There weren't many things that could get Rei out of bed before she wanted to be.

Most days she was the first one awake, but her decision to sleep in — a not-so-subtle attempt to avoid tackling all the work she'd been putting off since leaving for Rishi — was promptly ruined by Ashara insisting that Lana and Theron needed her.

Rei had assumed that whatever it was they needed, it couldn't be that important, and had followed Zaara's example to dress down a bit. Eschewing her typical robes, she pulled on a hooded tunic and some comfortable pants and boots. She was still half asleep when she left, barely remembering to grab her lightsaber and datapad as she followed Ashara back to where Lana and Theron would be waiting at the safehouse.

Considering she still hadn't woken up entirely, Rei likely would've walked straight over T7 if the droid hadn't let out a series of beeps as they approached.

Sith + Apprentice = Ready?

"What? No. Do I look ready?" Rei squinted down T7, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. "What, exactly, am I not ready for?"

She glanced back up to find Theron giving her an amused look. "Good morning to you, too."

"Two days," Rei enunciated. "We were supposed to have two days without having to worry about any of this." She let her datapad clatter onto the table and went to clip her lightsaber to her belt before realizing she'd mixed the two up. Retrieving her saber from the table, she groaned, "If you expect me to go around like Zaara does, with the…" Rei trailed off, hands articulating wildly as she tried to find the words she was searching for. "The spy thing."

"Nothing of the sort," Lana assured her. "We came across some… interesting information early this morning," she explained. "It seems we may lose the Nova Blades as a link to the Revanites unless we act quickly. Zaara is busy, of course. Cori and Kira left about an hour ago to attend to some other business, but we've asked them to head back as soon as they're able."

Rei pulled herself up to sit cross-legged on the table. "How are we losing them as a link?" Doing her best to hold back a yawn, she added, "And what are we doing about it?"

"Apparently Revan doesn't see eye to eye with the head of the Nova Blades, Commodore Margok. With the damage we've been able to do so far, they're blaming each other, they're both threatening to stop helping the other, and neither one thinks it's their fault." Theron waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing exciting, except that we lose our only solid lead if they do break off."

"We've also learned of another former ally of the Revanites," Lana interjected. "A woman named Torch. She leads a group of Mandalorians nearby. We'll do our best to find out more on her, but it's up to you and Cori to gather information from the Commodore."

Leaning back on her hands, Rei pursed her lips as she took in all the new information. "By gather information, you mean…?"

"We mean slicing into their central systems, which is why you'll be taking Teeseven with you." With a pointed glance at Rei, Theron added, "We don't need an interrogation. We've already got everything figured out, so once we get past their security the information should be quick and easy to get."

Rei gave an exaggerated sigh. "Fine." Tapping her fingers unevenly against the table, she pondered the information for a moment before asking, "So why send both of us? I could take care of something like this by myself and probably still be back before Cori."

"You may not need the level of subterfuge Zaara typically employs, but you do need to continue to operate under the Howling Tempest name," Lana pointed out. "With the Revanites taking notice of your activities, it's even more important that they don't discover our true goals. You're not just going to retrieve information, but to make one final strike against the Nova Blades."

"Take out the Commodore, destroy their supply caches, thin their numbers — basically anything to make this look like you're wiping them out."

She shrugged. "I still don't see why I can't handle it myself."

"Because this is their base of operations," Theron deadpanned. "They're holed up in that crashed ship on the far side of the island, they've got a security system I haven't been able to get past yet, and the whole place is crawling with pirates even when they aren't on alert."

A lazy grin spread across Rei's face as she tilted her head back to look at Ashara. "And just how many times have we infiltrated an impenetrable crashed ship filled with pirates?"

"Just the once," Ashara huffed, crossing her arms. "And it was awful. Why can't you just wait for Master Cori to get back?"

"Because I'm impatient and this is better than paperwork. Besides, we've got the droid."

T7 + Sith = can handle Revanites

"See?"

"I'm with Ashara on this one," Theron cut in. "Just wait for Cori."

"The concern is endearing, but I'll pass." Rei slid off the table, motioning for Ashara and T7 to follow. "Have you eaten yet?" she called over her shoulder to Ashara, ignoring the apprentice's protests. "I'd like to grab something to eat before we head out, and there's this fruit stall that I adore. What do you say?"

Ashara's voice was barely audible over their echoing steps as they both made their way down the stairs. "I say that you're crazy. This is the worst idea you've had since we did this on Hoth."

…

"Enough! I am not a pirate! I am a dark lord of the Sith, and someone on this island is going to treat me like it."

Theron massaged at one of his temples, suppressing a groan of frustration. Sending Nox into the Aggressor alone was looking like a worse and worse idea — and it hadn't even been a good one to begin with.

Nox and Margok hurled insults at each other until finally Margok cut out with a final challenge, leaving Theron free to re-establish a full connection. "Nice work blowing our cover."

"I didn't— It wasn't intentional. It just sort of… slipped out." To Nox's credit, she did look apologetic. Or it was just distortion from the holo. "Just say the Howling Tempest answers to me. It's believable, and Zaara will hate it."

It wasn't a bad suggestion, actually. Luckily, it wasn't one they'd need. "It's fine. We're blocking any communications anyway, so as long as you take care of Margok quickly it won't be a problem." Theron glanced away from the holo, scanning the console screen with a frown. "The security will be, though. They've got local slicers keeping me from accessing anything. Teeseven can deactivate their systems, and you can… you know. Make a mess."

She shot him a wide grin. "Well, since you asked so nicely."

Theron could just make out an indignant don't encourage her! from Ashara before the holo cut out. He leaned back with a sigh, doing his best not to focus on how much more smoothly the mission could be going if someone else were in charge. It wasn't that Nox was incapable of handling the mission — far from it, considering what she'd done so far. It was the fact that she was such a frustrating combination of stubborn and impatient.

In a lot of ways, Nox was a perfect fit for the caricatures the Republic usually painted of the Sith, with her penchant for violence and insistence on proper titles and whatever absurd amount of fear and respect she thought was owed to her. Then, of course, there were the casual threats she was fond of throwing around, though they were mostly directed at Andronikos and Zaara — and neither of them seemed too concerned with taking Nox seriously.

But then there was her competitive streak when she played cards, or the seemingly unending teasing she directed at her apprentice, or the fact that she was somehow always smiling despite the situation. At times like those, Nox was almost tolerable.

Theron's attention was pulled back to the mission by Nox and Ashara's conversation; he wondered briefly if they were even aware the comm line was still open. "How's it look down there?" he asked as soon as there was a break in their talking.

"There's a lot of pirates," Nox reported. "Teeseven says there's one last security terminal to slice into. Ashara's keeping busy by going after their stockpiles."

"Yeah," Ashara scoffed, "thanks for leaving the boxes for me, by the way."

"Fine, then, these two are all yours. Droid!" In a less demanding tone, Nox added, "We're at the last terminal. We've killed every single pirate the Nova Blades have thrown at us, their base is in ruins, and we know where the Commodore is hiding." The smug pride in her voice was difficult to ignore. "Should we wait for Cori, or can we continue?"

"Just go ahead—" He cut off with a sharp groan, staring at the screen in frustration. "Good news, the security systems are down. Bad news, so is the whole network." Nox immediately demanded an explanation from Teeseven, but Theron interrupted before she got too irate. "It's nothing Teeseven did," he explained. "Margok probably shut it down manually. You should be able to reach him now, and you'll need to— Actually, you just take care of Margok. Teeseven can handle the network."

"Good. Keep things simple," Nox commented cheerily, "and let the droid take care of the complicated part — I can do that."

"Good to see the two of you aren't fighting anymore."

Theron turned towards Lana; he hadn't even realized she'd returned until she spoke. "Nox has no problem destroying everything in sight. Go figure."

Lana gave a quiet laugh, but before she could say anything Nox piped up over the comm. "With Margok gone," she mused, "the Nova Blades crumble. A power vacuum opens up in Raider's Cove. A vacuum that, theoretically, anyone could fill."

Ashara groaned. "One bad idea at a time, please."

Nox didn't answer; there were several moments of silence over the comm line before T7 filled them in.

Sith + Apprentice = found Margok / T7 = powering up network

With the network back online, it was only moments before T7's image flickered to life on the holoterminal. Theron set to work pulling data from the Nova Blades — relevant, irrelevant, anything he could find — while Lana stepped into view.

"Good work, Teeseven," she said warmly, offering an appreciative nod. "What about Nox and Ashara?"

"Finished. Done. Present and accounted for. Whatever you'd like." Nox had barely appeared on the holo before she ducked back to the side, returning a moment later with Ashara at her side and holding a wide-brimmed hat. She turned the hat over in her hands, inspecting it. "Margok was no match for me," she stated plainly.

Theron turned to the holo as Ashara began protesting, finding Nox holding the hat up like a trophy, her eyes wide with excitement. "Why don't you just head back?" he suggested. "And… maybe leave the hat."

"I think I'll keep it." Nox gave a brazen grin before ending the holocall.

Lana sighed. "Well. That could've gone much worse."

…

"What… is that?"

Cori was already seated at the table when she noticed it. Saying goodbye — again — to Master Orgus that morning had left her upset and her mind clouded in a way that not even hours of meditation had helped. When she'd entered the safehouse, she'd made note of its relative emptiness — with Nox and Ashara on the floor in front of the couch, concentrating on a card game, and with Theron, Lana, and Raina in quiet conversation on the far side of the room — and had completely missed the comically large hat that was currently serving as a centerpiece for the table.

"Until yesterday, that belonged to the leader of the Nova Blades," Theron informed her. "And then Nox decided to let Teeseven wear it on the way back from the Aggressor."

"You have a wonderful droid, by the way," Nox piped up, not turning her attention from the card game. "I thought it would make an excellent addition to my crew, but we apparently disagree on that matter."

Cori frowned, picking up the hat to inspect it. "You stole a hat and put it on Teeseven?"

"It's a long story," Lana interjected, tone suggesting the topic had been brought up one too many times. "You missed a lot yesterday. Why don't I fill you in?" She stood, nodding towards the door.

"Um, sure." Cori followed Lana out into the alleyway; she'd been looking forward to having a bit of downtime and not focusing on the Revanites, but she found it difficult to say no to spending time with Lana. More difficult that she wanted to admit, really. "Did something go wrong yesterday? I know I said I was busy, but I could've—"

"No, no, nothing went wrong," Lana assured her. "The mission was an absolute success. And Nox was right, she and Teeseven worked well together. It's just…" She paused, sighing heavily. "Nox can be difficult, sometimes, and she knows it. She's particularly fond of frustrating Theron, I believe." Lana offered Cori a warm smile. "I should be thanking you, really. I've had to listen to those two go back and forth all day, and I haven't been able to find an excuse to leave."

If Cori's thoughts had been muddled, there were now nearly incomprehensible. "I— You're welcome. And if you don't want to go back yet, we could get something to eat? I mean, I know there's nothing really nice in the cove, but Zaara keeps her ship stocked and I'm sure she wouldn't mind…" She trailed off, the words having escaped before she'd even thought them through. "Or not," she added, feeling warmth spread across her cheeks.

"Are you asking me to dinner, Jedi?" Lana asked, an eyebrow quirking upwards.

She hesitated, wishing that wherever the offer had come unbidden from, there was also an equally effortless agreement; the words didn't come, and Cori made an attempt at nonchalance with a shrug. "If you'd like."

"I would."

Lana was smiling again, and Cori found herself suddenly very aware of all the reasons she was making the wrong decision. To make things worse, she could already hear both Zaara and Kira teasing.

But she could deal with all that later.