Private An Audience with the Quartermaster

[Braze]

Tags: Colette ​

"Well… it's all really just a cycle of life… good and bad things come… and go…" He paused and moved to take an object from his hand, offering it out to her.

"I carry trinkets that remind me of certain people, since I don't get to see them very often… One of them helped me find Jasper Kai'el ."

In his palm rested a simple ring with a large cabochon set into it, the surface slowly shifting color with the warmth of his skin.

"It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day struggles. We forget to think about the people who aren't by our side… Little trinkets and tokens are a way of having something physical to remind you." He held it out a little farther.

"You can have this, if you like. It doesn't cost much, and it doesn't really hold any large value…"

It was only a mood ring, simple and inexpensive, but along the inner band was a small engraving that read: This too shall pass.

 

[Colette]

Braze

She held the ring between her finger and her thumb to catch the shimmer in the sun. Colette beheld its silvery surface with the thermochromatic inset, ran the thumb over the inscription with an appreciative smile.

"Thank you, Braze," she said and slowly reached out to offer it back. "But I can't. I'd want a token between us to be from something that we experienced together."

Her smile weakened, but it didn't fade. "We'll just have to meet up like this more often."

She glanced around the area and nodded.

"So let's start with that plan you talked about." Colette lowered her gaze to look at Braze. "If you want, I can put it before the council, ask around for some Knights to help you out?"

 

[Braze]

Tags: Colette ​

Braze smiled softly with understanding and returned it to his hand.

"Alright… well, if my plans don't go according to plan, we might not get another chance."

He offered it in an oddly playful tone, though the sentiment beneath it was dead serious. His idea of raiding Dromund Kaas was likely a suicide mission in all but name.

He led her through the refurbished halls and into one of the side rooms, where he drew out a small device fitted with a palm-sized holoprojector. He made certain to shut the door and locked it. A few soft clicks later, pale light spilled over the table, shaping itself into supply routes, storage facilities, and marked structures buried deep within Sith territory.

"I would love some support, if you can manage it; this isn't a mission for young-lings or padawan however... " he said. "It's a two-part plan. A distraction in the so-called land of Victory, with a full assault aimed at their food stores and the facilities they use to grow, process, and distribute supplies."

His gaze lowered to the projection. "The Sith don't just imprison people there that disagree with their system.... Not the Kainites, at least.... They sort them in to three categories...."

His fingers moved through the pale glow, separating one cluster of marked facilities from another.

"Labor. Entertainment. Nutrition."

The last word left him with no warmth in it.

"Labor is simple enough. Mines, factories, construction, transport lines… whatever keeps their murder machine of a society fed. Entertainment is worse in a different way. Some captives are altered, stripped down in to mockeries of their former selves and turned into 'Decraniated' attendants, dancers, servants, living ornaments for some monster's court."

He tapped one of the marked sites, and the projection bloomed red around it.

"And nutrition…" Braze's mouth settle din to a frown.... "That is exactly what it sounds like. The ones they decide are worth more as meat than as hands... Anyone unlucky enough to vanish behind their borders and end up on the wrong list end sup on some one's plate after being 'processed'." He let that unsettling notion settle before continuing.

"So when I say we're hitting their food stores, I don't just mean just their grain silos and hydroponics. I mean the places where their cruelty towards life has been twisted in to logistics... The places where people become inventory... Part two is a rescue mission done covertly with transports to get to the markets and pens and try to get as many of the slaves out of that hellscape. "

Braze straightened, "If we strike the obvious targets, they'll call it a raid and buy us enough of a distraction to try to get our covert team inside and try to save some of the poor souls from their sick cruelty... And if we cannot save everyone, then we make it harder for them to keep pretending no one is missing."

 

[Colette]

Braze

Labor, entertainment, and nutrition. The last one caught Colette's attention the most. She kept from raising a brow. The idea of what the Sith did was always morbid in thought, but from what Braze was painting for her it seemed worse than she had feared. Curiosity gave way for outrage and mounting frustration. And once the white-haired man was done explaining what he knew there was only determination that remained.

"Braze," Colette said and put her hand on his shoulder. She locked eyes with him. "Name a number and I will get you what you need."

"Had this been anyone else I would have taken it with skepticism, but I know you and I know that you do good." She let go of his shoulder. "Officially I can't, but personally I don't give a chit."

"If this is what we're truly ignoring then we can't just sit around. I know that's not saying much from a pacifist, but I hope you understand the meaning. I can't personally say I am comfortable with going, but I know that there are many who would jump at the chance."

"I will point them in your direction."

 

[Braze]

Tags: Colette ​

"Just... anyone who is interested in saving lives..." He said moving to unlock the door now that he seemed to think the heavier topic was over will for the most part that he didn't like the idea of a younger person over hearing. "I've some things to make yet still to protect those that venture with us... The place presses in on the mind and heart on all sides and can crush even the stoutest of mind. "

 

[Colette]

Braze

"I can't promise that a lot of people will come, but those who do will be there because they want to be." Colette nodded with a thoughtful frown. "And no younglings or padawans, of course."

She came to a stop.

"Is there anything else?"

 

[Braze]

Tags: Colette ​

"Yeah, this isn't a place for the young and inexperienced. I'd rather they not be anywhere near there... The Sith have a habit of finding Force-sensitive younglings and making them indoctrinated and conditioned as soldiers. I don't want them anywhere near there; it's one of their main imports..." Braze agreed.

He shook his head gently.

"Not really... I've been building training vaults, like they did in the great old days, for the younger ones to gain experience and use their minds to get through..." he offered simply. "I was mostly just trying to get this place functional. I'm sure there's a plethora of things I could do security-wise, but that might make this feel less accessible... Thank you for coming and talking to me... even for a little while I appreciate being heard. "

 

[Colette]

Braze
"Of course," Colette smiled. "And if you need anything, you know how to find me."

She gave Braze a slight nod of her head. She could understand what he was scared of and she didn't exactly blame him for it either. Colette struggled after she left a student she hadn't meshed with. The idea that she might have been responsible for something that'd end up killing them would have been horrible.

Almost as if on cue, her buzzer beeped. Colette looked at the sender: council.

"Chit." She hissed. "I need to go. Meeting. But maybe we can have dinner later together before I have to head back?"

"Just exist, talk a bit about life and all that. Be… Normal as some would say."

 

[Braze]

Tags: Colette ​

Braze nodded softly at that. " I would like that... I would be honored to cook for you... I make dinner around six. You're welcome to come meet Leos and Dirk my two protegees.... Until then... May the Force be with you Colette. " He mused softly seemingly understanding her position of responsibility and holding no ill will to her having to attend to other more pressing needs.