Mordivai settled down at the bar, trying to look casual. A Mirialan woman a few seats over blew some smoke in his direction and gave him a quizzical stare. Lord Zash said that he would be meeting his two contacts here. She had chosen the seediest cantina on Nar Shaddaa to do it in, and Mordivai wondered if the people he would be working with would be as hard on their luck as the patrons of this bar. The reasonings and plans of his master were rarely revealed to him, and as usual, he had little to go on. Zash's cheerful, unfailing confidence was unnerving at times. He was after another ancient Sith artifact - he knew only that it was some kind of pendant - and he was supposed to wrench it from another Sith's possession. Zash had dismissed this Sith as a threat, although Mordivai was not yet convinced of her assessment. For not the first time, Mordivai wondered if Zash was surreptitiously trying to get him killed.

"Lord Paladius has been toying for the past few years with some little cult he's got worshipping him," Zash had said. "I've found you some disgruntled ex-members who I'm sure will be happy to help you track him down. Good luck!"

Good luck indeed. Mordivai glanced around. He was too well dressed for such an establishment, too young-looking, and a stranger. Mordivai drew back his outer robe and hooked it behind the hilt of his lightsaber, making sure that the weapon was on clear display. It would be better, he decided, to try and head off any trouble rather than wait for trouble to come to him.

"Nice try kid, but we both know that thing ain't real."

It was the Mirialan again, this time flashing him a set of mismatched teeth in shades that weren't natural. Mordivai wasn't sure if dental care was just that bad on Nar Shaddaa's lower levels or if she was making some kind of fashion statement. She gave him a wink and tossed back her drink. There was a faint murmur from her direction, but Mordivai couldn't catch the words.

"Excuse me?"

"I said," she paused and leaned forward, enunciating every word as if he were deaf or stupid. "I know that thing ain't real." She jabbed a finger toward lightsaber on his belt. "Cute though."

Again, the muttering flittered through his head, but Mordivai was staring right at her this time, and clearly saw that her lips hadn't moved. With surprise, he realized that he was catching glimpses of her thoughts, broadcasted to him loud as day. Mordivai had spent nearly all his life surrounded by Force users, all trained in the art of concealing their thoughts from others. He was shocked at how easily he had seen into hers. Even Ai'lanynn and Skiro had not been as open as this spacer. She thought him some stupid kid and had pegged him for an easy mark. In fact, she was planning to rob him as soon as he left the bar.

Mordivai fancied the idea of putting on a little show for this spacer, just he could watch the smirk fall off her face, but he held back, wondering at the wisdom of calling attention to himself. Maybe he could find-

"My lord? Is that you?"

Mordivai looked up to see a young woman weaving towards him. Her dark eyes searched his face in earnest. "Lord Zash's apprentice?"

Mordivai stood. "Yes, that's me."

On the other side of him, the Mirialan was sputtering into her cup, shaking her head and thinking about all the crazy things kids will tell girls just to get laid. Mordivai pushed her intrusive thoughts out of his head.

"I knew it!" the new woman was saying. "Destris said it couldn't be, that you were way too young, but I said you fit the description, with the hair and the…" she paused, her eyes flicking over his face, no doubt staring at his scar.

"You found me. Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"Oh! Of course. Destris and I got a table right over there." She gestured to the far side of the room, where a sullen young man was slouched in a chair, his arms folded. Mordivai followed her over.

The man she had called Destris grunted and nodded in Mordivai's direction, not even bothering to stand in greeting. His expression was bored and disinterested, a far cry from the eager politeness Mordivai was picking up from the girl. Destris nodded to an empty chair and Mordivai took it.

"So, this is Destris and I'm Rylee. What should we call you, my lord?"

"Mordivai."

"Pleased to meet you Lord Mordivai."

"Just Mordivai is fine."

Mordivai folded his hands and studied his new contacts. Rylee had dark skin and dark, curious eyes, whereas Destris was paler, his features sharp and cunning. "So," Mordivai ventured, "you have left Lord Paladius's service?"

Destris snorted and sat forward, thumping his boots on the floor. "You could say that. Bastard took us for all we were worth and then gave us nothing but lies. Zash says you'll see him dead. You good enough to do that?"

"Zash said that, did she?" Funny, Mordivai thought, Zash had said nothing about killing any Sith lords to him. He wondered which one of them was telling the truth. "I thought I was here to collect an artifact."

"Kill him and then you can peel whatever trinket you're after off his body."

Rylee perked up in her chair, looking alarmed. "What Destris means, my lord, is that we can help each other. Take whatever you want of Paladius's, but we would be grateful if you freed the rest of our brothers and sisters from him."

"So, this is about revenge? Or something else?"

Mordivai looked at each of them and watched their hesitation. Perhaps they were not as united in their goals as he had been led to believe.

"Paladius promised us we'd see justice. Promised us an army, promised us freedom!" Destris slammed his fist on the table. "In a year, he said we'd be in our rightful place, not being shit upon by the self-righteous butt-lickers above us!"

"Destris!" Rylee hissed, but he was ignoring her.

"But where are we now, huh?" he continued. "It's been three years! Our work feeds his fat belly, fills his house with shiny statues and shit. But still we toil in his casinos, getting nowhere. Where is the 'day of revolution' he promised us?"

Was this some kind of political activist cult? Mordivai felt out of his element. He knew nothing of the daily lives of the people of Nar Shaddaa. He took a closer look at Rylee and Destris, at Rylee's worn clothes and the weariness hidden beneath Destris's anger. What kind of leader was this Paladius?

"What was supposed to happen on the 'day of revolution?'" he asked.

"An insurrection! A throw-down of massive proportions! Why do you think we'd been stockpiling weapons, ammo, gear? Only Rylee and me found out that there ain't no gear, no weapons, no stockpile of nothing. It was all a lie! We were supposed to rise up! To-"

"Ok." Mordivai held out a hand. "I understand. You want me to take out Paladius. And then what happens?"

"Then we take over!"

"After you get your artifact, he means," Rylee added.

"How do I get to Paladius?"

"Got some floating palace somewhere. Think he'd tell us where it is? You have to smoke him out. Show him there's a new boss in town. Talks about protecting us, but he's done nothing. The local gangs are creeping in, giving us trouble and Paladius doesn't do shit! Shake up some of them gangs and you'll get noticed. By both sides. Know what I mean?"

So, Mordivai thought. Whatever this artifact was, Zash thought it was worth murdering for, and Destris thought starting a gang war was a fair trade for it. Mordivai was liking this whole scenario less and less with every passing second. What do I get out of all of this?

"Destris," Rylee said quietly, "Looks like Lan's here for your ride." She gestured towards the doorway where a skinny rodian was waving in their direction.

"Yeah," Destris said sullenly. "I see him." He shuffled to his feet. "Gotta get to work. Any job is better than working for Paladius though, right?"

When Destris had gone out of earshot, Rylee leaned across the table. "He works in sanitation now. The only job he could get."

"Paladius let you leave his cult?"

Rylee made a tsking noise and shook her head. "No way. We left without telling anyone and now we just try to stay hidden."

"Have others left before you?"

"No one has actually left that we know of. But people who disobey the rules...disappear. I used to work with this Twi'lek girl, T'zanna, in one of Paladius's resorts. One of the rules is that we can never take any 'front facing' jobs. You know, stuff where we'd have to interact with guests. Well, T'zanna managed to get herself a promotion, all by herself now, without checking with Paladius. She got put out front, as one of the casino waitresses. Real visible and she was pretty, you know? That lasted less than two weeks and then she disappeared. Paladius called us all together, acted all sad, and told us that the rules were for our protection. He said she was too visible and so she got taken."

"I don't understand, taken by whom?"

Rylee looked down and began fiddling with a cheap bracelet around her wrist, twirling it rapidly about. "I don't know. Gangs, organ harvesters, slavers, pimps, who knows?"

"Do they normally just kidnap people like that?"

Rylee shrugged, still refusing to look him in the eye. "Guess so."

Something wasn't adding up here, but Mordivai couldn't fit it together. It was obvious that Paladius controlled his cult members out of fear, but why were they were convinced that merely "being visible" made them targets? Was crime truly that commonplace on Nar Shaddaa?

"Why did you join up with Paladius in the first place?"

"Times were tough. I needed money and I didn't want to…" Rylee chanced a quick glance at his face and Mordivai saw desperation there, "...I wanted respectable work. Paladius gave us all jobs, food, clothes, med droids, a barracks to stay in. It was great at first, so I didn't mind that the bulk of my pay went to the group. Seemed only fair, you know? But eventually, you realize that there is never enough to actually save for anything, never enough to let you stand on your own if you decided to get out."

"So, you don't share Destris's hopes for a revolution?"

"Our chains will be broken." Rylee rolled her eyes. "When the time is right, Paladius claimed we would get…" Rylee paused, then appeared to backtrack as if unwilling to finish the thought. "Like Destris said, we'd move up in the world. Eventually."

"Did he ever try and teach you any skills? You said that this Twi'lek you knew hadn't asked his permission to take the promotion. Did he give out promotions of his own?"

"No," Rylee said quickly. Mordivai waited for her to elaborate, but her lips were pressed tight as she stared at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

"Well, I don't blame you for leaving. Sounds unfair." Apparently that was all he would get out of her on that account. Mordivai sat back in his chair.

Rylee nodded, her shoulders rising and falling like she was trying to catch a breath. She had been wound tight as a coil, Mordivai realized, but now she looked more at ease. Now that I've stopped asking questions. She was hiding something. Was she just embarrassed about being caught up in Paladius's promises?

"So, my lord." Rylee was twirling her bracelet again. "Destris wanted you attack the local gangs, but I had another idea. Just...if you wanted to consider it too. As an option."

"Go ahead."

"You would have a lot more help in your efforts if you could get the attention of the other cult members. If you helped people, showed them that you were working for their interests...you know, they might start looking to you instead of Paladius. It would draw Paladius out and help out our cause in getting others to leave."

"Did you have something particular in mind?"

"There's this company in the Nikto sector, Tydis Neutronics. They make vaccines and stims and stuff. They have a cure for the Rot but it's expensive. Have you seen the people on the streets my lord? It's going around. It's treatable but people are dying. Paladius puts some version of the vaccine in our water supply, but it needs a regular dose to stay effective. We often talked about leaving Paladius, but people were afraid they'd get sick without access to our treated water." Rylee held out her hands in resignation. "You could...you know, steal some of their vaccine. It's a more powerful version. One dose is all it takes. Spread it around and it would be one less thing for Paladius to hold over our heads."

Mordivai nodded. "Tell me about this company. Where do I go?"

A half an hour later Mordivai was back on the street, going over the plan in his head. He liked Rylee's idea. It was a targeted strike that would chip away at Paladius's power while simultaneously benefitting the cult members. Was Rylee the true brains of the resistance? Destris liked to talk big, but he was a blunt object, good for smashing indiscriminately but not much else. Rylee might be the one to watch.

Mordivai had been strolling with his head down, his mind replaying this evening's conversation, when he realized that he was being followed. Night had stolen over the city, although this far down the lower levels the sky was lit by too many lights for night to distinguish itself from the day. Mordivai walked through a patch of light cast by a brightly colored street lamp and reached out with his senses. He wasn't surprised to sense the Mirialan thug from the bar. She was quiet of foot, he could give her that at least, but as usual, her thoughts were brazenly obvious. Mordivai slowed, letting her catch up with him, while continuing to stare ahead.

She trailed him like a shadow, gradually gaining, growing more confident with every passing step. Then she shot forward in a frantic rush and Mordivai spun to meet her.

He caught her mid-run, stopping her forward momentum with an invisible wall of Force power, then wrenched a knife from her grasp and caught it in his other hand.

"You don't want to do this."

She frowned at him, looking confused.

"You need to pay better attention. I take it you don't know what a real lightsaber looks like?" Mordivai stepped closer. The Mirialan tried to squirm away but couldn't, her limbs still frozen in mid-stride, the hand that had once held the knife now extended and empty.

Mordivai lit his blade and held the red glow up for her to see. He sensed the first real hint of fear from her now.

"I know you didn't really want to hurt me though, right?" He touched her mind, open and receptive to suggestion. "You made a mistake. Run away and don't try anything so stupid again."

He released her and she jerked backwards. "Just a mistake. Stupid of me. Right." Then she turned and bolted back down the street.

Mordivai sheathed his lightsaber and felt for any other nearby presences. He was alone. Good. He had more important things to do tonight.

Like steal a vaccine.