Private A Surplus of Understanding

[Evander Corvis]

DENON
WAREHOUSE B24

The operation had been planned for a week, but executed in a manner of an hour. The criminal outfit that belonged to the Morants had not been particularly sizeable, but noteworthy in the lack of shame. Violent, merciless thugs, who kept a network of smugglers and warehouse workers under their thumb by a mixture of threats and greasing the wheels. But they caught the attention of someone that couldn't be bought or threatened into submission.

Knight Corvis of the Jedi Order had a particular loathing for criminal rats like these.

He had devoted a substantial amount of his time to ensure they'd be taken down. He worked with local law enforcement to ensure he'd have the proper support for the mission too. In the end Dixon Morant and his loathsome gang were all picked up by the coppers.

Evander knew better than to trust the local beat cops past a certain point however. By the time it was all over the Jedi Shadow made sure the Marshals were involved too, overseeing the transfer to jails that wouldn't be as easy to buy themselves out of. Now there was one outstanding question. A woman by the name of Calia Rook , who had participated in the criminal activities of the Morants.

According to rules and laws she ought to be arrested and tried.

It was the proper thing to do, but Evander had been observing the operations for a while now. He knew that her cooperation had been bought with threats. Stick rather than honey. It wouldn't matter to Denon Corporate Law and somehow he doubted the Order would see the subtle difference either.

Knight Corvis walked into the temporary holding cell - nothing more than Dixon's old office with a Marshal inside to keep an eye on Rook - and his hands settled on his hips. "I will take it from here, Barb. Go have a smoke." An understanding passed between them. There was a reason Evander had requested Barbara's presence and only allowed her eyes on Calia. She wouldn't blab to anyone, depending on what was decided here today.

"What am I to do with you?" He finally said, looking down at the woman in cuffs.

 

[Calia Rook]

The end had come with shocking rapidity.

The Morants had always seemed... inevitable. Like roaches. Able to survive the worst. Always there, always watching, always waiting to chew on a wire and screw your whole day up. Their contacts, their brutality, their apparent untouchability... had it all been an illusion after all?

Maybe it was fate that Calia Rook had been in the warehouse when things escalated. Maybe it was justice. Maybe it was just bad luck. But she had been apprehended handily from the cashier's window when she had come to turn in the money she had gotten for the run of black-level narcotics to Hutt Space. Bone-tired from the run -- and corporate security entanglements that had required some fancy talking and some even fancier flying -- Calia had not expected to be screwed in Warehouse B24.

Well.

Not more than she was usually screwed by the Morants.

Her dark hair was disheveled by the fracas, but her eyes were alert. She wasn't happy. But she wasn't mad at the woman who stood guard over her in Dixon's office. Barb -- her name was Barb, it turned out -- wasn't to blame for her predicament. No one was, no one but herself. She had been stupid enough to fall for Rafe's line of bullshit. She had been sloppy enough to be caught. She had been foolish enough to fall for Dixon Morant's powerplay. She had been weak enough that her family could be used as leverage against her.

And she had violated any number of laws on the way. She was as guilty as any of the Morants and their employees that were being hauled away.

A tall man entered, dismissed Barb easily. Calia lifted her head, shifting her shoulders. They had grown stiff with her arms cuffed behind her back to the uncomfortable chair. She had to crane her neck to meet his gaze, which she did. He was lean, muscular, even clad in the Jedi getup. Not bad looking, in a soft, posh boy sort of way. What am I to do with you? he asked. She was certain the question was rhetorical -- or perhaps meant to serve as mockery -- but that didn't stop her from suggesting: "Could let me go. I'm not here to make trouble."

Evander Corvis​

 

[Evander Corvis]

Calia Rook

Eyebrows raised up there.

He had not imagined that the fugitive would be cracking jokes so soon after the altercation. Then again, it didn't... Quite feel like a joke, more like an amusing suggestion Rook was hoping would be accepted.

"I think we both know that is not going to happen." He said calmly while pulling out a key from his pocket.

"If I open up the cuffs, are you going to try and run? I would not advise it, for what it is worth."

And unless Rook would indicate she would in fact flee, Corvis would gently unlock the cuffs and take them off of her wrists before righting himself again.

"Your current trajectory is a one way ticket to prison. I think I should be clear about that." The Jedi said finally, no empathy but also no malice.

It was just calm and steady. Even though she had watched him tear through the compound with that saber like it was nothing just some minutes ago.

"They will try and cut a deal by throwing you and anyone else they can under the bus."

 

[Calia Rook]

"I said I'm not here for trouble," Calia said stubbornly, as if that answered all his questions, in the tone of someone who didn't like to be asked to repeat herself. No, she would not run. It would be foolish to try. When he unlocked her cuffs, the only movement she made was to cup her left wrist with her right hand, massaging away the stiffness and pain. She looked up at him, eyes crinkling in indignant disbelief.

"One way?" she echoed incredulously. "That seems like a bit much. It's not like I killed someone."

Calia hesitated, then stopped. No, better not to confess all her crimes to this Jedi. Maybe he didn't know the extent of her crimes. Maybe this was just a fishing expedition. Even if not, admitting something served no purpose. Maybe if they tried to put her away, she could explain. The threats to her family. The scam. Not an excuse, a mitigation.

Still, this Jedi seemed pretty confident.

"That doesn't surprise me," Calia observed dryly. "But they're not the only one with dirt. If you can make some assurances -- not even for me -- I'll turn state's evidence. I have no love for these people, I can tell you that for nothing."

Evander Corvis​