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Thread: Pernicious Loyalties

  1. #21
    TheHolo.Net Poster

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    "I can convince her a great deal." Vissica replied somewhat darkly. With the investigation at the port itself not appearing to turn up any fruit, the Knight was content to follow Frasken's lead. She punched at her wrist comm with a broad finger.

    "This is Vissica. Dispatch a transport to my location." An affirmative returned, and the Selonian cut the line. Within a few minutes, an ITT transport glided to a halt under a cushion of repulsor power. The hatch opened, and a driver wearing a low-flared army helmet peeked out of the egress.

    "My lady." He nodded, returning to his station, allowing the two Selonians entry. Inside the troop compartment, four stormtroopers moved their seats, allowing the aliens to sit closest to the hatch.

    "Provide the driver the necessary coordinates, and we'll be off."

  2. #22
    Frasken handed the driver the address to the building that held Istelyn, and swiftly took a seat, with Vissica following suit. The male Selonian’s whiskers twitched, and so did his tail. This was the investigation that would make or break his career, and the Knight sent to oversee him just had to be the adherent Selonian!

    It doesn’t matter, thought Frasken as he readjusted his posture. Nervousness would not be proper behaviour for his den-mates, and he assumed Lasy Vissica would be just as repulsed by it. He must be calm.

  3. #23
    TheHolo.Net Poster

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    While the details of the investigation were as of yet sparse, there was little to gain in hashing the thin particulars while the transport headed to the coordinates Frasken provided. Instead, the Knight used the moment to draw within herself and find clarity through her training. Her impromptu moment of meditation was fleeting, as she sensed a shift that caused her brow to crease slightly.

    "Your emotions are out of balance."

    Her eyes remained closed, but Vissica could see Frasken just fine, or at least in the context in which she spoke. There was within him a sense of unease, even as she could feel his attempts to constrain it.

    "You may speak plainly with me."

    The Knight opened her ermine eyes, leaning back slightly in her seat. If the troopers further down the cabin could hear them, they took no outward notice. They were trained to do their duty. This outcast, however, Vissica only had preconceptions which were proven wrong by the minute.

  4. #24
    Frasken suppressed a tremble as Lady Vissica spoke to him. Clearly not expecting a question, he still turned to the Knight.

    "I apologise for the imbalance. It is not often that we get visitors from an adherent Selonian den, my lady." Frasken gulped before continuing. "Our customs would seem just as strange to yours to yours are to ours, so I hope you would understand." His whiskers twitched. "I will be glad to answer any questions you have on your mind and hopefully assuage your doubts."

  5. #25
    TheHolo.Net Poster

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    That was a conversation that Vissica was only prepared to partially entertain here. However, it seemed to hold an outsized sway over this male, so the Knight entertained it as much as she'd permit.

    "My personal feelings on that matter are irrelvant, both as a Selonian and as a Knight of the Throne. If you are not beholden to Oath, it makes you no worse than any other alien or offworlder. So long as you remain loyal to the Empire we both serve, we are comrades. As for our people, I imagine that living ostracized from the Overden has been...difficult."

    Vissica was not particularly comfortable with this level of candor, but if it enabled Frasken to work with her more effectively, then so be it.

  6. #26
    "It has, sometimes," replied Frasken. The male thought Vissica wouldn't even respond, but what she said wasn't exactly surprising. "It is quite uncommon to see a den go their own way away from Selonia, but the Gravan Den regrets little, if we regret anything at all. They speak of Selonia of some sort of strict prison, but I would like to hear your thoughts of your home." Frasken smiled. "After all, working with the Imperials has taught me that one's truth is more than often another's lie."

  7. #27
    TheHolo.Net Poster

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    "The Den is purpose, clarity, and order." Vissica explained something that she had never comprehended even having the need to explain. It would have been no less jarring for someone to ask why she needed water or air to live. If Frasken had these questions, they may be even less alike than she initially estimated.

    "Every one of us, from birth, has a purpose, and a part of our collective good. We know exactly what our place is and should be, and that lends us serenity. My Queen aligned with the Empire because she saw common cause in this pursuit of order. The Empress wants much the same. Surely even here, you can see that at work."

  8. #28
    "But what if your Queen deems it imprudent to align Selonian with the Empire?" asked Frasken. "Or what if the Empress decides not to hold up her end of the bargain with Queen Matalek? There might be a day where you might forget your place, or have that place changed beyond rhyme and reason so that your oaths and loyalties might tangle with each other." The male shook his head. "Then it'll be up to us alone to decide what is right, and we can only hope we choose the correct path. Let's hope by serving our Empress, we do not stray from it."

  9. #29
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    The potential quandaries Frasken mentioned weren't new concerns. Every traditionalist Selonian had to consider each time she lent support to a cause or proceeded down a course of action. That Frasken's pontification seemed to be more of a rhetorical one was a relief, as Vissica did not have the time to address it in full.

    "Indeed."

    The transport began to feather into deceleration, the slight change of momentum registering in the subtle shift of bodies forward with residual inertia.

    "We're here."

    When the transport came to rest, the hatch opened. Troopers immediately debarked, forming a defensive cordon two abreast and two deep. Vissica followed, awaiting Frasken to join her. The transport had parked in an alley across from a block of uniformly-brutalist workers apartments. The angular grey structures extended down the thoroughfare in each direction for at least a mile.

    "Lead on. Which unit is our witness in?"

  10. #30
    "Two floors above," replied Frasken, gesturing the Selonian knight and her entourage to a lift. "She's in her own cell, a well-guarded one. Can't have her run away to parts unknown."

    The male pressed a button on the console, and he crossed his paws, waiting for the lift to descend and turning to Vissica. "Oh, one thing, my lady. I have tried asking Istelyn for information, but so far she guards her tongue even more than you do. Prying her for facts and figures would prove to be difficult at best."

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