(no subject)

[the_force_abides]

And food for the refugees turned out to be a much more pressing issue than had first been assumed. Thus, Quin and Khaleen left the kids with Tholme and T'raa so that they may fly to procure more, taking Khaleen's ship just in case the Dragon had been reported as involved with the labor camp raid.

Finally alone with Quin, Khaleen turned to him with a smile. "I never got the chance to tell you but I did find some data on that old ship. And couple other things hidden within the datacore." She said reaching for a secured hatch and pulling out two Jedi holocrons.

"Truly?" Quin replied in astonishment. The data he had known she would find—he'd yet to meet a better slicer—but the holocrons were an amazing find. One was badly damaged though, or at lest seemed to be. "Let's see the data from the ship first?"

"Okay. I should warn you though, it seems fragmented." She replied as she plugged in the datacore to the com. As the holo activated, a figure appeared, though the holo was unstable. A male human Jedi looked out from millennia past and began to speak.

At first, the holo's lips moved but no words could be heard; then the audio cut in:

...Dorjis off of Korriban but he's a mess. Drugs and Sorcery muddling his memories....

More than a year of work wasted, a year! Lost the General right at the edge of Republic space... Sith killed the General without interrogating him, left the Padawan ....

...rumors out of Dromund Kaas.....they master both sides of the Force, use them....infiltrated the Empire, how high up do they go?

Then the visual cut out altogether, though the ancient Jedi's voice could still be heard:
....have to know history to understand the Sith.... Hyperspace War's not ancient history to them...we drove them out, murdered their children, they remember that....three hundred years ago we were bogeymen 'Be good, or the Jedi will get you.'

Khaleen and Quin looked at each other at this before turning back to the holo, which had started up again:

Balmorra operation blown....confessed live and very public to our funding them....treaty violation....protests all over Coruscant

 

...shake up on Nar Shaddaa.....cult gaining power....cure for the Rot?...streets shook like a groundquake, he said. Imps might have found something....

 

...Sith artifact stolen on Alderaan....imbecile and his padawans are lucky to be alive....

But then the holo froze, though again, the audio continued:

No. NO. I want it on record that I didn't know about that project.... history repeating itself...bloody harvest....war's gone HOT.

The holo cut out then, the audio following it. "I warned you it was fragmented," Khaleen said in a stunned whisper. "But that was...something."

"Yes," Quin replied thoughtfully. He knew there were dark things in the Republic's past, such as attempting to exterminate the Sith (as Ibani had mentioned once before) but this hinted at things worse than any he had read or heard of before. Had the Republic always been corrupted in some way or another? And this mention of training with both sides of the Force was intriguing as well. "Let's see what we have with the holocrons."

Picking up the more damaged of the holocrons, Quin takes a meditative breath and leans back in the chair. "I may be distracted, so keep an eye on the com. We wouldn't want any surprises out here."

Khaleen, in answer, rolled her eyes and said, "Oh please. You know better than that."

Quin offers an apologetic smile, before he reaches for the Force to unlock the holocron...

Comments

[the_force_abides]

The holocron activates almost reluctantly, revealing a hologram of the Jedi who owned it before. The jedi sits in a meditative pose and takes a deep breath. "I am Jedi Quorian Dorjis and this is my accounting of the failed mission to Korriban and my return to Republic space."

"I was discovered among the tombs, taken captive after hiding my gear near what I have reason to believe is the tomb of the ancient Sith Tulak Hord..." Here, the message is damaged, unreadable for a time.

"...I was broken out of the prison by a Sith acolyte, a human female named Ibani, and told a terrible truth. I had been compromised, my memories altered with sorcery and drugs. She had been sent by an Inquisitor to break me out of prison, to let me bring false information back to the Jedi Council. But she told me the truth. She risked her life by telling me the truth."

He pauses here, perhaps to collect his thoughts. "I broke out that night, to only token resistance. I was forced to kill two guards, but my escape was otherwise clean. From there it was a mostly uneventful slog back to where I hid my ship, aside from the sith hounds that haunt the valley. The rest you know from my ship's logs, I'm sure."

"I'm aware that certain parties will be unhappy that a Sith is mentioned positively by me, that I believe she has a conscience. But I promised that I would remember what she did for me, and I will."

The holocron cuts out, then, and Quin leaned back in thought.

"What?" Khaleen asked, certain something about the Jedi or what he said was known to her husband.

"I think I know this Ibani he talks about."

"How is that possible?"

"Do you remember that strange cantina I told you about, Milliways? I met a young Sith there who actually seemed...well, normal. Decent, even. Don't get me wrong, she was paranoid and cautious but didn't strike me as aggressive or dominering as all other Sith or Dark Jedi I've known or heard about. She was friendly and I could see no gain for her by being so."

"I don't know what to say to that. Is she immortal or something?"

"No. At least I don't think so. She claimed to have been from the same time as Quorian Dorjis here but I think she was born within the Sith Empire and perhaps was a slave, though I don't know for certain. I believe time is just as open as different universes to Milliways."

"Do you trust her?"

"I don't know. I certainly felt protective of her, given what I know of her history and her apparent young age, but she is Sith; that is not something it would be wise to ignore. I don't think Sith means the same thing back then as it does now however. I did scan her saber once, by her request, and gained some insights to her character. She honestly seemed to merely wish to live in peace and protect the people of her Empire. She even attempted to convince a padawan to not fight her and then spared her life when she defeated the padawan. This was on a Republic ship, by the way. At the very least, I trust her not to attack me and I do not believe she wishes me harm, nor seeks to bend me to her will."

"I guess I'll have to trust your judgement then." Khaleen said with a sigh. There really wasn't much she could do about it.

"I promise to be careful," Quin replied with a smirk. "And I think I've had enough history for now. I'll save this other holocron for later."