Populate Inquest | GA Population of Gargolyn IV

[Spirit of Prosperity]

The New Jedi Order is on trial.

While the NJO was given latitude during the Stygian Campaign to bring the Sith Empire to heel, the new era of peace has seen a light cast of the actions of the Galactic Alliance's protectors. A motion sponsored by Senator DARKCOM of Epoch recently passed the Senate calling for an investigation into how the Jedi conducted themselves during the bloody war.

The first case to be reviewed is personal for many of the legislators. The cold-blooded murder of Senator Ido Bastra of Coruscant sent shockwaves through the Alliance and first raised questions around the actions of the Jedi during the Stygian Campaign. The flight of the killer, Zaavik Perl , beyond the borders of the Alliance and subsequent fall to the Dark Side of the Force denied the justice for Senator Bastra which many sought.

While the Senators pursue justice for their fallen colleague, New Sith Order infiltrators and collaborators seek to influence the inquiry and drive a wedge between the Alliance and the NJO.

Speak to Zaavik's Jedi colleagues or review the previous investigations to gather evidence for the inquiry.


Objective I: Confidant

It's impossible to believe that none of Zaavik's peers, not even his closest friends, foresaw his attack on Senator Bastra and subsequent corruption by darkness. Interrogate interview Jedi who knew Zaavik and collect any insights into his motivations and mindset before and after the attack.


Objective II: Audit

The Senate is not the first organisation to seek answers around the killing of the Member for Coruscant - both the Alliance Marshalls and Strategic Intelligence Agency conducted separate investigations into the murder. Review the case files and speak to the Marshall and SIA investigators to determine if anything was missed during the investigation.

Spoiler

One of Us is the Killer
Digging up the Roots

 

[Holly Starstorm]

LIVE:

“This is Holly Starstorm reporting live for Holo Net News. I am here outside the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. HNN has received word that the Senate is launching an investigation into the New Jedi Order due to the murder of Senator Bastra. It is unclear exactly what the Senate hopes to find by interviewing members of the New Jedi Order. Earlier today representatives from HNN reached out to leaders of the NJO community to see if they would speak to us about the allegations. We have yet to receive a reply but hope to at any moment. I will continue to wait and see if the Jedi will speak to me. Stay tuned to HNN for live breaking coverage about this matter. “

((Objective: interview members of NJO about the incident that occurred and the trial they are being out through. ))

 

[Auteme]

CONFIDANT | Objective I | Senate Hearing Room​

Compared to the raucous reporters outside in the Grand Concourse, the hearing room held a chilling silence to her approach. It was no less packed -- no seats were left unfilled, either by observers on each side of the aisle or the representatives on the dais in front of her. They weren't as in-her-face as the cameras outside, but there was still something unsettling about the way the eyes followed her all the way to her seat.

Her steps were slow, deliberate. Watch me, she said, standing tall as she could, maintaining an impenetrable expression. She couldn't let on how much she knew, how much she wanted, how much she needed. Time was of the essence. For the first time she began to conceal the truth -- for the first time, she couldn't be sure if it was right.

She slowed, resting a hand on the chair at the table; a moment's hesitation, a crack in the window. Zaavik had been her friend. He'd often been distant, secretive; in truth, she had never imagined he'd do such a thing. But Ryv had known better. She wondered what he'd do, what he'd say, but the thought passed quickly, as it would do her no good here.

Do good. She needed to become shrewder, cleverer; she needed more time to put things in place, to be sure it was good and right, to be sure it would end in the Alliance's favor. Then, maybe, she could be the honest Jedi she wanted to be.

She sat down, eyes scanning the panel of assembled Senators, and waited for the proceedings to begin.

 

[Ripley Kühn]

BYOO
DISCOVER​

LIVE:

“This is Holly Starstorm reporting live for Holo Net News. I am here outside the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. HNN has received word that the Senate is launching an investigation into the New Jedi Order due to the murder of Senator Bastra. It is unclear exactly what the Senate hopes to find by interviewing members of the New Jedi Order. Earlier today representatives from HNN reached out to leaders of the NJO community to see if they would speak to us about the allegations. We have yet to receive a reply but hope to at any moment. I will continue to wait and see if the Jedi will speak to me. Stay tuned to HNN for live breaking coverage about this matter. “

((Objective: interview members of NJO about the incident that occurred and the trial they are being out through. ))

The Zeltron blinked slowly as the scene on the holoprojector shifted, moving to a slender echani woman speaking on the latest electrum projections. Ripley swiped the remote, slamming the red button as fast as she could. The projector died, leaving her with a crisp silence. Blue brows furrowed deeply before Ripley rose from her seat. It was so sudden, and had too much to do with the things Ryv had told her. Moving to her desk, she accessed the Agency database, curious as to if this file would be nearly as sloppy as the last.

>ACCESSING FILE 'Zaavik Dagoth-Perl'...
>LOADING...
>STARBIRD CLEARANCE REQUIRED, PLEASE SUBMIT CLEARANCE CODE
>****************
>ACCESS DENIED

Ripley inhaled sharply, considering the words upon the screen. Had she fat-fingered? Starbird Clearance granted her the right to access virtually any file within the system that wasn't for the director's eyes only. Exiting out, she accessed another just fine, before retrying her earlier command.

>>ACCESS DENIED

"What the fark?" She swore, her eyes narrowing.

 

[Arlo Renard]

Objective I: Confidant
Location: Outside the Senate Hearing Room
Tags: Open

Nose to the transparisteel viewing window, Kai peered into the room. He only sort of understood what was going on, having cobbled together the story from bits and pieces of information, and under usual circumstances, he wouldn’t have cared. But a few days before the hearing began, something unusual had happened.

A woman had come to the academy training rooms while Kai was practicing. He felt this stranger’s eyes watching him, tracking his every move, yet when he reached toward her in the Force, he couldn’t sense her thoughts. It was too unnerving, being observed so intently by someone he didn’t know, so he eventually cut the session short and turned to face her, deactivated training saber in hand.

“Hello Kai,” she greeted. “My name is Meira Fel.”

<Hello.>

Her eyelids twitched momentarily, as though his telepathy had startled her. “I’m trying to solve a mystery. May I ask you some questions?”

<Okay.>

She took a seat on the wooden bench that ran along the wall, while he remained where he stood in the center of the room. “Did you know a Jedi named Zaavik Perl?”

Kai had to think about that one for a minute. <Pink guy?>

“Er, yes—he is a Zeltron.” Meira smoothed her skirts. “He’s gone missing. Would you happen to know anything about that? Or would you happen to have… seen any of his memories?”

Kai’s brow furrowed. Most people didn’t know about his quirks, unless they had access to files hidden away deep in the Jedi databases and knew exactly where to look among those files. Otherwise, Kai blended in with the rest of the Padawans registered at the academy, complete with a falsified past identifying him as a rescued slave. Without knowing who this Meira Fel was working for or what exactly she was after, he decided to play dumb.

<I’m not supposed to eat people’s memories anymore.> Not that it was a habit you could kick as easily as that. <Besides, I never liked pink people’s minds. They’re dirty and gross. I wouldn’t have eaten his brain even if he said I could.>

“Er… What about other people’s memories of him?” Meira persisted.

<I don’t know anything about him, except that he’s pink, has purple hair, and won a butt competition once. That’s all most people think about. Sorry. Can I go now?>

She mumbled an affirmation, and Kai had left her where she sat.

Now from his spot outside the hearing, Kai peered through the window, wondering what would happen next... and if Meira Fel would be there. He mainly wanted to know who she was and how she knew the things she did, but he was also admittedly curious to see if anyone he knew would be called up to answer questions.

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

What kind of reality was this when Jedi stood trial for murder of a senator? Was this what they were now? By the time the investigation was over they’d be responsible for murder between C to S, Children and Senators, and for each passing day there was something that weighed heavier on Aeris’ shoulders than it seemed to weigh on her colleagues, or perhaps she had just lost the desire to understand.

No, she wasn’t that far gone yet.

It was hard to claim to be a protector when there was mounting evidence to the contrary. Zaavik might have fallen, but from what little Aeris had the heart to read this had happened before that. Could it have been the cause? Yes, but it was still done when he was, in the eyes of the many, a Jedi.

Perhaps it was selfish of her, perhaps it was a sign of the weariness she felt the longer this went on, but in the end the concern she felt was hardly for her friends and more for herself and the shine that her previously thought-to-be title of ‘Jedi’ had lost. She had spoken to Dagon about this, once. Made it perhaps a bit too clear how shaken her faith in the New Jedi Order had become as time progressed.

She sat in their circle and dictated a future for them, but was it a future that she believed in? Truly? As she stood outside the Jedi Temple, as she glanced out across the gathering crowds to try and get a sense of what their take on it all was, she felt little more than dread and in the middle of all that: relief.

Talk of separation of the Jedi Order from the state had circulated back to her, a sentiment that Aeris herself had held a wholehearted belief in albeit for different reasons. Nothing good ever came of government affiliation. The Republican Jedi circle had died with the Republic, as had the old Alliance circle. Although they weren’t affiliated with a government, as the Confederacy got more involved with the Sacred Lotus, they too died.

Governments, save seemingly two, always failed. They always crashed, and they all inevitably dragged any and all collateral they could down into the grave with them. This ‘New’ Jedi Order would be no exception unless all ties were severed. At the very least then they would be given an earnest chance to survive.

But that was definitely not something Aeris would ever tell.

 

[Ishida Ashina]

BYOO | CORUSCANT | HAYATA CORP HOTELS BABY
Beyond the edge of universe,
there's a kind of real darkness...
where even the light gone astray.
Aiko Hayata

TIME WILL TELL
​

She couldn’t go home. That would be giving up, giving in too readily to the delusions she’d eclipsed herself with for the past year or so.

And now, with rising concerns over the New Jedi Order she was feeling more confused than ever. Everything she thought she knew was being challenged and it was becoming too much for the little weapon. She needed something to feel like home, without fully committing to travelling back to Ashina Estate. And without consulting her elder brother.

There was little within reach that offered the consolation she desired that competed with Hayata’s influence. And while the relationship between their aristocratic and tyconic families, Ishida had met Madame Hayata at a young enough age to somehow make some sort of appeal to the woman. It was tense, not wholly welcoming, but the white-haired Atrisian had grown to expect that in any sort of relationship that hinged on transactional exchanges. Even her mother, the most benevolent of souls, had cautioned her such.

While the woman mostly operated out of Atrisia, and managed a heavy influence amidst Ishida’s father’s peers, she’d also managed to set up shop throughout the core worlds. Ashina steel might have crossed similar borders, but it was significantly more discreet than full-on installations of the Atrisian artistry and heritage Hayata’s expansion boasted.

It was in the lobby of one of these illustriously created core spectacles that Ishida entered. As soon as she did, she was welcomed by the familiar scents of home’s blossoms. The most intimate detail, covered. The decor was welcoming, warm, and curated to meet the most luxurious of expectations while combining subtle intricacies that any Atrisian could recognize and appreciate.

A dark-haired, face-painted woman in beautifully hued silks dipped at the waist in Ishida’s direction, and the Ashina-heir nodded back in acknowledgement, making a silent gesture toward the lobby’s lucrative bar.

Decorated in rich golds and reds, the space was as private as it was inviting. Small, discreet booths with walls and curtains that met client needs. Hushed, gentle whispers and conversations filled the space above the rhythmic heritage beats. A few giggles, here and there, when Ishida passed private booths but she paid little attention to them. The dark-haired woman with the perfect physique stepped back, giving Ishida room to settle in to her own discreet booth with a lowered table and a collection of pillows lining the floor. The walls were painted with an intricate mural, one that she didn’t immediately recognize. It was more beautiful than it was traditional.

>Thank you.< Ishida commented, reverting back to her native tongue and bending at the waist in similar step as the hostess, who left as soon as Ishida moved to fold her legs and look at the table’s surface. Within seconds, a menu illuminated and hovered in front of her. A small, delicate pipe at the edge, started to diffuse plumes of incense.
And, relieved, the way-seeking Jedi exhaled and relaxed just a bit.

 

[Zaavik Perl]

They want you signed, sealed, and delivered.
Meanwhile, somewhere far beyond Alliance territory...
​

Holographic stars flickered in lackadaisical galactic orbits within a minimalist lodging. Dim, blue light cast by the holoprojector illuminated an artificial twilight across bland durasteel walls. A mordant lack of windows left the air stale, with a temperature just hotter than comfortable that permeated a lived-in mustiness.

Zaavik was sat upon the ground, propped against a wall and positioned underneath a fan's airstream. The galactic projection responded to the motions of his prosthesis. Pointing out planet after planet on the galaxy's farthest edge, he categorized them on a subscreen based on candidacy which was determined by profile displays that accompanied every point of his finger.

It had been hours since he started, and he felt no closer to being finished. Temptation told him to pick one, pack up, and leave. Alas, it wasn't going to be that easy. Instead, he had to think long term, and was looking out for more than his own safety now. Finding the right place for two people to go in order to become dead to the world was dreadfully difficult, even for a Shadow. Thousands of years of exploration and cartography at his fingertips meant no place felt truly hidden, only obscure.

Another swipe of a his metallic extremity, and the projection spun, but this time, it didn't stop on the next world.

Zaavik had frozen in place. An eerie, preternatural sensation had gripped him into paralysis. Vague mental inclinations of voices rang in the back of his mind. He felt ideas of himself, opinions, none his own, from somewhere else. Never had he felt, let alone heard of this kind of disturbance. His new dark aptitudes had introduced many foreign concepts. First, auguries, then lighting, and now... whatever this was.

"Something's happening," he declared aloud suddenly.

Darth Daiara was the only one around to hear, yet the severity in his declaration could have addressed an entire populace. Guided entirely by intuition, he scrambled, crawling forward on his hands and knees toward the projector in the middle of the floor. Some foreign prognostication gave him a suspicion he needed to dispel. Several button presses, and an oscillation of a dial later, a projection appeared in an almost eye-violating low resolution due to poor signal strength.

“This is Holly Starstorm reporting live for Holo Net News. I am here outside the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. HNN has received word that the Senate is launching an investigation into the New Jedi Order due to the murder of Senator Bastra. It is unclear exactly what the Senate hopes to find by interviewing members of the New Jedi Order. Earlier today representatives from HNN reached out to leaders of the NJO community to see if they would speak to us about the allegations. We have yet to receive a reply but hope to at any moment. I will continue to wait and see if the Jedi will speak to me. Stay tuned to HNN for live breaking coverage about this matter. “

A reactionary scowl crawled across his whilst a contrarian boulder formed in his throat.

Senator Bastra.

Zaavik could still remember what it looked like when the life left those wrinkled blue eyes. Never before could his mind form an image so haunting. A painted obelisk of guilt, erected on a lingering foundation of anger. It had been his main motivation for leaving, though he'd claimed otherwise countless times. There was only one person he'd ever confided with about that night. That person wasn't in the room with him.

Swallowing became a struggle, the stone lump in his throat refusing to allow itself to be expelled.

"You've gotta be chitting me," he murmured furtively, too frozen to shut off the feed. He knew what the missing details were in the reporter's quick brief. Otherwise he wouldn't have felt anything at all. A bounty wasn't enough, they were going deeper.

All because of him.

Or did someone else press it forward?

 

[Seto Du Couteau]

Seto Du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Objective One: Confidant
Location: Coruscant, Senate Chambers, Leaving his Office
Interaction: Open
Attire

Within the chambers of the senate, the very halls of legislature, thousands of senators, and tens times that amount of staff and other officials, all moved and busied themselves. All working diligently, or rather that was the perception that they wanted the public to see and believe. Perhaps many of them are diligent workers. . . Seto mused, his weary smile stretched across his lips as he tapped on his data-slate and skipped through several reports that were marked “urgent”. He had let most of his staff enjoy the day off so no one had filtered his messages, but Seto enjoyed the ability to waste a tiny bit of his own time shifting through the dozens of imagined urgencies being sent to him. But I've only encountered a handful of those hard workers.

The waste of time allowed him to ignore the pressing matter happening elsewhere, a serviceable distraction. For there was no possible action that he could cause that would stall the proceedings of the investigations on the Jedi Order. Furthermore there was a thought seeped into his mind that even if there was a possibility to distract the proceeding; he such an act would be pointless. Bad optics and at the moment the young Du Couteau heir couldn’t afford an appearance of solidarity with the Jedi and their tarnished reputation that ran among the Senate and a sizable portion of the Alliance citizenry. Seto feared that even his own party would cast their doubts on him and with his recent appointment to a chair seat of a committee of his choosing. Divided though many of the Corporatists were on the Jedi issue at hand.

“A sailor doesn’t fight the currents.” Seto mumbled, his eyes focusing on another data-slate. "Nor a Tailor waste time on stained and ruined clothe."

For the moment he wouldn’t come out joining hands with the more zealous Senators attacking the Jedi, and as well not provide support to any extreme policies against the Order. That was his plan, and with every misstep the Jedi Order committed, his plan felt dangerously weak and uninspired. Or perhaps it's something else bothering me. Seto narrowed his eyes and gave up on his distraction before reading the reports and inquiries of the new inquest being made against the Jedi Order.

The discontentment grew further, but not with either the Jedi or the Senators pushing against the Order. Instead Seto realized it was a voice attempting to break into his thoughts, whispers of understanding and justice. Perhaps it was a piece of his consciousness, the juvenile part that had been kept alive by his boyish nature the past few years. Nervousness? Anxiety? Me?. Seto shook his head in disbelief before he stood and headed out of his office. It appeared that he was going to be one of the few diligent workers, a shocking revaluation to even himself. Oh how the end times are soon approaching us.

Seto knew there were things he could do, and if he intended to sleep well for the next few nights he would need to earn the right.
​

 

[Aerarii Tithe]

AUDIT
JUSTICE COMMITTEE ROOM // CORUSCANT

Bernard of Arca | Open to Marshals, SIA and Senators

“State your name for the record.”

The secretary droid extended a thin recording rod toward each of the Alliance Marshalls and Strategic Intelligence Agency officers seated at the witness table. The droid returned to its post against the wall and plugged into a computer socket once the requisite identifying information had been collected, standing by to transcribe the following conversation and record it as an official hearing of the Senate.

“Yes, thank you for, ah, indulging us at this late hour,” Vice Chancellor Tithe announced as he opened the session. “The Senate appreciates the facilitation of the Marshals and the Agency in this matter.” The participation of the law enforcement and intelligence officials in the inquest had been negotiated between Tithe and their agency heads. Whether they had to answer questions was a more nuanced question, though the Senate had indicated that offering assistance would be looked upon favourably.

Seated at their high bench looking down at the witnesses, the Senators reviewed the agenda on their datapads. This would be their first look at questionable activities undertaken by members of the New Jedi Order during the Stygian Campaign. The plan called on the Senators to review a number of key cases to inform their final report and ascertain if anything had been missed during the original investigations.

“Now, if you could be be so kind,” Tithe added. “Could you recount to the committee the inquiries you made into one Zaavik Perl, following reports of the hapless demise of Senate Bastra of Coruscant?”

 

[Aiko Hayata]

BYOO|Coruscant| HAYATA CORP HOTEL
AIKO HAYATA, CEO OF HAYATA CORP
TAGS//: Ishida Ashina

Music

Coruscant was a planet of many faces, rich and vast in its splendour, inaccessible for many outside the core who etched a living on some crap hole outer rim planet. It was, as some would say the proverbial golden apple in the orchard of Alliance space, but it had a rotten core which many in the halls of the senate were all too quick to ignore with a brief flash of a credit check. Foreigners or gaijin in her tongue were all the same fundamentally, with no concept of tradition or honour. That's why they were so easy to do business with and, to a certain degree, exploit. Atrisian business had thrived on that notion. Her own family had profited off the back of countless conflicts outside of Atrisia, but so had many others, so Hayata had not been unique in that aspect. Simply, they had been one of the smarter clans in manoeuvring the dangerous world of Atrisian zaibatsu politics and dealing with outside contacts and friends both in legal circles and the illegal variety.


Aiko much preferred the HQ back on the homeworld, Hayatas Coruscant franchises and offices had the trappings and aesthetic familiar to Atrisia, but it was not the same. Still, it would suit just fine when business called beyond the homeworld, but she still regarded Coruscant as a barbaric hellhole. She usually would not opt to make an appearance for a meeting outside of Atrisia, preferring to indirectly do it via her vast spider's web of HRDs and Hayata products she could speak through. But in this case, as it was one of her own people she was meeting and one she knew because of the girl's esteemed father and his own respective business, which her family had sought partnership with and later on to buy. No one knew she was here save for a few trusted employees; she was not one to make herself public unless to curate the public image front that her family had so carefully crafted.



Aiko strolled through the corridors of the restaurant, flanked by both her bodyguards and the tapestries adorning the walls that depicted Atrisian history and scenes from ages past. In her hand was a cigarra and the other a datapad with by the minute updates of the stock market and other business; she was dressed in the standard attire of her long white jacket and gold dress. Aiko always meant business when it came to dressing sharp, not to look your best in the world of Atrisian business was disgraceful and uncouth and was behaviour expected from an outsider, not an Atrisian member of the Zaibatsu families.

She soon found her target of the evening in one of the private booths; she silently signalled with a flick of her wrist for her bodyguards to stand outside while she entered. Then, keeping in line with Atrisian business formality and tradition, she bowed in respect to the younger woman before taking up a seat opposite. Aiko eyed Ishida with curiosity and bemusement, noting how much she had changed since she had last since the elder Ashina's child had been little. But this wasn't arranged for nostalgia's sake, and as much as she was fond of the little Ashina scion, the acquisition of her families steelworks was paramount in her interests on the homeworld.

"Greetings, Miss Ashina, I hope your father is well and i send my regards-"

Aiko stopped, wondering why she was conversing in galactic basic before flipping into Atrisian, the language of both the girls present.


>I have not heard from your honourable father in quite some time; I do hope your travels outside Atrisia has not led you to forget our mother tongue.<

She remarked in an almost teasing manner as she lit up another cigarra and brought it up to her lips, inhaling and exhaling a cloud of smoke which added to the hazy feeling of the booth they were in.
​

​

 

[Shoma Ike]

Objective I: Confidant
Coruscant | Senate Hearing Room​

To be honest, Shoma was hoping that Auteme was going to be a no-show.

When, instead, she walked into the room, the Atrisian teen took a sip of water to help mask his nervousness at the task in front of him. When he'd agreed to be one of the committee chairs, he'd envisioned himself authoring legislation to address the shortfall in math education among some of the outlying systems of the Alliance.

Definitely not hosting an inquest into Jedi loyalty.

Fostering the best, fake smile that he could put forth in the moment, the young noble motioned for a chair. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, today," the young senator began, fumbling slightly with his notes. "Ah, your time is valuable and it is important that we respect and acknowledge that fact, as well as your lengthy service to the Alliance," he stammered, buying himself time as he tried to get his thoughts together for the official part of the inquiry.

"There are a few pro forma matters before we get into the reason why we asked you here today," the teen offered, before clearing his throat. He glanced down at the datapad in front of him, to verify he had the wording correct, and then began: "Please state your name for the Senate record. And do you affirm that your testimony before this hearing will be the truth, to the best of your knowledge and belief?"

He paused there for response, before glancing over to the official timekeeper that the minutes of the meeting had now begun.

Now they would get right to it. "Did you know a member of the New Jedi Order by the name of Zaavik Perl ?"

That was the reason they were here. "If so, would you describe the nature of your acquaintance?"

Auteme​

 

[Elizie Athacorr]

Objective I: Confidant
Coruscant, Senate Hearing Room
Auteme Shoma Ike
​

The inquests had begun. With the Stygian Campaign wrapped up and the role the Jedi played in it, and the recent events involving the New Jedi Order and some of its members assaulting members of the Senate, even outright killing one, the Senate was determined to investigate. Senator Fossk's proposal had gained life, especially in light of his recent attack... her brow furrowed as she considered it. She could see the chess move, and yet, he had been so impatient. It would cost him.

The Shield of the Jedi had arrived and Senator Ike had begun the proceedings of her hearing. Zaavik Perl was really only being used as the excuse, although his actions did need answers, but with things as they stood in the New Jedi Order, Auteme was the most active member of their new Council in relation to the Senate.

Seemingly engrossed in her datapad, she thought it was rather sad. Many of the most prominent members were Knights, not even full Masters yet, and perhaps, as she had seen during the entire war between the Sith and the New Imperials and Galactic Alliance, that was part of the problem. It was something she was hoping to inquire about, in a roundabout way, during these proceedings.

 

[Ishida Ashina]

BYOO | CORUSCANT | HAYATA CORP HOTEL
Beyond the edge of universe,
there's a kind of real darkness...
where even the light gone astray.
Aiko Hayata

TIME WILL TELL
​

Grey gaze snapped to the doorway as soon as the owner of the establishment arrived, and she dipped her head in response to the elegant salutations. A sense of tightness drew within The Force, as if all those who were within the vicinity were aware and drew to attention, even just for a second, before resuming their conversations and beverages.

Truthfully, Ishida hadn't expected Aiko to arrive in person. Achieving an audience with someone so enigmatic and illustrious was a benefit usually out of reach.

She'd do well not to squander it.

"Greetings, Miss Ashina, I hope your father is well and i send my regards-"

>I have not heard from your honourable father in quite some time; I do hope your travels outside Atrisia has not led you to forget our mother tongue.<

>Never, Madame Hayata.< Ishida responded in kind, an equally knowing smirk tracing through her lips.

>If anything, I grow more appreciative of our mother tongue.<


It was hard to deny the natural fluidity of Atrisian. It was grouped by sounds, emphasis, and rhythmic vowels. Where basic was harsh, oftentimes, their native language felt beautiful. Less sloppy, more elegant. The terms and descriptors were more generous. Hearing basic was so...misrepresenting of how she truly felt from time to time. And she wished she could have expressed herself, in dire moments, a little more eloquently.

The woman who shared a booth with her had always been somewhat of a victim of Ishida's schoolgirl idolatry. Most of the company her father kept were men, and Lady Hayata had been one of the first women to pave her way into their system. Not only pave but ultimately ended up consuming a few competitors. And building a road of her own.

Being reminded of home, beyond the aesthetics, was nice. And she sunk into her pillow a bit –– though she kept careful not to slouch in the presence of the mogul.

>He must be.< She answered honestly, twisting her fingers through the smoke and exhaling to make a clear path through the haze that overtook the intimate space. It was a scent that she was familiar with, though she'd never partaken in. It had always been reserved for her father's guests, not her.

And Ishida was far from the rebellious daughter.

She'd always been just so. Following his word to the letter. Instruction to the syllable. If he so much as flared his nostrils indicatively, the youth would activate as she'd been weaponized to do so.

But here, on Coruscant, away from Ashina estate –– she might be able to participate.

>We haven't spoken in the past few months. I've been..busy.< Skinning Bryn'adûl, hunting sithspawn, fighting sith, recovering from the Force being sucked from her body –– and....trying to preserve the sanctity of the New Jedi Order.

Very consuming stuff.

>I should call him.< She admitted with a sigh and looked toward the wall's mural before back at Lady Hayata.

>I'm honoured to see you in person, though. It's...as nice as it is unexpected. I had anticipated playing more of an observer role tonight.<

Her voice dropped, taking on a subtle tone. Despite the confidential nature of their shared language, the exchange wasn't entirely encrypted. And she didn't want to jeopardize the woman.

>I'm sure you've heard of the senate's investigation of the New Jedi Order?<

 

[Darth Daiara]

Elsewhere...
Zaavik Perl

They want you signed, sealed, and delivered.
Meanwhile, somewhere far beyond Alliance territory...
​

Holographic stars flickered in lackadaisical galactic orbits within a minimalist lodging. Dim, blue light cast by the holoprojector illuminated an artificial twilight across bland durasteel walls. A mordant lack of windows left the air stale, with a temperature just hotter than comfortable that permeated a lived-in mustiness.

Zaavik was sat upon the ground, propped against a wall and positioned underneath a fan's airstream. The galactic projection responded to the motions of his prosthesis. Pointing out planet after planet on the galaxy's farthest edge, he categorized them on a subscreen based on candidacy which was determined by profile displays that accompanied every point of his finger.

It had been hours since he started, and he felt no closer to being finished. Temptation told him to pick one, pack up, and leave. Alas, it wasn't going to be that easy. Instead, he had to think long term, and was looking out for more than his own safety now. Finding the right place for two people to go in order to become dead to the world was dreadfully difficult, even for a Shadow. Thousands of years of exploration and cartography at his fingertips meant no place felt truly hidden, only obscure.

Another swipe of a his metallic extremity, and the projection spun, but this time, it didn't stop on the next world.

Zaavik had frozen in place. An eerie, preternatural sensation had gripped him into paralysis. Vague mental inclinations of voices rang in the back of his mind. He felt ideas of himself, opinions, none his own, from somewhere else. Never had he felt, let alone heard of this kind of disturbance. His new dark aptitudes had introduced many foreign concepts. First, auguries, then lighting, and now... whatever this was.

"Something's happening," he declared aloud suddenly.

Darth Daiara was the only one around to hear, yet the severity in his declaration could have addressed an entire populace. Guided entirely by intuition, he scrambled, crawling forward on his hands and knees toward the projector in the middle of the floor. Some foreign prognostication gave him a suspicion he needed to dispel. Several button presses, and an oscillation of a dial later, a projection appeared in an almost eye-violating low resolution due to poor signal strength.



A reactionary scowl crawled across his whilst a contrarian boulder formed in his throat.

Senator Bastra.

Zaavik could still remember what it looked like when the life left those wrinkled blue eyes. Never before could his mind form an image so haunting. A painted obelisk of guilt, erected on a lingering foundation of anger. It had been his main motivation for leaving, though he'd claimed otherwise countless times. There was only one person he'd ever confided with about that night. That person wasn't in the room with him.

Swallowing became a struggle, the stone lump in his throat refusing to allow itself to be expelled.

"You've gotta be chitting me," he murmured furtively, too frozen to shut off the feed. He knew what the missing details were in the reporter's quick brief. Otherwise he wouldn't have felt anything at all. A bounty wasn't enough, they were going deeper.

All because of him.

Or did someone else press it forward?

"Something's happening."

Aradia's didn't look up.

"Hm?" she echoed, her thoughts slow to emerge from the thick list of planets they were no closer to trudging through.

"Chit."

She blinked hard at his wild expression, his sudden tension slapping her over the face.

She jumped into action, her saber flying across the table and into her palm. After a year on the run together, she knew the drill. She didn't waste words on questions, methodical in the way she jammed the bunker shut and alarmed it. She didn't read any disturbances on the system, but that meant nothing when it came to their enemies.

The hidden door--

She turned, a to go bag already in her hand, and nearly tripped over the body still perched on the ground. "What the--" His eyes were locked wide on a news feed, not unlike hers had been that day Korriban fell. A bad feeling grew over her. She stood still and watched.

"Zaavik?" She implored, her tone careful. "What is it?" She dropped the bag and came to kneel at his side.

 

[Zaavik Perl]

They want you signed, sealed, and delivered.
Elsewhere
Darth Daiara
​

"What is it?"

Damn it.

Too late to turn it off and come up with some kind of misdirection. Probably for the best, Zaavik was disappointed in himself for even having the impulse in the first place. Now it was either he come clean, or the news just might do it for him. Even if he cut it now, Aradia could easily find the information if she was so inclined. She very often was.

Damn it.

For several drawn-out moments, all he could do was bore his gaze into the holofeed. When he could finally peel his eyes away, he only turned slightly over his shoulder, catching sight of the bag. "No trouble," he assured quietly, monotoned. They were only a little less than halfway across the galaxy, after all. Nothing they could do on Coruscant today could reach them quicker than they could react.

That hardly made him feel better about it.

"That reporter either doesn't know, or can't divulge the full picture. That investigation, it's- They're talking about me in there. Gotta be. Otherwise I wouldn't have felt anything."

 

[Arlo Renard]

So far, there wasn't any sign of the woman who had approached him earlier. Kai took a step away from the viewing window, growing restless. The hearing itself didn't concern him—maybe he should leave. He had important things to do, studies, training...

A holoscreen mounted on a wall corner displayed silent news footage. It caught Kai's eye when he recognized the exterior of the Jedi Temple. There was a large crowd gathering outside the building, while a blonde reporter talked to the cameras. Visible somewhere in the background behind her was another blonde woman, one whom Kai knew.

The Padawan pulled a datapad from his pocket. For obvious reasons, he didn't carry a comlink, but he could send written messages to people across distances greater than his telepathy could travel. He typed out a message to Aeris Lashiec, the Jedi librarian.

>You're on the news!
Why are there a bunch of people outside?

Aeris Lashiec​

 

[Aiko Hayata]

BYOO|Coruscant| HAYATA CORP HOTEL
AIKO HAYATA, CEO OF HAYATA CORP
TAGS//: Ishida Ashina

Music


>I'd hope so, Miss Ashina; I'd be disappointed if you saw fit to slight me with galactic basic.<


She remarked in an almost playful yet plain manner, purposely leaving the younger woman uncertain of her real feelings or thoughts toward anything. It was strange to think that the same girl before her used to hide behind her father's legs during business meetings, but then much had changed in the past few decades, and Aiko had seemingly stayed the same in appearance but never in ambition. Under her direction, Hayata had grown exponentially beyond its origins as a relative underdog in Atrisian business society, and its potential to grow as a corporation would outlive even Aiko's own scope. She supposed it was small mercy little Ashina had never met Aikos younger sister. Saiko had none of Aiko's social graces and was only good for dealing arms to petty rebel groups and dealing with undesirables slighted the family. But her late father had divided the business this way based on his daughter's personality and talents, and her father had not been wrong in doing so. With the yin and yang dynamic of Aiko heading the business and Saiko commanding Hayatas myriad of arms deals and paramilitaries, Hayata had thrived under the tiger sisters collective rule.

>It doesn't hurt to keep in touch with family; after all, the clan is stronger together not divided.<


She nodded sagely in acknowledging Ishida's kind words about being honoured to see her; it was a privilege in no short order for a small scale meeting to be directly graced by the CEO. Were it not for her relationship with Ishida's elderly father; she would not have given the young girl the time of day.


>Ah yes, the great hysteria about the Jedi crimes.<


Aiko rolled her eyes and chuckled slightly, taking another small measured toke from her cigarra before blowing out an O shaped smoke cloud into the air and leaning back into her seat. Hayata dealings with Jedi were few and far between; dirt poor religious nuts wielding sabers didn't scream profit, and Jedi tendencies to sticking their self-righteous gaze into corporate trade irked the woman to no end.

>War crimes against Sith acolytes, tragic truly, but I don't care for yellow-eyed savages being skewered by Jedi.<


She cared for neither side; what mattered to her in galactic affairs was keeping profit and expanding the business. In her own mind, neither were an issue until they stepped in her corporation's way. Then, there was a problem. ​

​

 

[Darth Daiara]

Elsewhere...
Zaavik Perl

Aradia raised a slow brow. "... A news cast. You gave me a heart attack over gossip?" She shoved at his shoulders and relaxed into a huff back on the ground. Senator what's his face? Why did that sound familiar.

She watched it with him, silence lapsing as the report unfolded.

"They didn't mention your name. We've been awol for a year, what would you have to do with this?" She dismissed, not yet connecting the dots between the name and his wanted posture.

That would be where she had heard of the senator before.

She rolled the last of the tension back out of her shoulder and reached back out for the holopad. "You gotta stop saying chit unless its bad,"

A strand of hair fell in her face, the once recognizable red now dyed a midnight black. They weren't sure how people kept finding them, but they were taking no chances anymore. A sudden hunch seized her midsection. She looked up, her expression souring.


"Awe, chit! You killed him, didn't you?"

 

[Faith Organa]

AUDIT
JUSTICE COMMITTEE ROOM // CORUSCANT
Tags: Bernard of Arca | Aerarii Tithe

Open to Marshals, SIA and Senators​

It was going to happen and she realized in her mind that it should happen there was just too many incidents to dismiss it. But inside at her heart she felt it a deep sadness that it was happening. Yes yes she argued with herself over the details that an argument could be made that all of them were just people capable of errors, and bad judgement.

But then there was the other side of it that if they possessed such mystical skills how could they be capable. But even as she thought it out she realized that it made no sense and that that was the problem. They were looked upon and assumed to be good people because that's the way we want it but it doesn't mean they are good people.

That was why she sat here now listening she had come from Alderaan just for this but once this was over she was headed back home. This had stirred emotions and questions on her beliefs, and assumptiosn that she needed to be here. Ask a question if she could manage to find a voice and get answers.

She had heard that Shoma Ike had taken the task of speaking with Auteme what would that yield and would they find anything shocking.

She could hear her own breathing and count the beats of her heart she knew it was going to be a long session.