though they are my relatives.

I think I'm being punished because I made that other boy eat sand. I don't know HOW I did it, but he ate a lot of sand... I just told him to do it, because he was being mean. I didn't think he actually would.


Another pause. Outside, two large men came walking towards the house, dressed in big black coats. Kei'suke let out a big sigh. The last time they had come, they'd asked him what seemed like a million questions. Most of them he couldn't answer; they asked about things he didn't really understand.

I don't want to be here anymore, why can't I go home? I promise I will be the best kid ever in the entire universe. I will do all of my chores and eat all of my vegetables. Even the really gross ones.

Okay?


Your son,
Kei'suke

[Kei'suke Zendu]

My name is Kei'suke Zendu. I'm nine years old, almost TEN. I used to live with my mum and dad in one of the ridge towns on the planet Naalol. My dad is a great soldier for the Empire, but we don't know where he is right now...



All of this started because I had a fight at school. I was really mad, and I felt weird...Then I was in the office, being scolded because I made my class mate eat sand. Which is cool. If I could remember how to do it, I would make EVERYONE WHO IS MEAN eat ALL of the DIRT EVER...


When I got home, my auntie and uncle from Rigton were at the house. My mum was crying, she had packed me a big bag of all my most important stuff (like this notebook – I always write things!). I haven't seen her since then, I write her a letter every day but she never answers me back. They don't let me go outside.


Right now there are some weird people outside the house who're probably going to ask me dumb things again. If something BAD happens to me, someone who finds this notebook should give it to my mum. Or my dad.


The boy craned his neck, looking out the window at the figures approaching the home. He quickly stuffed his book under his pillow. Bare feet padded loudly across the warm wooden floor as he ran from his room, down the stairs, skidding to a halt in front of the door. Reaching up on tip toes, he deftly popped the latches and locks, swing the door open as his aunt came racing up behind him.

“WHOEVER YOU ARE, YOU CAN GO AWAY RIGHT NO-”



His yelled ended in a squeak as his aunt grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him inside the house. Kei was firmly planted on the bottom step as she welcomed the well-bundled strangers inside.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

A young Pantoran woman in a smart black Imperial uniform held up a holodisc with her credentials flashing in the air between them. Her yellow eyes flicked to her Wookiee companion before turning her attention to the youngster as he was wrangled back indoors.

"I am Kel Drrangar of the Imperrial Inquisitotrius and this is my colleague, Rworrbacca. May we come in?"

The "Pantoran" couldn't hide her patois accent and hoped it was at least passable. Or at least more passable than her "Wookiee" companion's cosmetic alterations.

[Kyle Krogen]

"I got these two. Go take their place." Were the only words that passed from his lips as his eyes became target locked on the two approaching black uniformed men. They stood out among the snowdrifts and not even the falling snow could purify the darkness in their hearts. They may call themselves Imperial Intelligence now, but once an Inquisitor always an Inquisitor.

The path narrowed between two homes and they never stood a chance as the Jedi Knight stepped out from behind one of the homes and struck. A handful of snow hit one in the face and the other was kicked in the ankle mid-step causing him to trip and fall. Turning back to the first a kick to the genitals dissuaded him from finishing pulling out his blaster. Street rules. A flurry of knuckles and elbows saw him put down into the snow. When the other got back up on his feet Kyle's companion was there to send him right back down again. Together they dragged the unconscious officers out of sight; using their own winter scarves to hogtie them.

Kyle would have liked nothing more than to have jumped out amethyst blade blazing and cut them in half for all the horrors they had released on the galaxy, but that was not the Jedi way, and every day was a battle to leave that pain behind and find peace in the code. The two little ones they had along for the ride were there to learn, not to witness horrific violence from one of the people they should be learning from.

[Kei'suke Zendu]

His aunt did her grown-up small talk (which was not interesting at ALL, as far as Kei was concerned), while the boy could only sit agape at the two very different beings standing in the doorway. Usually the people who came to talk to him where humans. Naalol had twi'leks of all colors but never wookies! Or blue humans!

..Except, something was off about them. He couldn't place what. The blue woman was staring at him, making him snap his mouth shut and look at his feet sheepishly.

[Kazahan]

"I am Kel Drrangar of the Imperrial Inquisitotrius and this is my colleague, Rworrbacca. May we come in?"

Kazahan wanted to remind his partner on this mission that technically the Inquisitorius was disbanded, but he kept quiet. Wookiees couldn't talk. Well they could, but he was having trouble with their language.

"Rworr," Rworrbacca said. The older woman's eyes snapped up to him and he glanced down at her, scratching an itch under his arm. This costume was amazing, but it was stifling and uncomfortable. He did love playing a wookiee.

"Rworr," he said again, for good measure.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

'Inquisitors' Drangar and Rworrbacca entered the home once the woman had allowed them entry, and the 'Pantoran' removed her hat, revealing a tightly-drawn ponytail of white hair. She looked past the woman, spying the shy looking youngster on the bannister.

"And this must be young Kei'suke?"

Drangar looked up to her Wookiee partner, extending a black-gloved hand to the boy.

"Come on, then."

She offered a smile, realizing that appearing to be affable and friendly in an all-black uniform with jackboots was probably trickier than otherwise.

"I don't bite, and I assurre you, neitherr does my Wookiee frriend."

[Kei'suke Zendu]

"Hm."

His aunt had already left the room, going back to doing whatever she did during the day, leaving him alone with the two alien beings. Kei looked up a bit, giving her a half smile.

"Are we going to do questions again? Or can we do something more fun? Questions are boring."

[Kazahan]

It was at that moment Kazahan realized he wasn't made out for disguise and subterfuge. The woman had left, and the only thing he could think was:

We should simply take the child now.

But they couldn't, could they? There'd be too many questions, too many holes, and the disappearance would be — if par for the course from what he'd heard of the Inquisition — blared out loud and they didn't have a bureau which could silence the whole thing and make it like it didn't happen. His tail wanted to flick in impatient anxiousness, but Wookiees didn't have tails, and it would be noticeable if his Wookiee fur started to pulse because his tail, shoved down the right leg of the costume was trying to free itself.

He growled softly, trying to tell his partner without words that time was of the essence.

[Draiya Naaianeya]

He was most-assuredly just a kid. Draiya knew that feeling. One day you're playing and the world is so big and there's not a care to be had, and the next day you can do things no one else can and then everything changes. She felt a little bad for him. Obviously the Jedi Order was the best chance Kei'suke was gonna get, but putting a decision like that in the hands of a kid years before other normal people had to make big choices was the terrible price that force users paid.

"Tirred of questions, huh?"

Draiya looked back to Kazahan, who was barely hiding his antsy body language. Her 'yellow' eyes returned to the boy, and she smiled at him, like she was in on a secret and he was lucky enough to be clued in.

"What if I werre to tell you that we'rre both in a club, and you'rre invited too? A special club, forr special people."

[Kei'suke Zendu]

"What kind of club?"

His dark eyes lit up, as he leaned closer to her. Visions of elaborate handshakes, dangerous missions and secret hideouts flashed through his head. He glanced at the twitchy wookie, then back to "Kel". It was HIS turn to ask the questions (FINALLY).

"What would I have to do to join? I mean, if I wanted to join. Maybe it's a club just for girls or aliens or something...Or something bad. Do you do fun stuff in your club?"

[Kyle Krogen]

After carefully stowing the bodies away in a snowdrift, and elbowing them in the face a few more times than necessary, Kyle crept back out to the street, moving further up and closer to the home that his companions were currently inside. All the while he kept his lightsabre in hand, his thumb resting on the activation stud. He was ready, and worse he wanted a fight. The inquisition had a lot to answer for. All the atrocities they had committed on the galaxy would be returned two-fold, and Kyle was more than willing to act as the avatar of justice that would bring them to their knees. Alas, the pair did not seem to have any followers. With his blood still rushing from the scrap he was left wanting more, but was forced to hide behind another house and keep watch. The two needed to hurry this up. Eventually someone would come looking for those two.

[Kazahan]

“Ufufufuf," the Trianii in his Wookiee suit laughed and shook his head. One hand extended and one of a pair of shoes lifted into the air and spun lazily about right in front of the little one.

“Rworr," Kazahan said. “Ufufufufufufuf."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Oh brother...Draiya tried not to wince at Kazahan's pidgin wookieespeak. While she certainly wasn't fluent in Shyriiwook, she'd heard little Hwooroc enough to get an idea of how it went. Kazahan sounded less like he was trying to speak Wookiee, and more like he was trying to gargle one. Still, at least he delivered the proper amount of flashy presentation to hopefully wow Kei'suke into following along. Draiya glanced down to a wrist monitor that gave the status of Kyle, who was covering their approach and exit. So far, everything was just fine. Of course, it could go bad in an instant, which was why it was best to be quick about things.

Draiya gave a conspiratorial glance to Kei'suke, after she was certain he'd gotten more than an eye-full of the impressive and bizarre.

"Only the most fun forr us. You'll learrn to do that, and even morre. All you have to do is come with us, and we'll show you."

[Kei'suke Zendu]

"FOR REAL!?"

His eyes went as big as saucers at the shoes, and his legs were bouncing like crazy. He looked ready to leap right out the door with the pair. A quick glance towards the other room, then back to the blue woman, a grin firmly planted on his lips.

"I already made a kid EAT sand. How's that for a good trick? My aunt said it's very uh, uncouth, but he deserved it! No-one here can do cool things like make shoes fly!"

Draiya could see the wheels turning in Kei'sukes' head as he stood up. "Can I bring stuff with me? Just important stuff - please?"

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Time wasn't on their side, and they couldn't afford to dawdle.

"Just a few things." She stooped to his eye level, extending a gloved hand for him to shake. "And we've got a deal. We'll need to make arrrangements with yourr aunt, but don't take too long, okay?"

So far, so good. Hopefully they could similarly convince Kei'suke's aunt that their point of view was in the child's best interest. Draiya gave her 'wookiee' friend a guarded glance.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian Cain of the Imperial Knights walked into the cul-de-sac and regarded the snowdrift with a pinched expression on his chiseled face. There was nothing especially unusual about it - it looked like any other pile of snow left behind by the municipal utility droids responsible for keeping the community's streets clear. But the pattern of footprints in the alley and the twin drag marks leading up to the pile told a different story. Either some neighborhood kids had just finished a wintry pick-up game of murderball, or...

The Empire's white knight narrowed his eyes, opened up his senses, and plunged his black-gloved hands unerringly into the soft powder covering the top of the snowdrift. When he pulled them out again, he had a hold of two ankles, each attached to a body wearing the black uniform of an Imperial inquisitor. Their faces were red and puffy from the cold where they weren't blackened and bruised, but they were both alive.

Baastian lifted his wrist comm to his mouth and said, "I've found Boyle and Donnels. I need medics on the corner of Fourth and Hsuberry. All other units, move to containment protocol. I think our two imposters in the house have a co-conspirator running around."

"If we move now, we might tip them off."

"I'm not putting any more Imperial citizens at risk, sergeant," Baastian replied. "I'm on my way to the house now. You see any sign of insurgents, keep them in sight but do not engage."

"Yes, Your Grace."

Baastian picked up his pace and dialed a local number into his comm unit. "Hello, Mrs. Zendu? I'm Baastian Cain of the Imperial Knights. I'm going to ask you to please remain calm. The two strangers in your house are not who they say they are. They're here to abduct your nephew. Do not let them leave with him. I'll be there in two minutes."

[Kazahan]

Kazahan waited until the excitable young child had disappeared up the stairs before speaking.

"This one has a feeling of anticipation and dread," he growled through the mask. "Time is short. This one will keep an eye here and on the child. Go and speak to the aunt, yes?"

Normally the Trianii was more politic and refrained from summarily taking control of situations. As fond as he was of needling his friends and rivals, a mission such as this wasn't the time nor place for it. But he was sure that Draiya, who was no slouch herself at sensing her environment, could tell just as much as he could.

[Kei'suke Zendu]

While Kei was upstairs, packing only the most essential of essentials (clean underwear, his notebook, his coolest t-shirt with the droids on it, a picture of his parents, not his toothbrush...), Mrs. Zendu was quietly hanging up the comm in the other room.

"Hello, Mrs. Zendu? I'm Baastian Cain of the Imperial Knights. I'm going to ask you to please remain calm. The two strangers in your house are not who they say they are. They're here to abduct your nephew. Do not let them leave with him. I'll be there in two minutes."

She had to stall them, at least for two minutes. A small part of her was going to give this Baastian Cain person a piece of her mind for allowing KIDNAPPERS onto an Imperial world and into her own home, but right now she was trying to maintain some sort of composure as she strode into the small hallway where the two criminals were standing. Her nephew was no where in sight.

"So, are you two almost finished talking to Kei'suke? He needs to do his homework and we'll be having lunch soon..." She forced her most cheerful and insincere smile onto her face, arms folding in front of her. Just two minutes. Then the Imperials would be here...

[Draiya Naaianeya]

No, this wasn't right. Her words were there. Her smile was there, but there was something left unsaid. She could see behind Mrs. Zendu's face, into her mind. Tension and apprehension were easy to find beneath the surface.

They couldn't afford to delay any longer, and Draiya had to try to make the woman see her point of view by other means. She felt Mrs. Zendu's thoughts, and the tipping point of her hesitation. Two fingers made a slight gesture as she spoke.

"Kei'suke is quite gifted. He should come with us, now."

[Kyle Krogen]

Boots crunching in the snow pulled Kyle's attention down the street. Peeking out from behind the building he noticed the lone man approaching. His eyes would have widened in surprise if they were not already narrowing in anger. Hands closed into fists as recognition echoed through his mind. Tall, broad, and authoritarian. He recognized the Empire's poster boy from the holos that he had seen. All the baby kissing and talks about a brighter future could not save him from Kyle's judgement; who only saw him as the face of the thing he despised most in the galaxy.

When the man, Baastain Cain's movements did not deviate from a destination that could only be the boy's home, Kyle stepped out from his hiding place. Already he was unbuttoning the heavy coat he was wearing, reducing the restriction to his movements without abandoning the warmth completely. His stride took him to the boy's front doorstep, where he turned and faced the so called Imperial hero. "Turn, and leave." The order was simple, but was emphasized by the lightsabre hilt clenched between his fingers like the handle of a club.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian slowed his approach, but only just enough to open his comm link so C&C could monitor the conversation. In another step he'd freed his own electrum-and-ebony lightsaber from its holster, but he kept the emitter pointed to the snow.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," he replied. "There are people inside who need my protection."

His eyes flickered down to the hilt in Kyle's hand. "You're in possession of an illegal weapon. Surrender, and I give you my word you'll be treated fairly."

[Kyle Krogen]

"I also have to protect those inside; including the child. Save your promises of fair treatment. I spent time in your so called fair prison system, and if I had a credit for every time my fingers and ribs were broken under the Inquisition's care I could buy the Empire right out from under Tarkin's shapely ass. There's only two ways this is going to go, Captain Tightpants. Either you let us leave with the child, or one of us doesn't. If all I do is bleed on that shiny uniform, well, it'll be a pleasure."

His stance loosed from the walk of an angry thug to something much softer; fluid. His stance widened, his boots kicked loose the snow that was building up around them, creating a more open footing. His coat was pulled free and tossed on top of a nearby repulsorcar. The cold came biting in immediately, but it only served to make him feel more aware. The lightsabre shifted in his hand, being held like the finesse weapon it was instead of the heavy weapon it was not. His thumb laid on top of the activation stud, pressed, and slid it forward. The familiar snap-hiss was punctuated by the violet blade that sprung to life, casting it's light on to the white snow and throwing shadows away from it.

"Kazahan! Get your furry ass out of here now!"

[Kazahan]

The Trianii in a Wookiee suit turned its face toward its 'Pantoran' associate, and sighed in irritation.

He turned and walked out the front door, and saw Kyle, but not much else, due to the eye holes in the mask.

"Why are you using names?" he growled, his voice muffled, but clearly audible through the mask. "Even if we are seen, there would be usefulness in anonymity. But no, you must use Kazahan's name, branding me and making me known! No more adventures in Imperial space for Kazahan! That would be too nice, yes? Let's restrict him from ever going undercover again!"

At this point in his quietly growled but still clearly audible diatribe, he noticed that Kyle was still not looking at him, but forward, at something beyond the peripheral vision he had in the Wookiee mask. He turned, following Kyle's line of sight and saw an Imperial Knight standing there looking as wizard and awesome as the holos had painted them. For Kazahan, the Empire was a distant entity, though stories of the atrocities and evil did reach Trian and its colonies, the only real enemies they had were pirates and the Corporate Sector Authority. As a result, he viewed the Empire with much less of a history, and had to admit that the Imperial Knights did seem to be an awesome and very wizardly organization. Almost more wizard than the Jedi, but only almost, as he had joined the Jedi and that pushed them over the top.

"Er," Kazahan said, realizing the Knight was standing there and listening to him whinge. "Gnaugh whaauu uufro?"

The knight's expression told Kazahan his gambit at playing a Wookiee had come to an end. He sighed, not looking forward to bidding farewell to his Wookiee suit.

"Perhaps this can be settled without violence, yes?"

[Baastian Cain]

The Imperial Knight adjusted his stance to keep both intruders in full view. Suspect number two looked like a Wookiee, but certainly didn't sound like one. Interesting.

"I'm all for it," he replied. "Bring your other accomplice outside, and we'll talk."

It was a big risk, asking to take on three Jedi at once. But the dispatcher's chatter in Baastian's earpiece told him that his comrades were drawing up a perimeter and steadily drawing it tighter around the neighborhood. Capturing even one of these recruiters would be a coup, but his foremost concern was for the safety of the boy and his aunt.

[Kei'suke Zendu]

"Kei'suke is quite gifted. He should go with you, now."

Mrs Zendus' arms drooped, her eyes growing slightly clouded as she repeated Draiyas' suggestion. Kei'suke was bounding down the stairs, stopping in front of his aunt with a backpack in his arms. He raised an eyebrow as the Wookie opened the front door - someone was outside yelling? - and walked into the snowy front yard.

He pushed passed the two women, standing in the doorway. Two men stood facing each other; one had a light sword, and the other looked super familiar. Kei was sure he had seen him on the holo..."Whoa."

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya's gloved hand pressed onto Kei'suke's shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze as she looked ahead at the man staring them down. He wore the attire of an Imperial Knight - the sect of force-sensitive poster children the Empire was now using to gain hearts and minds. He certainly looked the part - square jaw and fair features exuded the charisma of a natural hero. Unfortunately looks were deceiving.

"Kei'suke..." Draiya spoke low to the boy, her skin color slowly dropping its blue hue into her true ruddy complexion as her eyes and hair turned dark in turn. "...whateverr happens, stay close to me. I will keep you safe."

With her illusion cast off, the Padawan was able to extend her talents in other directions. She focused her attention onto Baastian, sensing his attunement to the moment and the careful caution of a fighter standing on the precipice. When the levee broke, she needed to act.

[Baastian Cain]

Baastian schooled his face as the young woman on the porch transformed from Pantaran to human, or something very close to it. A changeling in the Jedi ranks? That could certainly spell trouble in the future, probably more trouble than Wookiee masks. He wondered if he was seeing the girl's true form now or if she'd exchanged one disguise for another. Either way, still no reason for him to project anything less than total control of the situation.

"Thank you for your compliance," he said to the newcomer. "Our forces will be arriving shortly. Surrender peacefully, and none of you will be harmed."

This wasn't going to end peacefully - he didn't need the Force to tell him that. He knew where the first blow would come from, too, with such clarity that he had to remind himself the blow had not yet been struck.

His grip tightened on his electrum hilt, and with a baleful SNAP-hiss it sprouted a shimmering blade of pure white light, brilliant even against the snow. "This is your final warning."

[Kazahan]

"Now hold on!" the Trianii hadn't taken off his mask yet, and this as much as his desire to keep to a peaceful resolution — Jedi were supposed to seek out every avenue before settling on violence, weren't they? — kept him from pulling his weapon into plain view. "Turn off your lightsaber!"

He growled this at Kyle, who hadn't attacked yet, and Kazahan was almost scared as to why. The Knight's emotions were a roiling turbulent mess of anger and remembered fear.

"This one is afraid that we cannot allow ourselves to be arrested," Kazahan could tell the Knight was waiting, and he knew that he was waiting for Kyle to start the fight, though there was more to it than that. If Kazahan had been the one to come on the situation from the other direction... "We do not trust in the process of Imperial law as you do, you see."

Draiya was standing with them. Kazahan didn't turn his head away from the Imperial Knight as he murmured a plan to her.

"Kazahan and Kyle will hold off the Imperial," he said, softly enough that their foe — the antagonist in this situation was clearly Kyle — couldn't hear him unless among his talents was Force Hearing or something equally esoteric. "Draiya should take the child back to the rendezvous, yes? There are other Imperials about if Kazahan guesses correctly, and time wasted here is time for them to surround us, completely."

Kazahan reached to his back and pulled out a long hafted lightsaber hilt. It was almost the same size as the hilt for a lightstaff, but it was visibly thicker and heavier. In Kazahan's large clawed hands, it seemed proportional. He kept it unactivated, though it was in plain sight.

"This one does not want to fight," he said, taking one step down from the house's door. He was speaking to the Imperial now, and he subtly interposed himself between the Imperial and Kyle, who in his current state of building anger would be in fact something of a liability. All they needed to do was escape from, not kill, the Imperial. "Kazahan does not wish to die, naturally, and you are too cool for this one to wish you death. So, may we please leave? With the child."

Kazahan knew where he wanted to go with the negotiations, but raised by merchants and nomadic traders as he was, he knew the first step to haggling was to suggest an outrageous opening price. From there, they could drop to a more suitable price, which Kazahan had already settled upon. By himself, of course, but Kyle and Draiya were too set upon a violent means of escape, and there wasn't time to convince them to his viewpoint.

[Kyle Krogen]

His eyes never left the Imperial Knight. As the enemy's lightsabre roared to life Kyle's own grip tightened. Kazahan's voice finally cut through his focus, causing him to finally break eye contact and look sideways at the furball. He was trying to calm the situation, but that seemed impossible considering they were Jedi on an Imperial world seemingly kidnapping a child. To them it was freeing the child from the ruthless future the Empire had planned for him; but kidnapping all the same. Kyle had not come along because he thought they were doing the right thing, but because it looked dangerous and he was eager to lend himself to the Jedi's cause one way or another. Also he would be lying if he had not come along in case there happened to be Inquisitors to kill.

Kazahan stepped out into the battlefield, Lightsabre in hand. He spoke slowly and deliberately. The words made sense but it did little to sooth Kyle's outlook. His lightsabre dipped, pointing downward at the ground, snow melting around the tip, before his thumb slipped the activation stud back down and the blade disappeared entirely. However, his finger did not leave the stud, and in fact had it halfway pushed back up to active. His stance softened, but didn't completely disarm to a casual position. He was ready, like a coiled viper that could strike at a moment's notice.

[Kei'suke Zendu]

He felt a hand press on his shoulder - "...whateverr happens, stay close to me. I will keep you safe."

Kei turned to the blue (now not so blue) woman and nodded. The man from the holo had a light sword too, and everything just felt...bad. Like when you've done something wrong, and you're just waiting to get caught. THAT kind of feeling. He pulled his backpack on, ready to move if he absolutely had to, watching the Jedi and Imperial with wide eyes.

[Baastian Cain]

The only thing more surprising than the eloquent entreaty from the wookiee's mouth was that the hotheaded human had actually extinguished his lightsaber. Perhaps, Baastian thought, he'd read the Force's signs incorrectly. The Imperial Knight eased out of his combat-ready stance, but he didn't deactivate his own blade - instead, he swiftly angled it down and back in a variation on the ancient duelist's salute. The snow on the sidewalk began to steam away under the flickering tip of his blade.

"That's better," he said. "Maybe now we can talk this out like reasonable sentients. Would you mind telling me what your business is with Kei'suke?"

[Draiya Naaianeya]

Draiya frowned, the conversation coming from the Imperial Knight wasn't substantive and didn't seem to be for any other reason than to talk. Cooler heads and all, but time wasn't on their side if they waited, and in fact that was likely Baastian's intention. Dark eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Draiya dipped her head slightly as she spoke to Baastian, a strange tone to her voice as she assailed the walls of his mind, searching for a weakness to undermine or a rampart to scale.

"That isn't yourr concerrn. We arre no trrouble to you you. You should leave."

[Kazahan]

"You see, it's a longer tale than we have time to tell," Kazahan said, suppressing a sigh as Draiya tried to trick him into leaving. Hadn't he told her to make off with the child while he and Kyle dealt with the Imperial man?

"Go," the Trianii hissed quietly back to Draiya. "Now!"

"But Kazahan has made an opening offer," he said. "Since you did not reply — which was very rude by the way, horrible skills in haggling and negotiations, you should look into working on them, yes? — this one knows you do not want to let the child go. So perhaps... a trade, then? Kazahan will surrender to you, and you allow Kazahan's compatriots to leave the system unmolested with the child. It is a good deal, no?"

[Kyle Krogen]

"What are you doing?" Kyle hissed out of the side of his mouth, only taking his eyes on the Imperial Knight long enough to glance sideways at Kazahan. His grip tightened. He could feel his knuckles going white underneath his gloves. No one was getting captured on Kyle's watch, and if anyone was going to sacrifice themselves it was going to be him. He had made that decision a long time ago, while locked away in a cell with the promise of never seeing sunlight again. An Inquisition officer was worth his own life in exchange for their death. The Imperial Knights were just the same, if not worse. The Inquisition did not pretend to be in the right. They knew they were monsters. They were not gorgeous poster boys pretending to be safeguarding the galaxy from the Rebel and Jedi threat.

[Baastian Cain]

I should leave.

The thought occurred to Baastian while, coincidentally, the girl's mouth had been moving. If it weren't antithetical to his primary objective, he might have believed he had thought it himself. Hm. So that was what a mind trick felt like.

He shoved that train of thought into the back of his mind and fixed his eyes on the talking wookiee and his volatile human companion. The offer was interesting, to say the least. Knight-General Atrapes might even consider it a bargain - one Jedi conspirator for one nine-year-old novice, if indeed Kazahan was a Jedi. But he couldn't, in good conscience, consider abandoning an Imperial child to Rebel traffickers.

Not in good conscience.

"I'm afraid I can't just let you all just walk away with an Imperial citizen," Baastian said. Kei'suke still stood on the porch in the grasp of the swarthy young woman, wide-eyed, waiting for rescue. The Knight wondered who the boy thought were the rescuers.

"But I may be able to give you a head start. I can bring you back to base, then resume the search for your compatriots. Under no circumstances will Kei'suke be harmed. Do we have a deal?"