"In my defense, it was self-defense. Very proactive self-defense."
The ship I had borrowed touched down at the Rhu Caenus spaceport like a cat thrown into the play area at a dog daycare: undeniably graceful, but only a complete fool would have missed the fact that it did not belong there.
Why?
Because I had borrowed the Jedi Knight's Defender-class light corvette. The vivid red ship with a flat hammerhead prow, adorned as it was with Republic symbols and icons, should not have been able to land in the territory of an imperial puppet. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for the bloodthirsty air defenders, I had personal identification codes that told everybody that there was a Sith Lord aboard.
And only a complete fool would shoot down someone associated with their primary benefactors.
Even so, we did not linger long. As soon as the ship was secure and locked down, we were already leaving. All seven of us.
The Jedi Knight stuck to my side, as was only right as my equal partner in this endeavor. The Little Jedi followed on his left, with Natia on my right. Bybon and Levin made up the rear face of the hexagon as we ambled through the spaceport while earning no shortage of side-long glances. The seventh member of our group rolled in the center, ever so slightly hidden from view.
"I thought we had agreed against the frontal assault?" the Knight asked.
"We aren't assaulting anything," I said as we bypassed the immigration checkpoint. One of the benefits of flying with diplomatic codes, I supposed. "This is… scouting en masse."
"Scouts usually aren't supposed to be seen," the Little Jedi pointed out as our merry band crowded into a turbolift, the doors shutting with the hiss of hydraulics.
"It's called hiding in plain sight," I said. The humming of the turbolift bringing us up to the ground floor was surprisingly gentle, allowing me to be heard while keeping my voice at its usual level. "And sometimes, if something sounds too ridiculous or too good to be true, people will discount it out of hand."
"Or it will get us ambushed again," the Little Jedi pointed out.
"True enough," I allowed. "It would be incredibly unwise to charge into danger immediately after being lured into an ambush by the same people."
"And yet…" she started to say, her voice trailing off into a faintly teasing note.
"None of you came up with a better plan," I retorted.
Somewhere to the side, the rustling of cloth suggested one of my companions looked to the others for some reason. For a questioning glance, perhaps, but it hardly mattered.
A moment later, the turbolift whispered open and we strode out. Not even a minute later, we were out of the spaceport lobby and in the open air of Alderaan. Compared to Nar Shaddaa, Taris, and Dromund Kaas, it felt positively balmy. No smog, no excess humidity, no toxic fumes, just clean and beautiful air.
We made it perhaps ten paces before someone stopped us. They looked… reasonably well dressed? My knowledge of Alderaanian dress codes was sorely lacking, unfortunately. Normally, that information would have been included in a briefing I would have to slog my way through, but Imperial Intelligence was not supporting this particular endeavor.
Point is, a man wearing a cream-colored tunic and trousers had taken up position right in front of us, blocking the way forward. The heraldic symbol of House Thul was worked into the fabric above his heart, a red circle ringed in gold with some needlessly elaborate ornamentation surrounding it. Either this was a minor aristocrat with too high an opinion of himself, or a servant who had very specific instructions.
I could work with either option.
"My apologies. Do you need something?" I asked the man blocking our way. Could we have just bulldozed out way through? Yes. Yes we could have. Would it have been needlessly rude? Also yes.
"Do I have the honor of addressing the Sith Lord Nestor?" Strangely enough, the man remained straight-backed and unflinching, even when addressing someone he believed to be a Sith Lord. I had to admire the spine the man possessed, if nothing else.
"You do," I answered, resisting the urge to repeat myself. "His companions as well."
"Excellent," the man said, bowing deeply. "If your lordship would be so kind as to follow me?"
"And where precisely would that be?" I asked.
"To the gardens," he revealed. "Lord Praven's instructions were quite clear in that regard. If you were to appear in the lands of the House of Thul, you are to be brought to him posthaste."
I shared a glance with the rest of my party. The Little Jedi was impossible to read, as was often the case when we were about to head into trouble; In social situations, she was a lot easier to read. All she gave me then was a nod of approval and a victorious smirk.
Natia gave a look of resignation. Levin pretended not to notice me. Bybon rested a hand on his lightsaber.
And the Hero of Tython was beginning to flex his hand and roll his wrist as though to loosen up in preparation for a fight. Yeah, they all knew what was coming.
"Then lead the way," I instructed. The servant marched off, not bothering to look back, trusting us to follow. Credit where credit was due, that assumption of his was entirely on the money.
As we walked, fragments of a plan began to float into place in my mind.
"Please remind me," I said. "T7, do your weapons have a stun setting?"
As expected, I had no clue what that upbeat chirping sound meant. But the little droid was sapient, or something approaching it, and it would have been the height of rudeness to act as though he were just another appliance. Thankfully, the Jedi Knight was on hand to translate.
"They do," he confirmed. Clearly, he had already realized that I did not speak Droid. "Any blaster pistol meant to fit a humanoid hand can be dropped into his weapons bay, with some modification."
"Please keep that blaster on stun, T7," I said. In response, the droid blurted something in that peculiar language of his that the Jedi Knight chose not to translate. No doubt it had been insulting or otherwise improper. "And wait for my signal to use it."
Eh, I could cope. Besides, I had most of a plan, now.
Of course, just as I was beginning to feel slightly good about my chances, and just after our guide brought us into a stand of remarkably densely growing trees, the image of me being flung across the room in the Imperial Intelligence outpost on Nar Shaddaa rose into my mind. Except… not from my point of view. This was from closer to ground, and from behind me.
The Little Jedi's point of view of the ambush.
I drew on the image of the dismembered Lord Sadic, trusting the open walls of my mind to distribute it to the rest of the party. After all, if the last time we were ambushed went that poorly for them, why would the enemy try it again?
Besides, we were going to the gardens. How would one even boobytrap a garden?
The small forest went on for quite a while, the growth only interrupted by a carefully maintained gravel path, until we came upon a clearing. All the trees had been cut clear, the ground leveled and planted with a veritable rainbow of small-petaled flowers all carefully kept at the same height through some sorcerous botany.
And in the center of it all stood a crisp white gazebo, its framework little more than a support for the web of woodwork that had been carved into various visually pleasing shapes. Of course, the hole-filled walls and dome contained something far more dangerous than a tea party.
Lounging inside the gazebo was a single figure.
A Sith Pureblood, wearing pale blue robes and some kind of armored headpiece of the same color, sat alone at the central table, sipping something warm and fragrant. Tea, no doubt. I noticed there were six cups set out, one for each of us save the droid. None of us got any closer than the entrance, of course.
The Knight and I stood side by side crowding the entrance, while the others of our party formed a loose ring around the gazebo. The servant, if he had been one, had already scuttled off already. No doubt he had better things to do than watch Sith politics.
"Lord Praven," the Jedi Knight said in greeting.
"Master Jedi," he said in a startingly calm and smooth voice, choosing not to rise from his seat. "I suppose I should not have been surprised to see you collaborating so closely with one of my own. Lord Nestor, my thanks for coming so quickly."
"Your man had his orders," I said simply. "It was only polite to oblige him. I take it you wanted to discuss something with us beyond your immediate surrender?"
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release, you can join my p atreon :
p atreon.com/Darkness013