The Bloodsucking Philanthropist
"...no....no they don't..." Sera said to
Alicio Organa
.
"This...must have been concealed here for years..." It looks like it hasn't been disturbed..." Sera said, heading over to it in clear surprise.
Sera of course, was not a fool. Her psychology databases registered the faint recognition in his eyes.
ANALYSIS: 77 PERCENT PROBABILITY OF CHANCELLOR HAVING SEEN REPORTS OF DESIGNATED FATHER ENTITY AND TRYING TO CORRELATE EVIDENCE. ADVISORY: EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION.
The Ghost Army her father led always struck during the most chaotic moments of a conflict , appearing out of nowhere, and departing just as quickly while the official sides were reeling from the blows they had given one another. Nathan had always been in full disguise when leading them in armor of this exact type. He had never brought too many members of the army, in order to leave doubt in official reports as to the actual size and strength of the Army he had found, or even whether it was more than just a small, scattered group. They always moved in blitz tactics, advancing so quickly often nothing truly concrete could be nailed down. House Bloodscrawl operatives in the military made sure Ninety-Nine percent of witness accounts got conveniently destroyed, or just even more conveniently buried in a thousand different archives without being addressed. Recovered bodies were often disintegrated in morgues by magic spells applied by their clone witches before they went into battle. Often, only the most vague, uncertain reports had managed to make it to the top. And most times in those battles, Alliance Soldiers were simply too damn busy staying alive against the endless horrors of the Sith that they were often unable to keep their eye on surprise people shooting in the same direction they were.
The Ghost Army had fought the Sith at Coruscant, and personally led a vicious assault on a Sith Temple at Tython as well as the Space Station above it. There had been reports of Dark Empire forces on the retreat being assaulted by mystery warships in the deep core, long before Alliance Navy Could respond. And by the time they did arrive, all they would find is space dust from shattered Sith Vessels with no sign of their killers. Uncertain testimony of Jedi being rescued by someone in strange black armor on a dozen different worlds where the Sith threat was strong.
In all these cases, House Bloodscrawl had made sure to destroy as much evidence as possible. To bury or lose reports with Alliance Bureaucracy so that it might be decades before they came to light. To enchant their own personal and their equipment before hand to destroy all evidence and leave only ash behind should they be killed in battle. The ultimate black ops army.
But still, there were a few somewhat certain and clear reports that had reached the top, Sera supposed. It was impossible to get all of them.
But there was one glaring instance where they had not been fully able to do this, simply because the apparatus had not been worked out yet.
And that was at Susevfi, when the Trade League fell. Sera had intercepted many of the outgoing reports of her Father's actions there. But not all witnesses. And her father had encouraged her to let some deliberately slip through in the aftermath, lest the Alliance grow suspicious that no reports of anything like that travel except word of mouth.
But it was impossible to know how much
Alicio Organa
knew. From the subtle facial twitches and micro expressions even his Jedi Training couldn't hide, even he didn't seem quite certain.
It had been made extremely clear to Sera early on that their secrecy had an expiration date. That eventually, they would be discovered. The trick was to control, as long as possible, the conditions that would prevent the discovery from occuring too early.
And often, her father had stressed, that required being truthful. As much as possible, even.
"This armor...I saw a report about this from one of my employees ..." Sera confessed.
It was next to impossible to directly lie to Force Users, especially skilled ones like
Alicio Organa
.
The best way to mislead them (as opposed to deceiving them outright) was to tell the truth in such away that while you were being one hundred percent honest , it still wouldn't get them to a direct answer, or in such away that they might start to ask a different question.
"Chancellor, I started leading the company publicly during the era when the Rimward Trade League still stood. Our companies former headquarters was Susevfi..." Sera explained, but not so quickly that Alicio would think she was trying to obfuscate. Even though that was exactly what she was attempting. But there could be no true deception risked, for Alicio would instantly catch an outright falsehood. Not when the fate of the deal might hang in the balance.
"I wasn't there when the Sith invaded..." she clarified. "But many of my employees were. A lot of them were killed, but the survivors reported someone moving through the Dagobah temple, fighting a bunch of Sith who had managed to breach it. They described his armor..." Sera said stepping forward to place her hand on the display, not hiding the recognition of the armor in her own eyes, but more the emotional familiarity...
"They gave a description that very much reminds me of what I am seeing here..." she trailed. "And they say that accompanying him was a bunch of mercenaries in outdated armor and weapons...Phase 1 Armor from the Clone Wars to be exact... matching rifles too. DC-15A's and DC-15S Carbines."
"When I fully immigrated to Coruscant, I made sure to file a report of my employees account to the Alliance Military." She continued , circling the display. (This was also the truth: It was one more example of her Father's 5D chess thinking: A personal but short report from her would hopefully be enough to render her above suspicion. She had even made sure not to have it as obscured as the others in case the authorities had needed to dig it up relatively quickly)
When done properly, the truth can obfuscate more thoroughly than any lie ever could, her father had taught.
"However, When Coruscant was invaded by the Sith after successfully occupying Tython, one of my employees were trapped in the lower levels...guess what they reported..." Sera said to the Chancellor pointedly.
"Small fireteams of mercenaries in Phase 1 Armor, engaging The Sith. Just like at Susevfi...I reported this to the Alliance Military in a thirty page account, which I submitted almost immediately after the Sith were driven off." she continued. (Again, the Truth, and again, deliberately obscured in the Bureaucracy of record keeping)
"But this armor...it definitely resembles the description the employee was able to give. I would be happy to dig up a copy of what I submitted to the government that day at Susevfi as well as on Coruscant. I think I could also get you the contact information of the employees who gave the initial eyewitness accounts, should you want to speak to them..." Sera added helpfully. And this also was the truth. She would be perfectly happy to give him the full testimony. Because trying to play coy or dumb would be political suicide with him.
She had learned from prior experiences with Alicio, her database getting better and better at figuring out what riled up his suspicion. And that was overly long answers. But she had left out enough details that he would hopefully not think she knew too much.
"Whatever connection it bears to what my employees or other witnesses saw at Susevfi, or Coruscant... that's probably best ultimately left up to your end to decipher...." She finished. "Your guess is as good as mine as to what it's doing here. Likely, it belongs to one of the people who set this place up."
Though she kept an appropriately somewhat concerned/confused expression and tone of voice (Almost but not quite bewildered), internally, both she and her mother was this meme.
So much was at stake, that her organic processors were on pins and needles, though she hid it perfectly.
Meanwhile, the armor silently pulsed with the light side of its Force Imbued nature...
Alicio Organa
."This...must have been concealed here for years..." It looks like it hasn't been disturbed..." Sera said, heading over to it in clear surprise.
Sera of course, was not a fool. Her psychology databases registered the faint recognition in his eyes.
ANALYSIS: 77 PERCENT PROBABILITY OF CHANCELLOR HAVING SEEN REPORTS OF DESIGNATED FATHER ENTITY AND TRYING TO CORRELATE EVIDENCE. ADVISORY: EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION.
The Ghost Army her father led always struck during the most chaotic moments of a conflict , appearing out of nowhere, and departing just as quickly while the official sides were reeling from the blows they had given one another. Nathan had always been in full disguise when leading them in armor of this exact type. He had never brought too many members of the army, in order to leave doubt in official reports as to the actual size and strength of the Army he had found, or even whether it was more than just a small, scattered group. They always moved in blitz tactics, advancing so quickly often nothing truly concrete could be nailed down. House Bloodscrawl operatives in the military made sure Ninety-Nine percent of witness accounts got conveniently destroyed, or just even more conveniently buried in a thousand different archives without being addressed. Recovered bodies were often disintegrated in morgues by magic spells applied by their clone witches before they went into battle. Often, only the most vague, uncertain reports had managed to make it to the top. And most times in those battles, Alliance Soldiers were simply too damn busy staying alive against the endless horrors of the Sith that they were often unable to keep their eye on surprise people shooting in the same direction they were.
The Ghost Army had fought the Sith at Coruscant, and personally led a vicious assault on a Sith Temple at Tython as well as the Space Station above it. There had been reports of Dark Empire forces on the retreat being assaulted by mystery warships in the deep core, long before Alliance Navy Could respond. And by the time they did arrive, all they would find is space dust from shattered Sith Vessels with no sign of their killers. Uncertain testimony of Jedi being rescued by someone in strange black armor on a dozen different worlds where the Sith threat was strong.
In all these cases, House Bloodscrawl had made sure to destroy as much evidence as possible. To bury or lose reports with Alliance Bureaucracy so that it might be decades before they came to light. To enchant their own personal and their equipment before hand to destroy all evidence and leave only ash behind should they be killed in battle. The ultimate black ops army.
But still, there were a few somewhat certain and clear reports that had reached the top, Sera supposed. It was impossible to get all of them.
But there was one glaring instance where they had not been fully able to do this, simply because the apparatus had not been worked out yet.
And that was at Susevfi, when the Trade League fell. Sera had intercepted many of the outgoing reports of her Father's actions there. But not all witnesses. And her father had encouraged her to let some deliberately slip through in the aftermath, lest the Alliance grow suspicious that no reports of anything like that travel except word of mouth.
But it was impossible to know how much
Alicio Organa
knew. From the subtle facial twitches and micro expressions even his Jedi Training couldn't hide, even he didn't seem quite certain.It had been made extremely clear to Sera early on that their secrecy had an expiration date. That eventually, they would be discovered. The trick was to control, as long as possible, the conditions that would prevent the discovery from occuring too early.
And often, her father had stressed, that required being truthful. As much as possible, even.
"This armor...I saw a report about this from one of my employees ..." Sera confessed.
It was next to impossible to directly lie to Force Users, especially skilled ones like
Alicio Organa
.The best way to mislead them (as opposed to deceiving them outright) was to tell the truth in such away that while you were being one hundred percent honest , it still wouldn't get them to a direct answer, or in such away that they might start to ask a different question.
"Chancellor, I started leading the company publicly during the era when the Rimward Trade League still stood. Our companies former headquarters was Susevfi..." Sera explained, but not so quickly that Alicio would think she was trying to obfuscate. Even though that was exactly what she was attempting. But there could be no true deception risked, for Alicio would instantly catch an outright falsehood. Not when the fate of the deal might hang in the balance.
"I wasn't there when the Sith invaded..." she clarified. "But many of my employees were. A lot of them were killed, but the survivors reported someone moving through the Dagobah temple, fighting a bunch of Sith who had managed to breach it. They described his armor..." Sera said stepping forward to place her hand on the display, not hiding the recognition of the armor in her own eyes, but more the emotional familiarity...
"They gave a description that very much reminds me of what I am seeing here..." she trailed. "And they say that accompanying him was a bunch of mercenaries in outdated armor and weapons...Phase 1 Armor from the Clone Wars to be exact... matching rifles too. DC-15A's and DC-15S Carbines."
"When I fully immigrated to Coruscant, I made sure to file a report of my employees account to the Alliance Military." She continued , circling the display. (This was also the truth: It was one more example of her Father's 5D chess thinking: A personal but short report from her would hopefully be enough to render her above suspicion. She had even made sure not to have it as obscured as the others in case the authorities had needed to dig it up relatively quickly)
When done properly, the truth can obfuscate more thoroughly than any lie ever could, her father had taught.
"However, When Coruscant was invaded by the Sith after successfully occupying Tython, one of my employees were trapped in the lower levels...guess what they reported..." Sera said to the Chancellor pointedly.
"Small fireteams of mercenaries in Phase 1 Armor, engaging The Sith. Just like at Susevfi...I reported this to the Alliance Military in a thirty page account, which I submitted almost immediately after the Sith were driven off." she continued. (Again, the Truth, and again, deliberately obscured in the Bureaucracy of record keeping)
"But this armor...it definitely resembles the description the employee was able to give. I would be happy to dig up a copy of what I submitted to the government that day at Susevfi as well as on Coruscant. I think I could also get you the contact information of the employees who gave the initial eyewitness accounts, should you want to speak to them..." Sera added helpfully. And this also was the truth. She would be perfectly happy to give him the full testimony. Because trying to play coy or dumb would be political suicide with him.
She had learned from prior experiences with Alicio, her database getting better and better at figuring out what riled up his suspicion. And that was overly long answers. But she had left out enough details that he would hopefully not think she knew too much.
"Whatever connection it bears to what my employees or other witnesses saw at Susevfi, or Coruscant... that's probably best ultimately left up to your end to decipher...." She finished. "Your guess is as good as mine as to what it's doing here. Likely, it belongs to one of the people who set this place up."
Though she kept an appropriately somewhat concerned/confused expression and tone of voice (Almost but not quite bewildered), internally, both she and her mother was this meme.
So much was at stake, that her organic processors were on pins and needles, though she hid it perfectly.
Meanwhile, the armor silently pulsed with the light side of its Force Imbued nature...
Last edited:
