Quinn sat forward, his head bent down as he studied the schematics that described the power generator Lusiel needed to destroy to reach the Organa woman. It was blatantly obvious to him, at least, what ploy Kendoh was using in choosing this particular site. He already anticipated the additional locations they would need to target before the shields covering the units were truly destroyed, anyway. Lusiel nodded at him from where she sat across the table, "Another length of rope drapes Kendoh's neck."
Quinn glanced at her, curious, "Should we warn them, however?"
Lusiel frowned as she looked down at her plate, prodding the glistening stew of kebroot Quinn insisted she finish eating with a delicate fork. And really. Why was everything on Alderaan made so pretty, she wondered. The food, the clothes, the people … "I have no interest in Kendoh's petty disputes with his cousins. Let him savor his success, for now. My master will direct me accordingly." Such dainty attitudes were too simply disappointed in the long run, she thought.
Quinn harrumphed, almost under his breath as he eyed her plate. Lusiel bit back her smile before spearing another bite with her oh-so-pretty fork. She was still over-prone to skipping meals, basically forgot to eat whenever she was focused on some given task or effort. Lusiel tolerated Quinn's conscious determination to guide her eating habits, so long as he accepted her prodding admonishments in regards his sleeping. The arrangement proved successful, at least.
They both glanced up when someone suddenly stumbled into the side of the table, there in the very same café where poor Chrimar Noven never ventured again.
Lusiel called that incentive enough to visit the place when Quinn declared he was hungry, so she yanked him inside. Well since they were there anyway, Lusiel might as well eat something as well, he said. She'd looked surprised and remarked, "Oh, yes, I am hungry." Quinn had carefully refrained from smiling as they proceeded to eat a rather hearty meal of nerf-beef on sticks, slathered in delicate dipping sauce, over flatbread, and with a side of stewed kebroot.
So when a stranger bumped into their table, Quinn scrambled to grab against his empty plate before it tumbled to the floor and shattered. He gripped the edge of the plate and slanted a glance at Lusiel, who's fork was holding her meal in place on top of the table. The clumsy oaf who'd bumped them stammered an apology, "Oh, my, I'm so so sorry, caught my foot on that step there. And why'd they go and put a step right there in the middle of the floor, I say. So sorry!"
Quinn stiffened angrily as he heard him, recognized the voice immediately. And why not, it was a voice he had considered through countless recorded lines of communication, worked tirelessly to discover and capture the agent. That he was there, right there and now on Alderaan, was not likely any sort of coincidence. Whatever glance at Quinn's datapad he hoped to glean from bumbling into their table would not win him any accolades from the SIS.
Quinn's hand shot out and seized hold of the man's shoulder. "Don't move, Voloren."
"What? Who're you talking about? That's not my name! Let me go! Someone make this madman let me go!" The human man, dressed in standard garb traditional to Alderaan, twisted in Quinn's hold. But the Imperial officer doggedly maintained his grip. Quinn actually smiled; Lusiel thought he looked quite as happy as a cat who swallows a tasty bird in its grasp.
The patrons of the café were startled. Several people gasped and cried out, "Not again! Another one!" The café's proprietors shot them hard glances and angry looks, but Lusiel only ignored them as she continued eating. Several people just broke and ran out of the place, determined to hide from anything involving Imperial business. Quinn only hoped none of the miscreants running away worked with the foolish agent currently squirming and shouting against his grasp.
Armored figures from one of the local security forces burst through the doors. The guards eyed Quinn and his prize with narrowed eyes, demanding, "What's going on here?"
The agent tried yanking himself free again. "This … this Imperial is insane! He keeps calling me by a strange name I've never heard and won't let me go!"
Quinn shook him, hard enough his teeth rattled against the back of his mouth. "Shut up! You guards, leave! This man is being taken into Imperial custody. He is no concern of yours."
"'Fraid we can't do that, Mr. Imperial Sir. This fellow is a citizen of Alderaan, not an Imperial, and we'll be taking him from your completely unkind hold right now." The guards strutted closer, their hands reaching out towards Quinn's prisoner when a Sith accent suddenly interrupted.
"Do not make me put down my fork and deal with you idiots. It's a pretty fork. So is the food. I'd like to finish it." Everyone froze as Lusiel finally spoke, addressing the guards. Quinn kept his attention focused on the agent, who only kept squirming from outright panic. But the guards spun their heads around to look at her, and both of the men gulped as they took in her armor and weapon. That she was blithely continuing to eat her meal just struck them as particularly frightening for some reason. But there she reclined, finely munching on stewed kebroot even as the entire café became so cold and quiet.
"You're uh … Sith? Right?"
Lusiel swallowed another bite, balefully staring at the guards.
"Err … I'm sure you understand we need to take this fellow off for uh … questioning."
Lusiel shook her head, not glancing towards Quinn as she replied. "The man is in custody already, rather. He will remain there until he is properly questioned by Imperial authorities. You are not needed here, he is no concern of yours. Now leave."
"But this Imperial, here, has no right … !"
Lusiel glared at them, her eyes so dark they looked like pools of black, molten rock. "Are you going to continue disturbing my meal right now? It disturbs my captain when I fail to finish my meals, mind you. I don't like it when he is upset."
"Oh." Both the guards looked at each other, confused. "Well. No, my lord. I guess not."
The man Quinn had called Voloren renewed his squirming, wriggling struggles against Quinn's hold once it was clear the guards would not truly help him. Quinn held him tight as he shouted at the guards' backs, "Come back, you can't leave me here! I'm Alderaanian! Damn you, you fools!"
"Shut up, Voloren." Quinn gestured with his free hand that Lusiel continue eating, "My lord, you're nearly done with your food."
Lusiel smirked at him as she picked up a piece of flatbread and continued chewing. They waited, patiently. It really wasn't long before a Chiss approached the small group, a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder. The man eyed the entire scene - all the silent, watching patrons in the café and the Sith wiping the crumbs from her lips, the agitated fellow in fancy robes held up by the Imperial officer gripping a blaster in one hand. His red eyes hardened tellingly as he demanded, "I assume this fellow needs to be questioned. Explain, briefly."
Quinn nodded at the Chiss. "I hunted this figure several years ago. I had him cornered at one point. But I was forced to give up my pursuit when I was recalled. I've continued the pursuit during my free times ever since. He's called Voloren, and he works with the SIS."
The Chiss turned to Lusiel, his big red eyes seeming to stare, almost, into nothingness. Lusiel was direct and she never even glanced at Voloren when she told the Chiss, "If my captain says this man is an SIS agent, then he is. Take him."
It was enough. No one denied a Sith. The Chiss lifted his chin, "Of course, my lord. We'll question him at length. Captain, please ensure all information you have on the agent is transferred to Imperial Intelligence at once."
The man glared at them all, jerking one last time. "You'll not get away with this."
Lusiel watched the Chiss drag the protesting human away, as she spooned the very last bit of her food into her mouth. Then she smiled, "Ah, Quinn! Food and a show! How thrilling!"
Voloren is introduced during ordinary conversations with Malavai Quinn through the course of the Sith Warrior story. Quinn explains that Voloren only escaped him during the Battle of Drukenwell due to the gross incompetence of his superior, Moff Broysc, and indicates he has continued hunting the man ever since.
