Private England Made Me

[Sela Basran]

SHIRAYA'S SANCTUARY
DETENTION FACILITY
​

i trapped a spider underneath a glass...
​

Sela Basran's hands were tucked into opposite sleeves, for warmth as much as for any other purpose. The detention facility was cool and remote, safeguarded and secluded. The Jedi Master was admitted straight away, having been involved in the arrest of Her and being a member of the Council to boot. She signed in at the security desk, chatting briefly with the guardian on duty. Simple things. Had the prisoner said anything of note since her arrest? Would the facility mind terribly providing Sela with a transcript of any utterances she had said, or said during the balance of her custody? Was she being kept comfortable? Was she a risk of harm to herself or anyone else?

The guardian confiscated her lightsaber -- just in case -- and looked her over for anything that might be used against her, or that the prisoner might use to escape. Pleasantries and unpleasantries thus concluded, Sela was shown through to the secure side.

It was her first time there.

All new to her.

The pair of guardians that escorted her through told Sela that they would be right outside. She thought she should take some comfort from that. Sela drew on the Force, creating a sort of shield around herself, something that might warn her that the prisoner might attempt to reach for her. She kept her distance from the reinforced transparisteel wall that separated her side of the room from Her 's.

"Miss... Nova, is it?" Sela asked dryly. Her voice, despite her distance, carried. "Are you well -- considering the circumstances?"

​

 

[Her]

---

---

Tag: Sela Basran

---

' England Made Me '
A tale set within the Shiraya's Sanctuary

"Miss... Nova, is it? ... Are you well -- considering the circumstances?"

"That is a stupid question, don't you think?" Her retorted almost equally as dryly.

It was the third time that Her had been incarcerated over the course of their time which was, at least quietly to them, a form of irony that she tried not to focus on. In comparison to those dark days on Coruscant, when it had then been conquered by the One Sith, or by extension the later detainment wrought by the New Jedi Order via cryostasis, Her was in far more comfortable circumstances. It had everything to do with the fact that the Jedi Order did not truly know who or what they were dealing with yet. If they had known who Her was then, perhaps, they would have taken far better precautions to detain this enigmatic woman, or better yet shot them on the spot before she dare form a sentence with that sly, snake mouth of theirs.

The Guardian would have gone onto explain a myriad of oddities that they had been the unfortunate witness too since they had been assigned to watch over the prisoner ever since she had been arrested in the meditation summit by the Jedi Council. Her had been eerily quiet even when it came to small matters such as to their routine when it came to meals or personal hygiene. Therefore they had been left to their own educated guesses as to what they liked to eat, or to their privacy. They had noted strange, esoteric tattoos on the prisoner's skin which had been passed on for an analysis that had yet to be concluded.

Suffice to say the prisoner was being kept as comfortable as they could be, and according to the Guardian, they hadn't yet posed a risk to themselves or the Jedi assigned to watch over them during their incarceration within the detention block. However, Basran would know better. After all it had only been by the intervention of the Jedi Master, and the others who had attended the meditation summit to hear about Her's conspiracy theories regarding the Trade Federation of Planets, which had prevented the attack on Grandmaster Quin.

Her needed to be watched. They were dangerous.

"Got a cigarette?" Her interjected before Sela could say something else.

 

[Sela Basran]

SHIRAYA'S SANCTUARY
DETENTION FACILITY
​

"I do not," Sela said plainly. She watched the woman -- apparent woman, she internally amended, for she had no way to know yet how the person identified. "And I do not believe you have earned outdoor privileges yet. Yard time, I believe it is called in the holofilms," she went on. A wry smirk tugged the corner of her mouth up briefly.

Sela unfolded her arms and took a few steps closer.

"I could arrange to have you provided with a cigarette," she said, in the tone of a mother opening negotiations with a historically difficult child. Eat your vegetables and you can have ice cream after. Do your homework now and we'll go to the park after. "If you will tell me what I want to know, there are all sorts of privileges I may be able to offer you. Not freedom, before you get your hopes up. That is not within my gift."

Sela's mind ran along the list of questions she had for the prisoner. There were hundreds, if she was honest.

"Did you come to the Sanctuary to confront the Grandmaster?" she asked as she paced in front of the transparisteel wall, her gaze lowered but her Force sense on high alert. "Or were you driven to it by anger when the Council did not respond to your stimuli the way you hoped?"

Her


​

 

[Her]

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Tag: Sela Basran

---

Perception and opinions are funny things one comes into possession of. If you were to ask Basran, or the other Jedi present in that most suspicious of days, then they would tell you that if they hadn't got up from their seats, and spoke Her out of it, then she would have tried to kill the Grandmaster where she sat. Alternatively, if you were to ask the alleged attacker themselves, they would tell you something else. A story of how Ala put her hand out for their weapon and Her relinquishing it before surrendering quietly to the Jedi Council's custody without anymore sermon or fuss upon reading the room that a long-term adversary was going to arrest them regardless of Her said or did next.

"Did you come to the Sanctuary to confront the Grandmaster?"

Her sighed to themselves after Basran declined to hand over a cigarette. By Ashla, she missed Lianna.

"Or were you driven to it by anger when the Council did not respond to your stimuli the way you hoped?"

"I do not know what you are talking about," Her replied slyly as she stared at Basran through the cell bars. There weren't a pair of shades to hide the eyes anymore and they shined an awful shade of red as the Jedi Master made their inquiries. "I have known about Quin's desire to see me come to some form of Republic justice ever since they entered Tarsai's offices. Reading the room I surrendered to her custody. I am looking forward to the Jedi trying to litigate me as a criminal in court."

It's hard to stare someone in the eyes when you are lying, and even as someone as practised as Her falls victim to ques every so often. As she looked away from Sela, Her asked: "Is that what you are really here to ask me about, master?"

 

[Sela Basran]

SHIRAYA'S SANCTUARY
DETENTION FACILITY
​

"Oh, yes," Sela said, her voice even. "Well, that and many other things. I must beg your indulgence, however. I am a scholar, you see. My focus is typically on matters historical and slightly esoteric. And my gossip is typically limited to what is happening here in the Sanctuary."

She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the edges. "So when you say things like 'ever since they entered Tarsai's offices' -- well, dear, I am afraid it is all rather lost on me. Perhaps you would be good enough to explain the historical context."

The Master paced one way along the transparisteel wall, showing the spiral of silver-white hair mixing with its brown-grey counterparts in a striking pattern, pinned against one temple. "Though that does make me wonder: if you were certain of the Grandmaster's desire to see you detained, why come here at all? Your little display of aggravation before puts lie to your claim that you sought to aid the Jedi Order of the Republic." She stopped at one end of the transparisteel, turning her gaze toward Her . "So why did you really come?"

Could it be that this person intended to be imprisoned? Curious.

​

 

[Her]

---

Tag: Sela Basran

---

Shame. Such a shame.

"Oh, yes... Well, that and many other things. I must beg your indulgence, however. I am a scholar, you see. My focus is typically on matters historical and slightly esoteric. And my gossip is typically limited to what is happening here in the Sanctuary."

As she listened to Sela, as the scholar explained their expertise in matters relating to history, or their esoteric studies, Her considered the Jedi standing on the other side of the cell. If things went according to the plan then, perhaps in the future, Basran might be helpful in uncovering the race of Humanoids that Her had come to regard since she first landed in the Kalist system to end the pilgrimage from Childhood.

The Builders, they were called. At least to those who had tried to study their works. It was widely considered by anyone who knew about the satellite in the Nespis system (or the other half dozen anomalies scattered throughout the galaxy) that the true name for these race of aliens had been lost to time.

A consequence of the Four Hundred-Year Darkness, Her feared.

"So when you say things like 'ever since they entered Tarsai's offices' -- well, dear, I am afraid it is all rather lost on me. Perhaps you would be good enough to explain the historical context."

It was around three years ago now during the height of the Five Veils revitalization project founded by Wend Maricon; and back when Naboo had been a 'Royal Republic' before Kalantha reformed it into the High Republic. As a participant of the project Her had gone onto create a security subsidiary of Maricon's conglomerate. She called it the Tarsai Vigil and so the company begun patrolling and installing tolls (or tariffs on exports, traffic or commercial activities running through the hyperlane) under the suspicious management of Her.

To this day the company remains active, and despite it's legal activities along the Five Veils route, it has earned a reputation which bordered on the air of being despised. Certainly Ala Quin believed that the company (and it's only known face in Theed) were corrupt after she all alleged that a distress call for assistance was intercepted by a Tarsai patrol for a ship from Cerea called the Larkspur Crescent. After the ship and it's crew went missing Ala begun an investigation into Her and even lobbied for an official inquiry into the missing ship and Tarsai Vigil after she came to suspect that Her was responsible for it's disappearance fearing that the Juno family were either being held captive or were the victims of a series of murders.

The request for the inquiry was subsequently shut down by committee citing lack of evidence for an alleged crime Ala thought Her had committed and therefore warranted an official investigation. With no jurisdiction, and lack of leads into the missing ship, Ala's investigation died with the disappearance of the Larkspur Crescent an unsolved case to this day.

"Though that does make me wonder: if you were certain of the Grandmaster's desire to see you detained, why come here at all? Your little display of aggravation before puts lie to your claim that you sought to aid the Jedi Order of the Republic."

"As I explained to you in our meeting... I came to this sanctuary for two reasons," Her lied to Sela while diverting the conversation away from the Larkspur Crescent situation. Did this Jedi really think she was going to help them with that?

"There is a conspiracy against the High Republic. It has seen to the demise of the Galactic Alliance and the Empire of the Lost. It has accomplished the same with the Imperial Confederation, and as I speak, it has acquired influence, leverage and ties to the Mandalorian Empire. I have gathered some of the pieces... But I do not have the whole picture. I need help to put it altogether."

"So why did you really come?"

Walking away from the bars Her left Sela's question unanswered.

 

[Sela Basran]

SHIRAYA'S SANCTUARY
DETENTION FACILITY
​

Sela observed with all the casual inquisitiveness of a nosey auntie. Perhaps a touch of indulgence there, too, for the woman who was presently at the Jedi Order's mercy and would remain so for the time being. She certainly had an interesting way of presenting, Sela thought. Then again, she was certain others had had the same thought about her more than just in passing.

"Yes, you mentioned this conspiracy," Sela began, tucking her hands into her sleeves. She resumed pacing. "I recognize you, from the Senate. I am the Jedi Order's liaison, so I spend some time there. Usually observing. Rarely speaking. We do not get a vote." Sela paused a moment, craning her neck to look up at one of the cameras that covered the cell. She held its gaze for a few moments. "That is, I think, as it should be."

Turning, then, to pace back the way she had come.

"Given your access to the Senate, and the privileges that come with presence in that chamber, why not report your findings there? Or to the Chancellor?" She didn't pause pacing, but did half-turn her head toward Her. "Why is involvement by the Jedi necessary at all?"

Her eyes settled on Her as she turned on her heel and paced back. "You see the problem is, dear, that I simply do not believe you. I have felt an evasiveness about you since the moment you walked into the Sanctuary. Why?"

Her


​

 

[Her]

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Tag: Sela Basran

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"Yes, you mentioned this conspiracy... I recognize you, from the Senate. I am the Jedi Order's liaison, so I spend some time there. Usually observing. Rarely speaking. We do not get a vote."

It was true. Her had been an odd face among the crowds of representatives to the star systems which made up the High Republic for at least the past couple of years. It was also true that this presence in Theed possessed ulterior motives. The work among the Imperial Remnants had proven to be dangerous. Whether it had been under the leadership of the despot Ignacious Korvan in the Dark Empire; the disastrous reign of Velran Kilran after he took over the Empire of the Lost; or the Deschart into the Sularen-von Strauss administration in the Imperial Confederation Her had known this ever since she worked alongside these villains to complete their own ends against the dark masters from the Stygian Caldera.

After all Her had been working towards the elimination of the Sith Order since the turn of the ninth-century with the remnants of the New Imperial Order scattered across the Outer Rim Territories where they would go onto form new Imperial movements. Therefore such work to eliminate the Sith controlled regions of the Thandon Star Cluster (or the swath of star sectors annexed around Jutrand) required an escape plan if their adversaries emerged victorious from the series of campaigns or attacks wrought upon them by the machinations of the same fallen Jedi conversing with Basran today.

So, in order to acquire this escape-- this safety net from Sith persecution-- Her had courted influence ever since she had joined the Five Veils Revitalization Project with the intention to find refuge in the the High Republic. Later, with thanks to Joa Sodi's ' Reparation and Naturalization Act ' , she would get what she wanted. In the dying days of Aurelian Veruna's interim Chancellorship he would force the hand of the RNA committee to grant Her naturalized citizenship on the planet Enarc-- a safe haven from the conspiracy Her alluded to.

Protected on the edge of the Triellus route and far away from the enemies that she had gained out there in the Outer Rim.

"Given your access to the Senate, and the privileges that come with presence in that chamber, why not report your findings there? Or to the Chancellor? ... Why is involvement by the Jedi necessary at all?"

"I was in a similar meeting before I arrived in this sanctuary," Her explained to Basran. "My associates on Kenari came to the same opinion that I have: that so long as the Trade Federation of Planets are in Theed then any lobbying for an official inquiry into my findings would be of no consequence."

With their back still turned to Basran, Her continued to allude to this alleged corruption in Naboo's capital. "If a petition was made to the Senate to request an inquiry or investigation into the Trade Federation's involvement with the Sith Order then it would be bogged down by debate. Motions to dismiss or counter allegations against myself and the Kenari Resource Compact. Other information, which would have nothing to do with the inquiry, would come to light and bring the allegations into disrepute. This is how these things go when you are dealing with such corruption..."

"The debate could result in an inquiry or investigation being denied. Also, by the time a decision has been reached, the Trade Federation will have made their own moves to obfuscate any incriminating evidence and will have informed their partners in Thandon or Jutrand about this. Also, who is to say the Sith will not do something about this as well? Particularly when you are dealing with..." Her paused as she said the name. "...Darth Carnifex."

It was a good thing that Her's back was turned to Basran. The eyes tend to widen and the pupils dilate at the feeling of terror.

The horror, the horror.

"You see the problem is, dear, that I simply do not believe you. I have felt an evasiveness about you since the moment you walked into the Sanctuary. Why?"

Again Her decided not to answer Basran's question.

 

[Sela Basran]

SHIRAYA'S SANCTUARY
DETENTION FACILITY
​

The Jedi Master studied the prisoner curiously, taking it all in. What Her said. What Her left unsaid.

Sela was prepared to be patient if she could be convinced that there would be a payoff in the end. Here, she was not convinced. Not yet. Her seemed to be too pleased with herself for putting the cat among the pigeons, but the wizened Jedi Master was not convinced that there was a point and purpose to it, other than to create division.

Sela smiled tightly.

"What is this other information to which you refer?" she asked patiently. "If they would derail the investigation into the Trade Federation of Planets if brought to the Senate, they have the capacity to derail anything the Order would endeavor to do. But advising us ahead of time so we know the proper context in which to place it would be helpful."

She suspected Her would not find that compelling -- which was fine. The point was not to learn everything Her had to offer. Rather, the aim Sela brought with her was to understand the extent to which she -- and the Jedi Order -- could trust Her. She cupped her chin and stroked lightly with a careful finger.

"What evidence is there to support your claim? Surely you must have some kind of documentation. Photographs? Video? Audio?"

Her

​

 

[Her]

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Tag: Sela Basran

---

"What is this other information to which you refer? ... If they would derail the investigation into the Trade Federation of Planets if brought to the Senate, they have the capacity to derail anything the Order would endeavor to do. But advising us ahead of time so we know the proper context in which to place it would be helpful."

Reaching up to their mouth, cupping their hand into a fist, Her yawned into it lightly as Basran continued to pick out the clues that the prisoner was intentionally weaving into the throng of their conversation, or depending on your point-of-view, interrogation. Lowering their eyes to the nearby cot (already folded neatly with the other trappings of the bed arranged in a military style) Her considered the sleep that seemed to always allude them. A dreamless state for just a couple of hours would be bliss. Away from all these memories that often dredged themselves up whenever she dreamed.

Alas Her would have to wait for rest. The Work was more important and it was being worked out with Basran as they conversed together.

"There are so many things that could be brought up in a debate regarding my allegations and findings if the Trade Federation were to discover who was alleging them," Her explained sleepily to Basran. Lowering themselves down to rest on the ledge of the cot, Her basked half their upper body in the shade of the wall that the bed was attached too as she continued to entertain (or mystify) the elder Jedi.

"For example I am a documented Imperial expat from Lianna who immigrated to Enarc from the Imperial Confederation. I am a former member of the Commission for the Establishment of Civilian Interests via the role of Warden Primus in the I.C.D. In this capacity I performed a role that is antithetical to that of the High Republic by the trampling of civil liberties, rights and freedoms of a variety of people all across the former star systems of the Empire of the Lost."

"If I were a cunning person..." Her elaborated as she painted the picture for Basran of these hypotheticals. "...I would pick apart my character and use such things to deflect them away from myself and back onto the person accusing me. Given that the Trade Federation of Planets are a conglomerate who abide by Republic laws, and even had one of their own stand for the position of High Chancellor during the reforms that saw the Royal Naboo Republic reformed into what it is today, then you have to say that they are a reputable entity in the High Republic by comparison to someone like me."

This was barely scratching the surface. Her had done much worse in comparison to their time in the COMECI.

Much worse.

Of course, Her was only going to tell Basran about the things that she could find out for herself. It was the things that Sela didn't know about Her that were the most damaging such as the Sartinaynian Crisis or the Vexis Station Incident. There was even an allegation to be made that Her was a war criminal after the attacks in the Dostra system or the Tingel Arm rebellions against the Empire of the Lost.

But Basran would have to dig deep to find out about those things. Her certainly wasn't going to help the Jedi find out about any of those feats.

"You see, at least at this time, none of their members have a criminal record as far as I know," Her continued to explain while lying their dark heart out. "There are no allegations yet present, rumoured or circulating in private or public spaces about them other than my own. So, the source of such allegations has to be clean. There has to be no ulterior motives to be considered in their allegations. Someone with standing and a reputation that cannot be in disrepute..."

"I am none of these things," she sighed lightly.

Cupping both of their hands together and rubbing the sides of their face Her made a vain attempt to stave off the tiredness that she suddenly felt.

Lying has a toll, you see?

Cunningly Her weaved together the very things that were preventing Basran from believing anything that she had said so far (or during their meeting in the meditation spire) regarding the connections that she had made between the Sith Order and entities such as the Trade Federation of Planets. There was a clear ulterior motive that this enigmatic woman possessed by coming to Shiraya's Sanctuary and the allusions (or delusions) to a galactic conspiracy (allegedly created by the Sith) had allegedly seen to the demise of three major powers in the Outer Rim Territories, and if Her was right, it was now coming for the High Republic. Nevertheless the Dark Lord persisted to lie and to manipulate the Jedi Master ahead of them.

"As I explained to you when we first met," Her continued to say while lying through their teeth. "An investigation into my allegations must be performed first in order to either disprove or substantiate what I am alleging or what I have found before they are presented in Theed; and it must be done in a clandestine fashion by a source that is both reputable and powerful in making such allegations for a variety of reasons."

"What evidence is there to support your claim? Surely you must have some kind of documentation. Photographs? Video? Audio?"

Rubbing their left eye Her did well not to sigh again as Sela asked for proof.

"I have video recordings of a well known Viceroy from Cato Neimoidia, and who is a prominent figure in the Trade Federation. They were invited as a guest to an event hosted by Darth Carnifex in the Geonosis system," Her explained again. "I showed you this when we first begun talking about the conspiracy..."

Taking off their shoes Her rolled onto their side to lay down on the bed and looked up to Sela from the pillow case. "...and the Trade Federation are not the only people I think are working with the Sith Order. I have recordings and audio files about Aether the Iron as well. But before we could talk about them Ala put me in here, didn't she?"

---

 

[Sela Basran]

SHIRAYA'S SANCTUARY
DETENTION FACILITY
​

Sela smiled faintly.

"Yes," she conceded. "But let us not playact that that was an over-reaction by the Grandmaster. You either wanted to be apprehended, or you are very, very stupid and careless. I have observed you enough to know that it is not the latter. But I can understand that you feel you must hold to your vestiges of secrecy." She gave Her a knowing look.

"Of more concern to me," Sela went on, her voice conversational, as if speaking to a colleague and friend and not a Sith prisoner. "Is that you have constructed a logical system that requires the Jedi Order to launder your allegations. For you see, if we do not look into these claims and they are true, we will be seen as ineffectual and unresponsive. I am certain that you will make hay out of that while the sun shines, if you are not still enjoying the hospitality offered by the Sanctuary." Sela gestured broadly to the cell.

"And," she went on after a momentary pause. "If we do investigate, then there is a record. The allegations are substantiated -- at least in part, at least to some. So, accepting that you have ulterior motives -- which you have confessed already -- and that you are not bound by any particular dedication to the principles of truth, that makes me wonder about what else you are attempting to use the Jedi Order for."

She didn't pose it as a question. She had given up on getting anything actionable information from Her's testimony. But there were other ways of reconnoitering. "Tell me more about Aether the Iron."

Her



​

 

[Her]

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Tag: Sela Basran

---

"Yes... But let us not playact that that was an over-reaction by the Grandmaster. You either wanted to be apprehended, or you are very, very stupid and careless. I have observed you enough to know that it is not the latter. But I can understand that you feel you must hold to your vestiges of secrecy."

Her rolled around on the cot to turn their back to Basran as she spoke. It was fortunate as it hid their face from the stern expression that the Jedi Master wore as she picked apart the prisoner and their machinations for coming to Shiraya's Sanctuary.

Of course, Her would never fully admit to what Sela proclaimed. That by being held as a prisoner by the Jedi Order was better to the alternatives. As the two of them conversed Her imagined that there were a lot of people who were looking for Basran's prisoner and each of them wanted to either kill or use what she knew before ending it either way. That imagination also thought that the sanctuary would be the last place any of them would be looking for them and that was good enough, for now, until Her figured out what to do about them all.

There were, of course, the members of the Sith Order who would want Her dead after what she had done to them. She had been a key figurehead behind the invasion plans that saw to the two incursions in the Thandon Star Cluster. The first attack had taken place after an outbreak of the Candorian Blight in the Dostra system resulting in Brosi forever being transformed through a combination of the Imperial invasion of the world; the disease that had spread across Shoengen and other regions across the planet before the attacks; and the terraforming performed by the Sith in the aftermath. They would hold Her responsible for all of this, she feared.

Then there was the second attack on Brosi which resulted in the same outcome as the first. Even though the Imperial Confederation may have dissolved after the war that did not stop the likes of Her from being out there as a survivor that the Sith would not tolerate the existence of. The same was true for the Mandalorians. They had discovered that it had been Ella Nova who had been behind the incident on board the Vexis Station (and not the Diarchy as they had been lead to believe) which led up to a series of skirmishes and incidents until all war had broken out on Yaga Minor.

Yes, if the Diarchs were any proof in the matter, then it was obvious to Her that they would be after them as well considering that she was ultimately responsible for the losses of so many Mandalorian lives. The wrath of Aether the Iron was something to behold. Crucifixions relayed on live holographic feeds that had been circulated across thousands of star systems through the Empire he had created around Mandalore. It was not beyond the scope of Her's imagination that something far worse would be coming their way now that the Mandalorian leader was aware of their duplicity and manipulation that had led him to ultimately declaring war on The Diarchy.

Her also imagined that the Inquisitorius would be after them as well. Although von Strauss had not been able to prove the connection between Her and the Fifth Wing (a renegade Imperial cell of terrorists responsible for the economic collapse of the Empire of the Lost) there had been enough clues to certify suspicion that could lead to the end of an Inquisitors blade given that the Imperial Confederation fell after the Second Battle of Brosi. Suspicion can get a girl killed particularly when it came to dealing with the Imperial remnants who had, once again, lost huge swathes of territory and lives as a consequence of another war that had been lost.

Blame, accountability, culpability, or suspicion. While these things were not enough to prosecute or persecute a citizen of the High Republic, the same was not true for someone who lived in Lianna as part of the Imperial regime. Her had been behind the formation of the clandestine project that had engineered the Brosi attacks via her position of leadership in the confederation's security apparatus formerly known as the Imperial Corrections Directorate. Similar things had happened in the Empire of the Lost that had led to it's ruination as well. This pattern, if identified, would have surely led to a disaster given that von Strauss (and his calm leadership) was no longer in position to keep the likes of the Inquisitorius in check so as to stop them from acting against a woman who was, at the very least, partially responsible for the collapse of the Imperial Confederation.

Whether it was by the Lightsaber blades of the Sith or an Imperial Inquisitor; a Mandalorian or Imperial blaster; or a Diarch's wrath, Her had amassed many enemies in the Outer Rim Territories.

Jedi scrutiny and incarceration was, at least for the moment, far more appealing than what was waiting for Her outside of Naboo.

"Of more concern to me ... Is that you have constructed a logical system that requires the Jedi Order to launder your allegations. For you see, if we do not look into these claims and they are true, we will be seen as ineffectual and unresponsive. I am certain that you will make hay out of that while the sun shines, if you are not still enjoying the hospitality offered by the Sanctuary."

"And ... If we do investigate, then there is a record. The allegations are substantiated -- at least in part, at least to some. So, accepting that you have ulterior motives -- which you have confessed already -- and that you are not bound by any particular dedication to the principles of truth, that makes me wonder about what else you are attempting to use the Jedi Order for."

Her licked their lips nervously. Basran was a smart and wise Jedi Master worthy of their place on the council. By listening and internalizing everything that she had been told by Her and Ala in the meditation spire (and this interrogation) Sela had deduced, at least partially, what Her had sought to accomplish by telling the Jedi Council about the suspicious, alleged links between the Trade Federation of Planets and the Sith Order.

That had also been by design, of course. By leading Sela through the hypotheticals and factors at play Her knew that it would lead them to a choice that the Jedi would be forced to make. They could not ignore the implications if they had the best interests of the High Republic in mind, Her summarized. While they were not in the same capacity that the New Jedi Order had with the Galactic Alliance there was still a sense of duty and responsibility which compelled them to act even if it could, perhaps, serve the ulterior motives of someone like Her.

If they did not at least make their own inquiries about the alleged relationship between the Sith and the Trade Federation then they would be neglecting their place in the High Republic, Her thought. She had banked on these ideas but as Her laid there, with their back turned to Sela, the Dark Lord was quietly aware that Basran was a cunning woman who had come to this prison today in the vain attempt to gleam something new about the alleged Sith who Grandmaster Quin had arrested and Her would do well not to help them with this task.

A person less cunning than Her would continue talking about it. To continue the spin and narrative to push someone like Basran towards perusing the idea of the conspiracy that Her had first alluded to in the meditation spire. But Her wasn't that person. It was enough to explain how and why she was not the right person to make those allegations known to the senators in Theed about the galactic spanning conglomerate who may or may not be in business with the Sith Order while dangling the proverbial carrot in front of the Jedi to make their own inquiries.

It had to be by choice that the Jedi made the effort to substantiate or at least make their inquiries into all of this. Anything outside of that and they would not allow themselves to be manipulated. There was a fine line between being an informant and a manipulator that Her made the choice to walk down. To continue trying to spin Sela into doing what she wanted the Jedi Master (and others) to do would not yield the results that the Rule of Two sought to make.

"Tell me more about Aether the Iron."

"There was a conference held by holograms between representatives of the Mandalorian Empire and Imperial Confederation as war loomed between Mandalore and Bastion," Her said to Sela while staring at the wall.

Sleep would come soon she quietly hoped.

"During the conference some things happened. One was an admission that the Mandalorian clans, unified under Aether's leadership, were contracted to Srina Talon: the Empress of the Sith Empire. This contract, although I have not read the ledger, implied that the Mandalorians were open to mercenary work for the Sith Order. Also, when Talon was brought into the conference, as the Imperial delegates sought clarification and answers about this contract, given that they were at war with her Empire back then, she made another admission that the Mandalorian leader was her nephew."

Her fell quiet again.

---