Marasiah Fel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
notconflicted) wrote2019-03-15 08:16 am
notconflicted) wrote2019-03-15 08:16 am
Coruscant- Friday
There were possibly better ways to do this, but Sia needed secrecy, and honestly, she needed to assert some kind of control over a situation where she knew she could lose it very quickly. This meant standing in the underground hallway of a quiet hangar, with guards, quietly waiting.
She could hear a very insistent voice ringing through the metal corridors as the speaker approached. "Hey, you can't just disappear me! I have friends, you know! They'll be looking for me! Really! But-"
It wasn't until she got down the stairs, roughly escorted by two stormtroopers out of necessity, that Ania spotted Sia and stopped struggling. The order had been to bring her willingly, but Sia had known better, and she'd gone to meet them, away from prying eyes, and where Ania would have less time to get back to her ship and escape again.
"Guards, wait outside," Sia ordered. "Ania and I have something to discuss."
As the stormtroopers left, standing far away enough to not be in earshot, but close enough that they could react if anything happened, Sia studied Ania. She'd seen holos, between that first transmission and footage of the tribunal, but this was the first time she'd ever seen her in person. There was maybe some family resemblance, if you knew to look for it, but mostly Sia thought she looked young, even though Ania had to be around her own age, possibly even older.
"Master Draco tells me you were desperate for a meeting," Sia said. "Why the suspicious looks now?"
"You certainly like to do things the hard way," Ania said, folding her arms over her chest.
"There are very few people brave enough to say that to me anymore," Sia said wryly. "I don't know how much you know about me, but I was trained as an Imperial Knight. The same as your friend Jao. I still am a Knight, body and heart. But my destiny is politics, and these things are not easy to reconcile. That's why I need you now, Ania. You're not bound by the same rules. You can do things I can't ever support publicly. I trust we understand each other now?"
"I understand that you just insulted me," Ania retorted. "Other than that, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Then let me be plain. I know Jao hasn't gone over to the dark side. And I know he has followed his vows as he sees them. But I, as Empress, can't be seen as weak. I can't play favorites. The law must be the final authority. But if you were to find him and bring him back, that would be different."
"You can't think I helped Jao escape. I couldn't even get past your secretary!"
"No, of course not. We've been tracking you. We know you had nothing to do with it."
Ania dropped her arms, looking somewhere between insulted and shocked. "You've been spying on me? That's… that's…"
Sia managed not to roll her eyes. "Be reasonable. You must know we have eyes everywhere here. That's how we know that the ship Jao took made it past our planetary sentries and made the jump to hyperspace. Where they went after that is anyone's guess. I am Jao's Empress, but he is also my brother in arms. Maybe you don't know what it means to risk everything for a friend, but I do. The one thing I can't risk is my position. The galaxy is far too unstable right now. That's why I need you. You will go with a platoon of stormtroopers and find Jao. I will deny all knowledge of it, but you-"
"No."
Sia blinked. "But I thought-"
"Why would I bring him back here? So you can execute him?"
"If you can find Jao, I'll figure out a way around his desertion charges," Sia promised. Not that she had any idea how to skirt this one.
Ania sighed, throwing another glare Sia's way, and stayed quiet for a long minute. "All right. But I'm not getting in one of your ships with a bunch of your goons."
She smiled. "If there's one thing I've learned as a politician, it's that everything is negotiable."
[From Legacy vol 2, #16! NFB, NFI, etc. Better decisions being made! Mostly!]
She could hear a very insistent voice ringing through the metal corridors as the speaker approached. "Hey, you can't just disappear me! I have friends, you know! They'll be looking for me! Really! But-"
It wasn't until she got down the stairs, roughly escorted by two stormtroopers out of necessity, that Ania spotted Sia and stopped struggling. The order had been to bring her willingly, but Sia had known better, and she'd gone to meet them, away from prying eyes, and where Ania would have less time to get back to her ship and escape again.
"Guards, wait outside," Sia ordered. "Ania and I have something to discuss."
As the stormtroopers left, standing far away enough to not be in earshot, but close enough that they could react if anything happened, Sia studied Ania. She'd seen holos, between that first transmission and footage of the tribunal, but this was the first time she'd ever seen her in person. There was maybe some family resemblance, if you knew to look for it, but mostly Sia thought she looked young, even though Ania had to be around her own age, possibly even older.
"Master Draco tells me you were desperate for a meeting," Sia said. "Why the suspicious looks now?"
"You certainly like to do things the hard way," Ania said, folding her arms over her chest.
"There are very few people brave enough to say that to me anymore," Sia said wryly. "I don't know how much you know about me, but I was trained as an Imperial Knight. The same as your friend Jao. I still am a Knight, body and heart. But my destiny is politics, and these things are not easy to reconcile. That's why I need you now, Ania. You're not bound by the same rules. You can do things I can't ever support publicly. I trust we understand each other now?"
"I understand that you just insulted me," Ania retorted. "Other than that, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Then let me be plain. I know Jao hasn't gone over to the dark side. And I know he has followed his vows as he sees them. But I, as Empress, can't be seen as weak. I can't play favorites. The law must be the final authority. But if you were to find him and bring him back, that would be different."
"You can't think I helped Jao escape. I couldn't even get past your secretary!"
"No, of course not. We've been tracking you. We know you had nothing to do with it."
Ania dropped her arms, looking somewhere between insulted and shocked. "You've been spying on me? That's… that's…"
Sia managed not to roll her eyes. "Be reasonable. You must know we have eyes everywhere here. That's how we know that the ship Jao took made it past our planetary sentries and made the jump to hyperspace. Where they went after that is anyone's guess. I am Jao's Empress, but he is also my brother in arms. Maybe you don't know what it means to risk everything for a friend, but I do. The one thing I can't risk is my position. The galaxy is far too unstable right now. That's why I need you. You will go with a platoon of stormtroopers and find Jao. I will deny all knowledge of it, but you-"
"No."
Sia blinked. "But I thought-"
"Why would I bring him back here? So you can execute him?"
"If you can find Jao, I'll figure out a way around his desertion charges," Sia promised. Not that she had any idea how to skirt this one.
Ania sighed, throwing another glare Sia's way, and stayed quiet for a long minute. "All right. But I'm not getting in one of your ships with a bunch of your goons."
She smiled. "If there's one thing I've learned as a politician, it's that everything is negotiable."
[From Legacy vol 2, #16! NFB, NFI, etc. Better decisions being made! Mostly!]