Private A Moff's Greatest Enemy...and a Jedi.

[Aculia Voland]

Hotel Chevalier
Lianna, Tion Cluster, Empire of the Lost.​

Aculia had faced down many enemies in her time. Mawites, insurrectionists, slavers, Sith, Jedi, some of the fiercest beasts the galaxy had to offer. But the current foe she was fighting was proving almost insurmountable. It never seemed to end. You could not just cut it with a lightsaber, or use the Force to destroy it. And it was not just a physical foe either, it was an intellectual one, one could not just turn off one’s mind and live in the moment and deal with it properly. No, it was a far more insidious foe that was impossible to kill, it could only be warded off for a short time…

Paperwork.

She reclined in her office chair, closing her eyes for a moment as she thumbed through yet another stack of reports. The Empire’s expansion came with many benefits, but one of the downsides was a never-ending amount of administrative paperwork and assorted problems to be solved, especially in an Imperial system of government. Everything had to be taken into account, tracked, and reported to ward off corruption and incompetence, and it took a heavy administrative toll. Between that and figuring out new missions for her underlings to undertake and the training necessary to keep up her Force and lightsaber combat skills in the event she was ever needed, she practically never got a break. And now she had meetings to take up the precious remainder of her free time.

“Sir, a Master Kahlil Noble is here to see you. Something about canceling a bounty on one of his Jedi Knights.”

Aculia let out a long, drawn out sigh before she replied on her commlink. Just great, Kahlil Noble himself had somehow found the time to make the trek all the way out from Coruscant over one bounty she had been forced to post in response to what one of his…from what Tella had reported…failures of a student had done, trying to straight up murder one of her men without any provocation at all. How had he possibly found the time to do so between what he likely had to do to run the Jedi and deal with the variety of threats out there in the galaxy? Was he himself not swarmed by paperwork, or did the Jedi just say screw it and let the chips fall where they may?

Well, considering what this Knight Si had done…

“Let him in, Sestia. I am ready for him now.”

Sitting up in her chair, she awaited the arrival of the famed “Shield of the Jedi”. It would be her first time talking to him properly, and she hoped he came in more of a cordial attitude than her daughter had reported.

Kahlil Noble Jonyna Si Jegy Sesara

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

Outside of the moff's office, Jonyna was very much not happy to be here. The last time she had met a moff, she'd stabbed them through the chest. Now Kahlil Noble wanted to trade her prisoner, a war criminal and former inquisitor, for her bounty. Jonyna didn't even really care about the bounty. It wasn't anything new for her.

"I still don't like this." Jonyna snarled, looking to Kahlil. "Why are we negotiating with Imperials?"

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Regardless of what you feel, we have two enemies already coming to our boarders. These Imperials seem to be striving for peace for the time being, and the longer we can keep that, the fewer people will die in the coming wars." Kahlil glanced down to Jonyna, a frown clear on his face. He didn't like this much either, but if the Jedi brought yet another enemy to the Alliance he was certain the Senate would only make it worse. For now, this was the best path forward.

"You must learn to let go of your feelings and not act on them. I expect you to remember that while we're in there."

He likely shouldn't have brought her at all, especially with the bounty on her head. Yet he had. No point in regret. No sooner did he step into the room though that he immediately started to speak, his eyes glancing down towards the woman behind her desk.

"I'm not here to mince words. Remove your bounty, Imperial. And we will return your Inquisitor whom we've already arrested."

Jonyna Si | Aculia Voland

 

[Aculia Voland]

Aculia was prepared for a lot of things to happen at this meeting, but the revelation that one of her inquisitors had been captured was not something she was prepared for. Still, decades of politicking enabled her to blunt her surprise, masking it with a little cough as she looked down and finished off the glass of Bespin Port she had on her desk. Motioning for the Jedi and his companion, from what she could tell clearly the target of the bounty, to sit down.

“If you would sit, we can work through this, yes.” She gestured to the bottle of alcohol on her desk, taking out two more glasses from a small drawer in it. “Feel free to have some. It must have been a long journey from the galactic core.”

Meanwhile, her senses were on the two Jedi. No subtle twitches in their bodies, no telltale little whirlpools of deceit in the Force. It was true, one of her Inquisitors had been captured…and had evidently gone off and done something on their own without her authorization since she did not recall any missions being sent to where members of the NJO were. Who would be dumb enough to go off on their own, alone, and challenge Jedi high enough where there was a realistic chance they could lose?

“I take it that this is the target of the bounty and the Jedi who attacked without…” She paused for a moment, fixing the Cathar with an icy stare with her pale blue eyes“...perhaps the full understanding of Jedi philosophy as I understand it. It happens from time to time. You understand why I had to post the bounty in the first place, of course, I cannot have people attacking my men without some kind of retaliation.”

Taking another sip of her Bespin Port, her glass once again full, she looked towards Kahlil.

“The Inquisitor, wherever he or she was, was not authorized to go off on their own against one of your members, I assume he was captured during some sort of duel, perhaps to regain some sense of misguided honor. For that, I officially apologize, that is not the policy of either myself or the Grand Moff. I will call off the bounty per your request in exchange for his safe return and the understanding that you have spoken to Ms. Si about her actions. I intend to have a very…” She paused for emphasis “earnest conversation with my own subordinate about what is proper and what is not. This is not that Ancient Empire."

She did not know which one of the Inquisitors had been captured, but she was definitely going to chew them the hell out. What were they doing going off the rails in an Imperial administration? Did she have to take on the role Vader did nearly a millenia ago to keep them in line?

Kahlil Noble Jegy Sesara Jonyna Si

 

[Jegy Sesara]

N/A

 

[Jonyna Si]

​

Jonyna sat, her eyes never coming off the Moff, unblinking and boring into their soul. Her distain for the Imperial was as blatant as a baseball bat to the face, and Jonyna clearly had no interest in hiding it. She held no forgiveness for what she did in her heart, and she'd do it again in a beat.

But she was a jedi now. A real one. She'd argue her choices later, for now she'd held her sword.

An astromech rolled in behind her, standing next to her.