Those sounds rapidly grew louder as their pitch rose. If I remembered my basic physics, that meant something was flying towards me.
At low enough altitude to be heard.
...
A few moments later, the Little Jedi and I arrived at an intersection that was rapidly clearing itself of people. The reason was quite simple: a sizeable air speeder that was slowly setting down onto the herringbone flagstones. Broad, sleek, and adorned in the quartered fields of red, blue, yellow, and green, it was clear that this was a local air speeder. More than that, it was an air speeder in the service of the planetary regent of this world.
My hand drifted down to the commlink I had grabbed earlier today. Had I missed a message? My flicked down, revealing that no, I had not received even a single message. Or a call, for that matter. All was as if nothing had happened.
I returned my attention to the Little Jedi, who was returning her own commlink to her belt. Beneath my all-concealing mask, I raised a brow inquisitively. Though a waste of movement, it seemed that the questioning thoughts pulsing through my mind transcended the language barrier.
"No, I didn't call it either," she said softly. I was reasonably certain she was telling the truth, but my training in using the Force to tell when someone was lying was, like the rest of training, heavily accelerated.
"They're here for us, aren't they?" I asked. Superfluously, I knew. Why else would they show up here and now? More importantly, why had I heard nothing of this ahead of time? Damn it, my intentional wandering into a trap might have brought into a whole other trap altogether.
"Almost certainly," she confirmed, not moving from her spot. Again, it felt the same as all the rest of our interaction that day. So probably not a lie. "Though that would mean we were spotted by one of their men."
Which meant we had had a tail for quite some time. Great. Just great.
"This is going to end up in a tabloid by tonight, won't it?" I asked, my voice deadpan.
"I would not bet against it," the Little Jedi agreed.
While we were speaking, the door on the air speeder that was facing us pushed outwards, traveling on rails instead of hinges. A rather curious design choice, if I were being generous, but one which turned a thick panel of armor plating into a small piece of cover.
A pair of uniformed locals stepped out of the speeder, their gaze falling squarely on us and carrying- wait, the one on the right was a one of the identifier symbols from the briefing dossier. The one on the left... who knew, but presumably it was the same for the Republic.
Could it be that this was not, in fact, a trap?
You know what? This could have gone so much worse that I was willing to gamble on that chance.
...
Walking into a crowded ballroom almost shoulder to shoulder with a woman who, were it not for a politically relevant piece of paper, would have torn you limb from limb with an honest-to-God smile on her face was not how I expected my afternoon to start when I woke up that morning. Of course, when half the galaxy seems to have a vested interest in your relationship with your potential killer, things get a bit more complicated.
"Presenting Lia the Jedi and Nestor the Sith!" the man standing next to the double doors of the entrance proclaimed. Herald, I think he was called, but the exact details of his job title were not my highest priority.
No, it was the fact that I had finally gotten her name. How very convenient. A shame I could not use it for a while. Unless I wanted to cause a scene, of course, or simply get under her skin. It was a tempting thought. Very tempting, in fact.
"The destined duo, as I live and breathe!" My thoughts as to how the architect of this place had turned a simple observation area into a highly defensible point of cover were pushed to the side as I focused my attention on the man who was approaching me at a sedate pace. No, who was approaching us.
Judging by the quartered livery of his otherwise unremarkable dress, this was the ruler of Chembau, a man who had assumed the ancient title of Regent of the Unifier nearly fifteen standard years ago, was approaching us from a slightly raised dais which held a square of low couches currently being occupied by the most important figures from both delegations currently visiting the planet.
Also, 'the destined duo'? Where did that come from? And how did someone respond to that? While my brain was on the verge of formulating something appropriate, the Little Jedi spoke up.
"It is the will of the Force that Nestor and I meet once again, Your Majesty," the Little Jedi said, her voice enviably even. Mentally shifting gears back to a language she could understand, I allowed the smugness to persist for a few moments and simmer back down on its own. Only then did I shift the language in my mind. After having her refer to me only as 'the Little Sith', it was a welcome change to have her use my name. "Though it is too soon to say to which end."
Please, we both knew to which end this was happening: to distract each other and to keep public attention on us and away from our respective intelligence agencies. And that was a decidedly uneven trade.
Recognizing the cue for what it was, I took my own turn to speak.
"How fortunate, then, that we have this time to peace to find out," I said. A pleasant smile easily formed on my face to color the words ever so slightly. Meanwhile, I shot a glance at the Little Jedi, hoping for some kind of response. She gave none, of course; Clearly, she had brushed up on her etiquette since the last planet.
"You think this peace can endure?" the regent asked, raising a solidly grey eyebrow. Whether the gesture was one of genuine curiosity or cynicism… no, it was genuine curiosity. Imperial Intelligence had constructed a rather extensive psychological profile on the man, of which I had understood… two-thirds?
"Of course," I answered, pushing those thoughts to the side. "The fact that Jedi and Sith can have a pleasant time while touring a city should be evidence aplenty that friendly coexistence between the Empire and the Republic is possible."
Unspoken was the little fact the Jedi did not control the Republic. The Sith, meanwhile, were the Empire. Without Sith, there would be no Empire, which meant that every Sith lost was another tooth taken from the gears that made up the mechanisms of state.
"It's good to know that optimism is not lost among the stars," the regent said with a warm smile before turning marginally to address us both. "Now come, have a seat. I have neglected my other guests long enough."
The older man returned to the dais where ten others sat in quiet conversation. Sith on the right, Jedi on the left, with enough space on the low couches for all to comfortably sit. The regent took a seat in the surprisingly plush seat at the far end of a low table laden with steaming cups of… something I was not stupid enough to drink.
The Jedi and I took our seats – opposite one another in the places farthest from the regent, as might be expected – as the older man began to address us all.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Jedi and Sith, I am the Fifteenth Regent of the Unifier of Chembau." This time, he did not speak with the paternally warm tones he had used to initially welcome us. Instead, his voice held a clear edge of authority. And more importantly, the confidence that came from long experience with said authority. "It is my pleasure to officially welcome you to my world."
"It is an honor to be invited," said the Jedi Master at the head of the Republic side of the table. Oddly enough, there were only Jedi in the group sent here by the Republic delegation. Not a single civil official or diplomat, only saber jockeys. Had they not been invited?
"The Empire shares this sentiment," Darth Thur said, his voice still as needlessly grandiose as it had been earlier in the day. Even in an environment as subdued as this. Which, quite frankly, raised a question of its own. One would think the ruler of the world welcoming foreign diplomats would have been a big event. But no, just some people from the press that were kept far away enough not to cause trouble.
Cultural differences were to blame, no doubt.
"Then no doubt you know the unenviable position in which my brothers and sisters of this world find ourselves," the regent said. "For every ten men, four demand we side with the Empire, and four more demand we side with the Republic. The shouting from the streets is loud enough to reach the courtyard, at times."
...
Hey guys I would really appreciate it if you could throw some power stones to help elevate the ranking.
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