Log:Array Consortium: We Request, Dear Lady...

We Request, Dear Lady...

Location: Bandit's Castle
Participants: Mara Jade, Adhar Gann, Ax, Bar'duur

Having spoken with his friends, his allies, and even certain legendary smugglers-slash-war-heroes, Adhar resolves to give Mara a clear alternative to returning to the First Order. One one hand, it's a dangerous, crazy course of action. On the other hand, to not even attempt it...that's not his style at all. But what will Mara say when faced not only Adhar but another force-wielder and more, and her secrets already known?

Adhar made the call for her to join him - not so much begging as sending her the clear-hearted message he always does. I miss you. Please come back, I need to talk to you. It's vital.

He awaits Mara, sitting on one of the sofas, waiting for her to show. His friends are with him, friends that he hopes can help him. Help her.

Or at the very worst, if he has to, keep her busy until the stunner comes out.

~ Ax was waiting as well, wearing a strange set of armor and carrying a hard-cased pack with him, locked with an electronic keypad. A glass of Chandrillan brandy was resting in his hand, being nursed for the past few minutes, the bottle resting on a nearby horizontal surface. ~

Bar'duur is wearing his fancy flight suit, he wears it like a uniform when he's doing work, sometimes he just throws a coat over it when he goes out, he seems to like it. His helmet is hooked on the wall near the door, a common practice for the Zabrak though he doesnt usually have the helmet when he's out and about if he's not wearing it. The horned man is sitting on a chair and leaning back comfortably in silence, observant.

Mara Jade's light freighter drifts smoothly into the hangar from parts beyond the system. Settling onto its struts, it takes a few minutes to power down and set the systems on standby. Then the hatch opens and the redhead emerges, dropping easily to the hangar deck before walking unhurriedly toward the Castle's own ramp. Soon she's on board, walking the same pace toward the lifts, and along the corridors before finally arriving at the bridge and then entering Adhar's office/love nest. She half expects to see a beaded doorway every time she comes in to talk to him. And shag carpeting.

She pauses, dressed as she always is - black leather body suit, twin blasters on her thighs. Seeing Bar'duur she offers a nod but Ax gets a long, heavy look before she turns to Adhar, brow raised but not speaking - or accusing. Yet at least?

Adhar gets to his feet, when he sees her, swifty and with iron in his back, but his heart is beating so /fast/ and he just doesn't know why. "Mara," he says gently. "You're safe." He looks at the two behind him, frowning a bit. "They're here for support. And to help us both, frankly. Will you please join us?"

Mara Jade says, "Interesting wording. Safe. I hadn't thought otherwise till you needed to reassure me?" She looks to the others. "Bar.. good to see you've found a place to fit in.." she smiles then looks the other way. "Ax. I can't say that I expected to see you here. Though I shouldn't be surprised.""

~ "Mara," Ax says, leaning against a wall and taking a sip of the brandy. "I brought refreshments, please help yourself," he says, his eyes looking over every bit of her. Had one not known better, they might think he's admiring the view instead of assessing a potential threat.

Ax looks to Adhar. "This is your gig, Gann, but I'd like to say something before we get too far." He then looks back to Mara, and without waiting on Addy to give a response, he starts to speak again. "I'm not here as an enemy, and I hope that I don't leave as one. You know what I am, just as I know what you are. I also know who you work for," he adds, though whether he truly knows or just has strong feelings towards is up for debate. "Anyway, Adhar cares deeply for your safety, and he's a good friend of mine, which is why I'm here. He seems to think you need assistance, and against my gut instinct, I'm here to help in whatever way I can." ~

Bar'duur looks to Adhar, and Ax in his armor, then back to Mara and he upnods to her, fairly solemn and easy-going so to speak. "Dont worry if anything messy was expected Adhar wouldnt do it here, it'd ruin the room, mess the carpet, break the furniture, horrible place for anything unfriendly." And he offers a little smile to Mara but he reaches out to pour himself a drink anyway and sips, looking relaxed all in all.

"The thing about gut instincts," Adhar says, flicking a glance to Ax, "Is that they can often blind you to possibility." He nods to Mara, hands at his sides. "I figured if you saw Ax, you would think you weren't. That's all." That said, his tense expression fades somewhat and he goes to get drinks from the cabinet built into the wall over the refresher.

"Please, sit down, Mara," he says, picking out a bottle from the rack. "You know who Han Solo is, right?"

Well there's a question.

~ Ax nods to Adhar. "But, gut instincts are often there for a reason, and my gut has saved my life more than once," he says. He looks towards Mara. "That ball is in your court, as they say. If you want help, we're here to help. If you don't, then so be it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained." He sips more at his glass, his foot resting upon the metallic case he'd brought with him. ~

Mara Jade listens to Ax. "Of course you do." The tone is neutral enough that it could taken as if she agreed. Or that he really had no idea and she wasn't going to enlighten. Or something else entirely. Redhead's prerogative. She looks back to Adhar. "Adhar. Instincts should have told you to leave me well alone long ago. Recent situations should have made you run as far as you could from this place. me. That you're still here, and I am? I guess it's just proof sentience is not all that is needed for intelligence." She almost smiles. To Ax, "I've never considered you an enemy. Despite your warm and fuzzy reactions toward me when we've crossed paths." She shakes her head, "No drinks. No seats." She stays near the bulkhead and the hatch back out to the bridge. Her arms cross over her stomach casually. "So. What's your part in this Bar'duur?"

Bar'duur looks to each of those in the room as they speak, listening curiously, then back to Mara to hear what she says. "My part? I'm the Castle's XO." he says. "But I've also known you for longer than I've worked here, even if I didnt know a lot about you, and still dont." He shrugs. "I think Adhar and Ax want to know where you stand, what your true affiliations are. Basicly, they want you to make a choice. It'd probably be easier for the Consortium if you made one one way or another.. I dont really know, personally, where you stand, I'm willing to give you the benifit of the doubt since I like you." He says this with a casual smile.

"I almost did," says Adhar, who pours himself a liberal shot of something green and sparkling. "And I might have, had I not run into Solo. And he told me - knowing, by the way, who you were, or so it seemed - that regardless of who you were, regardless of what you'd done, if I ever cared about you, to find you and keep you away from Ren, Ren specifically, because even if he did not do it this time, he would use you and kill you and that would be your only fate."

Adhar turns, holding the glass in his hand, the nervousness he had now vanished. He is...calm. Pleasant, but calm. Buried the fear, apparently. "So, here's the deal. You told me that there was worse out there than Ren, but just thirty years ago there was worse out there than Vader. And they all died. I don't think that has anything to do with the Rebellion, I think that has to do with the will of the Force." He flicks a glance to Ax as he says this. "So yes, I am risking my life. And so is Ax, and Bar'duur, and Sion, and everyone else who's stood up to be counted to help you, regardless of if they knew you or knew /about/ you, or not. So I Figure, either you're going to play femme fatale and laugh me off and pretend you've got ice in your veins, or you'll be angry, or you'll just shrug your shoulders, but when you left before you didn't feel as though you had any other options. And now you do."

Adhar adds, a bit more quietly, "I'm hoping you'll be the Mara who chooses to survive. Just with us, and not with them."

~ "I've never acted against you, Mara. I just know the potential threat you pose to myself and those I care about," Ax says. He motions towards Adhar. "But, this lump of flesh seems to have strong feelings for you, and it's driving him nuts that you're in danger. I told him to put distance between himself and you, that you were bad news, but he obviously didn't listen," the Echani adds. "And, well, he's a friend of mine, and sometimes you just gotta support a friend, even when they're making what you feel are dumb decisions," he adds, with a slight grin of his own.

Ax walks over to the counter, refilling his drink. "Anyway, like Bar'duur said, making a choice would be the best thing right now. Who's side are you on, Mara? Where do you belong? If it's here, then by all means, we'll do what we can to make that happen. If it's not, then, my part is done unless there's going to be violence, then I'm just here to try and get people out of here alive."

Ax looks to Adhar as he speaks. He motions towards the case he'd brought with him. "Code is Alpha Three Delta Two Delta," he says. Looking to Mara. "It might serve as a bargaining chip or it might not. If not, then I'm gonna dispose of the case and its contents like I should have weeks ago." ~

Mara Jade walks over as Ax heads to the bar. "I'll have that drink after all." She's calm and relaxed, not looking for conflict from the look and feel of things. She grabs the largest glass and the strongest bottle, pouring the glass half full before stepping away. "What I know. What I've seen. Who I've spoken with. I have more than enough knowledge and information to turn over. And yes. Thanks to Ren, if there were ever doubts, I have been working for the Order." She doesn't seem apologetic as she takes a large swallow from her glass. "Those who I've told my past to were told the truth. I grew up on Coruscant as an orphan on the streets. I stowed away on a freighter, got caught and joined the crew. All of that was the truth. But we got caught on a run by First Order ships. And my apparent talents came to the attention of its leaders. I wasn't given a choice." Another large swallow. "So I survived. And now, it seems, I'm going to have to do it all over again." Her eyes move from one to the next. "You want to know where I stand. Whose side I'm on?" She shrugs, "I'm on the side that I've always been. Survival. Yes. The rumors are true. I can feel the Force. I can use it. Apparently it's one of the best kept secrets by everyone in the galaxy" she quips.

Bar'duur is quiet and still, sitting in his seat he listens to Mara speaking and nods a little to her. "I get that, survival, it's a start at least, but working with a group means we also have to look out for eachother even if it puts us at risk as individuals. I dont know anything about the Force, but I get that the stakes are different for you."

"That's probably my fault," says Adhar, smiling faintly. "I seem to keep meeting and befriending you sorcerors - can't call you Sith or Jedi, I guess, so 'sorceror' works well enough. You, Ax...Ren...well, not befriending Ren, I did try to kill him once, but he doesn't know that." A beat. "I didn't believe in the Force as a living concept before, but if we're all connected by it, I seem to be good at drawing you lot in. Or being drawn to you, anyway." He shakes his head, taking a deep sip of his drink.

"So, taking emotion from this," he continues, "I will look at this like I do many things: an economic transaction. Your goal is survival. All right. So survival could come by going back to Ren, assuming he doesn't kill you, and be showing your loyalty by...I don't know, something. Betraying me and all these others, which will immediately have us murdered by death squads. Or there could be torture. Who knows. So that puts you back in the good graces of the First Order. Except it doesn't, because these people want to be the Empire, and the mentality is there - when you go back, regardless of your performance, there is very likely to be a seed of doubt there, corrupting the investment. Over time, anger and rage and paranoia takes its toll, and Fortune help you if you fail any tasks after this, because that continues to damage your standing until Ren, because slashing up things in anger is apparently his thing, does the same to you and Solo's words are fulfilled. That's one scenario. Even if it doesn't happen and Ren believes you entirely, you've still betrayed those who love you and their friends, and your heart hollows out and you're no longer entirely human anyway so the whole investment, so to speak, isn't worth anything in the end.

"Or, you can stay with us. If you went on your own you'd be on the run until the First Order failed, but I think you and I both know that's a bet you shouldn't take. Instead, we can take you, hide you - or just /fight/ for you. You have comrades, you have chances out, you can survive not in a soul-destroying way but a way that helps you grow and expands that which nourishes us and makes us better. YOu still might die, it's true, as might we all, but we can fight for it, and that's better than languishing in the dark until your soul rots away."

He takes a sip of his drink, peering at Mara from over the rim of her glass. "Either way, you end up hunted. With us, though, there's a chance of getting out of this with your soul intact."

~ "So, what will it take to buy your freedom?" Ax asks of Mara. "And the question is, of the stuff you done, do you honestly have any regrets or remorse? Service to the First Order, I am sure, comes with duties. Of those you've performed, where do you stand? Did you do it out of necessity or because you wanted to? Maybe a bit of both?"

Ax listens as Addy goes on and on, and when he's finally done, he looks to Mara. There's a wave of his hand and the case beeps a few times. The lid then opens, revealing a set of the Sith Warrior armor. "There's your ticket. If you want to go back to the First Order, you can go back without doing so empty handed," Ax says. "That buys you some time at least," he says. "Take it, if that's what you want to do. You may survive, at least for a while, proving useful by bringing Ren what he wants, relics of the past." He waves his hand again, the lid shutting. "Or, we can destroy it like it should be." As he speaks, he pulls an ornate, curved cylinder from his side, setting it on the counter in front of him. "We cut it to pieces, load the bits into a missile, and shoot it into a star. What's your decision, Mara?" ~

Mara Jade listens to Adhar as he expounds on life, the universe and everything(tm). She is almost amused. "I worked for the Order. I didn't say I joined it. I reported directly to Surpreme Leader Snoke. Or, since coming here, to Ren himself. But I was never made to join the First Order's military. I was an agent. The... Surpreme Leader's Hand." Then... Ax speaks. He displays Sith Armor. And then a lightsaber. She looks from it to Ax but there is no sense she's going to try to fight.

"Adhar, you keep interesting company." She tosses off the last of her drink, setting the empty glass down. She moves to sit herself as she continues her previous comments, addressing the men of the room and their questions. "Do I regret what I did? For the loss of lives? Now? I regret it. But each was an assignment. Just as my time here has been. To study Nar Shaddaa and its inhabitants and seek out those who would pose a threat to the Surpreme Leader and the Order." She shrugs, "I've killed. I've stolen. I've lied - so many times. But what tool in the hand of its master regrets? A saw that cuts a tree to be used for fire to warm or to destroy? It only serves its purpose - to cut."

She leans back and looks to Ax. "I do not serve the Knights of Ren. And I do not call Snoke my master as a Force user would. I served him. But I am not bound to him. Or to Kylo Ren." She does not have much, if any, touch of the Dark Side about her. Perhaps it is true that she served more as a weapon than as a believer in the Order.

"I'm not going back to Ren. Or Snoke. Or the Order. No armor would buy my life. And you know it, Ax." She smiles. "not that you'd have let me leave even if I'd chosen your offer." A shake of her head, "No. Destroy it. Whatever you wish. I don't care. I owe them nothing. Perhaps Ren's actions were at Snoke's instructions - to declare me as an agent. To try and burn my ties and then dispose of me. I doubt it. Ren's petulance and temper are to blame. Snoke likely doesn't even know. But he will. I've nothing to return to. Or for. What I own is in my ship." She looks to Ax. "You knew I killed that young force user. Jedi. Whatever he was. And that I took his saber. I know you saw me." She then stood and slowly reached down to each hip, taking two metal cylinders and securing them together into one single. "I used what I could not easily obtain without suspicion. But I have made my own."

She looks to Ax then Adhar. "And when it must be used, it will never be used in the name of the Order, the Knights of Ren, or of Snoke." Her tone is calm and firm. Resolved. "What more do you wish for me to say?"

"So that's all find and good," says Adhar, apparently not at all caring about...ninety percent of all of that. "But what are you going to /do/, Mara? You're very skilled, and I have no doubt that you are powerful, but with war seemingly on the Horizon - do you know anything about that, by the way? - it seems to me as though once the First Order gets settled in, Ren, and...whatever Knights or bounty hunters or whatever he has...they'll tear this galaxy apart looking for you. It seems to me that it would be better for you to hide amongst us for the time being. Hell, I don't mind getting my memory messed with if it means you can hide in safety for the moment. I'm pretty sure others would say the same, if it were temporary."

~ "I draw the line there," Ax says with a raise of his hands. "No messing with people's minds is my recommendation." There's a pause as he looks about the room. "Well, how attached are you to your ship, Mara? I'd be willing to bet we could convince people that you were chased and destroyed." ~

Mara Jade looks at Adhar, "Do? I'm sitting here. Talking with you. If you want me to have all the answers already? I'm sorry. I'm fresh out. Once I know, you'll know." Then she looks sharply at Ax. "I'm not destroying my ship to play dead. I can outrun most, if not everything, the Order would choose to send after me. Would you sacrifice your ship or" she nods to his saber, "Your weapons you worked hard to get just to pretend to be dead?" maybe he would. But she's currently not willing. "If it comes to it I'll get the transponder codes changed. It'd still be cheaper than modifying another one all over."

"Of course I would," Adhar says, blinking faintly at her. "Especially if I had the resources to recover the cost. It's just a ship. I can't make profit if I'm dead, you know? All of these are just tools to make the business go - Mara, you're one of us. You're part of our family here, sorceror or not, and you know that even the newest crewman is worth a ship to me."

That said, Adhar looks from Mara to Ax and back again. "Well, let me have the technicians go over the ship, or better yet, Ax's technicians. Search for any bugs, tracking devices, that sort of thing. Then we can absolutely get the transponder changed. I still like the idea of destroying it, mostly due to the authenticity; we could get sufficient tissue cloned to fool genetic scanners, all that sort of thing. Might not be perfect, but we can get it damn near so." He shrugs. "Suns below, Mara, I can buy you another ship. Better than that one, even. You're worth it."

~ Ax shrugs, "Ships are easy to replace, especially smaller ships like the Slingshot. It would be simple to slave it or have a droid pilot it away, we give chase and blow the damned thing to pieces." Ax just sips at his drink. "But, it's your decision. I'm just offering my suggestions. If you want out, that's one way to throw them off, which is beneficial for everyone involved. There are no material possessions worth the lives of those I care for." ~

Mara Jade is silent. "You're right. You both are right. Coming from nothing, I suppose my one flaw is trying to protect the few things I've worked hard for." She shrugs. "Alright" looking between them, "I recognize I'm placing you all in danger. You don't have to do this, least of all for me. Thank you. If destroying the Sabre will set you most at ease, I'll do it."

"Then we must consider what is to be done next," Adhar says thoughtfully. He looks...grateful, but still pensive. " We will need to learn how to counter the Force, or at least I will. And while I figure you've been trained in the dark arts, Mara, it might not hurt to try and put your mind toward changing that. Or using the Force at all for the foreseeable...very long time outside of specific places and situations." He considers. "Can you teach me to counter lightsabers? I know it's a last-ditch thing, but two sorcerors helping me learn might be excellent." He looks Mara up and down. "You'll need a new identity. Probably need to crop the hair and change it's color. But that's all things we can talk about later, obviously." He squints. "But if we do this, we don't do anymore heroics, all right? We are prepared to stand and fight alongside you. Let us do it."

~ "It needs to be done in a fashion that is witnessed. Maybe near Jakku, and amongst the debris should be remnants of something that will draw the attention of the right people." Ax pauses a moment, glancing at the open armor case. "You must have been doing your job, but crossed the wrong person who gave chase and wouldn't leave well enough alone." He then looks to Adhar. "There you go with the lightsaber shit again. You're only possibility of defense is to stay the hell away from them." ~

Mara Jade listens. Looking to Ax, "I can send word to Commander Locke that I have a lead on the armor sought for Ren. You can ruin the armor but its remains can be in the ship so it looks as if someone was trying to take it from me when the Sabre was destroyed." Looking to Adhar, "I'll consider the hair cut." her tone suggests she already has and isn't fond of the notion.

"I actually think it might be better to leave it intact," says Adhar. "In the grand scheme of things, given what they have already, this armor is a drop in the bucket. What if we arrange two events? I give them the armor, thus making us useful to them in the short term - and yeah Ax, I know, but it's better than dodging lightsabers - and I tap some old friends to make it look like your ship was discovered and destroyed by the Resistance?" He grins faintly. "They're gonna pay me for it anyway. You'll need a new ship."

~ "Taking that armor to them is too risky, Adhar. If Ren is involved, he'll see right through you in a heartbeat," Ax says with a shake of the head. He looks back to Mara, "Anyway, you want to get out, we're giving you that option. It's up to you what path you choose." ~

Mara Jade looks at Ax, "I said thank you. I gave permission to destroy my ship. What more do you want me to say, or do?" She frowns faintly.

"Probably couldn't hear over me saying reckless things," Adhar points out. "All right, let's start putting this plan in motion. I have ideas. I am actually quite deceptive when I want to be. Mara, for the moment, go out to Socorro. It's incredibly hard to get to and totally off the beaten track plus a great place for us to find avenues through which to hide you if necessary. Ax, do you agree?"

~ At the mention of Socorro, Ax just shrugs. "As long as nobody there knows who the hell you are, that wouldn't go over well," he says. Then, he's looking back to Mara. "You can say whatever you want, it's one of those situations where actions speak louder. It's as simple as that." ~

"Hold a moment." Adhar looks to Ax. "Will you please excuse us, Ax? I need to talk to her for a few minutes. Maybe take that suit to be put in a vault or something?"

~ Ax waves a hand, closing the lid on the case holding the armor. "I need to go to Naboo anyway. If you'd like to join, you're most welcome. We've moved the first batch of refugees there and are getting them settled in." ~

Mara Jade looks to Adhar, "Adhar, there's really nothing more to say. Every second I'm still on Nar Shaddaa, there is a chance Snoke or Ren will put a bounty on my head and the Order will come tear your place apart looking for signs of me since they last knew I was in with the Consortium. There will be time to talk later. After I'm dead." She almost smiles.

Adhar waves a hand. "I do have something to say." He takes a drink of his liquor, a deep one. "I want you to know, Mara Jade, that you are no longer welcome among the captains of the Consortium. A spy in our ranks? How dare you!" He begins to work up a fury within himself, his dark eyes glittering with a sudden hate - were it not for everything else, perhaps, it might be terrifying to someone not like you. "I trusted you, and this is what you bring upon me? The Order? Dark sorcerors? I could have been killed! He made me wish at that time that I was! Get out! Get out, and never return! You are dead to us all, Mara Jade! GET OUT!" That last bit he roars, full of hatred and anger and pain that was not there a moment ago; they can hear it on the bridge, certainly, just as they can hear as Adhar hurls the crystal hiball glass in his hand against the door, shattering it into fragments." He stares at you, eyes black fire as the bore into your own, and nudges his head wordlessly toward the whiskey-spattered hatch.

A performance? Misplaced rage, willfully or otherwise? Might be very hard for the memory to conjure in the future, but in that moment his emotion would seem to many to be terrifyingly real.

Mara Jade listens. She watches. Then without a word she turns and walks from his quarters and makes her way toward the ramp to leave the corvette. She doesn't look back.

And then, when the door hisses closed and he is alone once more, Adhar drops onto the nearest chair. The air leaves his lungs, and he shuts his eyes tightly, heaving a sigh that seems to have taken years to build up inside of him. It isn't relief. For the second time again in two weeks, his dear friend, for whom he has just moved mountains, walks out, seemingly in anger, seemingly his fault. And again, Adhar holds his head in his hands. But he had to do it. He did. For both their sakes.

He just hopes he wasn't a good enough liar to convince her he was entirely genuine.