Tarred and Feathered

[Luther Lewis]

“Bah” Luther said, despite the smile on his face. “I see the reputation holds well. Never argue with a Jedi”. Indeed, she managed to talk circles around him, which irked and amused him equally. He decided to drop the topic for now. They were on a path for the answers, he would take a page from the Jedi’s book and let the answers come to him.

His muscles were weak, a price he had happily paid for his reversion as a Deathtrooper. He injected the last of his meds as he felt his thighs quiver. The chemical cocktail acted quickly, his strength returning to his legs. But now that was no longer a concern, his scalp had started stinging again from the cut on the top of his head.

- - - - -​

They had been walking for a while now and the sun was starting to dip below the horizon. He breathed in the cool afternoon air. It was easy to forget who he was, isolated like this. On a lone road, surrounded by wilderness on either side. The illusion was lost when Camlenn started talking about the Dagoyan Order. He said nothing in reply to her statements about ‘acquiring’ the planet. They were getting along for now, but he mustn’t forget they both had very different views on the galaxy.

He did have something to say on the Dagoyan Order, however. “No one is that reclusive, not with that much power” Luther said, pulling out a flashlight as the sun's light faded. “Even if most of them have little care for outside world, at least one of them will have been influencing the populace”. As an intelligence operative, Luther knew what was natural for people. Corruption came easy with power and it was often hidden behind an illusion of good intentions.

Soon the road turned from asphalt to smoothed stone blocks. Luther looked up to a looming building. “Looks like we found the monastery”.

| [member="Amilthi Camlenn"] |​

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

"Perhaps you underestimate how much ascetic practice can twist the sentient mind away from its natural direction." Amilthi yawned, not because it was a boring topic, but because the hour was getting late. She smiled wryly at her companion and continued. "But I'm sure there is truth in what you say, and indeed there are plenty of the Dagoyan Order who exercise more influence over their people. Though whether they would be found in this place, of all? I understand it's considered special even within this order, so let us keep in mind another possibility: that someone may be trying to frame the monks. If indeed they are implicated in any way at all." She ended with a shrug at the possibility.

Amilthi silently took note as the man self-administered what she assumed to be a stimulant to ease the tiredness and physical exhaustion. It was a respectable, rational choice. Without the gift of the Force and her training, she herself would not have found it possible to keep up the pace.

It was past midnight when finally they stood before the gates of the monastery. The night robbed the vivid colours of their life and gave the façades a sombre, almost sinister appearance. Amilthi stepped up to the little panel besides the door and pressed the button on it. While she waited, she turned to Luther and threw him a brief, calming smile, as if to reassure him that he should let her handle this.

"We do not receive visitors", said a curt voice after several seconds. It spoke with a strong Bardottan accent.

Amilthi frowned briefly, somewhat taken aback at the harshness of the response. She took a few moments before replying softly. "I'm Amilthi Camlenn. You know I mean no harm - you need to listen to me. The monastery is in danger. Let me help you."

"There is no danger here." The little light on the panel that indicated the live connection disappeared. Amilthi had a bad feeling about this. Something wasn't right here.

She threw a concerned look at Luther, then walked back to him. "This isn't right. I know what you're thinking. I don't know if that means anything to you, but - my feelings tell me that that isn't it", she explained earnestly. "I think the monks themselves are in trouble. Any idea how to get inside?"

[member="Luther Ando"]​

 

[Luther Lewis]

‘Distinct lack of respect, unusual for monks’ Luther thought. Camlenn must have worked great magics to secure a visitation earlier, because they didn’t seem like the type to entertain such ideas. The intercom system was also curious. It seemed like their ascetic nature did not forbid the use of technology.

“I can think of plenty of ways to get in” Luther said with a shrug. “But most of them involve breaking something”. He gestured to the lightsaber on her hip. “It’s unlikely they have anything that can resist your weapon. I’m guessing they won’t appreciate such an entrance, however”. He pulled a lock-pick out of the pocket of his uniform pants and checked the lock. It was fairly simple and shouldn’t pose a problem, but Luther recalled hearing a bolt slide into place when the door was shut. “Front door is a poor place to make an infiltration but remember it for a potential escape”.

He moved away from the front door and skirted around the side of the building. Such a large building would have multiple entries and exits, and it didn’t take him long to find a small side entrance. “Excellent” Luther muttered, smiling as he approached the door. The lock here was even more simple, and it took Luther a mere 20 seconds to unlock it. His grin vanished as he pushed on the door to find it wouldn’t budge. “Blast, it is bolted” Luther said in frustration.

He scanned the doorway for any other weaknesses before spotting a balcony a story above them. He debated climbing the structure but, unfortunately, the wall was smooth and offered no handholds. He turned back to Camlenn. “I need your help” he said. “Seems like we have two options. Either you cut the bolt to the door with your lightsaber or-” he pointed to the balcony above him. “-you somehow get me up there. The balcony door might be locked, but it is unlikely to be barred”. He wasn’t keen on sailing through the air towards the balcony, but they risked raising the alarm by cutting through the door.

[member="Amilthi Camlenn"]​

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Agent Ando did not disappoint - he had the right eye for this sort of thing, grasped the situation easily and made sense of it when for Amilthi it would have been a matter of lengthy pondering and deliberation. To open the locked door would likewise have taken her a long time, if she had even succeeded, undeveloped as her telekinetic abilities were.

Now they were, however, at an impasse for reasons of physical limitations more than mental. The idea of melting down the door with her lightsaber did not particularly appeal to her for the very reason Ando had brought into play. She wondered if perhaps she could enter through the balcony and unbar the door from inside, but who knew whether the way would be easy to find, or whether the balcony door would even be unlocked.

She looked up at the balcony, some five metres above them. "I don't have a rope or anything like that", said Amilthi, thinking. "I can't throw you that far - but I think I can pick you up." She looked at him with a smirk that let on that she knew quite well how ridiculous the notion ought to have seemed. He was a good thirty centimetres taller than her and much heavier, too. "You might have to catch the guardrail and pull yourself up, I assume you can do that?"

[member="Luther Ando"]​

 

[Luther Lewis]

The balcony wasn’t that high, not compared to some of the building he scaled as a DT. But he had been an augmented monster then and didn’t let small obstacles like buildings get in his way. Luther let out a deep sigh. “Don’t worry about it” Luther said, stretching his muscles. “I was just hoping there was some secret Jedi trick that would make this easier”. After he reverted back to ‘normal’ and joined the Bureau, he stopped going to those high intensity climbing courses. He had done these types of climbs before. He just hated it.

“I can get up there on my own, I just didn’t want to try. It’s been a while and it could be messy if I get it wrong” he didn’t add that he would often fail the stunt in the training sessions. He moved back until he had a good run up to the wall. He breathed in and out, pushed his feet back and took off. He ran full speed at the wall, jumping just as he neared the solid brick. He transferred his momentum upwards, turning the sprint into an upward climb. Now was the tricky bit. Normally a wall climb ended by gripping a ledge above him, but the balcony was off to his right. He had to push himself over mid-climb and fling his arms out to grab a handhold.

His hands just managed to grip the rail just as he reached to peak of his jump. But as gravity pulled his body back down, he felt the thin fence pull under the strain of his weight. “Kark” Luther exclaimed as the fence bent over and stopped suddenly, suspending him over empty space. His arms screamed out in pain was they were wrenched, but he managed to keep hold. With difficulty, he managed pull himself onto the balcony, were he collapsed.

After about 30 seconds of heavy breathing, he was up again. He moved over to the edge to give Camlenn a thumbs-up, and went to examine the door. He pulled out his lockpicking kit but paused before he inserted the tools. Instead, he reached out and pulled the handle to find it was unlocked. With a grin on his face, he entered the building.

It was quiet inside, which made Luther suspect his explosive swearing earlier might present a problem. It didn’t take long to find a stairwell and good fortune allowed him to reach the door without running into anyone. He unbolted the door and threw it wide open. “Miss Camlenn, please come in!” Luther said with a smile. “Let’s not leave you out in the cold”. He moved back to allow her to enter. He closed the door and secured it once again before turning towards the Jedi. “You’ll be better to lead on” Luther said, “You’ve been here before after all”.

| [member="Amilthi Camlenn"] |​

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

"Some could have made you float through the air. I can't", said Amilthi simply. Perhaps it wasn't wise to be so open about the limits of her abilities, but at the same time it was a sign of trust that might be appreciated.

She watched Ando's acrobatics that got him up onto the balcony and was about to jump up onto it when he made a gesture that she interpreted as an indication that she should stay. A bit confused, she shrugged and took a step back to observe. The door, it turned out, was not even locked. With a skeptical look, she watched him disappear inside.

It wasn't long until he emerged through the door on the ground floor. This could have been done rather more easily if she had been in his place. "I hope your arm is alright?"

"I wasn't here to spy", she whispered with a wry smile. "So I don't exactly have the monastery's layout memorised."

Still, judging by the way they had taken, the great communal meditation hall, and the abbot's audience room and quarters behind it, ought to be in the back of the monastery. They could have been reached through the yard, but it seemed wiser to stay inside rather than expose themselves. The corridors here might be the living quarters. They needed to be quiet, but even if they woke someone up, they would probably think it was one of their fellow monks outside and go back to sleep.

Amilthi nodded in the direction away from the main gate, deeper into the structure, and followed the corridor that way, with deliberate, but not exaggerated, quiet steps. There were doors left and right. Past a staircase, a door closed off the corridor, separating one tract of the building from another.

The Jedi reached out for the handle of the door, but on an impulse stopped. After a moment's reflection, she continued her movement, and the door proved to be unlocked. Amilthi pulled it open and found herself looking straight at a Bardottan standing opposite to it, before another door two metres further. Off to the left was an exit, presumably into the yard. He looked like he was standing guard - and shockingly, he had a pistol in his hand.

Amilthi raised her hand and let it traverse his field of vision. For some reason, the Bardottan's eyes were irresistibly attracted by it and follow the motion. "You have not seen anyone. Everything has been quiet", she said firmly - and pulled the door shut again.

She took a step back, close to Ando, and whispered. "This is very wrong. He doesn't look like an initiate of the monastery or a volunteer helper. There aren't supposed to be weapons here, or people standing guard. What's more, he is standing guard as if he were trying to prevent anyone from exiting this tract - which I think is the sleeping quarters."

[member="Luther Ando"]​

 

[Luther Lewis]

“Bah” Luther replied. “I’ve done far worse” He followed close behind her, drawing his blaster pistol. “And you’d have a better idea about where to go; the First Order usually isn’t interested in old monasteries”. They padded along, making an effort to mask their footsteps on the stony floor. His faith in Camlenn as well placed, who seemed to adapt to the layout of the monastery despite her earlier protests.

They journeyed deeper in the maze, and Luther nerves grew. He didn’t trust these monks, in the same way he couldn’t completely trust Camlenn. Luther didn’t understand the force and, to some extent, he was afraid of it. He gripped his blaster tightly as they rounded each corner. Each time, his muscles would tense but, so far, no one had spotted them. ‘I don’t like this’ Luther thought.

Camlenn stopped and Luther took position behind her as she moved to the door. He readied his blaster and breathed in as the door swung open. It took all his willpower to keep his trigger finger steady as a guard appeared in view. The two of the froze and Luther thought it was all over, until Camlenn performed her magic and closed the door again. He let out his held breath.

Luther pulled Camlenn over further before returning the whisper. “If you wanted to defend your home from outsiders, you post your guards outside” he looked up and down the corridor, making sure it was clear before continuing. “You don’t keep your only guards inside unless you don’t trust the occupants. Your theory may have some credence”.

He fell quiet as he heard shuffling footsteps at the end of the hall. He pushed himself into the recess of the doorway until the sound faded. “Staying still is a surefire way of getting caught. Let’s move on” he gave her a grime smile “And don’t worry, I shan’t attack unless you do”. He tried, and failed, to relieve some tension in his shoulders.

| [member="Amilthi Camlenn"] |​

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Her companion was probably hopeful that she could manipulate the guard's mind again to let them pass, but Amilthi was not confident in the prospect. It was one thing to make him forget a few seconds of perception, another to have him perform an action and then forget all of that as well. Perhaps they could incapacitate the guard quickly enough even without hurting him and so get past him without making noise. Agent Ando was probably trained in that sort of thing, too. She looked at him for a moment, hesitating.

Then she jumped on a different train of thought entirely. If they were among people who were being kept in here, then it made sense to talk to them first of all and learn more about what was going on. She turned around abruptly and carefully opened the door they were hiding next to. Sure enough it led into a tiny chamber, hardly more than twice as big in total as the simple bed that was standing in it below the small window. A bardottan was sleeping in it, wrapped in a blanket, his face to the wall.

Amilthi snuck up to him and leaned over him to put her hand firmly around his snout. The bardottan woke up, his eyes widened in panic as he found he couldn't open his mouth or turn his head, and he began to struggle feebly. "Quiet. We mean no harm", said Amilthi quietly, but firmly. He looked at her, visibly afraid, out of the corner of his eyes.

The Jedi turned her head to look at Ando and made a vague gesture to indicate her desire that he should close the door. Then she returned her attention to the poor bardottan. "Listen. When I remove my hand, do not make noise. If you do, people might die." She looked at him sternly and after spotting what she took to be a glimpse of understanding in his eyes released her grip around his snout. He turned his head to look straight at her and scrambled to sit upright in his bed. Amilthi, meanwhile, suddenly smiled and sat down at the edge of it.

"Thank you. Now, what's going on here? Why is there an armed guard at the end of the corridor?"

"Is there?" The bardottan looked alarmed. "I didn't know. The elders told us to go to our chambers and stay inside."

[member="Luther Ando"]​

 

[Luther Lewis]

They were on the move again, much to Luther relief. His companion moved towards the other door, checking inside while Luther kept a lookout. She moved into the room and Luther followed close behind. He opened his mouth to speak, abruptly closing it as he saw the room’s sleeping occupant. He paused, expecting Camlenn to turn around and leave the same way they had entered. Instead the woman moved to wake the Bardottan up. Luther let out a low hiss as she grabbed the alien, but the Jedi didn’t heed him. The monk woke but stop struggling as Camlenn talked to him.

Luther listened intently, keeping his blaster drawn but pointed down. Camlenn motioned towards him and Luther moved to close the door. He turned back to find that Camlenn had turned on the charm. Scowling, Luther holstered his weapon. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the wall and listened in on the conversation.

The room was small and was perhaps the very definition of ascetic. The bed was tiny and sparsely cushioned, the walls were painted a dull grey and there were no windows. It looked disturbingly like a prison cell.

He wasn’t happy that Camlenn was talking with what was a potential enemy, but he left her to do her thing. There was a small side table next to the bed, which Luther approached. He opened the drawer, reaching in to recover the only item inside: a small steel key. “Is this the key to the door?” Luther interrupted. “Yes” the Bardottan replied, confused. Luther nodded and moved back to his threatening position by the wall.

| [member="Amilthi Camlenn"] |​

 

[Amilthi Camlenn]

Amilthi watched Luther busy himself at the table, then stood up from the edge of the bed where she was sitting and took a step towards Luther. "You're thinking of locking him in?", she said softly. "Don't."

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked back and forth between the two others in the room. "I think they're being held captive, I don't know by whom. Can you take out that guard before he makes a noise? I mean without taking his life."

"Frangawl..." the monk muttered weekly in the background. Amilthi turned towards him with an inquiring look. "I'm sorry, I didn't understand. What did you say?" The bardottan was hesistant, but eventually took a heart and spoke. "I don't know who it could be. There has only ever been one militant group on our planet and they are the stuff of history. Perhaps their views have... resurfaced under the circumstances." He gave a fearful look at the First Order's agent.

"Are you the one who visited the other day? They talked about you", he said suddenly, looking straight at Amilthi. "Yes", replied the Jedi simply as if it was irrelevant. "They... agreed with you that the Force should be used." Amilthi frowned, but said nothing. It made sense that there would be some dissenters among a Force-sensitive people who thought it was worth employing their potential in search of freedom - that was to say, it was the sort of thing sentients would do, even if it was short-sighted and ill-advised. On some level, she was shocked and disappointed - both at her own blindness at the possibility, and at the inevitability with which the sentient mind, for all its variations, still clustered around the same set of traits. The were merely on a spectrum. She looked at Luther, expecting to see understanding on his face. Surely he must have come up with the same hypothesis.

[member="Luther Ando"]​

 

[Luther Lewis]

Luther scowled, but dropped the key back onto the side table. “I suppose it wouldn’t matter whether he was locked in or not. If he made enough noise, someone would come running”. His training was screaming at him to due something, to eliminate the loose end. Training would call for him to kill the Bardottan, a thought that made him sick to the stomach. ‘No’ he thought. ‘I won’t resort to that. There must be another way’. The decision felt wrong, but it also felt good. Perhaps some of Camlenn’s Jedi purity was rubbing off on him.

Luther opened his mouth to speak when the monk spoke up instead. Luther looked on, his face impassive, as the Bardottan spoke. He didn’t know what to think of other militant groups, or their problem with Camlenn. “If this was a First Order operation, I’d call in the cavalry” Luther said, looking at Camlenn. “But, it’s not. So, let’s do a little more sneaking around and try to get to the bottom of this ourselves”.

He approached the monk, causing the Bardottan to scramble back in fear. “Don’t move” Luther said in a low voice. The monk froze, and Luther carefully wrapped his hands around the slender neck. He felt for the large arteries and veins, pressing his fingers lightly into the spots on the neck. The Bardottan squirmed slightly and Luther let out a small growl. “I said don’t move, or you’ll end up with a broken neck”. The monk stopped squirming. Luther smiled. “Thank you” he said and squeezed. His fingers pressed into the blood vessels in the neck, cutting off the oxygen supply to the brain. It only took a matter of seconds and the Bardottan slumped over.

Luther sighed and stood up. “Sorry about that” he said, turning to face Camlenn. “He’s not dead, I only knocked him out. This way he’s alive but can’t talk”. Luther turned back to the unconscious body, making sure the monk was breathing. The Bardottan was alive, fortunately. There was always a risk that he might squeeze for too long or too hard and kill the subject. Luther straightened his neck so his airway would be open.

“To answer your earlier question” Luther continued. “I could knock out that guard, now that I know where the blood vessels are in a Bardottan” It had been a learning experience as much as a means to an end. “But there is some ground to cover before I can’t get to him. I could try sprinting, catch him off guard, but it would be easier if you could distract him with some Jedi magic”. Either way, this could be messy.

| [member="Amilthi Camlenn"] |​