Ask Journey to Dathomir

[Sola Zappal]

Sola considered Alicia. "My feelings are telling me more harm will be done than good, for me at least. I will not help you steal her ship, but I will not stop you, either. Unless my master orders me to do so, of course," she said, turning to leave. Manipulation. The Sith seemed to excel at it.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

"I can make it look like you helped me," Alicia replied as Sola walked away. There was a satisfied smile on her face as she spoke.

"Even if you did or did not help me appearances can be deceiving. You met with me on this ship. There are plenty of crewmen too attest to that. Not just any crewmen neither. They are all Imperials. They would never lie to Verse for someone they don't even know if she were to ask them where you were. Some are even looking up at us now as I speak."

"I can tell Verse it was you too. That we met and you gave me some information about the ship. I can make it all up and it would sound real. I can make it appear that I am telling her about you helping me to merely rub it in. To make it personal between us. Perhaps I would want to make it personal between myself and Verse for the sake of it."

She stopped talking. Waited to hear Sola stop walking in her tracks to listen and turn back around. Even syllable she had ushered the dark side had been laced in each word to ensnare and convince Sola to see the possible future Alicia described. It was not hard to see how much trouble Sola would be in with Verse.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Sola Zappal]

Sola turned around, something akin to panic that fueled anger setting in. "You really want that ship, don't you?" she replied. "How could I even help you? I have known Verse for all of a week," she said. She hated that Alicia was right, and that she had even gotten herself into this situation. She was not only mad at Alicia for manipulating her, but mad at Verse for bringing her along, and for what reason? Sola was not some lap pet to be called upon at her master's every whim. And yet here she was, on her way to Dathomir.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

"I would need her access codes, and the ships schematics," Alicia replied. "How you do it isn't my concern. I would suggest not getting caught." Turning away from the railing Alicia walked from Sola and disappeared behind a door heading deep into the cargo haulers hallways out of sight. A satisfied smirk on her lips as she passed crewmen as her mind played the possibilities in her mind.

There was the chance that Sola could convince Verse about her machinations for the ship and attack her but this wasn't too concerning to her for Alicia Drey was Sith and so her Lightsaber was always ready for what was to come. There was an equal chance that Sola could attempt to get what Alicia wanted: the access codes to her ship and the schematics of them which, if Sola was smart enough to figure out, would be available in the cargo hauler's database which had access to the Imperial network.

But that would only be the case if the ship wasn't customed made, Alicia thought to herself. As she turned the corner she played the possibility of Sola being caught and Verse discovering the truth that way. There were many ways that Alicia could coerce Verse and Sola regardless of how it played out. But if the girl was really smart she would do nothing. Let fate take it's course and dictate whether or not Alicia would take the ship herself.

As she paused in the middle of the hallway Alicia decided that she would only take Verse's ship if Sola came to her with the access codes and schematics. To try and take them herself would be akin to an exposition of her motives. If Sola did nothing then there were other ways to reach the Core.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Sola Zappal]

Sola watched the woman walk away, her mouth turned down in a frown. She turned on her heel and walked back down the stairs to the cargo bay where Verse was sitting, leaning against her ship. The Arkanian was cleaning the hilt of her lightsaber, and looked imperiously bored. Sola made eye-contact, before turning and walking to the ship's cafeteria to get food. She turned over her options in her mind. Get the codes for Alicia, further betray her master, and receive nothing in return except perhaps be on the good side of Alicia. Tell Verse Alicia's plan, and be killed by Alicia as collateral damage. Or, do nothing, and possibly be outed by Alicia.

After a few moments of indecision, Sola had made up her mind. She would do nothing. If Alicia tried to take the ship without Sola's help, that was on her. Sure, she might get in trouble for talking to her before, but she knew Verse trusted her; at least more than Alicia.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

One Korriban-standard time later.

Footsteps echoed through the cargo bay hall as Alicia approached Verse's ship. Her hands were held in her pockets with the elbows parting part of her robe to reveal a thin black tunic beneath. With her hair tied up in a knot at the top of her head to keep it out of her face or eyes Alicia stopped just a few meters away from the ship. For a long time she admired the ship and thought about taking it there.

They were all just a few hours away from Dathomir. Still traversing the void of space within hyperspace between worlds. In order to get the ship to come out of hyperspace all Alicia had to do was cause the ships emergency systems to activate. In place of an emergency it was protocol to bring the ship out of hyperspace so that whatever incident that was occurring would not bring a calamity to the ship or it's crew.

The region of hyperspace was an extremely dangerous place to be inside and should one of the ships key systems fail then a minor incident would turn into a bigger one as the tidal wave of forces found within hyperspace could cause a ship to be torn into pieces in a matter of seconds.

If Alicia were to steal the ship she would need the cargo hauler to drop out of hyperspace and then lower it's shields so that she could pilot the vessel out of the cargo bay. She had figured out how to do all of that the night before but the issues that Alicia faced came in the form of three things:

The first, and the most pressing issue in Alicia's mind was that she knew next to nothing about the ship. She assumed that Verse's vessel had an engine installed capable of interstellar travel and a navigational computer that could tell her about nearby systems. But Alicia didn't operate on assumptions unless they were near fact and in the case of Verse's ship it was merely an educated guess as to whether or not it was capable of entering hyperspace.

The second issue was that Alicia had no idea how to access the ship. Sola hadn't come to her with the ships schematics (which would have told her if Verse's ship was capable of interstellar travel) nor had she come with Verse's access codes. She could try to slice into the ship and gain access that way but without the proper authorisation she doubted that the ship would respond to her in-puts without further slicing it's other systems. Without knowing that it was capable of entering hyperspace neither this seemed like a bad idea to her.

The third issue was whether or not Alicia wanted to get on Verse's bad side. She wasn't scared of the Arkanian. There was no reason to be. But why create an enemy in the form of Verse Tillo if it was for something unnecessary? There would come a time when Alicia would have to cross people and turn them into victims, rivals or the things in-between the two but with the knowledge that there were other ways to reach the Core without stealing the ship meant that Alicia found the idea of crossing Verse undesirable.

With Dathomir close Alicia had come to the assumption that she would not see Verse Tillo nor her Apprentice for quite sometime. Yet Alicia felt it prudent to at least offer the idea of a way for the two to get into contact with another once her business in the Core was concluded. Through the dark side of the Force the Human reached out to the Arkanian with her powers to summon her and Sola to where she stood outside the ship for once last encounter before parting ways in the Dathomir system.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Sola Zappal]

Sola felt a tug in the Force from Alicia and walked towards where the woman stood near Verse's ship. She kept her expression blank and her mind clear as she crossed her arms, coming to a stop next to her master.

@Exulae

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse stood up when she felt Alicia call her. What could she want? She felt a little prickly that the girl had called them to her but kept her expression and thoughts well-guarded. She figured she wanted to say something since they would be arriving at Dathomir shortly.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

Alicia looked between both Verse and Sola. Her Lightsaber was a merely grab away from her left hand. It was a comfortable weight as she looked between both women. Fixating her eyes upon Verse, Alicia proclaimed: "Last night you were turned on by your Apprentice."

It took all of Alicia's restrain and discipline not to laugh. It took all of her to merely allow a smirk play across her lips as she turned her gaze back to Sola. "I made a suggestion to Sola, in private, for her to give me the access codes to your ship and the schematics." Talking to Verse as she kept her gaze on Sola she continued her explanation. "I could have stolen your ship, Verse. But I elected not too in the interest of not starting some type of feud, fight or whatever may have transpired if I used the information Sola had provided me."

"Suffice to say you have a student who does not like you very much. I would watch out for her."

Lifting her right hand up Alicia checked the chrono that hung from her wrist to tell the time. "We will be almost at Dathomir soon. If I were you I would deal with her on this cargo hauler before it docks at one of the spaceports. Space is so vast, isn't it? It would be easy to lose someone out there." Insinuating for Verse to kill Sola and dispose of the body while in space Alicia fell quiet and waited for what came next.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Sola Zappal]

A rush of anger and panic flooded Sola, and she looked at Alicia in horror and then turned to her master, then back to Alicia. She wanted nothing more than to pull out her father's lightsaber and strike that horrid woman down. But she knew that would only make her situation worse. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out how to salvage this situation. It was not looking good for her.

@Exulae

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse could not help the surprise that tickled at the corners of her mental walls, but her expression stayed blank. "You say you do not want to start a feud, and yet you have pitted me against my apprentice," she said. "I can feel her anger, directed not towards me, but to you," Alicia's story was convincing, but she would have to question her apprentice. Verse was skilled at manipulating one's mind to get what she wanted, it would not take much to get Sola to tell her the truth.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

Alicia nodded in understanding and replied: "It was my idea to steal the ship. But it was her choice to give me the schematics and access codes too it. I would be very angry with me if I turned on her like this." Lowering her right hand back into her robes Alicia produced a datapad. She had taken it from one of the Imperials that operated the cargo hauler only a few minutes ago. It held an assortment of information like requisition orders, a feed to the Empire's news networks, and internal communication among the ship. Certainly not the schematics or access codes to Verse's ship.

But they didn't have to know that.

"When we met and I gave her the idea she was overjoyed at the prospect of betraying you," Alicia continued speaking. "It only took a few minutes of conversation to convince her to give me this." She held up the datapad. "It has the schematics and access codes like I asked for."

Before either woman could take the device and check it Alicia slammed it down at the ground towards Sola's feet. A look of fury etched itself across her face. With the same hand Alicia produced a Vibroblade and also threw it where the datapad was. It impaled the screen and broke it more then what the initial throw had done.

"A knife for you to stab Verse in the back," Alicia spat at Sola. "And our agreed payment too. Not the credits I suggested or any training for you but something more to your liking, right Sola?"

Averting her gaze back to Verse Alicia calmed herself to say: "The only person on this ship who has pitted themselves against you is this dumb little girl who thought she could play the both of us against each other. A small test of loyalty and she failed at the first hurdle. By look on your face, Verse, I can tell that she didn't even tell you about our little get-together yesterday. I wonder why?"

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse's mind raced as her gaze followed the datapad as it landed in front of Sola, whose face was slowly turning red. Panic and anger radiated off of her. Verse didn't know who to believe, so she played along with Alicia. She turned to Sola, letting a hint of fury paint her features before turning back to Alicia. She cocked her head at the woman. "I appreciate you making me aware of this situation," she said, her voice cold and angry. "But I do wonder, why would you tell me? Out of the goodness of your heart?" she continued, considering Alicia. From what she had gathered, Alicia was not one with a good heart. Of course, that was a manner of perspective.

@Exulae

 

[Sola Zappal]

Sola was still in shock. She had thought she had known every possible way this could've ended, and yet Alicia had flipped the galaxy on its side and Sola was struggling to get up. She hoped the situation could be salvaged, she could plead her side with Verse, but when the woman looked at her with fury in her gaze Sola's heart plummeted and she totally expected to be beaten to the point of death, if not being actually killed. She tried to remind herself that Verse had more control over her emotions than her father, and yet the fury in Verse's eyes brought back a familiar feeling of fear.

@Exulae

 

[Alicia Drey]

The best lies could be found within the confines of the truth. Inventing entire fiction led to mistakes but the truth was exactly that; and with right words, thoughts, and actions it could be blurred- brought down into that grey area of nuance- and consequentially distorted. Sola had met Alicia in private; she had listened to a plan to steal a ship; and she hadn't told Verse about what they had spoken about.

It was from these facts that Alicia, through her machinations in the dark side, could distort just enough to trick both of them. As Verse asked her question Alicia turned her gaze back to Sola and replied to the Arkanian's question: "She looked at me funny."

Turning her back to both of them Alicia begun walking away, and at the same time saw herself walking that fine line between life or death again. The Vibroblade that she had thrown at Sola's feet glinted in the artificial lights of the cargo hauler. Catastrophe for either the blonde or Sola Zappal laid in the hands of Verse Tillo for the former had backstabbed the latter. Yet here laid the opportunity for either of them to sink the blade in her back.

If Verse could see through the manipulation, the coercion and the lies intermixed with the truth then here laid ample opportunity to stab Alicia in the back. Yet as she walked away from them both Alicia did not felt immediate danger in the Force. The dark side told her that her she had laid just enough there for Sola to be the victim of her machinations and all of this done for merely looking at Alicia funny.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Verse Tillo]

Verse stared at Alicia's back as the woman walked away. She was still uncertain what was truth and what was an exaggerated version of the truth. She turned to Sola. She would deal with her later, as the ship landed on Dathomir with a hiss and gentle thud.

//END THREAD//

@Exulae