Gilded Cage

A week later on Dromund Kaas, Lazarn approached the doors to the throne room of the Sith Empress at a swift pace with his infiltration droid floating along behind him. ZT-9 had come to follow the Imperial Agent anywhere he went which did not overly bother him as the droid had started to grow on him. Lazarn had received word that Jaira had requested an audience with him for reasons unknown to the message deliverer. Once the guard had announced his arrival to the Empress, the Agent entered the throne room and came to attention a few metres away from the platform on which the throne sat, holding Jaira.
"You called for me Empress," Lazarn stated without any show of emotion on his face or in his voice.
"Yes I need you to oversee the assassination of several Republic Senators on Coruscant," Jaira revealed, "This is the list of targets," she added as she gestured for a servant to rush forward and give him a datapad before retreating quickly back out of the throne room.
Lazarn scrolled through the list of targets and managed to organise them quickly in order of difficulty in assassinating them due to security and how high of a profile the individual was within the Galaxy. This was done quickly in his own head but even though he knew that the job would be challenging the Agent was as confident as ever that he could achieve success.
"When do I need to leave?" Lazarn asked as he gathered more details on the mission.
"Tomorrow, I don't want any delays," Jaira answered swiftly.
"Do I have a point of contact to get onto the surface without being detected by Republic Space Security?" the Agent inquired.
"Yes, Senator Kallus will be there to escort you safely onto the surface and off again as well as get you the droids you will need to get past the security of the Republic capital. However if you need to retreat suddenly you will have to come up with your own means of getting off Coruscant," Jaira stated, "Leave the infiltration droids there if necessary as they will not have anything in their memory banks to lead Republic Security back to us," she added for extra measure.
"Very well Empress, it will be done," Lazarn answered and was about to leave when Jaira caught his attention again.
"I also have another objective for you to complete while on Coruscant," Jaira stated as she rose to her feet.
Lazarn raised an eyebrow in curiosity, giving her his full and undivided attention as he waited for her to continue to explain this other objective.
"This objective must not be on record and you must not tell anyone about it, not even Director Kallus or any other of your superiors," Jaira said in a very serious tone, "Is that understood Agent Brightvale?"
Lazarn nodded stiffly in confirmation that he understood that no one was to know about this mission and then he waited silently for more information.
"I need you to gather as much surveillance intel as you can on two Jedi Knights while you are on Coruscant," Jaira revealed, "Their names are Daly Solak and Ashlyn Dubreas," she added.
"Any particular information on them that you are looking for Empress?" Lazarn asked.
"Nothing specific at the moment, use your droid to gather as much intelligence as you can and I will look through it to see if you found what I am looking for when you return," Jaira answered, "You are dismissed now Agent."
At this statement, Lazarn bowed and then left swiftly with the droid floating along behind him as he returned to the Imperial Intelligence Headquarters to start preparing to leave on the mission.

Riesha stood with her arms folded across her chest in frustration in front of her cousin who was currently sitting on the throne.
"We have already had this discussion Riesha," Jaira stated in finality, "The mind control on the Force Born will not be altered in anyway," she added for extra measure.
"Jaira, more and more of the younger ones are throwing tantrums and ordering members of the Sith Army to impale themselves on their own lightsabers," Riesha said, "How many more will it take for you to realise that this part of the mind control should not be on the children?" she demanded, looking at the Sith Empress as if the younger woman had gone insane.
Jaira leaned forward in her throne and looked dangerously close to snapping, "I am not changing anything," she growled as she gestured with her hand telling her cousin that she was dismissed from the throne room.
Riesha's frown deepened as she turned and walked briskly out of the hall; not slowing down until she got into a speeder to get as far away from the Citadel as she could. The Sith Lord couldn't help but feel like even though the man who had enslaved her was long dead and she was now free to go wherever she pleased; somehow she still felt caged.
"Why won't Jaira listen to any advice that I give her anymore?" Riesha asked herself in frustration as she stopped the speeder and jumped out. She entered the ruins of the ancient Sith Temple and knew her destination immediately without giving it a thought. Lord Kallig's tomb was the only one in the old building that had been visited repeatedly over the last millennia but as her father had kept Riesha and her twin sister a secret the young woman had never met her ancestor.
"Lord Kallig," the young woman greeted as she sat down in front of the tomb and waited for her ancestor's Force Ghost to appear to her. Riesha had been spending her free time over the last several years trying to talk to her Great Grandfather from over ten generations before her but to no avail had she succeeded. So the Sith Lord spent most of her time reflecting out loud on everything that had been happening and hoped that her ancestor heard her words.
"What do I do about Jaira?" Riesha asked, "She won't listen to me anymore," she added. Nothing but silence followed this as the young woman desperately tried to reach out to Lord Kallig to show himself.
"Please Lord Kallig, I am in need of your guidance," Riesha begged desperately. After another few moments of silence the young Sith Lord rose to her feet and stalked off, "Fine then, I'll figure it out on my own!"
Riesha was deep in thought as she walked around the Temple grounds in frustration as she wondered why her ancestor would appear to her cousin but would not appear to her. The Sith Lord saddened as her thoughts turned to her twin sister who she had not seen since she had been a young child. Riesha longed to know where in the Galaxy she was right now and she had so many questions that still needed answers.
Was her sister happy? Did she manage to escape slavery or worse was she still enslaved? Question after question shot through her mind as she walked back towards the speeder. Riesha only wished to be able to see her twin one last time and to know that she was safe as well as happy. If not then have an opportunity to free her from whatever hell she was in so that she could live a free life, preferably with Riesha. The Sith Lord became even more depressed when she realised that the likelihood of Jaira allowing her to go on a search for her sister was slim.
"The cage is still there, it's only gilded," Riesha mumbled to herself as she drove the speeder back towards Kaas City and the Citadel. Besides after Darth Solak smashed the Force bond that the twin sisters shared and eradicated her sister's name from Riesha's memory her efforts to find her twin would be all for nought. Part of the young woman wished that she had not continued to ask her uncle where her sister was when she was younger because at least Riesha would still be able to remember a name which would have been a starting point. The Sith Empress wouldn't be able to help her either as Jaira had only been a toddler when the two sisters had been separated and Darth Solak had never uttered her twin's name afterwards. Her cousin had been too young to even know what her sister looked like and Riesha knew what Jaira would say if she asked her for help.
"You have me, why would you want a sister that was never there for you?" Jaira's voice echoed in Riesha's head.