Truth and Pride and Other Fragile Things

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]Chiasa paced her suite in the Golden Nautolan looking every bit the caged tiger. She had all in all been handling things quite well, she thought. No one else seemed to have noticed anything was amiss, even with Cryax going off the deep end and disappearing into Nar Shaddaa to be a hermit or some gods-forsaken thing and her sudden promotion to co-leader with Patricia of all people, the Ravens had continued to expand, garnering more land, more members and most importantly more credits.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]And still she couldn't help but think of that bloody bastard. Who did he think he was going and flipping her world upside down, shaking at about a few times for good measure and then just disappearing?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]All right, so he hadn't exactly disappeared. She knew this for a fact since she may or may not have been infrequently spying on him. But he wasn't here.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She growled in frustration and stopping at the bar, tossed back another in the line of shots set out in a row. Several of the glasses were upside down already. This was a measure of how frustrated she was. As a general rule, the Twi'lek despite living in a series of Casinos, did not drink. Her staff were well trained to provide her with coloured water or juices so it appeared she was drinking, but her control was never actually affected. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]This continued for a little while until possibly alcohol fueled inspiration struck. She keyed in a message that would reach Emberli Garett eventually.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Bear,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Could use advice. Recently came into possession of farming world. Mandalore has farms, yes? Neither I nor my contacts have experience in this field. Thought with your experience you might have some suggestions. Have time to meet tomorrow? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]-Chiasa[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Mandalorians liked farms right? That’s what they did when they weren't killing folks. Farmed things. ..Turnips and such. Maybe he would like his own farm again. Or another farm if he already had one. Or a whole damn farming world. Whatever. Surely if she gave him his own planet he would have to talk to her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She threw back several more shots and collapsed into her oversized bed, letting a muffled 'aaargh' into the pillow. This was not what was supposed to happen. Men wanted her. She was beautiful. She was to be chased and wooed and won. She was not supposed to have to pursue anyone, she was quite certain about this.[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]Emberli wasn't entirely sure how he had planned on his day going, but as he sat on a shuttle headed to orbit, he knew for a fact he hadn't planned on the Twi'lek messaging him. A small indicator blinked incessantly in the corner of his eye on his visual display, alerting him to check his datapad.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Reaching down to his belt, he pulled it and scanned the message with quick flickers of his eyes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]A furrow of his brow was the only indicator that he was confused. Some Mandalorians farmed, true, but they had long been a nomadic people. There weren't many who felt the need to plant roots quite like that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]But times had changed, his people had changed. It wasn't out of the question that they could do something like farm. But why ask him?[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]Was he the only Mandalorian she knew?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Or was this her way of asking for him to be her booty call? That seemed more likely, given the way she'd handled the departure of their last meeting. Quick, perfunctory. Booty call suited her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]>1300[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]>Local[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10pt]>Where?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Typical Mandalorian communication style. Blunt. To the point.[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]The beeping of her comm unit had the slightly sloshed Twi'lek raising her head. That was quick. She scanned the return message, it didn't take long.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Golden Nautolan? Hostess will be expecting you.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Best to avoid the scene it might cause if he showed up unannounced again and someone tried to disarm him. The employees were slowly learning it paid to be loyal and good at their jobs. And that it could be deadly not to be.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Not the office again. Then he would definitely think this was a flimsy pretense to earn a repeat performance. But not somewhere public either. Just.. just in case. Her suite would likely be even worse than the office. Besides, he would likely have opinions about the decadence of it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]One of the rooms available to be rented out for functions perhaps? A smaller one with sitting area and table. So it looked at least half business appropriate. Besides, she really could use some advice on how to handle bloody Far Pando. A planet full of farming slugs. She knew how to rob farmers, not manage them. Something something crop rotation? That sounded vaguely familiar. The one on the twenty-seventh floor had the balcony that actually got some sun too. That would work.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It was rented for tomorrow but that didn't even slow the Twi'lek, she simply bumped the reservation into an upgraded meeting area and blocked out the room for herself. Perks of the job. That done, the Twi'lek curled up around a pillow and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would come quickly and she definitely wanted to be sober by then..[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]True to form, he arrived at the casino by the next day. It was a bit of work getting out there in the timeframe but he made it work. He'd have chosen a later time if that weren't possible, or even a later day if he'd actually made it back towards the Core before receiving her message.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]But, again, he found himself in the Golden Nautolan, telling the host who he was here for and again getting in armed. Nobody wanted to disarm the Mandalorian, it seemed. Couldn't really blame them, honestly. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Exhaling slowly, he raised a faint brow at the location he was being sent to. Twenty-seventh floor.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Likely a conference room. Were there windows? Was that how she planned to keep him honest? Letting people watch? Or, perhaps he'd mistaken her. Perhaps this wasn't a booty call. That seemed unlikely.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Why a man who clearly focused on fighting to talk about farming. No, this wasn't adding up. It would seem she managed to puzzle him. But as he rode up the lift towards the meeting area, he blinked and folded his arms over his broad chest.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]What game was she playing at...?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]A snarl formed on his lips, and he was thankful his helmet was in place. No one need see that. The doors slid open, he stepped out, and he made his way to the meeting area. Time to see what the Twi'lek wanted.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Likely choice? Him.[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]Chiasa for her part had woken up with an ungodly headache, which a fair dose of water and self-pity had largely taken care of, and was already in the meeting room, on one of the couches in the more casual sitting area, her feet curled up under her as she flicked through reports. For the most part, leading, or co-leading a criminal Organization seemed to involve an un-godly amount of paperwork. She was quite certain she'd hired some people specifically to deal with it, but they also insisted on sending her paperwork about the paperwork. If she made Patricia do it all the other woman had a tendency to get snarky and roll her eyes in a very nearly mutinous manner.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Far Pando was turning into even more of a headache. There was yet another note from the head of the Tillers Union, whatever that was, wanting to know if they should use pesticides or not, and what crops she wanted planted where, and what her speculated yield was and where the seeds were coming from, and were they buying in bulk for future harvest and did they want to invest in quality seed or risk going with the lower priced seller, and basically farming was really hard, and she hated it already. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]This was clearly the best plan, rid herself of a problem, and win points with Emberli. She was feeling particularly pleased with herself about it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She looked up as he walked in setting the holopad aside with a smile and standing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I am glad you could come."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]If he'd expected her to be lounging on a couch when he walked in, he didn't show it. Far be it from him to judge the easy familiarity that came from allowing someone to see you like that when they came in.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]His hands set on his hips, visor locked on her. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"Why was I requested."[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] He asked in a modulated voice, helmet speaker making it sound far harsher than it was. She knew his voice, how dry and toneless it was.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She'd know what he meant by it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]But of course she was glad he could come. She wanted something. Him being here meant she was getting something. What that was he wasn't sure. A vague message to meet was arguably the worst way to let someone know what they were in for...[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Still, here he was. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Time to see what she wanted.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Judging by that dress? Him.[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]If she was surprised by the bluntness of his question she didn't show it. She was slowly starting to get used to it. It was still a radical departure from the silver tongued diplomats she usually danced circles around and took a bit of adjustment.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"Gods-be-damned farming."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Hands rose to temples and out from in a gesture of frustration before being lowered again.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"These people are asking me questions that I am not even certain are in Basic. If you wanted farm shipments stolen, no problem. Illegal crops moved on the black market? Cakewalk. Farming equipment modified into weaponry that can be easily smuggled across interstellar boundaries? I have people for that. PH levels and crop rotations and optimal fertilizing on the other hand.."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I don't even know any farmers, and I know very many people."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She'd paced a little throughout this diatribe. She wasn't entirely certain what had possessed Cryax to take Far Pando in the first place. Possibly it should have been a sign that he was coming a bit.. Unhinged.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"But I do know you. Mandalore has a lot of farms yes? So I thought perhaps since you were the Mand'alor.. You would know how to deal with this."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Also I wanted to see you. Watching shaky holo-feeds from spies is not the same..[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]"Do you understand how easy it is to run a farm?"[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] He asks, brow raising beneath his helmet. His arms had folded over his chest again, feet shifting to a firm shoulder width apart. Stand-offish wasn't a poor descriptor.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]With a single brow raised, he watched her as she paced. She had to be desperate if she was pulling on Bear to tell her how to run a farming world. What was he known for? Fighting the Sith and then making peace with them long enough for the Mandalorians to consolidate. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]By the time they'd done that, the Republic had shifted into gear and crushed the Empire and the Mandalorians had been saved.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I'm sure they've got someone in charge of the collective, yeah? Some trade baron of sorts? Most agri-worlds do. Easiest way to do bulk business off planet. Find that guy. Tell him he's in charge. Let him run things. Farmers know what they're doing. It's why they're farmers."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"The key to them? They're born and raised on the same spit of land. Their parents probably ran it until they couldn't and then passed it over to the kids. That means they've been doing this their whole life."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"If you can trust 'em enough, give 'em a leash and let 'em go. Ain't like ya don't got the money to handle it."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]"How would I know how to run a farm? I don't even let them put houseplants in my suite anymore! They just die and drop leaves all over the place. Deserts. I know deserts. None of this dirt everywhere business."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Chiasa did not particularly like nature. It was messy and chaotic. At least deserts were fairly clean. Well. The sand got everywhere, but besides that.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She listened to him intently, pacing stilled as she focused on his words. Se was silent for a moment as she processed, this was getting back on firmer ground. Managing people. She'd been making the mistake of assuming the man messaging her was stupid.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"You are correct."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]The Twi'lek stood straighter, arms crossed in unconscious mirroring, eyes narrowed slightly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"He should know what he's doing. Which means either he is an idiot and should not have the position he's in, or that he's engaging in subtle mutiny. The last seems more likely. Many people are not pleased to be annexed by a criminal organization."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Even if they did tend to bring in stability and crack down on unorganized crime. Nobody liked a stable operation as much as a true career criminal.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"Which means I should have him killed. Find out who is ranked below him beforehand. Promote that person. Make them handle it. Hrrrrr, then they will both owe the Ravens for their current position and be aware of the cost of failure."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]This was quite possibly not what he'd had in mind at all. Chiasa did tend to get a little cut throat at times. She thought it was quite a neat solution and obvious once he had pointed out the facts.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Hells, she was supposed to be finding a way to give the damned planet to him to garner favour. Damn and double damn! She'd gotten distracted with politics.[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]The man lifted his hands to remove his helmet, setting it aside on the nearby table before moving into her personal space. Really moving in. But not in a way that boded well for her. His dark, tired eyes locked firmly on her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Displeasure was in them, and the faint flaring of his nostrils said he wasn't happy.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"What's he asking, hrm?"[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] He asks quietly. He wasn't privy to that sort of information. But what he did know was that when you got a new boss, you asked questions.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Some bosses wanted things done the right way no matter the cost, others were cheap. Some preferred hard work to smart work. Everyone was different.[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] "Because unless it's something that directly states 'we're rebelling' you've no right to kill that man."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"You're his new boss. Which means he wants to know how you want the show run. Where I come from, we call that respect - not a blaster bolt to the head."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Inhaling sharply, he let out a slow breath and calmed down the rage that had slowly built in his breast. He was fine now. Positively fine.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]No wonder he'd wanted to punch her the first time they met. If she was like this normally she deserved a good hook to the jaw.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"Until such a time as he does fail you, don't treat him like a failure. You're looking for excuses not to trust people because you don't like not knowing what they're saying. The fact you don't know what's going on clearly went to your head, so you treat it like what you do know."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"A criminal enterprise. This is farming, not drug running. Get your head on straight. This is business, not crime."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]He was clearly not nearly as pleased with her rather neat solution. She thought she'd worked it out and solved the farming puzzle. Apparently not. Hard to read or not, his current displeasure shading to anger was obvious even to her. This was not what she'd wanted at all. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]As he advanced she held her ground. Not out of defiance, but because she'd asked him here and on some level felt this meant she was required to take whatever he chose to give, good or bad. You didn't invite a Bear into your home and then complain when it mauled you. It was true Emberli could be gentle, but he could also be vicious. If he'd decided she needed to be taken down a peg or two and beaten her unconscious because he'd decided her arrogance offended him before she'd even spoken to him, what would he do now? As he spoke, though she didn't break eye contact, her chin lowered and turned slightly away, shoulders rounding, a very faint barely perceptible whine escaped her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please! I don't know how to run a business! I don't know how to do any of this! There is only me and no one I can trust, please, please don't.. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It seemed another lesson was not what he had in mind however, and he continued in a calmer vein.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I do not trust people because I have never found anyone to be trustworthy, but you are right. I have no experience with businesses, only criminal organizations and I was treating them the same."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She moved to fetch the datapad, returning to offer it to him in a silent act of contrition. The messages from Far Pando were open on it, but it was also connected to the Red Ravens secure database, and with her code still active in it, had access to quite a few files and information that no one outside of Red Raven leadership ought to see. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I just.. surely, if farmers know farming, he must know this? What does he want from me? As long as he produces, why should I care how he goes about it? I do not understand what he is asking and I do not understand what he wants."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]I do not understand what you want from me, please, please don't be angry with me..[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]Nostrils flaring again, he watched her retract into herself. His poker face returned almost immediately, resetting itself as his emotions did. A blank slate. clear mind. Nothing amiss here. Her whine told him all he needed to know about what was going on here.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]He shouldn't have been angry. But he was. Because what if that farmer had been his family? What if that farmer was the single greatest person on that planet, complete with charitable donation, political pull and all manner of assorted bonuses?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She'd take that out because she wanted to prove a point?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]No. That's not how you ran a business. He was in charge for some reason or another, but on a farming world it's unlikely he'd bought his way into any position.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Taking the datapad with what could only be termed a frown, if it could even be called that, he scanned it over briefly but quickly. Standard things. He hadn't run farming while Mandalore but he knew just enough to make heads and tails of this.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"They'll know what to plant and where. But most of this is the sort of thing you ask a boss. Do you want the job done cheap and quick, with little overhead to maximize profit? Or do you want to go the more expensive route for a better, more reliable product? There's nothing here that isn't business common sense." [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]His gaze ticked up to her momentarily before shifting back down.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"They're asking for expectations, little else. Give them some. Hire assistants. Consultants. A cabinet or something. I don't know. But don't go it alone. It's clear you're in over your head."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]She waited, eyes glued to him as he read, hoping he would tell her what to do, how to fix it, what he wanted so she could if not garner favour at least appease him a little bit. Expectations, not specifics. She could manage that, that was easy. Why had they asked so many stupid specific questions if that was all they wanted? Were all legitimate business like that? Criminal organizations generally thrived on vagueness. You set a goal, or in some cases implied a goal and people took care of it. That was how it worked. She nodded once.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"We respect your experience in the matter of when and what to plant, you are a valued asset blah blah blah, we are sure you will know how best to reinvest x percent of the profits into seed and equipment to ensure an equally or more profitable year with a quality product to further our partnership."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I can't hire anyone, the only people who want to work for criminals are criminals. And clearly we are terrible people who cannot be trusted to make sound decisions."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]This was perhaps paranoid, but also largely true. Everyone wanted to advance. If that meant going through the person above you, so be it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I suppose I could.. contract out specific issues as generalized brainstorming sessions to thinktanks through third parties?"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She offered after a moment, glancing up at him to see if this was acceptable.[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]"Oh no, you can be trusted to make sound decisions. Criminally sound decisions. You want legally sound decisions for this. Because if someone comes knocking at that planets door, and believe me, someone will.... you don't want to give them any reason to get the population to rise up against you."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Entirely true. Wars were won and lost in the PR room. Everyone was in the right, but you could always bank on one thing; the status quo. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"You let people live their lives how they've always lived them with little interference? You'll be golden to them."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Matching her eyes, he took a breath and gave a simple nod. That was that. She shouldn't need his permission but he knew why.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]He'd blown a hole through the first idea, better to make sure he wouldn't blow a hole through this one. It was a good idea, really. Keeps it anonymous, keeps the ideas flowing. Everyone wins.[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]"Mmm, we don't usually change much. Crack down on crime usually. Sometimes switch to more profitable trading companies. Reroute raw goods.."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Chiasa was by and large in favour of folks looking after themselves, why start micro-managing things? It just created more work. Which is half of what had been driving her to distraction about Far Pando. The takeover had been surprisingly bloodless, why had they felt the need to make it so difficult? Apparently they hadn’t, she just did not know how to manage civilians.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I could probably hire lawyers, they are basically criminals. Actually we should really have them already. This is a major over sight.."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]They should probably have a team of lawyers on each planet under their control. The Ravens had gotten too big too quickly and quite frankly things were a little haphazard and a little out of control. She blew out a frustrated breath. It was too much and there were not enough hours in a day. At least her last idea was acceptable. That was something.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It probably said something for just how much he threw off her equilibrium, because without even consciously meaning to, she opened her mouth and said something that while true, she would never say in front of any living being.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I hate my job."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]The man literally snorted. Outright, full blown, snorted. In amusement. At her.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Shaking his head, he moved around her and went out onto the balcony, looking out over the chithole that was Nar Shaddaa. Speeders buzzed by far below, ferrying folk too and from their destinations.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She hated her job? Hilarious. Most people shared that sentiment.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]It was what you said when you finally admitted you were in over your head and up the creek without a paddle.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]But then all you really needed to do was build a bridge and get over it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Presumably, she'd follow him out to ask more questions, and when she did she'd find a faint smirk plastered on his face as he stood gripping the railing. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"If you hate your job, you're doing it right."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]Well at least he was amused? That was better than angry, maybe this as not a total loss. Which was funny because from anyone else she would take offense. She was not to be laughed at. She was a tough as nails Crime Lord who could have them, their family and their whole bloody neighbourhood murdered to prove a point. But he knew how much of a lie that image was.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She did trail after him as he moved out to the balcony. Like all the balconies of the Golden Nautolan, except for the roof patio, a few feet out from the rail a sheet of largely transparent save for a slight sheen material let those on the balconies see out without people being able to see in. She rested her forearms on the railing beside him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I'm glad you think it's funny at least."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She commented darkly.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I am probably not. I'm not even a proper criminal you know. No one else does. Gods only know who they think I am. I don't know how to actually rob people. Or slice things. Or how to fight. Or how to use the Force. I don't know what an Ondorran Tea Scam is, or a Fly Gee, Salting is just something I do to my food and I've no idea what a Pig in a poke is. Maybe it's not even a thing. Maybe it's one of those things people say is a thing so it sounds like they're in the know."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She glanced over at him.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I walked into a meeting and pretended I was supposed to be there. Apparently everyone else was worse at their job than me because no one said anything. No one has ever said anything. And then because I can put a sentence together and I'm easy on the eyes I'm the Diplomat. Fine, it's not like we really have relations with anyone anyway. More money and all I ever had to do was make the Sith angry enough to agree to an alliance so the gods-damned Mandalorians, sorry, won't come kill us all because our President made the current Mand'alors sister sad. Then suddenly I'm Vice President and it's not so bad because people mostly just keep on with what they're doing and at least if everything goes sideways it's on the President, not me. Now suddenly I'm co leading the bloody thing, and if anything goes wrong it's on me. And I don't actually know how to do anything!"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She looked back out over Nar Shaddaa again, one brow raising slightly as she pondered the sheer ridiculousness of her criminal career. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"The only thing I actually know how to do is dance, and I don't want to do that."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]There was a long pause as he listened to her. She was sharing a sentiment known to many thrust into positions of power that were unwanted or, in her case, felt unprepared for. Ask any government head in a candid moment they'd probably say the same thing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Governments were held together by a hope and a prayer, and that was it.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Some people just learned it easier than others. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"That's what happens when you act like you should be in charge. People put you in charge. It's easier to believe that person is giving you the truth than it is to believe they're lying."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"We have an inherent truth bias. We inherently believe what we're told or shown is true. If not, how would anything ever get accomplished? Society would break down. So when you show everyone that 'hey, I'm strong. I'm intelligent. I can do this job easy.'"[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"Well, that's what they expect from you."[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] He shrugged. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]There was little she could do about it now, she was in charge. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"Just make the most of it, and should you truly know you're doing a bad job, let someone else take charge. No sense in letting the stress get to you."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]I thought it was appropriate to have a man killed because he was asking me questions. Will I even know I'm doing a bad job? And it might be easier to go on acting strong and intelligent if you didn't show me how not I am every time we speak.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Still, he had a point. It was what it as, there was no real point whining about it unless she actually wanted to change it. And she didn't, did she? Besides, what else would she do? Where would she go? Could she really give up the power and go back to being no one? To being at the whims of others? Power was safety. Though more people might want her dead where she was, it would be hard to accomplish. The more power she could garner, the safer she was.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"True, if this doesn't work out, I can always go be a farmer. Or a gladiator."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and announced in faux-haughtiness.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]"I stood on the sands against the Mandalore who turned back the Sith you know."[/SIZE]

 

[Chiasa Kritivaas]

[SIZE=10pt]"Yeah, and got your face beat in for it."[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] He retorts dryly. Boasting didn't sit well with Em, and his sense of humor for even fake-boasting was on an even lower level of tolerance. Still, she had her talents.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Actress probably wouldn't be out of the ballpark. Pretty, able to act like she was capable of what she wasn't.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Good money in that, too.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She could even be a 'criminal expert' on those bad detective holos people loved so much. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"Worst case scenario I'm sure you could model."[/SIZE][SIZE=10pt] He remarks dryly. [/SIZE][SIZE=10pt]"Ye seem to have the wardrobe for it already."[/SIZE]