EliteCommander

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei started to bare her teeth slightly. "I am...shocked you would say such things about me. The others I might understand; they do not possess the magical knowledge to know the kind of power I could obtain. But you? You are one of the most promising mages I have ever seen, and you are educated with all of the history of past scholars that I gave you. You know what kind of power is out there, and you know what it could do for us. You are my daughter, the person I have cared about more than anyone else in my life. One of the primary reasons I am willing to sacrifice so much time in Apocrypha is to ensure you have a good future."

Meesei's anger was obvious, but it seemed to be mixed with disappointment as well. "How could you turn against me like this?"

---

"There were other ideas passed around before I said that. I think you just want to imagine me as some evil necromancer sacrificing children to Molag Bal or something. You are completely ignoring the fact that I specifically suggested pinning it on someone who deserved it, and that, honestly, we're pretty desperate right now. Our Champion, our friend, our family member, is in mortal danger that we've been trying to pull her away from for over a year. It's not like I tried to start killing people before we even talked to her." Ahnasha protested. After a few moments, she gave a sigh that showed from frustration beyond simple anger. "I'm not going to lie, it is getting frustrating with how you always have something to say about every single thing I do. I feel like you're trying to demonize me."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei's expression started to become mildly agitated. "Of course I do not know those things. There is no way I could know them. There is limitless knowledge available in that realm, so it is not easy to sort through. But I know there is an answer there, somewhere. Probably many answers. Even if it is not a cure to the soul tearing gas, there is certainly some power, some knowledge that will allow us to end this war. I have already become drastically more powerful than I was before I started using it. I have had positive results, that cannot be denied."

Reaching out to Sabine, Meesei placed her hand lightly on her shoulder. "You cannot let the others get to you. You know me even better than they do; you know you can trust me."

---

Ahnasha raised her brow at Fendros. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you saying you wouldn't kill someone who deserved it for the sake of Meesei? I certainly would; I want to get her back in good health, like things used to be. I almost wish there was an enemy spy in the clan we could pin the theft on. That would make all of this so much easier; we could help Meesei without risking any of the rest of us."

Ahnasha crossed her arms. "I don't understand what kind of problem you have with it. I mean, our clan has had to punish people for crimes against the clan before. Having anyone killed is very rare, granted, but if there was a criminal like that in the clan, wouldn't you say that would be a good solution?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei took a moment to sit herself up in her bed, backing up against the wall to support herself. "It is not about enjoying it, but what I can learn. That said, it is the single largest library of information that exists in any world. It is like a paradise for scholars, and mages like myself. The only difficulty is being able to locate the information you are looking for. It would be easy to limit myself to just a few hours a day if I were merely wanting to learn whatever exotic information I happen to find. But, no, I am looking for something specific. Something to win us our war. That takes quite a lot more time and effort. I want to be able to protect you all, so I have to be able to make the necessary sacrifices."

---

Ahnasha took a seat and joined Fendros, though shelooked to be mildly annoyed, despite his cautious tone. "I don't know. I never said we'd have to pin it on someone in the clan, just on someone who deserved it." She said defensively. Of course, her clarification ignored the fact that there was simply no possible way to believably frame someone outside the clan when its location was a closely guarded secret. It was technically possible that Ahnasha had simply been brainstorming and had not put any serious thought into her suggestion when she said it, but such an obvious flaw would be one of the first a person would think of normally.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Meesei rubbed the side of her head lightly. "Your birthday? Was that not next week? What day is it? I was sure it was the...twelfth of the month today. Or, did learning that spell take more than two days? I...apologize, I seem to be having some difficulty remembering things as of late."

Letting out a sigh, Meesei returned her gaze to Sabine, noting that she was hesitant to return eye contact. "Regardless, what I learned was certainly worthwhile. I am sure you understand."

---

Ahnasha was, understandably, rather distracted by the events of the meeting that had just ended. She almost did not notice Fendros until she heard his voice right beside her. "Oh, um, yeah. There isn't all that much I can do right now, unfortunately. There isn't any other way into Meesei's room other than her door, so I'll have to just be quiet if I need to sneak in."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Fortunately for Sabine, Meesei was right where she had expected her to be. Meesei was already in her bed with her belongings, the book included, packed away, but she had only laid down a few moments prior. So, she told Sabine to let herself in when she heard the knock at her door.

Even for Sabine, it would be hard for her to gauge how Meesei was feeling when she stepped into the room. Other than being obviously fatigued, her expression was unmistakably serious, but not quite irritated or angered. She had been upset with Sabine before, but from the way she had spoke during the meeting, it seemed that she thought Sabine had been convinced to oppose her.

"Good evening...Sabine. Is there something you need?" Meesei asked.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

There were a few moments of silence as everyone glanced around at one another. After a few moments, it was clear that no one else had any comment, so Lorag gave a brief nod. "Guess we've got somethin' of a plan then. Guess I'll try to think of how to bring this to Saras if talking to her don't work. I doubt it'll be too much of a risk just to talk to her. At least not for you. If she's willing to raise a hand against you, then she just isn't Meesei anymore."

Kaleeth looked to Sabine, though her gaze lowered quickly. "I...wish I could help you somehow, but I know crowding her won't help. I guess she is probably going to be in her room to get some sleep. Hopefully you won't have to wake her up. Do you think you want to go see her right away, or wait a bit to talk to her? She might be upset right now, but wait too long and she might end up going into the book again."

It was the general feeling among the group that they wanted to do more to help Sabine, but there was not much they could all do together. Ahnasha was trying to go through all the ways she could covertly take the book, while Kaleeth was simply trying to figure out how to ensure Meesei did not take her potential anger out on anyone else.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Why do you think that Saras would support Meesei in this?" Ahnasha responded to Janius. "Everyone on the council is either concerned for her, or just frustrated with the situation. Saras himself has had to put in a lot of effort to try and suppress all the rumors that have been floating around the clans. Even with the war going a bit better for us, morale has been down because of it. I don't think people are as confident in Meesei or the rest of us as they used to be. That alone could be very bad for the war. I think Saras would support us."

Lorag nodded. "Might be true. Actually, it's probably true. Saras works a lot more with the council than he does with Alpha herself. 'Course, if he don't agree with us and he does tell her, then we'll never be gettin' that book. And if we don't him, well, he's very good at findin' people."

Kaleeth let out a sigh. "Hopefully, Sabine can just talk her out of all of this."

Coruscant Sacked: Aftermath

~|Nar Shaddaa, Veenra|~

~|Day 3, 6th Hour|~

---

Fa paused a moment, avoiding taking in any more of the place’s foul scent as she reached out with the rest of her senses. She knew what their target, Zora, looked like, as she had studied her dossier extensively before the mission. However, there was more than a single blue Twi’lek in the bar, and Fa did not want to risk staring. Fortunately, she did not need much time to focus in order to locate her. Even among the crowded bar, teeming with life, there was one whose strength in the force shined brighter than everyone else combined, excluding Fa herself. The Twi’lek, Zora, their target, was in a booth halfway across the room somewhat secluded in the back. Even without the force, it likely would have been one of the first places Fa would have looked, being that it was a rather…stereotypical hiding place.

Turning her head to Vebra beside her, she gave a subtle motion for him to stay put. “Wait here a moment. I don’t want to crowd her all at once. I shall approach, and if she is receptive, I will motion for you to join us. Otherwise, remain alert.” She instructed. Even from a slight distance, Vebra would still be able to react quickly if anything got out of hand. As well, it would likely be best for Fa to be the closest person to Zora if she turned violent.

Fa stepped across the bar at a slow, but constant pace. She made an effort not to appear threatening in any part of her expression or demeanor, and she kept her hands safely away from her weapons. The bar was not exceptionally large, so it did not take but a few moments for Fa to come close enough to reasonably speak to Zora. “I would like to speak to you a moment. I promise that I mean no harm; please, let me buy you a drink.” She said, hoping the confrontation would at least not immediately turn violent.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth was actually starting to have some hope now that they were forming some plans that at least seemed like they could work. None of them were ideal, but she doubted that an ideal solution even existed. The suggestions of the others did give her some ideas, however. "It doesn't have to be you. I think you have the best chance of convincing her of what she's doing, Sabine, but if we are going to steal the book, it doesn't have to be you that leaves. I mean, Saras has people that are really good at this, right? Spies, those kind of people. We could steal the book, and Saras can have one of his spies take the blame and leave. His people are experts at staying hidden. Once Meesei gets better, we can tell her the truth."

"That...could work." Ahnasha responded, but she obviously still had some doubts. "But we would have to convince her that whoever took the book stole it alone. We wouldn't want her blaming Saras. If Sabine did it, then Saras wouldn't be exposed to any blame."

Kaleeth looked down, holding one hand over the other on the table. "Yes but...what if she doesn't think Sabine did it alone? What if she blames us? She...she might do something to us."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Ahnasha partially raised up her hand off the table. "No need to lock ourselves into a plan just yet. We need to take the time to really think this through." She cautioned. "You might try to show her how she is hurting you, in more depth than just saying that she is. That might be less prone to make her angry. Or, we could take another approach entirely. She does still sleep sometimes, and when she does, she is exhausted enough to sleep like a rock. Maybe we could steal the book, silently? Unlike a skooma addict, she doesn't have the option of just going and getting another book. We're far from the first, and probably aren't going to be the last to confront her about the book. She won't really know who to blame."

Lorag crossed his arms, his expression skeptical at best towards Ahnasha. "If that book is stolen, Alpha is going to go on a rampage lookin' for it. As weak as her body is, she's still the strongest of us. None of us could stop her magic, and she's not exactly rational right now. If she decides to blame someone, it don't matter if they're guilty or not. She'll punish 'em. She'd be too angry to worry about proving it."

Ahnasha shrugged. "Well, maybe we can steal it, then pin the theft on someone else?"

"And who'd you pin it on? She'll kill anyone who she things stole it. Probably painfully." Lorag countered.

Ahnasha gave a brief sigh. "Obviously we would need to blame someone who deserves it." She clarified, prompting a curious look from Lorag. It was a callous suggestion, considering that the only people who could be reasonably blamed for a theft would be people within the clan.