Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

With the tour of the repatriation work done, there was still less pleasant work to do. Talking to Bryson. At one of the house's own installations. Not exactly easy to just waltz in there and assault the place if they wanted to take him into custody... but they could at least go and talk to him. And hey, maybe if they got the sense that he was definitely involved, they could just take him then and there after all... assuming they could somehow escape with him of course...

...but that was a hypothetical problem that they might not have to deal with.

Tyche might accompany them. Layne hoped the padawan did. When she had her heart in it, she could be a tremendous boon in getting people to... behave? Not the right word, but the right word wasn't important anyhow. However, she gave Tyche the option. After all, this part of the job was the *angry* part. The part she hadn't liked. *Maybe* she'd come to terms with it more, started seeing things a little differently after the earlier tour... but maybe she needed more time.

Either way, Layne would give her what she need.

And she would be here, and would have a little assistance regardless.

Bryson

Baesal was not sure what to expect. Was he a fanatic or a fool roped in a conspiracy? A bit of both perhaps? The war brought enough pain and misery that people began seeking refuge in organizations like the Star Cabal to give them a feeling of power and agency.

Still it was a lie born of hypocrisy

These people ultimately behaved like the ones they claimed to despise: they took away the lives and agency of anyone they wished for their own sense of right and wrong.

It was just past midnight on Delaya, and the skyline was a sea of lights.

The turbolift up was short, and they are deposited on the 546th floor, there were wide hallways with House Rist guardsman and droids watching the Jedi. The droid attendant led them to a room where Bryson Rist was waiting for them, several guardsman inside.

He turned and said, “Good morning, I think. Planetary time zones are murder on keeping track of time.”

Well, it wasn't as high up as the *last* place she'd visited on Delaya, but getting thrown out of the building due to explosions would probably still afford her *plenty* of time to lazily catch a ride in mid-air. Assuming the explosion wouldn't have killed her, of course.

Layne did nothing to hide her intimidating aura; if anything she amplified it as best she could. These guards and droids did not scare her; and she wanted Bryson to feel like she might decide to ignore them and any other consequences by attacking him at any given moment. It unbalanced people, after all. Made them more likely to cooperate or accidentally spill secrets. And she often had that effect even on disciplined people.

"And you'd know murder, of course."

She walked a little closer.

"Bryson Rist... we have some questions for you."

Layne had told Omandri that they planned on going to Delaya to talk to Brysin so after their meeting Omandri stuck around to recieve the jedi questioning party with Bryson.

For now he simply nodded to the jedi as they entered and leaned against a wall. If there was truth to their accusations he wanted Bryson brought in but he wasn't totally convinced yet.

Bryson nodded not enjoying her presence but he had been told she was abrasive. He said, “Well, master Jedi I am not sure I have the answers you are looking for but I am willing to try.”

“On behalf of House Rist, I must add that I can’t go into details that are considered House secrets or could impede our current operations. But if I can be of assistance, please, uh go ahead.”

"And as a Jedi with a bit of a reputation on the side, I have to say that that excuse will *not* be very convincing if used to cover up your work for the Star Cabal."

She definitely emphasized the name, not just in tone of voice but by a hand noticeably coming to rest on the hilt of her darksaber; just a casual reminder of who and what she was. Layne knew she wasn't subtle. She had no appetite for circling around the issue, pretending she was here for other reasons and hoping that the lies would be advantageous to her somehow. Besides, as some people might point out, her bluntness was often a strength. Hopefully that'd be the case here as well.

Of course, she had *some* subtlety to her. At least in so far as the fact she was reaching out through the Force to sense the man's emotions. He might be trained as the others were in terms of hiding his feelings, but that didn't mean she shouldn't make the attempt. She was especially interested to see if her mention of the Star Cabal triggered an emotional response.

Fortunately, the lightside of the Force smiled on her efforts.

Sense Emotions: 2eF 4 Light Side

Bryson said, "What's a Star Cabal? Is this a kids cartoon?"

OOC: Discipline versus (2eC+1eD+1eS) used a destiny flip, already accounted for and Rist training.

There were some *difficulties*

Discipline, setback ignored (blade of woe): 3eA+2eC+1eD 3 failures, 3 advantage, 1 Despair


(I don't know if the force dice would've been part of the rolle, but I guess even if it was I wouldn't have enough LS to turn it into a success *and* get to sense his emotions? So assuming that's not possible, I guess the 4LS would convert to more advantages... and then all the advantages to maybe not have the despair throw her *totally* off track or something? Yield a path forward somehow? Up to GM I suppose in terms of what makes sense for the advantages and despair!)

He is well trained in resisting invasion of his mind but he seems to be telling the truth on the matter of not recognizing the name, Star Cabal. Bryson frowned and said, “Trying to use your mental tricks, Jedi?”

“It’s good to know that the defenders of the Republic have no concern for the basic rights of its citizens.”

OOC: Despair for him to be resistant to Jedi mental tricks for the rest of the scene.

*Seems* to be telling the truth was not the same as *actually* telling the truth. Layne had been burned before in that regard. It did give her some pause though, but even if he didn't know the *name*, it didn't mean he wasn't involved. He could just be a stooge. Roped into it recently and not fully aware of what he had gotten himself involved in. And then there was the anti-Jedi sentiment he was expressing, which certainly *sounded* like what they had been dealing with. Although that could also just be Rist attitude in general.

...Fuck.

"You know, it never stops sounding like a completely ridiculous complaint coming from murderers for hire. Or terorrists. We have solid intelligence that suggests you are involved in a conspiracy against the Jedi. You *may* just be an unwitting pawn. Maybe someone approached you and convinced you that the things you were doing were in the interests of your house. *Maybe* that someone was evem none other than Vidara Rist. And if you really are just a computer expert, maybe the things you've been doing for them aren't even all that bad. And *if* that, or something like that, is the case... then I'm sure we can resolve all of this without escalation. But that will require *genuine* cooperation."

“I am complying, but if you had something you would be here to arrest, and until that happens, I will keep things civil. You’re making a lot of baseless claims, and if this continues you can speak with our House counsel, and they are very good at their jobs,” he said.

“Now, I didn’t even know until recently that Vidara could be alive, if this is about that, I know nothing of her current whereabouts or actions. But I am hopeful that our Duchess can be reunited with her wayward sister.”

"Okay," she smiled; though it was a frustrated on. "So you have *no idea* why your picture and name, along with that of one 'BackKat66', aka Hyta Yung, was given to us by a known member of this conspiracy with the understanding that it was related to ongoing operations of this conspiracy on Alderaan? And I suppose you expect me to believe that it is also a coincidence that this known member was closely tied to one Vidara Rist and her mentor Galen Rist... both of whom we also know to have been members?"

“House Rist deals with a great many people in the gray areas of the law and society. I didn’t know Vidara was alive until recently. I am aware of a BlackKat66, but I didn’t know they were this Hyta Jung. My section keeps tabs on a lot of people, we are spys.”

He said, “I knew Galen, and if he was a member of something else, I was not aware of it. I will say that my loyalty is to House Rist and keeping Alderaan strong, and that means opposing the real villains at work, House Thul, by any means possible.”

She frowned. Why could things just never be *easy*? Glare at someone, then have them spill all their secrets? Lay it all out on the table without any possibility of subterfuge?

"Alright, so... one, tell us what you know of Blackkat66, what sort of dealings you've had with her. And two, what are you doing in terms of House Thul?"

It was possible she supposed, he really was just an unwitting pawn. And, maybe... Thul was the thing the pawn was meant to work on. She didn't trust Zeno and the rest of them in the slightest of course... but she had to admit it was an easy breaking point to apply pressure to, for any group looking to undermine Alderaan's stability. Set the houses up against each other. Thul was easy pickings in that regard.

(ooc: check to see if he is lying?)

Baesal Zyn wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:15 am

(ooc: check to see if he is lying?)

OOC: Roll Discipline versus (1eC+2eD)

(Lyin' Bryson, 1 Zash: 2eA+2eP+2eD+1eC+1eB 2 successes
)

She can’t see any direct lies; he is probably holding stuff back but so far seems to be truthful. Bryson replied, “I don’t know them, but have used them to keep tabs on the street view of the Houses. We don’t buy into their populism or separatists views, but we recognize they have influence.”

“I can’t go into our operations dealing with House Thul.”

"You're going to have to," she said, "You *are* key to stopping the cabal's efforts on Alderaan somehow. There is no doubt about that. If you're not actively with them, then you're unwittingly part of their efforts. As much as I don't trust house Thul myself either, I can't help but feel like they make a very easy and convenient target for everyone's suspicions. Houses turning against each other *doesn't* seem like it would keep Alderaan strong, especially if the reasons for them turning on each other are actually being supplied by people who clearly don't care whether Alderaan descends into chaos or not."

She leaned in a little closer. "Listen, I don't *care* about all of your petty noble bullshit. I know you and everyone else on this planet thinks they're 'important' because of the name they carry. I know you think you have power and you need to protect it and your wealth at all cost because gods forbid you might get to buy a couple of fewer yachts next cycle or you might actually have to start paying parking fines instead of asking the cops if they know who you are. But Alderaan is just one small planet in a very large galaxy, and none of your power, and wealth, means *anything* to the Order. It certainly doesn't to me. When I leave this planet, I am not going to ever think about you or your House and its nonsense and business ever again. You can spend the rest of your life imagining that your little spec-ops matter, but I and the rest of my order will concern ourselves with things that are *actually* important to deal with."

And she leaned back out again. "Right now, that important thing is preventing a civil war on your planet. And rather than cooperating with us, you're getting in the way over things that *don't matter*. I don't need you to spell out every little operational detail. I just need you to tell me what it is you're doing, and *why*. Because unless there's something else you're involved with that you've just forgotten to tell us about, I don't see anything besides this Thul stuff to explain how you're connected to all of this."