Private Finding a Common Cause

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn still wasn't well, but he was able to force himself to work again. Progress, he supposed, towards becoming well enough to find and kill his former Master. All he had to do was get fully in swing, and the old man wouldn't stand a shadow of a chance. The path forward had many plans, lessons that were more him preparing, a journey he had to take with Auburn Sioda , and a weapon that needed to be crafted. But all of those plans were slow to burn, things that he couldn't enact yet on his own. Today, and until then, he simply worked to keep himself from falling asleep again, and retreating to his blankets and pillows for dulling comfort. His mother was still here of course, Niamh Jones was still spending far too much time tending to him to help his progress continue.

Which is why he had scheduled a meeting with someone of interest.

Zesiro was someone with whom he had no familiarity, but the mere act of their reaching out had caught him off guard. With what little research he could do, they seemed to have little to no reason to seek him personally, and it had garnered curiosity from him. So he had set this meeting up, in his personal office. The ornate desk and room decor was not what had influenced the choice, but the fact that it would provide perfect privacy, for him to determine exactly what this Zesiro wanted. He'd had his sith robes freshly cleaned, and sat back in the black tunic as withe waited, a glass of whiskey in hand, the bottle sitting on his desk before him. Beside it was his blaster, easily in reach in the event he needed it, though somehow he doubted he would.

He took a sip of his drink, feeling the liquid warm and burn on the way down. With any luck, this would be quite the entertaining meeting.

 

[Zesiro]

After having been told by her husband to move to the Core area, Zesiro had settled on Coruscant with her daughter. Her daughter was old enough to be left alone for a few days and not get into too much trouble. Or she hoped that was the case. When she returned to Coruscant, she just hoped their flat would still be in one piece. Instead of just sitting in said flat bored to tears, Zesiro had started looking for work.

Word had reached her ears that there might be something found on Commenor so she reached out to the President there in the hopes of learning about what he and his government had to offer. As an exiled queen, she wasn't entirely worthless and some of the things she had gone through in life might prove to be useful to him.

Before she had gotten married and become queen, she had been security for the king. Even earlier than that, she had been something of a police officer on Kesh. All of this did not count her time with the now-defunct Galactic Empire...oh those were the good days. Pulling herself out of her trip down memory lane, she composed a letter to Mister Darlyn and sent it off to him. Much to her surprise, he replied back to her quickly and agreed to meet with her.

In her own research of Commenor, she discovered an old request that he had placed for a head of security. In her opinion, this was going to be her ticket in, even though it was an old one, it was something she could use to her advantage.

Looking through her clothes on the journey to Commenor, Zesiro picked a dark blue outfit and matching jacket. Her shirt was light blue with pants and a jacket that were darker. Even though she never used it, her lightsaber was clipped to her belt and she made no move to hide her Force ability.

Landing in the spaceport, she exited her ship to be greeted by a friendly escort. This surprised her a little and made her feel welcome. Climbing into the speeder, he took her to his office and helped her out even. Following him, she was silent and figured she should remain that way. Not counting the small chatter along the way about her trip was and if she wanted anything to eat or drink. Deciding it best to meet with Darlyn, she declined the offer. Just following the escort was enough.

Things were run pretty well from what she could tell and soon enough, he was at the office door and motioning for her to enter. Brushing at her jacket, she made sure it was in place and walked through the door.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn glanced up off his desk when he heard the door open, and raised an eyebrow a bit. For someone of her position, from his understanding, she had a remarkably plain look to herself. Granted his black tunic and robes weren't anything to sing home about but, they certainly had a certain formality and look to them compared to the simple outfit she wore. Furthermore, she had both a lightsaber and made no effort to hide her darker presence in the Force, though it wasn't terribly forceful as compared to his, or a sith lord's, or anything of the like. More and more curious, and the nature instilled in him by his Master meant he needed to know more about why she had come so far.

He motioned her to come forward, and take a seat, the door being closed behind her with a casual wave of his hand. If she was going to make no effort to hide it, then he felt no need either. Aside from a slight dampening of his presence, so it wouldn't possibly seem oppressive or give a sense of pressure on her. But, he would let her feel the difference between them all the same.

"Well, I can't say you're what I was expecting from an exiled queen. I would've expected something more like Auburn, more... ornate. Regardless, come have a seat, can I get you something to drink? Whiskey... tea perhaps?"

A teapot floated over to the desk casually as he spoke, a playful way he thought to set the mood. How she reacted to his casual displays of the Force would tell much of her.

Zesiro

 

[Zesiro]

At an earlier point in her life, Zesiro would have probably attempted to hit on the President. Those days were so long ago in the past that it felt like another lifetime to her. He also probably wouldn't have appreciated the gesture. However, she still moved with as much grace as she had back then and one could tell she knew how to use her body. This was just something that would never change about her.

Walking forward when Darlyn welcomed her. When he said she was different than he expected, she shrugged slightly. Motioning to her clothing, they were well made. They were not cheap just not extravagant. Taking the seat he motioned to, he offered her something to drink and then floated a teapot over to the desk.

"I really should learn that trick."

Saying this softly, it was most likely loud enough for him to hear. There was no real surprise or shock in her tone.

"I'm not picky. Whatever works for me, President."

Unless he requested her to not call him by his title, it was something Zesiro felt she should do.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Darlyn, or at least include my last name. It gets ignored enough by mum, I don't need that from strangers too."

The teapot would pour a cup for Zesiro, not a perfect cup of Sapir tea but it was still decently well made. Spend enough time around people addicted to the stuff and you simply had to learn to make it. At the same time as the tea was poured, Darlyn took another long sip of his whiskey, watching Zesiro with a curious glint to his eyes that he simply couldn't hide. Such a strange person unlike anything he had expected, neither extravagant nor, how does one say... forceful of personality. She was not how he took a Queen to be, in the slightest.

He quite liked it, to be honest.

"Well then your Highness, I suppose you have me at quite a disadvantage. I know nothing about what you could want from me that you cannot get elsewhere more easily. I have a world and sanctuary but, just as easily you could find that elsewhere, perhaps even in better supply. You also come in armed with a quite traditional weapon, but hardly seem like you've used it once, judging by your hands. That of course might simply be your lack of need, being so high on others' list of safety concerns."

"So if it's alright with you, I would like to skip the pleasant discussion of the weather or fine brandy and move right along to the part where we learn why you've decided that my humble trade world has something you desire." He wasn't speaking with a rude tone of voice, at least he didn't think so, he simply didn't want to spend hours discussing nothing.

Zesiro

 

[Zesiro]

Not at all wanting to admit she was horrible with names, she just nodded and would do her best to remember at least his first name. It had taken her a few years to actually know the name of her husband, but that was before they were ever married. Before she even worked for him and they had just met the once. Once she had gone into hiding and learned who the king of Kesh was...that was when she learned his name. That didn't matter right now really and she kept quiet while Darlyn spoke.

"Just Zesiro, please. It's what I've known all my life."

When he opened up the conversation right away, it almost put her on a back foot. Luckily, she was able to recover quickly enough...for the most part. She could adapt to his manner and go with the flow. Her hand lowered to her hilt when he mentioned and she shrugged slightly.

"First, I have hardly any training in the Force. This, however, was made with a great amount of care and so I wear it proudly. So you are correct, I have rarely used it. That has nothing to do with my position as queen. Weapons I can use, but not this one. Second, I do crave sanctuary for myself and my daughter. There is also something I can offer you."

Taking a sip of the tea, she fished out of her bag a device that clearly indicated his want for a head of security. Holding it out to him, she set the cup down and allowed him to read through his old ad. Motioning to the device with her hand, she leaned forward a little.

"I am quite familiar with how to do security. At the time, I went to Kesh, I was more or less a police officer there until I met Edric again. After that, I took up a position within his court and was his head of security. I feel I meet the qualifications of your add. Are you still needing this position filled?"

Picking the cup up again, she took a sip and leaned back in the chair provided for her.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn reached out, taking the device as he listened to her speak again. He'd been listening intently as she made her case, and worked hard to catch up to him jumping the gun on discussion topics. She did adequate in such a regard, which was more meaningful than her posturing about her qualifications. Police officer, bodyguard, queen. He'd have doubted such a progression had he not himself gone from a bounty hunter to the president of a planet, which seemed arguably far more unlikely. Beyond that, he felt more than comfortable trusting her words, considering he could likely crush her like an apple if she tried to lie, and he felt they both were aware of that. She had to be that aware.

Still, considering what she was after, sanctuary, she was certainly offering something of equal merit. He needed no protection, of course, he was capable of fending for himself more than sufficiently. But appearances were always important, and a bodyguard-less president almost begged for competition, for someone to come after him. And he was too tired to deal with it, even if his 'guard' would be weaker than he was. Still, even if she certainly seemed capable of handling the role, there were other things to be concerned about... "Well Zesiro, naturally you're still going to be given a background check. Qualifications or not, and ignoring the fact I could turn you to paste if I felt like it, I'd rather not have to deal with the mess if we skip protocol with it all."

Darlyn pushed his chair back, and stood himself up slowly. His black robes opened up just a bit, the form fitting tunic underneath now showing the multitude of stitched together bits and pieces telling stories of combat. "But there's a real qualification you haven't met yet. On your feet and follow me." The drawer of his desk opened seemingly on its own, and both his blaster on the desk and his own T shaped cylinder from the desk, both of which disappeared in his robes as he walked out, leading Zesiro down and out of the palace, into the gardens. The calm, serene setting felt appropriate enough for Darlyn to do his own examination...

On arrival, he stopped in a moderately open area, and turned on his heels to look at Zesiro, drawing the cylinder, fiddling with it a moment, and igniting the amber yellow crossguard saber, lifting the weapon up to point at her. "There should certainly be a training mode, a dial of some sort to turn down the power. Draw it and try to hit me." How much potential did she have? A guard that couldn't keep up with their charge was pointless, after all.

Zesiro

 

[Zesiro]

If Darlyn had reached out to try and figure out if she was lying or not, he would have sensed nothing but the truth from her. Granted she had left out many minor details as well as why she was seeking asylum, if he was at all in touch with the Galaxy then he would know why. He already might know what world she was the queen of. It was under the control of the Bry'Adul and he would understand why she wasn't there.

Nodding when he said there was going to be a process of a background check, it was something not unexpected. If he dug too deep though, he might find her old pirate ties and how she hadn't always been an upstanding citizen. Oddly enough, Zesiro didn't think that would really matter as much to him as it might others.

Doing as he requested, she followed him out of the Palace and into the gardens there. Taking in a deep breath, she allowed the air to fill her lungs and then exhaled it. She might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she was actually far from stupid. One did not get into a position of power being dumb. Having the feeling about what he was doing, she took her lightsaber off her belt as he requested and adjusted it to a lower setting.

Igniting it for probably only the second time ever, the yellow blade glowed and the hum of the device filled the air around them. For just a moment, the blond closed her eyes and took up an old but familiar stance. In her own training, she hadn't actually gotten very far, but she had the basics of most Forms. Her one time Master had drilled them into her head and they had stuck.

Going through a few motions, she opened her eyes and met his. Again nodding at his request, she was normally a more passive person now and would only attack if she had to. At one point in her life, it might have been the opposite but she had changed. Zesiro was nor far more of a defender than an attacker

Something might be noticed about her. She was entirely calm as she made her attempt to hit Darlyn.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

After having pointed the weapon at her, Darlyn lowered his weapon down by his side to hold it in a casual stance, as though he weren't really holding a weapon. He could have taken a traditional stance, or even at least a proper one. Instead one could take the way he so calmly stood, weapon lazily hanging by his leg, to be a right proper insult. Which of course, was both the joke, and the point. He didn't expect Zesiro to take great insult to it, or at the least to act on it, but how she did or didn't respond to that would be telling, and valuable.

She went through motions, most of which Darlyn was able to recognize from his intensive studying of nearly every lightsaber form. She wasn't untrained, but she was not fully trained, to any degree. She was making no technical errors when she took the stance, moved, and after opening her eyes, struck at him, but they were clearly unpracticed. Technically right, in every regards, but lacking a certain fluidity, certainty, and force to the move.

At least she wasn't swinging the fething thing like a pipe.

Darlyn only had to move his hand up and twist it gently to block the strike, and divert it to the side. At the same time he stepped away from the direction he pushed her blade, the yellow beams of energy crackling and hissing as they made contact. He was untouched, tough not for her lack of trying. Thus concluded Darlyn's first three tests of the woman, and so began the fourth. She was essentially a clean slate with her weapon in terms of offensive capability, the other end remained to be seen.

With his arm to the side of him, extended a bit now from his parry, Darlyn moved his side step forward ever so slightly, and angled his weapon holding hand. Without missing a beat, Darlyn went from the parry motion to a fast, violent swing at Zesiro, aiming to go right down her weapon's length to strike at her arm, hand, head, whatever it could. How quickly, he wondered, would the novice be able to turn offense to defense?

 

[Zesiro]

Noticing he had lowered his weapon, Zesiro did not actually any offense from it. To her, it just indicated he was far more confident and powerful than she was. He would be able to bring the lightsaber up in time to prevent her attack from hitting him. That is exactly what happened as she expected.

His angle changed and he turned his defense into an attack forcing her to cut her own off quickly or get hit. At the level their lightsabers were, all a hit would do was shock and at worst give either of them a burn mark. Not wanting either to happen though, the blond stepped back.

With the blink of an eye, something had changed...yet it hadn't. Unless Darlyn had eyes in the back of his head, he should still be focused on the figure in front of him. In an almost faster than light dash, Zesiro was behind her future employer and hopefully held the tip of her lightsaber at the side of his neck while he focused on the illusion she had placed in front of him.

One of the few high-end skills the woman knew was this illusion. It had saved her bacon on more than one occasion and even if her plan failed, even Darlyn would hopefully see the benefit of having her at his side. This skill alone should get her into the position she was trying to get here.

She wasn't one to get cocky, but at the moment, she felt like smiling.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

She was smart, if not skilled. Darlyn didn't sense the deception from Zesiro at first, until it was too late to stop her from finding an advantageous position, right behind him. His blade was passing in front of him, through the illusion, it was as good as done truthfully. Had he any more real confidence in her, he might've been prepared for that, but he'd yet again underestimated someone, only for it to bite him. Still, he wouldn't call it a loss...

Since he activated the second blade.

The reversed amber blade shot back towards her, aimed at her neck, to hover similarly close to her own neck. He didn't move for a second, to let her understand the situation. If either had moved to strike, the other would strike as well, and they'd both die, were this a real fight. Was it to let Zesiro relish in a victory of sorts? Understand her own small failure? He'd never share.

Eventually though, he turned the weapon off, and used the Force to push at the side of her blade hand to push it away gently, if she didn't do it herself. HE straightened up, dusted off, and clipped the weapon to his hip. "Your form is sloppy and unrefined. You lack anything beyond a basic fundamentals and it is painfully clear, against anyone taking you even moderately seriously and a modicum of skill you will be turned into a broken corpse in minutes. I refuse to allow an apprentice of mine to stay so untrained."

He put his hands in his pockets and began to head back inside, shouting back over his shoulder at her. "We start training at ten. Don't be late."

 

[Zesiro]

Her deception worked almost as well as she had planned. Of course, she had stopped her lightsaber from connecting with him and that delay had allowed him the opportunity to ignite a blade she hadn't known he had. This did not scare her one bit and as soon as he had put both away, Zesiro returned hers to her side. Bowing in not quite defeat, she stood up and listened to what Darlyn had to say.

Not only had she gotten hired by him, but he had also accepted her as his apprentice. Her father in law would most likely greatly approve. Her husband would probably be pretty agnostic on the matter. As long as she didn't intentionally harm anybody that didn't deserve it. Or endorse slavery. She wouldn't do that anyway, but it was one of those things that did cross her mind.

When he said her form was sloppy and unrefined, she almost let out a snort of amusement. He sounded so similar to her last master and nothing at all like her original. Of their own volition, at the thought of her first master, her hands wrapped around her arms and she rubbed them slightly to hold away the shiver that came over her.

Darlyn had already turned around luckily and hopefully hadn't noticed her movement. Hearing him call that training would start at ten and not to be late, she nodded and started to follow him back inside. Where was she going to stay?

Moving to be a step behind him, she hoped that answer would be provided soon.

Darlyn Excron

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn didn't really spare her much in the way of conversation, bow solely focused on getting her squared away. He gave one of the staff orders to pass along the duty of getting the background check for Zesiro started, otherwise remaining silent as he brought her to the most relevant rooms. He showed her the training hall kept for guards, the security rooms, and introduced her to whoever just so happened to be hanging about. Every time of course, introducing her as the new hire for head of security.

Most of them just nodded along, clearly unsurprised at him simply hiring someone on the spot. A couple of younger ones gave skeptical looks but didn't say anything. Overall, she would maybe get a 'Good to meet you ma'am' or other kind word or two before Darlyn would all but pull her along.

Right up until taking her to what was clearly an appartment within the facility. He opened the door for her and tossed a key to her as he finally spoke to her again. "It's not as big as some of the others but it has plenty of room. There's an intercom by your bedside that can link to the security rooms or my office. Any questions?"

 

[Zesiro]

Being just a step behind Darlyn, the newly hired woman got a tour of the palace along with meeting so many people that she would have a hard time remembering all of them. Luckily, they would be reporting to her more than she would be asking for them. Names would come in time.

When they responded to her, she would reply back with small pleasantries until her boss would practically pull her along to the next person. Finally, he brought her to where she would be staying. Opening the door for her, Zesiro found the key tossed at her and he asked if she had any other questions.

"Is there some sort of uniform I'll be expected to wear? How so do you expect me to start?"

In her opinion, she should start the next day but that would be up to him.

"I will see you when you tell me to start, President Execron."

Looking inside her room, it was larger than she had expected. It had a living room, bedroom, bathroom, and even a small kitchenette. If her daughter moved with her, then it might be a little crowded but they could deal with it.

"One more question. What will be my salary?"

Again, this was not something she was too concerned about it. Zesiro was a queen, even if she was basically exiled from her planet.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"I'm giving you the same treatment and rules I had to follow when I had your position. You're going to have a uniform issued but as long as you have your badge and a Commenori crest on your outfit I cannot be bothered to police what you're wearing. Just be sensible and look presentable. No big poofy dress, no jeans so tight you can't run. Seems fair enough to me. You'll also be starting your general duties tomorrow, including training and learning the palace layout."

He folded his arms casually in front of himself, remaining relaxed and as non-threatening as one could in that position. Normally it would be taken harshly, but he was leaning onto his back foot and looking up at the ceiling in thought as he did so... hopefully keeping her calm despite the closed off stance. Salary, Salary was a hard one. How much should he pay her? Truth be told he didn't really remember the specifics...

"A livable salary. It's not incredible by any means but should be more than enough to live on if you're smart about the spending habits you keep. I'd have to get back to you on that one after discussing it with the folks i keep in charge of the books, I can say it might seem a tad bit smaller but it's accounting for your free housing here."

Zesiro

 

[Zesiro]

While his words might have been considered harsh, Zesiro didn't take them that way. Besides, his posture and actions took any sting out of what he said. Nodding as he stated she would be getting uniform but did not really care what she wore, everything would be fine. Keeping quiet while he spoke, she just tipped her head when he said she would be starting tomorrow.

Then the topic moved to salary. Listening again, something to live on would be enough. Just as long as she would be able to also take care of her daughter.

"I understand, President Excron."

And that was that. Zesiro was hired and would be starting in the morning. Giving him a formal nod, she almost bowed and walked into her room.

"I will see you tomorrow."

Darlyn Excron