Loneva uses the Force to push the other Knight's body off the side, where it will probably plummet into a much larger pile of bodies that have been there for millennia. The ship opens to her handprint and she beckons Jori inside, taking a back way out that she is sure will be free of patrols. Her instinct proves right. What a relief to know that at least some of the vagabonds on this world have a sense of loyalty and integrity. She plots a course to Belsavis, after which she will plan one back to their hideout, just to shake any stragglers. Once they enter hyperspace, she confronts Jori. "Why did you think it was necessary to kill them?" she asks.

"The two of them were onto us. Perhaps they sensed we were Force users."

"You really think so?"

The Sith glares at her. "And I suppose you'd want to be interrogated?"

"I have a couple of other implants that dull me to pain and allow me to resist chemical manipulation. It wouldn't have been a problem. The Eternal Fleet may be massive, but Zakuul has limited personnel. They would've let me go after a while."

"You don't know that! And I don't have such implants, not to mention Sith training doesn't include enduring pain. It's about focusing pain into anger, which would have put us even more at their mercy." She looks away.

"They weren't making a move to attack us. But had they done so...yes, I probably would have killed them."

"And given them the tactical advantage?"

Loneva sighs. "Maybe you're right. I don't know."

Jori looks at her. "We need each other. That's all there is to it." Loneva scoots closer and embraces her. She puts her head on her shoulder, just like she did in the taxi.

The Jedi stands. "Well, I'll be in my room, reading your book. I'll probably finish it before this voyage is up."

"Alright. Let me know what you think." A few hours later, Loneva emerges from her room. "Well?"

"It's some pretty quality stuff. You were really good at getting into the father's mind, and his struggle to hold onto his wife was completely believable."

"Anything I did wrong?" Jori raises a brow.

"Well...you could have given more depth to his children, or maybe shown their struggles in a place without the creature comforts so many people take for granted."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Loneva sits next to Jori. "I remember you telling me that you felt you never really fit in with the Empire. Is that just because of your weariness in social situations, or some other reason?"

"It's my politics," Jori said, "That's really it."

"Come on. That's an overly simple answer. Did you back the wrong Dark Lord or something?"

"Far from it" Jori clears her throat. "I questioned the purpose of the Empire's very existence. Why is it that we need a massive bureaucracy, a powerful military, taxation, an intelligence agency, and an all-powerful Dark Council to follow our passions? Nobody could answer that for me. I asked myself, time after time, tried to come up with an answer of my own, but I could not. One might say that we need a government in order to give people a face for their passions, but governments change at a whim. For a long time, we thought our Emperor would last forever, but he didn't. He turned on us and destroyed one of our worlds. Most of the time we were under his rule, he was silent."

"That's definitely a new one," Loneva nods, "So did you prefer the Republic model?"

Jori gives a strange look. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"People can put their passion into action through democracy."

The Sith gives a half-amused, half-incredulous laugh. "That's a very shallow way of looking at it. Democracy is nothing more than glorified mob rule. It's what enslaves forty-nine people to serve the passions of fifty-one. But a few of those who serve or are being served might change their passions, which sways the direction of the passions that are being followed. The perpetual cross-purposes constantly keep things from getting done."

"So, something like the Hutt Cartel? That's what you want?"

Jori shakes her head. "You're really not getting it, are you? The Hutts aren't powerful because they're passionate or strong. They're powerful because they manipulate governments, both Republic and Empire. They have other people do the heavy lifting for them."

"How doesn't that make them powerful?" Loneva looks puzzled.

"Their power depends on how well they can frighten people. By himself, a Hutt can't threaten anyone who's not in his crushing distance. They threaten people with all the bounty hunters and scoundrels on their payrolls. But what happens if their money dries up? They lose their bodyguards, and therefore their ability to intimidate." She sits erect. "No, the only answer is to allow everyone to run his or her own life."

"Well, that's no good," Loneva says dismissively. "What would keep people safe from violent thugs?"

"The people themselves," Jori says. "I admit, it'd be more trouble for Imperials since only Sith, bounty hunters, and military are permitted to have weapons. But they could easily acquire them. And what's to stop a regular citizen from hiring a bounty hunter to protect his family?"

"What if somebody else hired the bounty hunter away?"

Jori has a retort for that too. "You haven't worked with too many bounty hunters, have you? They're principled people. Most of them have rules against taking conflicting contracts. If a hunter keeps allowing his marks to buy him off, word gets around, and nobody will want to hire him."

"What about organized crime? What if, say, a Mandalorian clan decides to raid a group of citizens? Sure, the people could take up arms, but Mandalorians are highly experienced fighters. The people would be overpowered."

"Are you just trying to increase the size of the threat? Then they could increase the size of their protection. Those people could entreat another Mandalorian clan to defend them. Or, they could hire a private security company to protect themselves. Government isn't necessary to consolidate resources."

Loneva has yet another question. "But what if-"

Jori will have none of it. "Don't you understand? Anything that governments can do, the market can do better, cheaper, and more efficiently."

"Why so?"

"That will take a rather long time for me to explain. In the meantime, just save your breath and assume that for every hypothetical situation you can dream up, I will have a response." She smiles smugly.

"Alright," Loneva says. "In the meantime, do you have something else I can read?"

"Not with me at the moment. It's on my ship back at the planet. What would you prefer?"

"Let me try reading one of your romances," the Jedi suggests. "I haven't read a good romance in a while."

Jori shrugs. "I'd hardly consider those my best work, but I'm sure I can find something for you."

"Thank you." Loneva retreats to her bedroom to meditate. She focuses on the Force, the Force emanating through every living thing, the Force binding the galaxy together, the Force that both gives life and is life itself. She focuses on the Force around her, in particular coming from Jori. It isn't like what she finds in most of the Sith she's encountered. Their aura is spiky and harsh. Nor is it like a Jedi's aura, smooth, warm, and radiant. It's a soft light with ripples, seeking out other auras around it, interacting, and exchanging with them. An interesting aura to be sure, but her ideas are definitely strange, and probably unworkable. Isn't finding a response to everything something that insecure people do? Not that it matters. Picking away at people's insecurities doesn't win allies, it's wrong, and it won't help her bring Jori's caring side to the forefront.