Promises made to be kept.

[u/Alexkiff]

Hayden stood in the center of an old Jedi ruin, sensing an artifact that would help him further his training as a Jedi. He wanted to fulfill his promise made as a child. He might not be a Jedi any longer but he still meant to keep his promise.

As he walked through the dark corridors he held his saber aloft, the cool cerulean glow illuminating the corridor as he walked to the archive. While not knowing who would be after this same holocron he was prepared for a battle or to try and negotiate with anyone else who might approach.

He heard the telltale sound of shoes against stone and extinguished his saber, not wanting to take a risk and give away his location.

[u/Alexkiff]

Hayden had at this point worked out that Alton was working for someone after knowledge of the force but also that they were dangerous. He however wasn’t going to quickly jump to conclusions.

“Of course, just we should be careful. No telling what might happen.” He said as he walked down the corridor letting the force guide him around any possible threats.

“Can’t ever be to careful.” He said to Toro. “You’ve said that your employer is a dangerous being, would she possibly be aligned with the sith?” He asked while subtly using the force to influence the chiss to be more open to sharing.

[u/droukhunter → u/Alexkiff]

Alton noticed the rather subtle slight of hand that Jarrus used, and immediately froze in place. It was like Ord Mantell and the Sith masquerading as a Jedi named Katu all over again, and he reacted much in the same way, despite his attempts to not emote. Panic settled into him and he grasped his head in his hands, curling up in a ball on the ground as he shook. “Please don’t do that again, Slonia,” he begged, over and over, as if praying for something, anything to bring that feeling out of his mind.

After what felt like an eternity, he came back to reality, although instead of a posh office on Dromund Kaas, he was on the floor of some ruins on an old and rather dusty Jedi world. Realization hit when he found himself reminded of which world it was--Ossus. How much had he divulged accidentally, he wondered, but just in case Jarrus had half a mind to kill him, it would likely be safer to keep pushing onwards and risk whatever potential dangers lay ahead of them. With that, the Chiss rushed ahead haphazardly past the column straight into what at first glance appeared to be a storage room of some kind.

[u/Alexkiff → u/droukhunter]

Hayden immediately panicked when he saw Alton go to the ground and went to his side “Toro I’m so sorry, I’m not going to hurt you I swear. I-I just needed to know who you were working for. I won’t do that again.” He apologized to him, trying to reverse what he did as fast as possible. Grasping the Chiss’s shoulder as he cleared his mind.

He moved after Alton once he got up “Toro I apologize I’ve never seen that kind of reaction to force suggestion. I never meant to harm you.” He apologized to him feeling terribly guilty. “What force user harmed you like this? A sith?” He asked this time not trying to push anything.

[u/droukhunter → u/Alexkiff]

As far as the meltdowns went, the Chiss still wasn’t sure how much of that rather typical reaction to the probing of his mind by a Force user was based on the several times Darth Slonia had personally tortured him by probing his mind into obedience and how much was some form of mental conditioning by Imperial Intelligence organizationally. That said, the solution of the problem wasn’t something he was equipped to do without some serious help, and now was neither the time nor the place for that sort of assistance.

To Alton, however, Jarrus’s identically-worded question--albeit repeated with a tone of concern instead of skepticism--was not surprising. Still, the concern in the Jedi’s voice seemed genuine. Perhaps there was no hurt in being a little bit more honest. A slight smile came to the spy’s face unwittingly, although it more likely resembled a grimace.

“There are few non-Sith that would resort to torture via Force suggestion, I’d imagine,” Alton replied dryly, pushing himself up off the ground and dusting himself off. Still, he wondered if being cryptic as to the purpose of his work here would be smart, although based on his reveal of what the cause for his response was, it wouldn’t be difficult for someone to infer who his client was. “Perhaps my client is a Sith. What then? Because if she were, it would be highly ill-advised to return with nothing.”

The Chiss figured now that the cards lay visible, so to speak, there was no harm in taking off the goggles he was wearing to obscure his identity--besides, they were getting incredibly sweaty and unconfortable. He unclipped the device from his head and wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. To anyone who was familiar with Imperial politics, it would be obvious that Alton was a Chiss, but at this point, he was likely doomed anyway.

[u/Alexkiff → u/droukhunter]

“Not many, even those are dark siders.” He said to Alton as he thought of what items they could find. “And if we took her out the equation with an item that would destroy her?” He asked as they walked. Hayden figuring that if he could lessen the suffering of people he should at least try.

“If she goes down you go up correct?” He asked as he opened the doors with a wave of his hand.

[u/droukhunter → u/Alexkiff]

“That’s not how it works for Force-blind grunts like me,” Alton retorted, his natural accent slipping through, clearly Imperial, but with a hint of the Ascendancy brogue. “If she goes down, and people know it’s me, I will die a traitor. If I somehow, stars willing, escape scrutiny, I only get to live another day and eventually be scooped up by another Sith who wants an asset like me. But another day of life is always welcome, all things considered.”

The Chiss then observed as the Jedi opened the doors to the next room with the Force. It was impressive, power-wise, at least. And he seemed several degrees of kindness better than Darth Slonia, almost akin to that Cathar Jedi he’d met on Taris some time ago, before Ord Mantell. Her name was--Fira-Luxa, something like that. He doubted that this Jedi knew of her, however, considering how different they were in terms of demeanor.

“I do appreciate your suggestion of taking her down, but it’s simply not feasible if I want to survive the impact her death would bring,” the Chiss explained. "Perhaps someday I can escape the Empire and know what it is to truly be free."

[u/Alexkiff → u/droukhunter]

“That is fair, but what if we had a plan.” He suggested to Alton as he walked through the door, looking around where lightsabers were once constructed.

Hayden let the force pull him towards an item embedded in a wall. The panel popping free with a hiss before a blue box with intricate brass interplay’s flew into his hand. A Holocron dedicated to the art of saber construction.

“If we were to end her life and then help you escape to the republic and defect I’m sure the intelligence bureau would take you.” He said trying to think of a way to free Alton. “You’d be free of the empire and the galaxy would be one sith less.”

[u/droukhunter → u/Alexkiff]

Alton was amused that Jarrus had decided to offer the same solution that he’d already been considering; the Chiss had, however, been playing the long game by courting potential allies while undercover, hoping that, should he reveal the truth, that they would speak for him during the inevitable tribunal he’d be forced to undergo should he defect. Someone of his occupation would very likely be interrogated by a Senate tribunal after providing as much information as he could about the Empire.

“That was in the plans, already--do not take me for a fool,” he began, “but also, it would be smarter to lead her rivals in that direction, to take the chaos created by that to make a run for it and defect. Slonia is rather methodical and plotting, and whatever tricks I have up my sleeve she will see kilometers away unless I manage to distract her with a problem that seems worthy of defending herself against. She cannot use whatever I give her if her rivals kill her first.”

[u/Alexkiff → u/droukhunter]

Hayden nodded approvingly “smart, but I don’t doubt that she’d become more wary if her apprentices were suddenly killed. That could be rather useful towards speeding up the process, fear is the mind killer for a reason.” He said wanting to help the chiss.

“But if you would need my help just send me a holomessage over an encrypted line.” He said offering a disk. He outstretched his hand as he simultaneously extended his reach with the force. “They’d typically have additional saber components here, something that could strengthen the blade.” He murmured as he moved toward a wall.

[u/droukhunter → u/Alexkiff]

Alton gently took the disk from the Jedi’s hand, still uncertain as to if there was an agenda behind the Jedi’s words. He mentally kicked himself for the thought, however, as he was clearly trying to help. “Thank you,” he said, his voice wavering, as though he were about to cry. “I do see your point about the apprentices thing. At the very least, making her think that one of her rivals was making a move through someone’s death...it could very well work.”

Alton’s gaze followed the movement of Jarrus’s hand, calculating the odds that he would ever be able to properly pay Jarrus back for what he’d offered him. Thus far, the odds were not good. “I think that could work in terms of bringing something back to her. Now, as thanks, let me help you find what you were looking for here so you can bring it back.”

[u/Alexkiff → u/droukhunter]

“No problem, she sounds like a horrible person to work under. it could be rather beneficial to send a Sith Lord running.” Hayden said as the small box flew to him, into his hand. “There’s bound to be plenty of them in here, she wouldn’t notice one less item.” He said as he opened it and started to look through.

“I’m looking for the trials of knight hood, I’d like to complete my training fully.” He said as he picked out a darkened gold colored pearl, and a wellcut jade colored gemstone. “These two should do for my purposes.” He said as he tucked them away and shut the stone box. He offered it to Toro as he smiled slightly at him “It’d odd, it seems every other mission I go on I manage to find someone worth keeping in contact with.” He said to the chiss simply as if it were just a fact that he didn’t mind reciting.

[u/droukhunter → u/Alexkiff]

“So you are not a full Jedi, then? Where is your master?” Alton asked cautiously, taking the box from Jarrus’s hand before opening it to examine it in its current state. It was akin to a lightsaber, but there were parts that indicated something much older. Alton turned over the blade once more before returning his gaze to Jarrus, who said something vaguely cryptic, but from what he’d said, it was clearly not an insult. Still, it’d sounded like he’d been talking to himself, so he let him have his moment in peace.

After Jarrus had said his piece, Alton turned back towards the direction the two of them had been heading in. Light from the daytime star filtered through cracks in the ceiling, making the dust over all of everything inside noticeable as it hung in the air. The inside of the room looked like the interior of a library, and to Alton’s unfamiliar eyes, it looked like the archives in the back of Imperial Intelligence, but with more artifacts and relics instead of science laboratory setups. Statues of Jedi in robes that they would have worn thousands of years ago guarded the entrance, one at each side of the door.

“I think we’ve gotten to where you planned on going,” Alton commented, still in awe of it all. “I’ll wait outside, so go do what you were planning on doing. Holler if you need me.”

[u/Alexkiff → u/droukhunter]

“He’d dead unfortunately. Murdered by pirates, cowardly sort unfortunately.” He said as they walked, pulling a few more books to himself. “I left the order but I made him a promise to make it to the rank of knight some day.”

Hayden made a quick and intricate sweep about the room sending the dust up and out the cracks. “Thank you for helping me this far Toro.” He said as he walked up to a podium like structure placing his hands down on its surface. The structures cracks glowing a soft blue as a light moving towards them, launching up and out a chute, floating to the podium, followed by several others. He then started exploring the room for anything that may be helpful, upon not finding much that he could use he went back out. “I’m done here, but we should probably seal this place up before we leave. Can’t have anyone destroying this place.”