A Little Visit

[Leo Vandermolen]

Corruption lay thick here... and it all stemmed from the one person, Lady Kay. She had the entire planet fooled, 'overthrown' the Elders and installed herself as the new Queen. It wasn't easy, getting inside the palace alone. But by using the usual smuggling tricks, disguising your ship as a regular trading vessel, concealing weapons in his padded trench-coat during the shake-down and search of his ship, he was able to get in.

It seemed that everyone in the galaxy was turning into a bad apple, Leo's contact's had informed him of multiple Jedi betrayals, taking up Sith ways to increase their power. Leo had nothing against it, his issues weren't with forcers. But he needed a challenge, and Commenor would karking give him one. His dusty trench-coat parted to reveal a suit of Nexu armor, faded and worn, but it did the job. He strode towards the entrance to the palace, where she would most likely be, but decided instead to take a detour. He was going up the walls...

Leo vaulted into a nearby alley, one with a good vantage from which to asses the area ahead of him; a pale wall, straight up. This would be fun. He activated the magnet locks on his boots, using a little innovation, he used two of his smaller blades, that had been hidden in the smugglers pocket, as climbing utensils. Implanting one of the knives into the old wall, he heaved himself forward, looking for gaps and breaks in the wall that he could use as potential grapple-holds. The climb was intense, but he managed to reach the top in no time. Swinging himself over, he perched upon the top, looking over the courtyard of the palace.

He cocked a grin as he slid down the other side, leaped the rest of the way and tucking into a roll when he deemed it safe. It was a small garden, a place of tranquil relaxation, he though to himself as he strode over to a nearby bench, plopping himself down upon it. He returned his hand into the same smugglers pocket and removed a small bag of Sapir tea, her favorite. Leo always did his research before undertaking any job, and this was no different. It was more of a peace offering than exploiting a weakness, but it was always good to know your enemies, or potential allies. Either way, her reaction to just how much Leo already knew on her would be priceless, well at least Leo hoped it would be.

For know, he would wait.

| [member="Lady Kay"] |

 

[Kay-Larr]

The night was clear and it wasn't too cold. Perfect for a stroll. Her doctor had been adamant about her lessening her workload to help her heal and recover. Walks were a good way to do that. It took her away from meetings, from her datapad. It gave her time to think.

She didn't bother to change from her gown. Instead she just buttoned up one of her floor length black coats overtop. Much better than a cloak. Her guards followed her out of her office and chambers, pacing along behind her as she strolled through the hall. "You guys can stand down. I'm just going for a walk. Don't worry, I'll stay on the grounds. I have my commlink if I need you." As of late she had avoided trouble and hadn't tried to sneak off, so they weren't too worried.

Once Kay stepped outside, she took in a deep breath, taking in the cool, fresh air. Her eyes were drawn to the two moons immediately and she smiled. They protected Commenor from more than just asteroids. But only she was aware of that.

Her path took her into the courtyard and she paused slightly at seeing the dark figure of [member="Leo Vandermolen"] sitting there. Perhaps he was one of the staff taking a break. Either way, she didn't try to bother him. He wasn't causing any trouble. So instead she just walked past him.

The hedge maze was her destination. One of these days she'll conquer it. Today could be the day.

 

[Leo Vandermolen]

Leo gazed up at the sound of footsteps, pressing lightly against the grass below. It was her. He'd come a long way for this little job of his, and while he had planned most of it, he didn't know exactly what he was going to say. Looks like he had to wing it. The woman began to approach him, stepping closer and closer until she was an arms reach away. She was unguarded and appeared unarmed, almost like she didn't expect anyone to have mad it this far inside her little fortress. As he contemplated this, Kay strode right past him, oblivious to the nearby threat as if she didn't have a care in the world. It appeared as if she was heading towards the maze at the rear of the walled garden. Enjoying the smaller pleasures in life.

Leo waited a minute, biding his time as she entered the maze. This was perfect. He knew she was a force user, so detecting him in the maze wouldn't be too difficult, but detecting him as a threat would be more challenging. He followed in tow, leaving a large enough gap between them so that she wouldn't detect him outright, and began to explore the maze. He kept to the left, that was the rule of thumb right? always keep to the left. He followed the winding passages of thick shrubbery, it was much darker in hear, the hedges obscuring any light source from outside. He wondered why someone would perform this feat so late into the evening, until he realised she was most likely cheating and using the force to guide her. Typical.

| [member="Lady Kay"] |

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay entered the maze and started along the path that she knew so well. It was easy for her to reach the center, but that wasn't how the maze was solved. It was solved by getting through to the other side. She didn't let anything guide her, but her own instincts, the moons providing enough ample light to show her where to go.

All seemed well. Another right turn, cross three forks and then...Hmm. It was two, not three. Wasn't it? Kay paused for a moment, looking up at the sky to regain her bearings. It was supposed to be two. The third was later on. She turned around so that she could backtrack, her heart skipping a beat as she spotted [member="Leo Vandermolen"] coming around the corner. Was she being followed? He didn't seem to be in a rush, so it obviously wasn't urgent. Yet still, she was getting a bad feeling about this.

But it was always about appearances, wasn't it? Kay just stood there, near enough to the fork to make a break for it should she need to. "Can I help you with something?"

 

[Leo Vandermolen]

Kay turned and noticed him, addressed him as he stood under the pale light of the moons. He raised his head slightly, his trench coat lapping at his heels as he inched forward, ever so slightly. "Ah, Miss Kay. Just the person I wanted to see." He replied, a cocky grin spreading across his face as he stood, hand entrenched in his jacket. She seemed cautious, even afraid. But then again, why wouldn't she be? "Enjoying the whole 'Queen' gig? It suitable to your liking?" He questioned haphazardly, lightly caressing the grass beneath him with his foot in a movement almost ritualistic.

| [member="Lady Kay"] |

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay raised a brow. It was obvious now that [member="Leo Vandermolen"] wasn't a member of her staff. "Excuse me?" His question was ridiculous of course. He was speaking as though this positon of hers was something temporary. In her mind it wasn't. Not now at least.

She then asked the next most obvious question. "Who are you?" Kay took note that he had one hand inside of his coat, yet she didn't do anything about it just yet. Perhaps he was just after her bounty. That was the most likely scenario. Although she has had plenty of people poking around and asking questions about her rise to power. It was almost as though they were gathering evidence to prepare for a trial. But she was under no jurisdiction but her own. They had no right.

 

[Leo Vandermolen]

Finally returning his foot back to its prior position, he raised his head, the glow of the moon catching all his features in full display for the woman. "The names Leo Vandermolen..." He stated, a hand slowly reaching out of his pocket to reveal a small, blinking transmitter. "Try anything funny and you'll have the entire Kathol region bearing down on your little planet, and we wouldn't want that now, would we?" He mocked, a more serious tone etching its way into his voice. He slowly returned the device to his coat as his demeanor returned to that feverish grin, bringing out instead the tea he had pocketed earlier. "Care for a drink?" He asked childishly.

| [member="Lady Kay"] |

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Leo Vandermolen"] . She didn't recognize the name, nor did she recognize his face when he revealed it.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at his threat. The Kathol region? She knew it to be a bit on the wild side, and far enough away to not be any threat. So it was more than likely that he was bluffing. Commenor wouldn't be so easily taken anyways. Though their fleet and military were small in comparisson to the major powers, they would not fight alone. She had garnered many allies with sizeable military resources at her disposal.

So she was not worried about his idle threat.

Her eyes were drawn to the tea pouch briefly, before she returned her gaze to Leo's own eyes. Kay folded her arms across her chest, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't exactly have the means to brew tea at the moment. Maybe later. But you're a long way away from home. What brings you here?" If he was looking for an alliance. He sure had an oddball way of doing it. But given where he came from, well, things were done differently out there. She knew well enough from her days of being a slave liberator.

 

[Leo Vandermolen]

"Well you know what they say, first impressions are everything." He replied, "And in all honestey, I really only wanted to see how easy it would be to get inside. Test out your defences as it were." Getting inside was time consuming, but relatively easy wwith the correct measures. "So now here I stand, before the queen. What shall I do?" In all honeswty, he was beginning to seriously ask himself the exact same question. His intentions had really only brought him this far, and now here he was, standing before the woman herself as she asked what he wanted. The moonlight faded, dashing in and out of the clouds as the drifted slowly above them, these two people with all the world to spare.

| [member="Lady Kay"] |

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay smirked a little. "Well you're not really inside, now are you? On the grounds yes, but not inside." Of course she wasn't going to invite him in. That would only make it all the easier for him. Nor was she going to give away the full range of security to him either. Save all that if ever her Palace came under seige.

"Is there a reason that you keep stressing my title, Mister [member="Leo Vandermolen"] ? Have I done something to you that you hold grievances with?"

 

[Leo Vandermolen]

Bah. Done something? "Apologies, but remind me again exactly what happened to the Elders, how you came into power?" He would push. She was toying with him. No. That was his job, provoke your opponent into a brash and indecisive reaction. He leaned back on his heels as the hedges gently rustled with the light breeze of the night and took a low breath, calming himself as he reapplied that charming smile of his that he usually bore. "In any case," He continued, shaking his head free of any prior thoughts, "Would we like this brought to boil and sipped merrily?" He held up the tea in his hand. Leo couldn't ever remember having tea since he was a child, no recollection of the taste. He wondered what it was like.

| [member="Lady Kay"] |

 

[Kay-Larr]

"They passed away." That was all of the answer that she cared to give him in regards to the Elders.

What was his game? Kay was still trying to figure it out. Now [member="Leo Vandermolen"] was holding up the tea again. She had already told him that it couldn't be done out here with no supplies. Kay dropped her hands to her sides. "Needing instructions? Just bring the water to a boil, crumple a few leaves into a cup, pour the water over top and the leaves will disolve while it steeps. Pretty simple really....Now if you don't mind, I have some things to take care of, so why don't you set up an appointment for tomorrow, hmm?" She just wasn't comfortable around him. And it was best to get him out of her hair as soon as possible.