Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

There she was, arriving at the camp's coordinates using whatever means were available. She *would* have used her speederbike if she could, but it was possible that those weren't allowed on Alderaan for reasons of ecological preservation. Well, surely there were other means by which Layne and her padawan could arrive there without it taking literally all day. The Alderaanians had to have *some* form of rapid transport, after all.

"Now, remember, be nice." She told Tyche as they walked up to the camp, "Yulani's one of the good ones. Did I ever tell you about the time I found her trapped in a tiny box called a holocron? You should ask her about it."

Thy sat by a cooking fire making some stew, her tent nearby and a makeshift camp.

She assumed the woman had already sensed her presence; even so, out of habit she still made sure their approach was slow and steady enough to avoid anyone getting surprised or antsy.

"Hello there," she said with a small wave, "been a while. Got your message, thought I'd say hello."

Layne thumbed in the direction of her young companion. "This is my new padawan, Tyche."

"Nice to see you again, and nice to meet you padawan, root stew?" she offered.

"Sure," she said, and took a seat before looking toward Tyche who was probably less interested in that sort of thing after having tasted processed junk food. Who knew, maybe the drugs they had given her would make her lose her apptite as well. Or maybe they'd amplify it enough for the teenager to try the stew.

Layne of course, had never complained about food; having learned the value of even the simplest kinds from a young age.

"How've you been, master Yulani? Since... Coruscant I mean."

"I have been... seen better days, but I have hope," she said honestly.

"But it's tempered with realism, right?" She would receive her share of stew and taste it a bit for continuing. "We missed you at... brunch... we talked about some of what I expect you're concerned about? Zeno Thul. Former Sith and classmate of mine. Training this... blackguard?"

"Yes it is a concern of mine," she said honestly.

"I am unsure of what to make of them, these Blackguards."

"What do we know about them?" She asked. "My briefing packages were rather terse. I know that Zeno's involved in training them, we think? But beyond that I really don't know much."

Layne Hoshin wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 2:44 pm

"What do we know about them?" She asked. "My briefing packages were rather terse. I know that Zeno's involved in training them, we think? But beyond that I really don't know much."

"Force users with their own doctrine, I do not believe they see things in terms of dark and light. They style themselves after some ancient warrior class of old and choose edgy stupid names," she replied warmly.

"Clearly, with a name like 'blackguard'," she said, rolling her eyes. True, Layne wore black armor herself and often played into the intimidating appearance... but she didn't call herself stupidly pretentious names like that.

"They may or may not see things in terms of dark and light, but obviously the naming pattern suggests they're leaning more toward one than the other. And if they're being trained by Zeno, then... well, I am skeptical he's given up on being a Sith. At the very least Sith philosophy is likely to influence their training rather heavily. Have they seen any use yet?"

"Sparingly, mostly they just appear near the Queen or Duchess Thul," she responded.

"They're attached to the queen?" this seemed to surprise and concern her, "Doesn't she have guards from her own house?"

Layne Hoshin wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:02 pm

"They're attached to the queen?" this seemed to surprise and concern her, "Doesn't she have guards from her own house?"

“They work with the Queen’s Guard, I know one of her son’s was against it but she made the final call,” she replied.

“Things are really upside down here.”

"So the Queen is aligning herself with house Thul, for some reason? Does that sound right? Like something she'd normally do? I'm not a political expert, but isn't that odd?"

"Because Ulgo backed her into a corner because her son blew up a twenty year engagement," she replied thoughtfully.

She sighed. "Aristocratic marriages and politics are just the worst. Still, does she not have any other options but to aling herself with the house that should really start asking themselves if they're the baddies?"

"To stave off war she did what she had to," she responded.

She sighed. "Well, bit beyond me like I said. Question is, what can *we* do about all of this?"

"Find out the truth of course and keep Alderaan from war," she said cheerily.