Coruscant- Friday

[notconflicted]

There hadn't been any sign that today was going to go terribly. Sia had Jessica in her office, both to talk over actual work and so Jessica could save her day a little by being normal, and then all of a sudden a transmission was forced through, a small blue image of a man, stripped shirtless and tied to a chair, in the middle of the table.

"Oh no," Sia breathed, recognizing him immediately. "Master Val.."

She didn't have time to react any more than that, or to consider that in order to be sending this transmission, they had to be using her communications array to do it, because them a man began speaking. He wasn't in view, but could be heard well over the image of the disgraced Imperial Knight.

"Ask yourselves, do you feel safe?" he began. "The Sith have been defeated, and a new peace has descended on the galaxy. Or has it? You tell yourselves that this new Triumvirate Federation is stronger than the sum of its parts, but you know that's a lie. The Empress holds no real power. The Jedi are only a shadow of what they once were. The Galactic Alliance is broken and weak. You don't have to rely on my word. I'll give you proof."

He stepped into the frame now, a tall, imposing human male in armor, with cybernetics covering most of his face. "You can call me Darth Wredd. Pay close attention. It isn't every day that you see an Imperial Knight killed like a helpless beast. And ask yourself… if I can do this, is there anyone who is safe? If I can so easily mislead and entire system and kill an Imperial Knight- a Master- then who can stop me? Certainly not you, little bug, but I'm happy to have you watch."

Sia frowned- he seemed to be speaking to someone else in the room who wasn't visible, but blaster bolts streaked across the image, and a moment later Wredd had kicked the shooter- a girl- and sent her flying somewhere.

"There's no real power left in the galaxy that can oppose me. No one can guess where I'll strike next," Wredd continued, kicking the chair forward to knock Val forward, onto his face on the floor.

Wredd lifted his lightsaber to bring it down on him, but Val pulled a lightsaber to his hand from somewhere- it wasn't his- and sliced through his bindings so he could twist out of the way just in time. Val sprung to his feet to start doing battle- and then the transmission began to waver in and out, and the holographic figures disappeared.

Naturally things moved fast after that. Sia immediately set Antares on finding out what he could about the situation, and then had to arrange to meet with the rest of the Triumvirate.

"At least they're coming here," Sia said as she walked with Jessica towards the conference room. "It at least gives us time to look like we know what's happening."


[Taken from Legacy vol 2, #5. For Jess in the comments!]

Comments

[craftyladyparts]

"I take it that means you don't have any idea what's happening. Do you know this guy? I haven't come across a Wredd before," Jessica said. Due to the seriousness of the moment, she wasn't going to comment on who names himself after a color.

Hopefully she never saw how it was spelled.

[notconflicted]

"I've never heard of him," Sia said, shaking her head. "I'm not sure I would have. The Sith I'm used to dealing with have a very different look about them, most of the time."

Red and black was Sithly.

"Maybe he's part of some other faction, or an offshoot."

[craftyladyparts]

"I hate organizations like this. It's like Hydra. One week they're just some guys, then they're a militia taking over the upper Midwest, then they're run by freaking Doom," Jessica complained. She just needed to put it in familiar terms so she could grasp the concept. "I'm also not used to that kind of grandstanding by bad guys out here. Guy really wanted to make a spectacle."

[notconflicted]

"Yes," Sia sighed, "he did. Publicly. To the entire galaxy."

Using her array. She was very good at hiding how pissed off and freaked out that made her feel, but she was definitely feeling it.

"The Sith were badly beaten before. It doesn't surprise me that they would want to remind everyone of their presence in a big way."

[craftyladyparts]

"The one bright spot is that it didn't go the way he wanted. That Knight definitely wasn't helpless," Jessica pointed out. "And I'm going to hold out hope that the feed didn't come back means he and the girl got away."

[notconflicted]

"I want to know who was there and why," Sia said, reserving judgment on the girl for the moment. "If they escaped, Master Val should be in contact the moment he's able. If not..."

Then they had even more very big problems, and there were probably things Sia needed to answer for.

[craftyladyparts]

Jessica, meanwhile, had a soft spot for anonymous youths fighting well above their weight class. "Draco will have that news soon, I'm sure. One way or the other."

[notconflicted]

"And then I get to argue with the others about that news," she said, and admitted, "I'm not looking forward to it."

[craftyladyparts]

"Another bright spot for me personally is that I get to let you have those arguments and I don't have to say anything that'll get me in trouble," Jessica pointed out.

[notconflicted]

"That's a bright spot for me, too," Sia countered. It'd be funny! And then everything would be terrible.

[craftyladyparts]

"See? Positivity is creeping in already," Jessica suggested. "Hopefully the Force keeps the good karma going."

[thegoddamnworst]

Was that the cue for a too-serious Imperial Knight to catch up to them without actually trying?

Yes.

"We have a very preliminary report from Governor Biala of the Carreras System," he announced, offering a datapad.

[craftyladyparts]

Jessica poked at the datapad. Sure, the Empress probably should have gotten it, but Jessica liked intel. "Looks like a clearer view of the girl from the broadcast. Any idea what she was doing there?"

[thegoddamnworst]

"There's no clear indication. She seems to have been working in some capacity with Jao Assam," Antares said, pointedly, because that particular Imperial Knight had already been a source of Discussion.

[notconflicted]

"Of course he did," Sia said, because of course he did. And now she would be getting Antares' version of an 'I told you so' too. "Obviously disobeying a direct order."

[craftyladyparts]

As far as Jessica was concerned, working with an Imperial Knight was a point in her favor. Even if he had been a point of Discussion. Maybe especially then, considering her history. "Does we have a name for her?"

[thegoddamnworst]

Antares spared a glance at Sia before saying, "Her name is Ania Solo."

[notconflicted]

Completely caught off guard by that name, Sia actually stopped in her tracks.

"Who the hell is Ania Solo?"