Marasiah Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notconflicted) wrote2019-03-07 02:34 pm
notconflicted) wrote2019-03-07 02:34 pm
Coruscant- Thursday
The Dac situation hadn't blown over as much as it died down, with no one officially addressing it. This was fine with Sia. She still had complicated feelings about it, including the nagging feeling that she'd been wrong, without having any good way to admit that. There were things she'd argued hard for, and to just double back on them would make her look weak at a time she really couldn't afford that.
This included Jao Assam, who she wasn't entirely convinced she was wrong about, but she was willing to entertain the thought. And if he was actually trying to go after Wredd, then the reports of him galavanting around with a certain cousin of Sia's, who had the murder of an Imperial Knight in her file.
She was actually dealing with this very situation, pacing while listening to a report about closing in on Ania, when she heard a knock at the metal door.
She paused the recording and called, "Enter."
Yalta Val walked in, striding past the troopers stationed at the door and over to her desk. "Empress, a word, if you please. It is urgent."
Of course it was. At least he wasn't interrupting one of her meetings again. "Guards, you may leave us," Sia said, and waited till the stormtroopers had left before addressing him. "I trust you do have a good reason to request my attention in this way, Val?"
"Empress, I need to know what justification we have for tracking down Ania Solo like this. It has to be a mistake."
Not only was Sia tired of every decision- including ones she'd made in committee- being questioned or overruled, but she really had a problem with this particular Knight becoming a constant source of irritation when he'd kriffed up in the first place. Especially when he was in contact with the lost Knight who was going around with Ania. "You need justification from me? Have you forgotten where my loyalties lie?"
He didn't answer, and in that second, Sia pulled open her desk drawer with the Force, her lightsaber coming straight to her hand. An instant later she'd ignited it and held it over her desk, the silver blade extended to his throat. Not to kill, not even to threaten, but close enough to prove a point. To his credit, Val didn't flinch or back away.
"What would I be if I killed you right now?" she asked calmly.
He still didn't flinch, but she was making him nervous. Ordinarily she might take a little satisfaction in that when it came to someone who had consistently been a thorn in her side, but she didn't. It was like he thought she actually might do it. "Empress, I… I am yours to do with as you will, of course."
"Wrong answer," Sia said, and she'd be bothered later that that was his answer. "I am a Knight, too, first and foremost. Serving as Empress does not supersede those vows. Nothing supersedes those vows." She turned off the blade, and lowered her arm. "Do you understand? Even I, in my position, am nothing without my Knights. When one of us is harmed, all of us feel the pain. Now we have the chance to bring justice to one of our fallen comrades. And you would deny us that? It is not my actions that require justification."
"And you believe Ania Solo should answer for it," he said.
"She should stand trial, yes," Sia nodded. "If she isn't guilty, then she'll have a fair chance to prove it. Is that satisfactory to you?"
Finally chagrined, Val nodded. "Yes, Empress."
"Dismissed."
Sia watched him leave, trying not too think about all those little doubts that still crept in.
[It's the kind of day where I opened this to work on one paragraph at 7 am and just finished because I was on hold. Taken from Legacy vol 2 #13! NBF, NFI, etc.]
This included Jao Assam, who she wasn't entirely convinced she was wrong about, but she was willing to entertain the thought. And if he was actually trying to go after Wredd, then the reports of him galavanting around with a certain cousin of Sia's, who had the murder of an Imperial Knight in her file.
She was actually dealing with this very situation, pacing while listening to a report about closing in on Ania, when she heard a knock at the metal door.
She paused the recording and called, "Enter."
Yalta Val walked in, striding past the troopers stationed at the door and over to her desk. "Empress, a word, if you please. It is urgent."
Of course it was. At least he wasn't interrupting one of her meetings again. "Guards, you may leave us," Sia said, and waited till the stormtroopers had left before addressing him. "I trust you do have a good reason to request my attention in this way, Val?"
"Empress, I need to know what justification we have for tracking down Ania Solo like this. It has to be a mistake."
Not only was Sia tired of every decision- including ones she'd made in committee- being questioned or overruled, but she really had a problem with this particular Knight becoming a constant source of irritation when he'd kriffed up in the first place. Especially when he was in contact with the lost Knight who was going around with Ania. "You need justification from me? Have you forgotten where my loyalties lie?"
He didn't answer, and in that second, Sia pulled open her desk drawer with the Force, her lightsaber coming straight to her hand. An instant later she'd ignited it and held it over her desk, the silver blade extended to his throat. Not to kill, not even to threaten, but close enough to prove a point. To his credit, Val didn't flinch or back away.
"What would I be if I killed you right now?" she asked calmly.
He still didn't flinch, but she was making him nervous. Ordinarily she might take a little satisfaction in that when it came to someone who had consistently been a thorn in her side, but she didn't. It was like he thought she actually might do it. "Empress, I… I am yours to do with as you will, of course."
"Wrong answer," Sia said, and she'd be bothered later that that was his answer. "I am a Knight, too, first and foremost. Serving as Empress does not supersede those vows. Nothing supersedes those vows." She turned off the blade, and lowered her arm. "Do you understand? Even I, in my position, am nothing without my Knights. When one of us is harmed, all of us feel the pain. Now we have the chance to bring justice to one of our fallen comrades. And you would deny us that? It is not my actions that require justification."
"And you believe Ania Solo should answer for it," he said.
"She should stand trial, yes," Sia nodded. "If she isn't guilty, then she'll have a fair chance to prove it. Is that satisfactory to you?"
Finally chagrined, Val nodded. "Yes, Empress."
"Dismissed."
Sia watched him leave, trying not too think about all those little doubts that still crept in.
[It's the kind of day where I opened this to work on one paragraph at 7 am and just finished because I was on hold. Taken from Legacy vol 2 #13! NBF, NFI, etc.]