Ask Maura Sees A Ghost

[Ferrin Sipal]

Ferrin could hardly believe what he was hearing. Of all the things the Padawan expected upon arrival, encountering the Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Clans wasn’t even a consideration. He knew of Nor’baal’s reputation, what he was capable of, and the unsteady relationship between the Order and the Hutt Clans in the past. More importantly, Ferrin’s own childhood was scattered by the Hutt Clans and their slaving operations - responsible for splitting his family apart. All of it was a red flag - especially as they were being ushered into the Hutt’s stronghold, surrounded by guards and sycophants.

He was expecting his fellow Jedi to have similar sentiments - and had to do a double take when, one by one, they seemingly all agreed to going along with the Hutt’s request. Ferrin went wide eyed, blinking a few times.

“Have you all lost your damn minds?” Ferrin asked, glancing between Maura and Quin. He didn’t really expect the Droid to get it, so kept his protests limited to his fellow Jedi. “This isn’t tea with the Grandmaster - this is the leader of the fucking Hutt Clans! Criminal, slaver scum.” He hissed, immediately put on edge. Ferrin had seen his parents and siblings sold into slavery by the Hutt’s, and didn’t trust their hospitality any farther than he could throw Nor’baal. “Walk in there, and we’ll be getting ransomed back to fucking Brighthome in chains - or to the Sith, more likely.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I’m never doing that again.”

“Fuck this.” Ferrin took a step back, “If you all want to walk in there, count me out,” The Pantoran immediately turned on a heel, starting to walk back towards the ship.

 

[Maura Starwalk]

When the Majordomo and the Majordomo appeared, they seemed to mean no harm. Knight-Bot suspected that things might get violent, and Quin seemed willing—if not a bit hesitant—to talk to the Hutt. Maura, just as reckless as ever, wanted to give it a shot. Alex negotiated with all sorts of people, and in the girl’s opinion, Alex would agree to speak with the Hutt. But Ferrin’s reaction was a lot more passionate than the rest of the group. It surprised Maura, but his protests worked, because it did cause her to second-guess her initial decision.

Would the Hutt really just sell them off just because he could? Figuring she couldn’t just stand there and ponder it while the Majordomo and his guards stood there waiting, she grabbed Quin’s arm and called out to Ferrin, ”Wait!” She turned back to the men at the entrance and said, ”Uh, just one moment, actually.” Ferrin wasn’t exactly whispering, so the guards would probably get the idea there was a bit of conflict going on.
Attempting to drag Quin along with her, Maura would hurry after Ferrin, expecting that Knight-Bot would come along as well. ”Do you really think he would just sell us off without talking to us first?” That seemed so unreasonable! There was a hint of frustration in her voice, like she didn’t completely believe Ferrin. Her second question was to Knight-Bot. ”Wasn’t this temple supposed to be abandoned?” How long ago had Drow found this place? ”Where’s Sparky?” The padawan’s brows furrowed, and she seemed even more irritated. This was supposed to be an epic adventure where they discovered a new temple! Why did this stupid Hutt have to be here and complicate things?

Once the group finally stopped, or rather, once Ferrin stopped storming away, Maura would stop dragging Quin along by the forearm. Since he was the knight here, and thus in charge of both her and the Pantoran, she looked to him. ”What do we do?”

Tags: @Fantasy Liver @Altaris @Nor'baal @Sicadorito

 

[Nor'baal Desilijic]

As the Jedi argued amongst themselves, the Gamorreans stood there and grunted to one another. One lit a stim, and pondered the great mystery of life.

 

[Quin Leonkri]

Ferrin wasn’t wrong that they would be taking a substantial risk if they were to go in with the guards. More likely than not, there would be some kind of trap in there. If he were among other, more experienced knights, Quin would have felt a little more confident about going in. After Ferrin’s protests though, he had to remind himself again that he was technically responsible for the two Padawans. He didn’t doubt their abilities, but he didn’t want any of them to get hurt either. The safe option would be to simply leave.

Maura, on the other hand, argued that Nor’baal wouldn’t be that unreasonable. It might be true, but was the risk too great, like Ferrin said? Once she let go of his arm and the group was gathered again, Quin tried to think through their options.

“I still think we should give the Hutt a chance,” he said eventually, nodding at Maura before looking at Ferrin. “But we don’t have to put ourselves at risk. We could have a messenger instead.” Then, he glanced at Knight-Bot. “You could bring in a holoprojector. We’ll talk to Nor’baal, but from inside our ship. What do you all think?”

@Fantasy Liver @Altaris @lizziie @Nor'baal

 

[Knight-Bot]

Unfortunately, it seemed as though there was some division amongst the Jedi ranks over the best course of action. Ferrin, evidently, had strong reservations against even treating with the Hutt while Maura and Quin seemed more willing to give them a chance. Knight-Bot ran through a number of likely scenarios in his data processors and found of the seven most likely ways this would play out, 2 ended with them all dead, 2 ended with them all sold into slavery, 2 ended up with them achieving their goals and succesfully negotiating with the Hutt, and one ended up with Maura taking control of the Cartel. The droid was at a loss.


"I would be happy to serve as an emissary to the Hutt. It is better that a mechanical being such as myself be put in potential harm, rather than yourselves. Jedi are noble and rare and I, despite my unique programming, am still just a droid. I am disposable." Knight-Bot stated matter-of-factly to Quin, without a hint of sadness or resentment in his tone.

With that, the droid started to walk into the palace, keeping a firm grip on his lightsaber and perfectly willing to have some company along and, barring that, to go alone and report back to the Jedi later. Sparky, holoprojector attached, rolled alongside the lightsaber training droid.

@Altaris @lizziie @Nor'baal @Sicadorito