[center]~| 11:27 - 13:34 GST |~
~| Aboard the Kaggath, Sith Quarters: Jewel, Lea, and Shiri |~[/center]

Shiri was dreaming, a nightmare almost. Nazca had been turned into a children's toy but still acted like her normal self, Xid was a young child, and all the Sith wore dresses and danced around as if they were at a party- even the Trandoshan wore a bright pink frock. It was all quite strange and unnerving. As she began to regain her consciousness, the dream seemed to merge with reality, until she realized that the Sith before her was very much real and her hands were bound behind her back. She tried to sit up as straight as she could before speaking, but her body wasn't cooperating with her fully- a side effect of the gas maybe? "H-hi. Didn't kn-know the Sith liked to watch us sleep, although I bet that would explain the ca-cameras wouldn't it?"

Jewel’s expression at the comment changed quickly to one clearly stating ‘I’m not impressed.’ She strode back to her chair, settling once more into the comfortable leather. “You should be more thankful Shiri. It is by my good graces that you have been saved from the claws of Lord Sish. I’m sure you’ve seen his handiwork demonstrated on other prisoners.” Her tone was similar to her expression, though not yet dangerous. Her rage was kept well in check after having so successfully cowed Lea.

“Not a f-fan of jokes? Fine. Sorry if I seem low on gratitude at the moment, this isn’t exactly an ideal situation for me.” Though she was being sarcastic her voice didn’t show it much. This Sith seemed to be on the edge of her patience already and it probably wasn’t a good idea to push her further.

“On the contrary.” Jewel said, dismissing the comment. “This is a much better situation for you than you would otherwise be enduring. You may recall that Lord Sish tried to take you. I’m sure you've seen what happens to a Jedi under his claws. He seeks only to cause pain. I will not hurt you.” Jewel spoke levely, not concealing anything in her words. “Unless you do something foolish, of course.”

“I only want to help you.” She stated.

[I]Help from a Sith. Not sure that's any help all.[/I] Shiri thought as she pieced together an answer. “Well, who's definition of foolish counts most? Nevermind, it's probably yours. I don't think it foolish to say however that I don't totally believe you when you say you won't hurt me. There's more to hurting someone than just physical pain, and as far as I know the point of these sessions is to try and get us to see the ‘error' of the Jedi way. So you at least intend to hurt my morals.”

“Ah yes, morals.” Jewel began skeptically. “You Jedi are very fond of the idea that you are moral and upstanding individuals.” She continued, a tone of mocking in her voice. “It may seem to you that they are every bit as noble as they like to think. But they do not teach you of their own history. Did you know, that in the last great war against my people, a situation not unlike the one you were captured in arose. The Republic had beaten the Sith back, forced us to our homeworld, and shattered our armies and fleets. They had Korriban in their grasp. Do you know what they did?” Jewel asked, looking between Shiri and Lea expecting one of them to answer. This wasn’t quite what she had planned, but it was still an effective path forward. Not to mention she greatly enjoyed showing Jedi how hypocritical their order was.

At that, Lea knew her time to speak had come. That tale was one she knew. [i]“I do.”[/i]She said, a bit curious about whether the Twi’lek had noticed her presence, something she doubted. “The republic did their best attempt at speciocide, at exterminating the entire Sith species.” Her voice held no clear judgement or regret. All it contained was pure fact. As if she were reading from a datapad.

She looked at the Twi’lek, as if gauging her reaction to that particular truth. “It was ordered Supreme Chancellor Pultimo. The Sith who escaped his speciocide founded the Sith Empire of today, planning to repay the republic for their efforts. So in principle, the great galactic war is the legacy of the Republic. Did you know this tale, Shir'Inilim?”

Shiri was about to say something but someone else answered the Sith before she could. Looking over she saw Lea, who she had not noticed was there until just then. Looking around the rest of the room to see if she had missed anything or anyone else, she listened to what Lea said, not sure how to react about Lea being the one to say this. “No, I haven't heard of it before now. I'm guessing you only know about it because you've been held captive here longer than the rest of us, but you don't actually believe that's all to the story do you? There's a reason for everything, even if the reason has been lost to time.” Shiri finished speaking, keeping an eye on the Sith to see her reaction, but keeping most of her focus on Lea, a small question on her face. 

“Oh. No. The story is longer, more intricate... But I can’t remember everything in it. I spent days trying to prove it wrong during my early captivity. I failed.” Lea said as she answered the Twi’lek.

“Time after time, our own masters, or rather, their predecessors in particular, have struck out against anyone who deviated from their view of the Force. Though I dislike killing and death, I can understand how the Sith chose to strike first after what they have gone through. How would you have reacted if someone had slaughtered everyone on Ryloth, even the women and children, under orders from the Supreme chancellor? Would you have gone and begged them for mercy or have treated them as if nothing had happened to your people?”

“Yes Lea. The Republic rained fire down upon us, blasting all semblance of civilisation from the surface of Korriban. More importantly, the Jedi stood idly by, allowing the extermination to occur. The reason? They could not allow the Republic to know that it was members of their own order that had shaped my people into what they were. Fear that the Republic might turn on them quickly overrode their precious morality.” For the most part, what Jewel said was true. She knew the Jedi did not keep nearly as accurate records of that time as the Empire did, so the small amount of conjecture in her statement would certainly not be arguable by such young Jedi.

Shiri listened halfheartedly to what Lea and the Sith said. Taking it all as opinions rather than fact made it easier to debate and keep calm, she didn’t know anything about this so anything she said would just be speculation on her part. She had to get to a topic where she had some ground. “First, ‘what if’ means nothing without the ‘why’; and considering that there is no reason why something like that could happen to Ryloth, the Republic would only be creating a reason for people to turn against them. Second, I don’t believe I have the right to do anything for Ryloth as a home planet because I haven’t considered any place a ‘home’ since I was very young, and have very little attachment to most others of my race.” I take a breath and meet Jewel’s eyes. “What I want to ask is why the Jedi and Sith are enemies in the first place, and what you mean by the Jedi shaping the Sith?” 

Jewel looked darkly towards Lea for having posed the question and with it, distracting Shiri. Still, Shiri had asked the right question. She took on a teaching tone and answered. “Before the Jedi, my people, who you know as the ‘red Sith’ lived on Korriban, hurting no one and keeping to themselves. But you see, the Red Sith are naturally Force Sensitive. Eventually, a small group of Jedi, expelled by their own order into the depths of space, landed on Korriban. They found the Sith people, and before long, using the Force and their advanced technology, ruled over them as gods. Their descendants are responsible for shaping Sith culture even today. Even now, the Sith have not forgotten this. But the Jedi would not dare acknowledge that they are responsible for us. They would rather see us wiped from the galaxy to hide their shame. Does your order still seem so moral and pure, knowing its history? My people have done what we have done, I will not attempt to hide the blood on our hands. But we do it only to bring a lasting and absolute order to the Galaxy, while the Jedi seek to maintain the status quo, and hide their own mistakes. They care for image, we care for results.”

Lea squirmed a little under the dark look of the Sith lord, but felt relief when it did not involve any pain for her. It was not that the pain was intolerable, but rather that it was.. well, painful. The pain Lord Jewel gave was not the same as what had been dealt to her previously in her captivity. It felt purposeless. Made from unbridled rage, rather than the controlled fury of Darth Nyiss.

Knowing full well that she could in no way speak so that Shiri alone heard her, Lea saw no need to whisper. “You really should pay attention and listen, Shiri. Lord Jewel is not worth angering. She is more powerful than either of us.” Having said that, she turned back to the Sith Lord, not having any interest in facing her rage once again. She could have answered the Sith Lord, but felt it would work better if Shiri answered her. She had heard the story before, Shiri had not. It was blatantly obvious to her that the Sith Lord wanted an answer. She hoped it was as obvious to the twi’lek.

Shiri listened as Lord Jewel answered her question, ignoring the jab at the Jedi that came after. “Ok, let’s pretend I believe that... Why couldn’t they keep staying on their own planet, not harming anyone? You only said the banished Jedi ruled over your people, did they force them to become monsters?” After a moment of careful thought, Shiri turned to Lea. “She may be physically stronger and have better control the Force than us, certainly she does considering her title; however we are the only ones who can decide what we think, Lea. She can surpass us in every other way, but so long as we keep our resolve we can match and even surpass her in power.”

“It is understandable that you do not wish to acknowledge your own orders hypocrisy without time to consider the facts.” Jewel said levely, refusing to rise to the taunt explosively. “But you know little of power. Even the most wilful of subjects can be broken in time. Resolve alone does not bring power. And you should be more careful of those you trust. You are quite fond of the one called Xid are you not? Are you aware that you are competing with Lea for his affections? She is quite the seductress.” Jewel’s hand moved deftly over the controls on her gauntlet, activating the screen in the room to display some of Lea’s somewhat clumsy attempts to get close to Xid. “It must make you Jealous.”

Lea’s reaction was immediate and double-edged. On one hand, seeing it from another angle, or rather multiple other angles, she saw how she had unknowingly been making advances towards Xid. It made her face redden somewhat. On the other hand, she felt anger at the Sith Lord informing Shiri about it. Quickly pulling herself together, she sent a glare at Lord Jewel. She did her best to keep her anger controlled, but did not act on it. Her master had taught her all about controlling such. She would not act before it was appropriate. 

Jewel felt the short burst of anger from Lea through the Force. It was pleasing to see the girl finally reacting that way. When she glared over at her, Jewel turned and momentarily smiled in a calculated, superior and smug manner. Just enough to make the anger lasting. She then turned back to Shiri.

Shiri shrugged, looking past the pictures to the Sith’s face, ignoring the taunting images. “Changing the subject? Fine. I did know, but she seemed more clumsy than anything. It helps her that Xid’s about as clueless as she is. I was jealous when I first found out, and acted stupidly, but now I’ve had time to calm myself and think.” She glanced at Lea. “I figured we’d compete eventually, but not on this ship.” 

At first, Lea did not know how to react. She did not have an answer to give to Shiri. From what little her master had taught her about the matter, patience and thinking didn’t really help much in the matter of the heart. The fact that Shiri did not plan to compete on this ship was not something she counted on as likely. There was no reason Darth Nyiss would let them get away anytime soon. Even if they did manage to get off the ship, where would they go?

To Coruscant and the ruins of the Jedi temple? To some other republic world? Considering how easily she had been taken captive those many weeks earlier and how the Sith had struck at Coruscant, she could not conceive of any world being beyond Darth Nyiss’ reach. But if Shiri had no interest in competing now, perhaps that meant she would not try to contest her over Xid? She had her doubts about that. It was one thing to say something, quite another to actually mean it.

Jewel was quite displeased with the answer given by Shiri. Why did Jedi have to be so emotionless and robotic? She had always known, in theory, that this was how they were, but she had met droids with more emotion than these people seemed to let themselves feel. Rather than wonder how they had ever managed to oppose the strength of Sith hatred though, she turned to what she could use. Jealousy clearly was not a valid tactic to push with Shiri, at least not yet.

“You wanted to know why there was a war in the first place. Fear. The first war, was started by fear. My people, you see, are naturally inclined towards the dark side. It is who we are. What we are. We cannot help it, it is not a choice we make, it never has been. But the Jedi do not care about that. So we struck first, to defeat them before they could wipe us out. We failed, obviously. They burned Korriban and everyone on it to a cinder. Fortunately, not all of our people died that day. You may judge us wrong for striking first. But remember that we have shown mercy to your people… The Republic citizens of Coruscant do not burn for the actions of the Jedi. The Jedi never showed any such restraint for the civilians of Korriban.”

Lea had heard it all before. Some of what Lord Jewel said added up, other parts seemed paraphrased, if not outright wrong. But she didn’t know if that was the Sith Lord lying intentionally or if she didn’t know better. While she could’ve spoken up about it, she had a feeling that all it would end in is pain for her, as Lord Jewel seemed quite vindictive. She’d been in pain quite often these past two months, but that didn’t make it all that much easier to handle.

“This history lesson is interesting enough, but someone’s already covered that with me in far greater detail over the past couple of months… Do you have anything that’ll be new to me? And no, whatever pain you feel like dealing isn’t new.” Lea said as she looked questioningly at the Sith Lord.

“I told you before, I’m not here to deal pain.” Jewel snapped at Lea. “Though you should not assume I cannot imagine new pain to inflict. I may not, but a more sadistic Sith may take that as a challenge.” Jewel spoke with a warning tone in her voice, as if she was herself considering doing just that. Rapidly changing the subject though, she addressed Lea’s other point. “I am curious to know where you learned these things, but that will wait. No. Your purpose here is finished.” She then pressed several buttons on her gauntlet and a pair of guards entered, picking Lea up and hauling her roughly out.

Lea did not have time to answer the Sith Lord before the two guards grabbed her and pulled her away. A few minutes later, they dumped her in the prison once more. She did not try to fight them, but she did after a short distance manage to get her feet on the ground and was thusly able to walk on her own, rather than being dragged like a sack of vegetables. She found that somewhat more dignified, and she could vaguely sense appreciation from the two troopers, as that meant less of a burden for them.