"How was Tatooine?" asked the young woman on Xy'liah's personal holo. She watched as the young Sith Lord lay on her bed, staring at the vessel's ceiling.
"What do you think?" Xy'liah snapped back, turning her attention toward the holocommunicator. The young woman stared at Xy'liah with a patient smile on her face despite the Sith's sudden rudeness. The young Sith Lord sighed as she sat up and turned the holocommunicator more toward her. It's been a few hours since they have taken off into space. Baras had contacted her as soon as she set foot aboard the Fury and like always never hesitated to give her the details of her next mission. Now they were on their way to the planet, Alderaan, the home planet of the young Padawan Jaesa Willsaam.
Xy'liah had immediately retreated to the comforts of her quarters upon returning from Tatooine. The first thing she did was plop down on her bed. Every inch of her body relaxed upon contact with the soft mattress. How she missed it so!
She lay on her bed for sometime, replaying the entire mission in her head and noticed one part that kept playing over and over again. She hadn't thought much of it during her mission on Tatooine, but now that she had gotten rest, the thought continuously haunted her.
It was what Maritha had said and then again that Jedi Master Yonlach.
"That Captain of yours is one of a kind. That dedication and loyalty is rare. You picked a good one, my dear."
"I sense his feelings for you. His dedication goes beyond professional duty."
Exactly what did they mean? Xy'liah sighed. Ever since her campaign started, she has found herself continuously reading hints and messages. Who knew that cunning was a skill that she relied so heavily upon. They certainly never taught that at Korriban. It was a skill that Xy'liah never cared for. She, on the other hand, preferred the direct approach, something that often landed her in a heap of trouble. Lately, however, playing games and reading hints were all that she had been doing. If she was going to be in this field of work for long, she supposed she should start advancing it and she knew the perfect person to go to for training.
Turning back toward the holocommunicator, Xy'liah smiled at the young woman, "Sorry. It's been kind of rough lately."
"As for me," she replied. "Why don't you tell me what's on your mind?"
Xy'liah plopped back down on her bed, "Ah, where to begin!" She began telling the young woman her story, trying to remember every single account and conversation. She told of Maritha and Yonlach and Quinn's odd behavior lately, "—and then we kissed. Did you hear? We kissed! He's quite a good kisser too. Who would've known? I wasn't trying to do anything beyond that! It's just that this whole chase has been quite a burden on me that I need to have fun somehow. But I sense he's taking this all wrong! What are your thoughts?"
The young woman smiled and chuckled at the Sith's frustrations, "Well judging by his lack of expertise in the game of lust and love, perhaps you should back off for awhile. You can have your little fun with someone else. You don't want this affecting his work." The young woman raised a brow at Xy'liah. "You can find someone else, can you?"
"Of course!" Xy'liah snorted, somewhat offended. "It's just so easy to mess with him. Sometimes I don't even realize that I'm doing it! How do you keep the line between professionalism and occasional flirting?"
The young woman shrugged, "It's a good thing my line of work requires both."
"Agent?"
The young woman turned her head toward the deeper voice. She, then, turned back quickly, "We can continue this later. I'm needed."
Xy'liah raised a brow, "Who is that?"
"Safe journey, cousin." The image disappeared from the holocommunicator.
Xy'liah turned her attention toward the ceiling, relaxing her mind once more. Not even a minute passed by did her chambers' door opened and in came an excited Vette.
"Hey, you never guessed what I've been doing!" the young twi'lek exclaimed.
Xy'liah opened her mouth to speak, but was immediately cut off again by the twi'lek, "No, no, don't try. I'll tell you. Ever since Nar Shaddaa, I've been checking holo frequencies and I found the old gang! They're on Nar Shaddaa! Funny, huh? They weren't leaving messages for me in the old spots so I thought they have gotten themselves caught or dead or something."
"Are you thinking of going back to your old life?"
"What? Worried I'd leave you?" Vette smiled. "The old gang has been on the run since I was gone. Apparently our mysterious informant for the Korriban job was that scum sucker Cada Bliss. Once they escaped the mercenaries, Taunt and the old crew spent what's left of their credits tracking Cada Bliss. That duros snake has managed to get his hands on the Star of Cala'un. It's a priceless piece of twi'lek history. I want it back."
"I know you won't stop pestering me about it until I give in. So hurry up and tell me where we're going."
The twi'lek lit up at the Sith's response, "You're-you're fantastic! Cada Bliss is at the spaceport of Nar Shaddaa, trying to line up a buyer. I'll send the message that we're coming. Make us out to be interested buyers. Oh and I'll tell the gang to get ready to receive the artifact. Bliss has some famous Kalesh bodyguard, they called him the Virus, working for him these days. But that's not going to worry you is it?" She gave the Sith a smile.
"Get to it," said Xy'liah as Vette rushed out of the room.
A few minutes later, Xy'liah entered the bridge to find the Captain quite frustrated about something. He had been mumbling indistinctive things to himself and seemed deep in thought until the young Sith spoke up, "Something the matter, Quinn?"
He turned around, startled at her presence, "My lord, I'd appreciate it if you could speak with Vette. Ask her not to disturb me while I am working."
Xy'liah raised a brow. Vette was too excited about her trip to even care what the Captain was up to. Exactly what was he talking about? "Exactly how is she disturbing you?"
"She's not wired for military precision. And there's no filter on that twi'lek mouth. When I was tracking down Agent Voloren, she must have overheard me refer to Moff Broysc, and now she persistently pesters me about him. She keeps slipping his name nonsensically into conversations. Says she won't stop until I tell her why I hate the man."
Xy'liah gave a little laugh and shook her head at the remark, "Oh…Vette never ceases to amuse me. She's just trying to be friends, Quinn. Open up a little."
"I hope you don't encourage her, my lord. It is neither appropriate nor in the Empire's best interests to discuss the matter with non-military personnel. Besides, knowing her, the details of Broysc' collapse at Druckenwell and his and my subsequent conflict would only give her more fodder." His brows narrowed at the sight of the Sith Lord laughing. He didn't understand what was amusing about the twi'lek. If anything, he would have thought the Sith to be upset at the fact that the twi'lek was interrupting operations, but then again, this is a Sith, who countlessly teased him ever since they first met.
Xy'liah stopped her little laugh after catching sight at the Captain's expression. His facial expression reminded her of the first time she had met him on Balmorra. She had to admit, the angry/serious look was quite attractive, "Ahem. Leave it to me. She'll stop bothering you."
"I was hoping you'd say that, my lord. Thank you." The Captain turned back to the controls in front of him and switched the ship off of autopilot. "We'll be at Alderaan in about 8 hours."
"Actually, set a course for Nar Shaddaa," said Xy'liah as she slipped into the copilot's chair.
"New orders, my lord?" Quinn questioned as he turned toward the Sith once more.
"I have business there. I'm taking Vette with me."
"My lord, do you think it most appropriate to pursue personal objectives right now? Darth Baras is awaiting our arrival on Alderaan."
"I do what I want. Baras can wait."
There was silence between them before Quinn turned toward the navigation, "Yes, my lord."
Xy'liah took the controls as the Captain set the new coordinates for them. She knew he was upset by the little detour. He's probably making note of that right now for when he snitches to Baras later on. But she could always worry about that later.
"Coordinates set." Quinn whirled back around to the pilot's controls. He took the controls and steered the ship toward the direction. "Preparing the jump to hyperspace."
Xy'liah made sure everything was clear before the Captain started counting down. Within the next three seconds, the stars in front of her turned into lines as her vessel leapt forward in space. The Fury came out at the edge of the Hutt's space and Quinn took to guiding the ship toward Nar Shaddaa.
Xy'liah watched in front of her as Nar Shaddaa came into view. A distant tiny ball lit by the cities' lights. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she still sensed the Captain's disapproval with her last minute plans.
"My lord, I seek advice," said Quinn as he pushed some buttons. "As a military man, above all else I value discipline, the chain of command, and uncompromising dedication to serving the Empire's interests. But there's a built in dilemma. When my instincts tell me that a superior is jeopardizing the Empire, it makes my path less clear."
There it was. She had been waiting for it. It was so predictable of the Captain to bring it up so quickly. He could never keep his mouth shut whenever he saw something that is out of the Empire's best interests, "Do you have a problem with my leadership, Quinn?"
"No, my lord, you're mistaken me." He sounded somewhat taken aback by the Sith's defensive tone. "My concern is about the legacy of my former commander. I stood by while Moff Broysc's random whims compromised countless missions. It is a mistake I refuse to repeat. Defying him ruined my career, but I should've done it sooner. No matter the consequences."
"If he made you this tenacious and this exacting, you owe him a great debt."
"That…is a startling perspective, my lord. Your example and guidance give me clarity. Thank you. I am more focused now." He turned to give the Sith a smile, something Xy'liah hadn't seen much of.
"As long as you meet your responsibilities to me, your preoccupations are inconsequential," the young Sith turned her attention toward Nar Shaddaa.
"As it should be. I won't take up anymore of your time."
As soon as they landed on the Nar Shaddaa spaceport, Vette and Xy'liah wasted no time heading for Cada Bliss's hangar. The two came upon the duros and his bodyguard near his ship.
Xy'liah could see a frown on the duros' face as they arrived closer.
"Now you two certainly don't look like Corellian art dealers," he said in Huttese to them both. He turned to his body guard. "Virus, is it possible that we have been deceived? That this clear rat tail thief has caught us unaware?"
"What did you call me?" Vette exclaimed.
"No, not possible," said the Virus.
"Then these two has just walked themselves into a very dangerous scenario," Cada Bliss turned back toward the two.
"Perhaps you've mistaken me for some else," said Xy'liah. "I am a master of the Force."
"Do you hear that, Virus?" Cada Bliss said to his bodyguard.
"I hear."
"Apparently someone thinks you've never killed a Sith before. Someone thinks Sith scares you."
Xy'liah turned toward her companion, "Well, it's your show. How do you want handle this?"
Vette stepped forward, took a deep breath and quickly stated her next sentence almost as if she was reading it directly from a book, "Cada Bliss, you have exploited my people, stolen our artifacts, and committed numerous crimes against the twi'lek the galaxy over."
Cada Bliss continued to ignore the two, "Virus? Do we have any room in the harem for an exceedingly ugly underdeveloped rat tail slave girl?"
"We're full up on ugly."
"Sith probably makes bad slaves too. Hmm…alright, kill them both."
"Alright, now this is personal," said Xy'liah drawing her lightsabers.
The Virus rushed toward them both with his blade in hand and swung at them hard, forcing Vette and Xy'liah to jump back or receive a terrible blow. He aimed in Xy'liah's direction as Vette rushed toward Cada Bliss himself.
Xy'liah smiled as the bodyguard continued swinging his blade at her. She dodged each and every one of his moves with ease, jumping side to side. She could see the frustration in his eyes as he desperately tried to land a blow to her.
A few minutes later, a scream of pain came from Cada Bliss signaling Xy'liah to end her little cat and mouse game. As the Virus jabbed toward her Xy'liah quickly side-stepped and jabbed one of her lightsabers into his vulnerable chest. He neither screamed nor flinched, but his eyes stared at hers as life drained from it. Xy'liah pulled her saber out as he fell to the ground.
"My lord!" Vette yelled. Xy'liah looked toward the twi'lek to see her blasters aimed at the duros, who had his hands up.
"Hey, let's not get all crazy here," said Cada Bliss as Xy'liah approached the two, putting her sabers away. "Clearly I thought you were someone else. See there was this other twi'lek girl, total pain, you know, she kept calling me. Anyways, long story, but sorry about the mix up, you know?" Cada Bliss backed away from the two while Vette still had her blasters aimed at him.
"Cada Bliss, you have exploited my people, stolen our artifacts, and committed numerous crimes against twi'leks the galaxy over!" yelled Vette again. Xy'liah smiled. She had heard the twi'lek practicing over and over again in her quarters as they were preparing to land on Nar Shaddaa.
"I get it, I get it. You practiced. It's a nice speech. I like it."
"Return the Star of Cala'un. Promise to reform and we may show mercy."
"He called you ugly and you're going to show him mercy?" Xy'liah inquired. The twi'lek shrugged her shoulders and turned back to the Duros.
"You are a beautiful woman. I've always said the twi'lek women were a superior being suited to the finest," at this Vette raised an impatient brow at the mercenary. "Yeah, I'm going!" He turned to retrieve the artifact.
"I'll grab the Star of Cala'un. We can meet the old gang here on Nar Shaddaa," said Vette. "They'll make sure the Star end up in a museum…in twi'lek hands." She followed him as he took out an artifact from one of the many crates near his ship.
After retrieving the artifact and watching Cada Bliss retreat, the duo followed Taunt's, Vette's old friend, directions to a meeting place at the center of the Nar Shaddaa's spaceport.
Xy'liah paced back and forth impatiently as she watched the twi'lek girl in deep thought. She had never seen Vette so serious before, "Huh?" Xy'liah looked to her waist as the holocommunicator clipped to her belt vibrated and beeped. She took it out and turned it on as the twi'lek turned her attention toward the incoming call also.
Quinn's little image appeared before her, "My lord, how goes your mission?"
"Easy," said Xy'liah. "I'll be heading back to the ship soon. Something's the matter, Captain?"
"I've been tracking a series of broken signals on an encrypted channel. Tremendous interference. I've indentified the source, Major Ovech, commander of Moff Broysc's elite infiltrator unit, but that is all."
"Strange…that name continues to pop up."
"Yes Moff Broysc oversees a large proportion of Imperial forces. I served with Major Ovech under Moff Broysc. The man is an unmatched officer. Moff Broysc's command ship does not respond when hailed. My gut says there's trouble. Permission to investigate further?"
"Go ahead. First Voloren, now this? You must really be bored on ship, Captain."
"I wouldn't waste time on anything that wasn't important. Thank you my lord." Quinn's image disappeared as another voice took this place.
"Well, look who the akk dog dragged in." Vette and Xy'liah turned toward three incoming twi'leks, two males and a female whom Xy'liah could only guessed to be Taunt.
Vette stood up excitedly and rushed to greet her old crew with a hug, "Taunt! Guys!"
"And this must be the powerful Sith you've been seeing the galaxy with," said Taunt looking at Xy'liah up and down. "Got yourself a new older sister, I see. Impressive."
"Heh, I didn't know I was missing a little sister before Vette came along," said Xy'liah. She could feel Vette's face lit up at her response.
"Nice," said Taunt. "First things first though, yes?"
"The Star of Cala'un is in the case, authentic and undamaged," said Vette handing it to the bigger male twi'lek. Plasmajack was his name. Xy'liah had remembered Vette mentioning it as they were heading for Cada Bliss' hangar earlier. Such a unique name.
"This is big!" Plasmajack replied taking the case.
"Got that right, most important single blow for twi'lek pride," said Flash, the other male twi'lek. "All you Vette!"
"You should be proud. You've done something great for your people here," said Xy'liah to the young twi'lek.
"Amazing, little girl. Amazing! Who's got the finder's fee?" said Plasmajack looking to his two companions.
"Here, it's every credit we can scrape together," said Taunt taking out a sack.
Vette frowned a little at the offer.
"Don't worry," Taunt continued, noticing Vette's concern. "We should be able to sweet talk the museum into getting some of that back."
"Oh no," Vette said. "I know you guys. You won't even be eating. You have to buy equipments, bribe fees. We don't need your credits." The twi'lek turned toward the Sith. "Do we?"
Xy'liah shrugged her shoulders, "They are your people. It's your choice."
"Then I say, keep the credits. Have a big dinner for me. Get some new gear."
"You coming with us, girl?" Plasmajack asked.
Vette was taken aback by the question, "I…no…I found a place. I'm going to stay put for a while. But I'll keep in touch."
Taunt smiled, "You don't have to leave right away do you? What do you say you come celebrate with us?"
Vette turned toward Xy'liah, who smiled at the situation, "No one parties like a Sith parties…"
The twi'leks smiled at the young Sith. She was indeed one of the strangest Sith they have ever met.
The five of them left for the nearest cantina and restaurant. They were gone for quite some time and Xy'liah actually found herself enjoying the twi'leks' company. They told quite amusing stories, none that can match her Sith stories of course.
"…so I sat on him! Problem solved!" Plasmajack said finishing his tale.
Vette beamed with enthusiasm, "I've missed you guys! I'll say hello whenever I can!"
Suddenly a familiar beep came from Xy'liah's belt. The young Sith looked at her holocommunicator.
"Ugh, is that Captain Boredom?" Vette complained. "He sure knows how to kill a mood."
Xy'liah patched through the call, "What is it, Captain?"
"Forgive me, my lord," said Quinn appearing on the holocommunicator. "You've been gone for some time, I was beginning to worry. I can see that it was unnecessary…" Quinn eyed the surrounding twi'leks. "Lord Baras just called. He's eager for an update on your mission, my lord."
"We'll be back soon, Captain," Xy'liah ended the call.
"Whoa, who's that?" Taunt asked. "Captain Boredom, you say?"
"Ugh, he's so uptight, boring, and ruins every happy mood I have going," said Vette.
"We should head back," said Xy'liah. "I don't want him reporting to Baras about our little outings. I can't stand another lecture from that old man."
"We'll walk you back," said Plasmajack.
Once back at the spaceport, Vette began to look a little teary eyed as the five of them met once more to say their final words.
"Be well, love," said Taunt.
"Watch your back out there, kid," said Flash. The three turned to leave, leaving Vette and Xy'liah in front of their hangar entrance.
"Well, I guess we better head out," said Xy'liah.
"Hey, thanks. It's too bad no one else gets to see the good side of you," Vette smiled.
"There's no such thing. I am merely rewarding you. You earned it, Vette. Had you been so lax, this definitely would not have happened."
Vette smiled as the Sith continued to try and explained her reasoning, "Whatever you say."