Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

Delmi sat in the storage part of the ship on a makeshift bench filled with supplies. Her mother sat unconscious in the corner, tied up as best they could manage.

Delmi observed her quietly as the ship hurtled through space back towards Alderaan...

Questions ran through her mind... a lot more than usual. But for now she'd have to be content with silence until the other woman woke up.

"Still alive, you think I have value, interesting," she responded eyes closed.

Delmi leaned forward and popped her neck at hearing the voice.

"I mean... if that's not true... We can always toss you out of the airlock?"

"People always think of the airlock, the human body can survive up to a minute maybe more out there in the vacuum," she responded.

"It's not an instant death."

Delmi shrugged, "I mean... it's up to you really what we do here. I'm not itching to kill anybody; even you. And I also don't imagine I can get you to reveal your master plan and the identity of the Cunning Man in the next hour and a half..."

She let out a sigh, "But I suppose we could start with why you're so intent on killing all the force users in the galaxy? I got the gist of it up in the tower... but only so much can be relayed in 30 seconds..."

She tilted her head, "Besides, I keep sayin' I'm out here to get to know who my mother was... So, let's get to know each other a bit better..."

“Because they are responsible for several mass galactic near extinctions,” she responded.

"And you just came to this epiphany on your own one day?" She asked.

"No Jedi spit in your soup or something?"

"I don't waste my time proselytizing. You have made your choice, I respect that," she said.

"All of this is superfluous. Kill me or use me for your agenda."

"Boooooring." Delmi replied with a look of disgust.

"Spy stuff is so fuckin' boooring... Always soo extreme. 'Kill me' she says. We're just talkin'. I mean to be honest with you... I'm not the biggest fan of forcey people either. Don't think we should be killin' them all as babies or anything... But part of what you believe in is not totally crazy."

She put her hand up to her face and rubbed it once, "Look... you got someone who is interested in you and your story. When I hand you over to the SIS, I promise they won't be so interested. They'll have other questions... and it'll be a whole thing with them... But for me... for personal reasons I'd like to know more... So I can fill in those holes somewhere deep inside... the ones that scream for me to fill them with answers or with a blaster bolt to your face. That's all."

“Force users are not the issue, the Jedi and Sith are,” she responded. At the mention of wanting to know more she said, “Then set me free, and you can have all the answers you want.”

"I mean... that's just not gonna happen, right?" She looked at the woman incredulously as she lifted her hands upwards.

"There is nothing in any of my past experiences or interactions with you that would encourage me to let you go... Especially when I'm not entirely sure that the 'killing you' method wouldn't be better for shutting up those voices."

She shrugged, "I figured I'd give you the chance though... Maybe somewhere in your explanation you could sway me into helping you out somehow..."

She pulled out a locket and put it down on a box in front of her mother. "We could start with this... Why in the fuck would he hold onto this until the day he died?"

She opened it up to reveal the pictures of Delmi's dad and mom.

“Because your father was sentimental,” she responded calmly.

“Oh I was not expecting you to just let me go, but if you value Theron Shan you might.”

She let out a sigh through her nose and picked the trinket back up into her hand.

"Alright... expected turn of events is expected." She rolled her hand in a circular motion.

"We trade Theron for you... You go free... You kill thousands of innocent people to get a couple Jedi and Sith killed in the crossfire... And we kick ourselves for getting out-foxed by the Cunning Man and his agents." She shakes her head.

"I like Theron a lot... He's one of my very few friends in this galaxy... but I don't think we like this trade very much. And the SIS isn't all that well-known for their attachment to their agents..."

She paused, "If we're doing the negotiating with terrorists thing... we're gonna need more than Theron."

She shrugged, “The chronometer is ticking then. I don’t place value on Agent Shan, but you do, maybe you have a hard heart like me and can dispose of a useless agent when needed. If so, then I applaud you.”

“But you have sentimentality, or we wouldn’t be speaking. Or hunted me down. So decide, and if you need more than Theron well, it really depend on what you think more means. I can provide information given a proper incentive. But I am fine with a bolt to the brain, my life was never going to end peacefully.”

"And what type of incentive are you looking for?" She asked in return.

Delmi Koor wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 26, 2021 2:47 pm

"And what type of incentive are you looking for?" She asked in return.

"You know my terms, you think you know me, so fill in the blanks and let's find a solution," she responded.

"I'm guessin' you'd like to see the Jedi and/or Sith bleed a bit... I'm gonna need intel that helps diffuse the situation between the houses. Gonna have to have pass on this war that's building up between them..."

She tapped her finger on the box in front of her assertively but softly so as not to make a loud noise, "You help me stave off a war... Then when all this festival shit is done... I'll go with you and we'll kill some people you want killed. That's what I'm best at."

She paused, "Preferably Sith... I'd like to keep my day job if I can."

“And where does that leave me?” she responded. "In bondage? Pointless interrogation? I am not seeing the positive to this arrangement."

"No... unfortunately it puts you and me in the position of trusting one another. Doesn't seem like there's any other way out of this..." She replied.

"We trade you for Theron. You help me keep Alderaan from exploding. Then I help you." She shrugged.

"Worst case scenario if you go back on our on our agreement: We come at you full-barrel... We see who wins... If you win, maybe it was a bad idea. If we win... well, we get Theron and thousands of people don't die. And then I come for you to give you that blaster bolt in the brain you want so bad."

She tilted her head and smiled, "Or we can play nice. Like a good mother and daughter should."

"What does playing nice entail, daughter," she said testing the word.