Coruscant- Friday

[notconflicted]

If Sia didn't enjoy sitting in meetings to begin with, she really didn't appreciate it when she knew that no matter what decision they came to, the others were going to do whatever they wanted anyway. By the time she was free of those for the day- at least until someone or something interrupted again about another crisis- she went back to her office, just reveling in the quiet for a moment.

And then pulled out a datapad to start checking into anything she might have missed while she was in those meetings. There was always something.


[For one!]

Comments

[notconflicted]

Yeah, Sia wasn't exactly looking forward to this conversation, but that was basically her life these days anyway. "I have a minute," she said, turning off the datapad.

And letting her go first.

[craftyladyparts]

Jessica stepped inside and took a seat. "So where exactly do Sith get their names from? First Wredd, now Luft? Do they get extra lightning if they come up with an exceptionally bad name?"

Jessica had decided to ease into the conversation the same way a brick might ease into an egg.

[notconflicted]

"I don't know. And you've had more proximity to them than I have lately," Sia said evenly.

You know. Just in case Jessica forgot why Sia would be upset.

[craftyladyparts]

"Technically true, but I was mostly focused on taking out pirates and getting slaves to safety," Jessica pointed out. It didn't exactly sound like she regretted her choices. "I was still busy in a different part of the station when Luft was taken down."

[notconflicted]

Of course not, because everyone did whatever they wanted and nothing mattered.

"Good, I'm glad. Did you come here just to talk about Sith names?"

[craftyladyparts]

"Not just that. I also wanted to check in with you since I figured you'd be in a bad mood," Jessica said. "Give you an opportunity to vent or yell at someone if you need to. You can do that with me in a way you can't with the other Triumverate guys."

[notconflicted]

"Bad mood?" she repeated, eyebrows raised. "After one of those 'Triumvirate guys' went against everything we agreed without so much as suggesting a plan, and you for some reason went with him without warning, thereby making it harder for me to deal with those Triumvirate guys?"

[craftyladyparts]

"See? Bad mood. I called it," Jessica sassed. "You had good intel on a humanitarian crisis. Stazi wanted to help people. So did I. We did, and a Sith was neutralized without relying on another Sith to do the job." Okay, her intel on that point wasn't quite accurate, but that was a complicated point and they certainly didn't have the whole story on Wredd's plans. "I'm sorry if that makes some things harder for you to manage, but it was the right thing to do."

[notconflicted]

"We didn't have intel. We had Jao Assam- a deserter- saying this was happening. That's all we had." Partly because Sia had dismissed it, but no one had pushed for anything, either. "I'm not going to risk my people because someone tells us something they heard secondhand from a fugitive I have no reason to trust."

[craftyladyparts]

"Except that he was right and we saved a lot of helpless beings because of him," Jessica pointed out. "That should count as a reason to start trusting him."

[notconflicted]

"You don't understand what being a Knight means, apparently," Sia countered, "and I don't think you care. But all right, let me vent to you."

[craftyladyparts]

"No, I don't understand," Jessica admitted. "And it's not that I don't care, but I do have different values than the Imperial Knights." She did think it was notable that Yalta Val was one of the leaders of the assault, but she figured there was a good chance he was in trouble for that role.

[notconflicted]

He was in trouble for a lot of stuff.

"And what is it exactly that you want me to say?" Sia wondered. "You couldn't be bothered to talk to me before it happened, you clearly think you're right and I'm wrong, so, what would you have me do here?"

[craftyladyparts]

"The mission moved quickly from the time I was asked to join and, yes, I thought it was the right thing to do," Jessica said. "I told you a couple weeks ago that if I thought I had the opportunity to help people, I would, immediately. I want you to say what you feel you should, or what you need to. But I also want you to understand why I did what I did."

[notconflicted]

"Someone gave you information he didn't tell us and so everyone involved cut out two of the leaders of this galaxy like it was nothing because it was the right thing to do?"

There were a lot of ways in which this situation sucked, but the lack of a heads up from her best friend was the part that hurt the most.

[craftyladyparts]

"If it only ended in that many saved lives because we acted so quickly? Yes," Jessica said. "I'm sorry if the process wasn't as thorough as it could have been, but the people we saved are more important than process to me."

In fairness, she was a professional vigilante back home.

[notconflicted]

"This isn't just about process. You're one of my trusted advisors, you lead some of my troops, and you can't come to me with something like this?"

That 'trust' part was quickly dwindling through this conversation.

[craftyladyparts]

"In this case? I think you would have stuck to saying no, and I think that would have caused a delay that would have had a much worse result," Jessica admitted. "And you would have had good, rational reasons to say no. Reasons I would disagree with, but reasons I can understand. But I still have a responsibility to those people."

[notconflicted]

"And you think I don't? I'm their Empress, who's spent the last year killing herself trying to do the best thing for everyone while people pull things like this behind my back."

The fact that it worked this time just made it worse, and now she got to look even worse for being upset.

[craftyladyparts]

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think you were doing an amazing job overall, probably a better job than anyone has any reason to expect," Jessica said. "And I'm sorry to make things more difficult, but you can't tell me that saving those beings wasn't worth the price."

[notconflicted]

Sia didn't answer, because she wanted to think on that.

Instead, she paused. "If this happens again, what do you do? Do you come to me and let me make an informed decision if I promise to listen?"

[craftyladyparts]

"If you promise to listen? I'll come to you first," Jessica said. "But if I can't convince you to go along and you can't convince me to hold off, I can't promise not to do what I think is right. But you'll know about it first."

[notconflicted]

"That's fair," Sia decided, carefully.

[craftyladyparts]

"Good," Jessica said with a small sigh of relief. "I have to get back to my squad, but it was important to me to get to this as soon as I was back. Are we good for now?"

[notconflicted]

"We're better," she said.

She was still mad. But she'd have a much easier time getting over it.