Private Bad Friends

[Arris Windrun]

A SHIP - HYPERSPACE

Immediately after the raid on Kattada, Mercy's ship jumped to hyperspace, as it wasn't long after that Jedi allies arrived to drive them off.

There were no padawans aboard the ship as was planned, which left more than a few of the raiders disgruntled and confused. Still, the loot was enough to keep them interested.

Arris passed a group of them playing with recently acquired chimes. They tried to divine its purpose and failed spectacularly, not that Arris knew either, and not that she cared. No, the cyborg struggled to adjust from battle to rest. A single lightsaber cut marred the side of her body, though thankfully failed to run deep enough to have done any serious harm. Her left arm, however, had been completely shattered in an off stunt she pulled with her gun. It hung loosely at her side.

She entered the room where Mercy and Tilon Quill were - now the three of them alone.

"So what's this about a deal?" She asked coldly.

Cyber eyes stared at the floor, then drifted to the wall. Vaguely at Mercy and only a glimpse of Tilon in her periphery. She threw herself against the wall for a lean, all mopey and in denial of her shame. Shame that she swallowed hard like small pieces of bone caught in her dinner. Would've crossed her arms if she could.

 

[Tilon Quill]

"Oh, fuck you, Arris," Tilon snapped, and the outrage kind of died off halfway through as he saw the damage. It took him back to the kaggath, seeing her operated on, seeing her bull through despite all risk to health. Around that time he'd invited her to Kattada to train.

And she'd shown up with a raid crew.

"Mercy gave me the Padawans back, and again, for the record, fuck both of you. What you get instead is the coordinates to a big old space station bursting with light worshipper cultists and home to a few Ashlan Jedi fanatics. Which I, apparently, am going to help you raid."

There was a lot more to it than that but he was definitely still hung up on the first part.

Arris Windrun Mercy

 

[Mercy]

Arris Windrun Tilon Quill

Arris was mopey and Tilon was being outraged, that left Mercy with being the reasonable one.

A role that she didn't often assume and wasn't well-practiced in.

"Both of you are being overly emotional." Mercy said calmly as she glanced from one to the other. "You, darling, were the one who supplied the coordinates to the temple without even telling me it was attached to our dear friend Tilon." Addressed to Arris as she lit up a cigarette and pointedly didn't offer either one, which she usually would have.

"And you, Til, got everything you bargained for. As you inspected, there are no other Padawans here, so let's not be a sore loser. I think we both agree the idea of wiping out a station full of crusader zealots will only be beneficial to the Galaxy. What is it they say..."

She dragged from her cigarette and grew thoughtful for a moment.

Then- "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive." A smirk towards Tilon. "What do you think the Jedi Lords would do right after exterminating every Sith, down to the last child? Frankly, I am disappointed you didn't come to me yourself with this problem once you found out about the station."

A slow stretch.

"Also, don't think I forgot. It's not just the station, you mentioned a number of other places. In for a penny, in for a pound as they say, yes?"

 

[Arris Windrun]

Tilon's snap did nothing to shake her expression.

"Ashlan? What's that?" Arris asked the room.

It didn't take the Talusian long to reveal how little she understood about anything of this. Not like Mercy and Tilon seemed to. The former was quick to step in and play strict private tutor. If Arris had any lick of insight, she might've guessed it had something to do with the Kaggath Champion's past.

Instead, she took the bait of Mercy's 'pass the blame,' pushed herself off the wall, and stepped up to her.

Then Her attention turned right to Tilon - the anger was palpable. She was ready to snap something back until Mercy kept on, reclaiming her attention. Sounded to her like this wasn't just about killing some folks who deserved it... that Tilon gave up more than a just cause.

"Wait, what..." She turned back to Tilon with a smirk. "So what - protect the kids you know in exchange for the ones you don't?"

That earned him a snort, too. "You know, you'd make a great Senator."

Tilon Quill Mercy

 

[Tilon Quill]

"Yes, superb moment to rub it in that I'm making bad miserable soulless deals to mitigate the harm you two woke up and decided to go for. Which is probably how it'll go for the next target too, which was not part of the deal we struck, Mercy, thanks very much."

Tilon put the bulk of his fury into an innocent roll of space tape. Between that and utility marker he was doing what he'd told Mercy he would do: anonymizing one of the raiders' shoddy armored space suits. Tilon was visually distinctive.

"Ashlan. Righteousness cultists. Purge crusaders. Aristo fundamentalists." Rip and tear went the space tape. "Big power years back for a minute. The coordinates I gave when I came aboard are a station that used to be a cruiser. It's hidden inside a hollowed-out asteroid that's surrounded by a primitive minefield. Population's around four hundred, cult-dominated, generational, an extremist splinter faction. A few Ashlan-remnant fash-Jedi leftovers are among the leaders, and they've got a handful of Force-sensitive kids as — I don't even want to call them Padawans. Indoctrination subjects being geared up to cleanse the galaxy someday. They're going to need professional deprogramming.

"Main threat other than their Forcers and the minefield would be the power armor. Heavy, nasty stuff with phrik plating and long claws. Helmet visors—" He tapped the view plate of his space suit, now mostly obscured by permanent marker. "—are the weak point."

Tactical considerations were a pretty great way to avoid thinking about the really bad angles of all this. Of which there were many. He was also cognizant of the need to maybe start watching his mouth.

Mercy Arris Windrun