SWTOR Fan Fic: The Enemy of My Enemy Is...? Part Three

[virtualvoyages]

(The universe of SW:TOR still belongs to George Lucas, Lucasarts, BioWare, etc...)

Title: The Enemy of My Enemy Is...? (Part Three of Four)
Genre: Gen (adventure)
Rating: PG
Summary: An Imperial Agent's and a Smuggler's missions intersect, for better or worse.

 

It was the damned weirdest truce, partnership, whatever it was, that Jezari had ever been part of.  She had all the cards - no matter what angle she looked at it from - but Kyrian seemed to be playing from an entirely different deck.  And in whatever game he was playing, it didn't matter that he was the only unarmed person in a ship full of people with every reason to sell him to Republic Command when it was all over.

He'd even tried to flirt with her again when she got him a shirt.  And hadn't seemed offended when she'd told him to knock it off.

Her common sense was still screaming at her not to trust him, but he was so obnoxiously trustable. He was either the best con artist ever, or one hell of a weirdly honest agent and utterly doomed.

I've got to get him off my ship before I ask him to join the crew.

But first there was Dralick's lab to deal with.  On the up side, it wasn't in Imperial space.  On the down side, it was in Hutt space and secret in the "nobody asks what goes on in the highly secure building owned by an anonymous off-worlder" kind of way.  She was beginning to see why the Empire had sent a lone agent and not just slagged the place from orbit. Besides wanting the formulas.

Formulas they wouldn't get. Unless Kyrian was lying to her. That'd explain why he agreed, and isn't worried about pissing off his boss.  But she couldn't square that with anything else, and kept circling back to halfway trusting her weird guest. Prisoner. Whatever the hell he was.

Stop thinking about it and worry about it if he tries something.

She turned the image of the building on the holovid, zooming in to the cutaway floor plans. They were out of date, from before Dralick bought the place, but they were the best Risha had dug up so far. One nondescript three story prison-lab, full of droids, lab assistants, and prisoners.  Too bad they didn't know what was where.

She checked the chrono. "I hope Risha comes up with more before we get there."

"Yes," Kyrian agreed. He looked a little uncomfortable.  "There are a couple of things we should consider before then."

"Oh, here we go," Corso said.

Jezari shushed him. "Like what?"

"It's possible they'll be expecting us," Kyrian said. "Dralick must know you rescued me, and he may know what I was after.  I'm not sure.  He referred to me as a gift, but he knew I was Imperial Intelligence."

She considered that.  And didn't care for the possibilities. "The only way he'd know we were after the same thing is if we were both set up.  It didn't seem like he was expecting us, so... Does Dralick have any Republic sympathizing friends you might have pissed off?"

"I wouldn't think so, but he has been selling to dissidents." Kyrian shrugged. "We may have to hope I was a distraction."

"Or this got way more complicated."

Bowdaar pointed out that Dralick still wouldn't expect them to be working together.

"Use him as a distraction again," Corso suggested. 

Bowdaar disagreed.

So did Kyrian. "That wouldn't be my first preference."

"No distractions," Jezari said. "At least not that way." She frowned at Corso. "And no complicated plans. But Bowdaar's right, he won't expect us to have teamed up. And he probably doesn't know how many of us there. Even if he knows we're coming, the place is more likely to be locked down.  But we're good at getting into tight places."

"And you never want to think anything's a trap," Risha said, rejoining them.  "I have good news and bad news.  It looks like he's connected the droids to his security system for faster response, which means that bringing down security should shut off the droids. But I can't do that from here - you'll have to do it manually.  From inside the building."

Corso blinked at Risha. "Do what how?"

Jezari was tempted to ask what part of that was supposed to be good news.  "It'd be boring if it was easy."

"We seem to be back to using a distraction," Kyrian said.

"Yep, the straightforward kind - Corso and Bowdaar are good at keeping people busy. Risha takes care of security and we get the prisoners and destroy the lab."

"You can't take him with you," Corso protested.  "You can't trust him! Take me. Or Bowdaar."

"You two are the best at havoc," Jezari said. "And I trust him more where I can keep an eye on him." And I trust him not to freak if it's bad in there.  Bowdaar was also nice and levelheaded, but there was no way she was teaming Kyrian and Corso.  There was a recipe for disaster.

"This won't help with my trustworthiness," Kyrian said. "But we also need to consider whether my partner is following us."

She turned to look at him.  Partner? Why the hell was he telling them this now?

 

 

 

Kyrian was acutely aware that they were all staring at him.  He knew he should have mentioned the question of Kaliyo sooner, but there hadn't been a good time.  There was never going to be a good time.

"And if she's not," he said into the uncomfortable silence, "I should warn her that Intelligence can track the ship she's using."

"You want to try that again?" Jezari said.

He sighed. "I left her guarding my ship. Most likely, it was the opportunity she'd been waiting for and she and the ship are light years away.  But she's never predictable; it's possible she decided to follow your ship."

"Let me see if I've got this straight.  You think she stole your ship and left you to Dralick and you want to warn her Imperial Intelligence can find her? Why would you want to do that!?"

"She could be following us."

"That's not an answer."

Kyrian didn't think she would consider "She's not all bad" an answer, either.  In truth, he'd simply worked with Kaliyo long enough that he couldn't bring himself to abandon her to Intelligence's wrath, even if she'd brought it on herself.  She'd also opted not to mention his minor acts of treason to Keeper. So far as he knew.

"I owe her that much," he said at last.

"She stole your ship," Jezari said, in a tone that made him think she rated that somewhere in the vicinity of high treason.

"Technically, it's Imperial Intelligence's ship."

She glared at him. "Abandoned you to Dralick." Further high treason.

"She couldn't have known I'd be captured." Not that he thought knowing would have slowed her down.

"She... You... I don't believe this." Jezari threw up her hands. "I've met more vengeful Jedi!"

"That's 'cause he's lying." Corso glared at him. "You didn't say anything about a partner before.  You're trying to trick us."

Kyrian wasted several second trying to follow that logic. "Trick you into what?"

"A trap! Something!"

Risha and Bowdaar exchanged a look, and Jezari shook her head. "Corso..."

"If I were trying to trap you, wouldn't I keep her existence a secret?  Pretending for a moment that she is following us." Kyrian was beginning to think Corso saw Imperials as a type of dangerous animal, prone to random biting when cornered. Though that might describe Kaliyo. And your average Sith.

"You're way too okay with all of this."

"Why wouldn't I be?  We're going to accomplish everything I wanted to, and you're going to let me go.  I hope." It was clear that Corso still favored turning him over to Republic Command.

"Never mind Corso," Jezari said. "Let's get back to your 'partner.' We've got an untraceable comm channel. You can call her, but we're gonna stand right here watching you. If I think you're trying anything, I just might listen to Corso. Got it?"

Kyrian nodded. "Fair enough."

"I just want to know one thing first. Are you trying to save her, or do you think your boss's going to take it out on you?"

He hadn't considered that, but she was right, Keeper wouldn't be happy. Of course, Keeper had assigned Kaliyo to him in the first place. And, so far, he'd made a career of making Sith very unhappy. He couldn't imagine Keeper doing anything worse to him.

"I'm trying to save her."

Jezari shook her head. "I don't get you.  Go ahead, call her." She indicated the holocomm.

Kyrian entered the ship's comm frequency and waited.  He wasn't at all certain Kaliyo would answer, but then he'd never been able to predict what she would do. He had a better idea how Jezari and her crew felt about him than how Kaliyo did.

 

 

 

 

Bowdaar and Risha eyed Corso, in case he forgot himself and said something. They were out of view of the comm's holocam, but it could still pick up audio.  If Kyrian's "partner" ever answered.

With a partner like that, he should be glad she's gone, Jezari thought. Except for the ship part.  It was easier to believe he didn't want Imperial Intelligence taking it out of his pay - or, more likely, his hide - except she was pretty sure that hadn't occurred to him until she'd mentioned it.

The holocomm came to life, casting a slight blue glow across everything.  Jezari had expected a human woman, but the small figure was clearly Rattataki: white skinned, tattooed and pierced like so many of her species. And probably a lot older than she looked.

"Agent." The figure sounded surprised.

"Kaliyo," Kyrian said, a lot more pleasantly than Jezari would have. "I found alternative transportation. And the coordinates. It seems that Dralick's facility is on Dirha. We should be arriving in two hours, if you'd care to meet us there."

Kaliyo's expression was unreadable, but Jezari could practically see the wheels turning, anyway. It was up to her to admit to ship theft. Or not.

Kind, devious, or both? Trying to sort out what was going on in Kyrian's mind was going to give her a headache.

"And I thought you might have run into trouble," Kaliyo said after a moment.

Kyrian shrugged.  "Nothing I couldn't handle."  He almost sounded amused.  "I did have a bit of help."

"I can't wait to meet this help."

Jezari didn't miss the sarcasm to that last word. Neither did Corso.  Risha nudged him before he could say anything.

"They're more my kind of people than yours," Kyrian said.  "But you might like them."

Corso gestured urgently at the comm, mouthing something over and over, despite Risha's efforts to shush him.  Jezari thought part of it might have been "get him."  She shook her head.  That got more insistent gesturing. Bowdaar steered him out of the room before he started shouting his objection.

Jezari sighed. She was willing to give Kyrian the benefit of the doubt, for now. Oh, she was sure he'd told Kaliyo something.  He was too clever for his own good - and didn't seem to trust the holocall. But as far as she could figure it, he needed them more than they needed him.

She waited until Kaliyo signed off with a promise to meet them at the spaceport.

"Good job convincing Corso it's a trap," she said.

"He was already convinced," Kyrian pointed out.  "I didn't think you wanted me to mention our deal.  I'd rather Kaliyo didn't get the impression I need rescuing.  And no one needs to know she considered stealing the ship."

"That's almost too believable," Risha said. "He has an answer for everything."

"Yeah," Jezari agreed.  "I don't remember agreeing to your partner joining us."

"She could be useful, and I needed a reason for her to come back.  One that wouldn't..."  He trailed off, eyeing them uncertainly.  He seemed to have finally noticed who had all the cards.  "Does that mean our deal is off?"

She let him sweat a moment before answering. "No.  But you-"

"What!?" Corso howled from the doorway.  "He lied to us! Twice!" He stormed over to Kyrian. "You're not getting away with it."

Kyrian held up his hands. "I'm not trying to get away with anything. I want this mission to succeed as much as you do. Possibly more."

"Back off, Corso," Jezari said.  "He's got the point."

"But he lied!"

"I make the decisions. Back off." She frowned at him until he took a couple of steps back, then turned her frown on Kyrian.  "Don't make me regret this, Imp."

"I won't."

 

 

 

Jezari wondered if her common sense would ever speak to her again.  For a perfectly normal human, Kyrian was way too good at getting everything his way.  She frowned across the docking bay at the agent's sleek and shiny silver ship and tried to remember why letting him go alone to talk to his partner seemed like a good idea.

Corso fidgeted, looking for the Imperial troops he was sure Kyrian had called.  Risha ignored both of them in favor of drooling at the ship. Probably all looks, Jezari thought irritably.

Bowdaar was alert, though not twitchy. He didn't agree with Corso's certainty that Kyrian would betray them, but he hadn't survived over a hundred years as a gladiator by not taking precautions. Jezari wasn't sure he wasn't the only one who actually had common sense.

Imperial Intelligence agent, she growled to herself. Doesn't matter how good he is at talking, or how bad a day he had. Or how young. Or convincing. Or... I am such a sap.

She had half convinced herself that Corso was right when Kyrian and Kaliyo came down the ship's ramp and headed toward them.  He'd told her exactly what he planned to get, and had stuck to it as far as she could see: lightly armored jacket, rifle slung over one shoulder, whatever gadgets he thought would be useful wouldn't be visible. His partner was more heavily armored - the kind of armor that came with built-in surprises.

He was doing a very good job of looking harmless for an armed man. Or would've been if Kaliyo didn't look like she was itching for a fight.

Jezari nudged Corso. "Don't do anything."

"You can't trust him!"

"Cool it, Corso. He came back."

"I can even pay you now," Kyrian said. "If you trust Imperial funds." He seemed completely at ease, but she noticed he was still being careful not do anything that could be interpreted as threatening.

"Keep it," she said. "I barely trust you."

"Nice mercenaries you found," Kaliyo said. She eyed Corso. "This one's either going to piss himself or shoot you."

Corso spluttered.

"Play nice, Kaliyo, they're our allies," Kyrian said.

"I can tell."

The woman's sarcasm made Jezari feel like they were all carrying signs that said "Hi, I work for the Republic!" Kyrian had probably told her they did. And planned to double-cross them as soon as they made it to the lab. Because being out numbered two to one is really good odds. I'm starting to think like Corso.

"Kaliyo can help with the distraction," Kyrian offered. "If that's all right with you, Captain?"

Kaliyo gave him a sidelong look.

"Fine," Jezari said. He wasn't even trying to improve the odds. It made her want to take him aside and tell him how to be the double-crossing snake he was supposed to be.

"You can't take him with you," Corso protested. "I can protect you and Risha."

"Drop it, Corso," Jezari said. "You're not going to change my mind." She was going to lose her temper completely if he brought it up again.

"Try a slave collar,"Kaliyo suggested. "They're good for obedience."

Bowdaar gave her a sharp look.

"Please stop antagonizing them," Kyrian said. From the look on his face, he was regretting involving her.

"Why? Don't they work for us?"

 

 

 

Kyrian could see the plan evaporating, and it was largely his fault for not being honest with Kaliyo. She had stuck with him through any number of missions and decisions she hadn't agreed with at all, but this was the first time he'd been at the mercy of someone he really did want to consider an ally.  (Other than, perhaps, Kaliyo herself.)

He could have solved that easily enough by simply taking off and leaving Dralick's lab and the mission to Jezari. Who might well have finished his mission for him. But he couldn't do that. And lying to Kaliyo had not helped matters.

"Please stop antagonizing them."

"Why?" Kaliyo looked at him, eyes narrowed.  "Don't they work for us?"

He sighed.  Honestly really was the best policy. "No, I'm afraid it's not that simple. Captain Jezari has graciously agreed to help with the mission, and not sell me to Republic Command, in exchange for our help and any Republic prisoners we find." There were a number of things wrong with their deal when it was actually spelled out.  So far, everyone had been as willing to ignore them as he was.

"Oh, I see." Kaliyo leered.  "You should've just said so."

"What?" Corso glared at Kyrian.

Kyrian ignored him.  Kaliyo's version of events might not have been accurate, but it was good enough. "You know how charming I can be."

Jezari coughed. "Right." She eyed him with what he fervently hoped was more amusement than exasperation. "Let's get this over with."