Private Quite Terrible

[Arris Windrun]

EMPRESS TETA
ROYAL PALACE
Lily Rhodes | Vess Sadragen
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Arris hated Empress Teta - it was a part of herself that felt most dishonest. Because she ruled the ecumenopolis as its Autocrat. Something that was decidedly not an Arris Windrun quality. Everyone who knew her... who grew to trust her... saw the scrappy woman that was always more comfortable wading through muck than sitting on thrones or leading armies.

It was true.

But things found a way of being complicated.

Inside the royal palace, Arris Windrun had had enough of the sycophants and sniveling aristocracy that flocked around her since the day she imposed her rule by force, fulfilling Mercy's mandate for the Triumvir. They were excused, barred from reentry, until all that remained inside the throne room were three people.

Lily Rhodes. Vess Sadragen. And Arris herself.

She didn't mince words. "In a week from now, we will be hitting a Jedi Enclave on Jakku. The Emperor will be leading the assault." That was Hasuras Na-Amoun, better known as Meliant, for those who knew him by name at all. Most just knew that Coruscant had an Emperor, and had heard enough rumors to know where to stay away from in the Sith Temple.

"I will be there, too," she clarified while pacing back and forth. "Mercy, probably." She tossed a sidelong glance at the two younger women. "And I'd like you to join us."

The cyborg had expected questions, concerns - maybe even a protestation or two. "I'm not going to ask you to kill anyone, but I want to set the expectations from the start. I have fought the Jedi of the High Republic. They will absolutely look at you two as people to be saved, rather than people with autonomy, who have made their own choices. They will lecture you... insist on your wrongness, appeal to your better natures, all while holding an ignited lightsaber in their hands."

She stopped, turned, and faced them. "Well," Arris smiled weakly. She was nervous. Her anxiety was probably palpable in the Force, if not something Lily could probe now that she knew to navigate that unintentional wall inside her. "I'm quite terrible at this... I just wanna prepare you both, yeah?"

 

[Lily Rhodes]

When Arris ordered the simpering nobles away Lily's whole posture shifted, tension bleeding out of her shoulders almost instantly. She hated them, hated the games they played. It was so much worse because she could hear the reality that lies behind the falseness they portrayed just to try and get themselves into Arris's good books.

She pushed off the pillar she'd been resting against at the edge of the throne room settling herself on the stone steps at the base of the throne as Arris paced in front of it. Lily slipped behind the angry blackwall that was the coprocessor in Arris's head. She was expecting an argument but Lily had none.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, Arris, you don't need to convince me of what the Jedi are."

Her gaze moved to Vess. Of the two of them she had closer ties, but as far as Lily was aware her commitment had been to a singular person, not the cause and Valery Noble had been gone for some time. Her gaze moved back to Arris.

"If you're not asking us to kill, what are you asking us to do?"

Vess Sadragen Arris Windrun

 

[Vess Sadragen]

Her attention never left Arris, following her measured pacing across the throne room while the briefing unfolded Jakku, a Jedi Enclave, the Emperor. It was certainly a big operation, though not one that gave much away beyond the destination. When Arris stopped pacing, the room settled into a brief silence.

"Look, I don't hate the Jedi, but I'm not exactly a fan either." The words came quietly. "If you brought me here to convince me the Jedi might disagree with the choices I've made..." The faintest hint of a smile touched the corner of her mouth. "...That's not exactly a new occurrence." She shifted her weight slightly, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. "I'm not interested in debating philosophy with anyone, Jedi or otherwise. If they want to talk, I'll listen. If they leave us alone, I'll do the same." A small shrug followed. "If they don't..." The thought was left unfinished. It didn't need explaining.

Her eyes met Arris's again. "Lily asked the question I was going to." The quiet smile faded, replaced by the calm focus Vess always had when on a job. "What exactly do you need us to do?" There wasn't any hesitation in the question, only the expectation that, before she committed herself to the operation, she understood her part in it.

​

TAG: Arris Windrun Lily Rhodes

 

[Arris Windrun]

Vess Sadragen Lily Rhodes
​

Arris needed to smoke.

She reached into her jacket pocket and snatched the pack, drawing one cigarette with her teeth. She inhaled sharply, snapping metal fingers until a tiny spark ignited the end.

Exhaling slowly, a psychedelic cloud dissipated before her face. "Flush the Jedi." She answered. "Jakku's nothing but a pitstop for us - a gateway to the West. If the Jedi are smart, they'll see us coming and leave. If not, then we have to root them out and send them packing."

Her eyes narrowed slightly. "But I need to know you two can defend yourselves... Imps and street thugs are one thing, but how're you gonna handle a Jedi?"

 

[Lily Rhodes]

The cigarette took the edge off of Arris's anxiety but it was still there. Lily retreated from her mind eyes dropping to the floor as Vess spoke, trying to ignore the guilt that knotted her stomach. Vess wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her.

She forced it aside, focusing on the job. Because that's what this was, not a cause or a fight either of them were invested in, just another job with higher stakes. "Alright, so we find the heart of the temple. I'm sure the murder hoard will be drawing enough attention that we can slip in, Vess does what she does best and I see about getting in their heads and together we flush them out."

Wasn't she a part of the murder hoard now?

Another thought shoved aside as she pushed herself to her feet.

"If we can't get around them..." she moved up beside Vess, fingers gently brushing hers, "then I get us through them."

Vess Sadragen Arris Windrun