Private Turning In Their Graves

[Marya Werdegast]

Marya Werdegast stood before the window of her office, dark eyes peering cautiously through a gap in the blinds. Beyond the towering starscrapers of Fondor, dawn was an orange glow on the horizon. The Senator of Necropolis had worked all night, signing documents and planning an upcoming fundraiser. She had planned to return home before the sun rose, as was her habit, but she had run a little bit overtime.

Turning away from the window, she released the blind. It fell into place with a soft clink, while she muttered a curse under her breath. More than the sunrise had her nerves fraying around the edges tonight. She had much to be thankful for, certainly. Between the tragic violent death of her father and her main political rival being left comatose, her fortunes had been rather good as of late. But just when all of her machinations had begun to pay off, and every piece seemed ready to fall into place, a new obstacle presented itself. Her niece Thelma Goth , whose existence she had been completely unaware of until the reading of her father's will, had inexplicably inherited the family business. Marya was still in the process of remedying that issue when she discovered that not only had her assassins failed to eliminate all of her father's made men, but that perhaps the most dangerous of them all, the sorcerer Byron Devorak, had not only survived the purge but had thrown his lot in with Thelma. With his backing, the little girl had actual clout in the underworld. She posed a genuine threat to Marya's power.

And she was supposed to have died tonight, but the reports trickling in so far were not good. They had yet to find her remains among the blasted ruins of her shop, or the remains of any of her known associates. It looked as if they had escaped her trap, slipping through Marya's fingers yet again.

She pushed these thoughts aside as she put on her cloak, signaling to her aide that she was ready to go as she pulled up her hood. Patience was a virtue she had been forced to learn the value of, and she had centuries of practice in the art of waiting. Her time would come. For now, she needed rest...

"Lady Marya." Her aide hissed, returning earlier than expected. "There are men waiting for you outside. They look like police."

Marya raised an eyebrow. This was to be expected. The authorities had good reason to suspect her involvement, but she was always careful to cover her tracks and pay off any witnesses. They never had enough evidence to convict her of a crime. With a sigh, she mentally prepared herself for what was likely to be a tedious next few hours of questioning. "Did they see you?" she asked.

"No, my lady."

"Then we will wait for them to come to us."

Alicio Organa Aldric Laurent​

 

[Alicio Organa]

"No need to wait, Senator."

The door to Marya's office slid open quietly, revealing Chancellor Organa, slowly returning his access key to the folds of his cloak. Around Senator Werdegast, Alicio had always kept the same expression- murky, curatedly neutral, a truly political even-keel. That hadn't changed, but there was an undeniably sharp edge to his demeanor today. Something cutting, something honed.

He stepped in, but shut the door behind him.

"I wanted to give you a chance." He placed a burner datapad on a nearby table, free for Marya's perusal. He'd set the SIA on her, and with a focused look, and a little precognitive assistance... well, there was little they couldn't find. His tone was far too somber to be a challenge, but lacked any of the kindness the words might usually hold.

"Explain."

- Marya Werdegast -

 

[Marya Werdegast]

Marya's eyes darted to the door when it slid open. Chancellor Alicio Organa stood upon the threshold.

She said nothing as he entered the room, though there was a subtle shift in her expression as the door shut behind him. She was annoyed, or perhaps disappointed. Not because she was being arrested—she had expected that development well in advance, and structured her plans around it—but because Alicio was the one busting her. She had hoped not to make an enemy of the most powerful man in the free galaxy.

He crossed the room, tossing a datapad on her desk. Her aide backed away, giving them both plenty of space.

"I wanted to give you a chance. Explain."

Marya spared a glance at the datapad, but made no move to pick it up or actually read its contents. "A person in my position grows used to lies being spread about her," she said, meeting his gaze. "Whatever is written there, it doesn't matter."

She already knew what was in the file. Legendary accounts of her blood-soaked days as a warlord during the Gulag Era, tales of her downfall at the hands of her own father, the centuries of servitude to regain his favor. How she had used his rivalry with Sycorax Laveaux to her advantage, making a bid for the Senate as soon as the seat became vacant.

Somewhere in the SIA an agent had made the argument that her ambitions stretched beyond Necropolis, perhaps into other Core Worlds. He wasn't wrong, but he had underestimated her sheer lust for power. She intended to have the whole fucking universe all to herself one day. And no one—not her rotting father, not her sister's bastard, not even the Chancellor of the Alliance—was going to take it from her.

"My enemies will tell you whatever it takes to turn you against me," she continued, calm and dignified. "I tell you that I am innocent. But I will submit to your authority, Chancellor. You may do with me as you will."

It was apparent that she believed the information in the file wasn't enough for a conviction. There were witnesses and bodies that could be tied to her, but there was no paper trail, no smoking gun. She'd been careful, and she had an excellent team of lawyers. They could charge her and waste taxpayers' money on a trial, but they couldn't nail her.

And Alicio, for all his godlike Force powers and rumored skill with a blade, was a predictably moral man who wanted to do things by the book. He could kill her easily, but he wouldn't. He couldn't even slay a tyrant queen when she challenged him to a duel to the death. Marya would submit, but she wasn't afraid of him. Not at all.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

"As you wish, Senator." Marya's attempt to sew doubt in the Chancellor fell on deaf ears. His own personal experiences, watching the puzzle pieces click into place, with so many people of different sides pointing the finger at the same 'fortunate' leader of Dahrtag, the only one to gain from the chaos in the underworld of her planet... well, he tried to keep an open mind, but he was near entirely certain.

Not that he could submit testimony from his near-assassin, a disgraced former Jedi, and a comatose politician as ironclad evidence. What he did have was... disputable. She was right, in the end. He wouldn't rig the trial. Not even if that would be the right thing to do. And that gave her the chance to wriggle free.

But this would pressure her previously-unchecked power grab, and hopefully give him the chance to find something he could use. And if he did... there was no way for her to slink away into the shadows.

Alicio simply stepped aside, letting the guard come in. They were mostly senate commandos, with a secret mixing of his own personal Shi'ido honor guard, just in case. With only a subtle nod, Alicio moved to leave. But first, he stopped.

He wouldn't give away too much. But he wanted to dispel any lingering doubt in himself.

"Before I leave, I just have one question." He turned his head to the side, scrutinizing every muscle in the woman's face. "Who is Thelma?"

- Marya Werdegast -

 

[Marya Werdegast]

Marya gave the Chancellor a slight curtsy as the guards moved to surround her. No doubt the press would have a field day with the sight of her being escorted out of the building like this, but she would walk with her head held high. Her supporters would appreciate her confidence, and her enemies would not have the satisfaction of seeing her humbled.

Alicio abruptly stopped just shy of the door, blocking their path. His back was to her, but he turned his head to look at the Senator of Necropolis.

"Before I leave, I just have one question. Who is Thelma?"

Marya’s eyes were fixed on him, placid at first, then widening as the meaning of his question sank in. Discovery, she had anticipated. But the Chancellor colluding with her rival? She was caught off guard by the implication—and for a moment the kowtowing of five hundred years fell away, revealing a glimpse of the truth as her expression contorted into a vicious snarl.

She was quick to resume control, rearranging her face into more placid lines. Her tone, however, was frosty. “I believe she was my predecessor’s favorite tailor,” she replied. “Personally I don’t understand the draw. Then again, I never cared much for Senator Laveaux’s style.

“Are you an admirer of hers, Chancellor?”

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

There.

Alicio clocked the moment of unchecked rage a moment before Marya could cover it again. It soured his tongue, and wrote itself plainly on her face, that had been still as an undisturbed pool but a second prior. She was quick to cover it up, attempting to smooth the crease, but the damage was done. He turned away, having already seen what he was looking for. He wouldn't tip his hand in turn.

“Are you an admirer of hers, Chancellor?”

He gave that a moment of thought. Marya already knew he was watching, now. It wouldn't hurt.

"Perhaps I should be. Thank you for your assistance." Alicio stepped out of the room, and immediately unholstered his datapad, drafting a new set of messages. He needed to find something on Marya, and soon.

Before she could do any more damage.

- Marya Werdegast -

 

[Aldric Laurent]

Aldric already had everything he needed on Marya.

The former agent had been sitting on a nearby rooftop for quite some time now, waiting for when the moment would present itself. He saw the Chancellor and his commandos enter the Senate Offices. Looking at the young galactic ruler through the sights of a scope filled Aldric with a sense of uneasy weight. If it were his mission here, would there be anything to stop him from killing Organa right now? That kind of power was rarely granted to anyone.

Thankfully, it was not Aldric's desire or purpose for being here.

Even in his time with the SIA, Aldric never really liked getting his hands dirty. He did it because he saw it as a necessity. Today the justification was no different. Only now he wasn't bound by the red tape of a government organization. He took action when it was needed, and that was it. No paperwork. No testimony. Just action.

Marya left the building, escorted by those same guards that followed the Chancellor. She walked with confidence, even as heads in the plaza turned to bear witness to the scene. She had no doubt planned for all this. All of this, except Aldric.

The agent held his breath, and steadied his rifle. The shot lined up, crosshairs surrounding her heart. Then--

The city din was interrupted by the crack of gunfire.

Alicio Organa - Marya Werdegast​

 

[Marya Werdegast]

Marya continued to maintain an outward poise as she exited the building. On the inside, she was fuming. How had Thelma managed to sink her claws into the Chancellor? Not only was she proving harder to kill than expected, she evidently wasn't just some stupid little chit whiling away the centuries at her loom.

Then there was Alicio. Marya could not abide someone in a position of greater power being a threat to her ambition. He would have to be dealt with.

But first, she had to evade this trap. Everything was in place, but she no longer felt so sure of herself. The confrontation in her office had robbed her of certainty. In some ways, it provided a strange thrill, not knowing what else awaited her. But she didn't want to be caught unawares, tricked and taken advantage of.

No. She would escape. It would happen. It had to.

She raised her hood before stepping out into the plaza, the thick dark cloak shielding her from the sun's dawning rays. It also partially obscured her face from the early bird onlookers and the cam droids that were always lurking outside government offices. Even if the Chancellor tried to be discreet, pictures of her arrest would be plastered across every media outlet on Fondor before she reached the landing pad on the other side of the square and boarded the ship which would take her to a high profile detention center. The entire galaxy would know what had happened to Senator Marya Werdegast by breakfast—

A gunshot rang out, sudden and unexpected. Marya didn't know what had happened at first, taken aback by the loud crack disrupting the early morning quiet. Until a familiar burning sensation began to spread through her chest, and she felt...

She fell.

In the ensuing chaos, the cam droids snapped photos in rapid succession, but they all agreed that the best image, the one destined to accompany the headlines, was the reaction shot. That split-second after the gunman fired, when the Senator of Dahrtag's face was contorted in pain, mouth open, eyes scrunched shut, frozen in a final flinching ooh-agh, before her knees gave out and she collapsed in a puddle of her own blood.

Senator Marya Werdegast was dead, assassinated just minutes after her arrest. The press would have a field day with this one.

Alicio Organa Aldric Laurent​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio sensed the bolt pass through her heart, seven seconds before it happened.

He'd been walking back to his office, datapad in hand, preparing to call the SIA agents he'd sic'd on the case. He'd hand-picked each one, hardened Coruscanti detective-types used to navigating gang violence, knowing where to look, where to press, where to ease. His abilities weren't precise enough to know if they would succeed, but he figured they had a chance.

He was just about to send the request, before feeling a sudden spike of danger. His eyebrow furled, and his hand went to the comm hidden in his false hand. A panic button, that would alert his Honor Guard to danger. They were Shi'ido warriors, Force-sensitive shapeshifters trained to protect. If they knew it was coming, they could stop the blast, saving Marya.

. . .

Alicio lifted his finger off the button, hands finding themselves behind his back, hidden within the fold of his cape. It wasn't good, but it was right. And as he heard the shot, and felt the ripples of fear and alarm begin all around him... he felt something within his own heart die a little, too.

He kept walking, one foot in front of the other.

- Marya Werdegast - Aldric Laurent -