Private Better the Devil You Know

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

The last few weeks had been tainted with constant unrest, never being able to settle in one place in fear of an unknown enemy - one of her own making. She had anticipated that her traitorous actions would catch up to her sooner or later and left her home on Bastion while she could, abandoning her position in the ISB and going into hiding.

The agent figured that Zeltros was as good a place as any to try and stay under the radar for a while but a few days had passed and she was becoming more on edge with each passing day. Because she was planning on leaving soon, she reached out to one of her few contacts Thane , asking to meet since she couldn't discuss the matter over any traceable means of communication. She didn't fully trust him but nor did she anyone else. She did, however, hope that he would understand. Her whole life was invested in the Empire and she did not see herself as a traitor but rather just someone who was forced to make a difficult decision.

Zoraya knew there would be repercussions for her actions but she hoped that she could bargain for any punishment not to be as devastating as she knew it would be. While it was entirely possible that Thane could betray her and reveal her location, having kept her identity private until they met face to face, she expected that by the time the Empire mobilised any operatives then she could slip off-world. For now, she would place a small amount of trust in him. She was running out of options and time.

Standing outside one of the many bars that lined the street, she held a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other in an almost uncharacteristically casual manner. However, the restlessness was all too evident in her body language as she waited, scanning the steady stream of people for someone that stood out - a familiar face.

 

[Thane]

P A G A N
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
IMPERIAL SECURITY BUREAU
FIELD OPERATIONS GROUP
Zoraya Ives-Ayres

DEEP COVER
​

It had been long time since Thane was levied an opportunity to return to the field. The devastation on Noris saw him placed on mandatory medical leave after he made several displays of unhinged and irrational behavior following the Maw’s incursion and destruction of his home world.

It took a few months to return back to his usual frigidly lethal self. Once he cleared the proper screenings, he was redirected from intelligence analysis division back to field operations group. The work was more dangerous, difficult and lethal than the interim assignment. This lead would be little different.

Though Zeltros would hardly be qualified as a world one would describe as particularly dangerous, it was still nestled within the control of the Silver Jedi Concord, an all but hostile entity to the Empire. An Imperial operative getting caught, in the political climate following Ilum would’ve meant certain conflict. Thus- he had to remain discreet when approaching the contact. However, once he was in eyesight of the contact, he was immediately familiar with his mark. He offered a faint grin beneath the false visage he wore over his stark, cobalt features.

A holographic projection turned him from the ever frigid Chiss agent he was in reality to another Zeltron civilian, seamlessly blending into the crowd. In spite of this however, his facial structure and expression bared an uncanny resemblance to the Chiss she was familiar with.

He pulled the cigara from her fingers with a smooth motion before bringing it between his lips, taking a pull from it before he looked to her.

“A lovely lady on a lovely evening, why don’t we find a cantina somewhere to chat?” He proposed, offering a toothsome smirk before he motioned his hand for her to follow him into the bar. Underneath the commotion of patrons, contrasting neon lights and smooth music he sat himself in a veiled booth and motioned for her to join across from him.

“Well well, someone has been getting themselves into trouble, haven’t we? What’s going on with you, Ayres?” He asked outright, switching off his holographic disguise to reveal his true face.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

The supposed stranger's identity was clear within the first few moments of his presence, as told largely by his mannerisms which suggested a familiarity with her, so she didn't rebuke his offer to find somewhere to chat but offered a solemn nod in acceptance. "Thanks for coming." She told him, quietly. There was no relief upon his arrival; if anything she was more tense.

Following his lead, she slid into the seat opposite him, devoid of the confidence that she normally carried. She averted her gaze upon him revealing his true self. It was all very real now and she was growing less certain that she had made the right decision.

"I made a mistake, well-" She hesitated. It hadn't been a mistake. She had been fully aware of the actions she had been taking but she didn't believe said actions to paint her as a traitor. "-I made a difficult decision. I mean, maybe it was a mistake... I don't know." She rambled on, nervously, before sighing, realising what she was doing.

"I was there on Ilum. I was confronted by a Jedi Knight but she told me she just wanted to find the Padawans and leave. The Padawans didn't choose this fight like the rest of us did. It didn't feel right... So I gave her access to security footage to find them." She fell silent, withholding the most damning piece of information, trying to gauge his reaction first.

"I'm not a traitor. I know it looks bad but the Empire is my home. I have no want or reason to betray it. It's just... I couldn't do what was expected of me in that moment. I'm not disloyal. I don't need re-education. I don't know what they'd do if- when... they find me." She told him, accepting that her fate was likely inevitable.

 

[Thane]

P A G A N
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
IMPERIAL SECURITY BUREAU
FIELD OPERATIONS GROUP
Zoraya Ives-Ayres

DEEP COVER
​

The more she talked, the more he realized how much trouble she’d be in. Compromising pieces of Imperial surveillance collection information to directly assist a member of a hostile extremist group was hardly a reassuring picture to paint to the Imperial Security Bureau. He knew that was the lense they’d interpret her actions through and not the moral approach she claimed and that Thane certainly genuinely believed her to hold. In his eyes, it was a woman’s sensibility after all.

“Oh dear, if you’re talking to me- The Empire has found you.” He iterates, nigh correcting her claim. He was a tool of the Empire undeniably. If he’d found her- so too had the state.

“And so you directly fed sensitive intelligence, willfully- I might add to a Jedi Knight. Zoraya, perhaps you were not subjected to the same training I was in which they’d tortured me for days to get to me to release a piece of intelligence that was wholly fake in a make believe scenario but you do realize you’ve invalided all of that willingly.” He remarks, almost amused by the situation as he flags a server for a drink, offering a wink in her direction before he shifts his attention and by extension- his frigid crimson gaze to her.

“Re-education is your best case scenario all of this considered, Zoraya. That is if you approach with the angle that you’d been put under Jedi mind trick to which they’d enroll you into the very training I described to, quote, ‘improve mental rigidity in the face of duress and adversity’ but that would also be a dishonest assault to your intelligence.” He says, offering a grateful nod to the server before he’d take a sip from the glass of amber liquor placed before him.

“I am obligated, as you know, to turn you in. But of course…it may be to your benefit to perhaps, turn yourself in with a fair trade of seizing something from the Alliance. You divulged information to a Jedi, thus, to get back into the good graces of the Empire, simply seize something of greater value. Do you still maintain contact with this Jedi?” He said, offering his suggestion before immediately rolling into his next line of approach to the issue. If she could save face by getting something far more valuable from the very Jedi she’d helped, it would all but certainly spin in her favor as an act of intelligence gathering.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

As someone with such a high level of clearance, entrusted with numerous pieces of intel, she was held to a much higher standard than others and as a result then it was of no surprise that she would be dealt a harsher penalty. She knew what re-education was capable of and the prospect of it was terrifying. She knew the fervour that was felt among loyal Imperials as she too had felt it at a time and she knew what it was to desire enemies of the state to suffer.

She did not want to receive that label.

The mention of torture prompted a noticeable discomfort, reminding her of the torture she received at the hands of the Sith before being rescued by Jedi - the event which triggered her more sympathetic stance towards the Jedi.

Her gaze remained on him. Her demeanour on edge and uncharacteristically quiet. Their attitudes contrasting greatly to that of when they had first met. They had connected over their shared vision of the Empire, even with its faults, and similar personalities - now that was but a distant memory. She was being hunted by the Empire and she would soon break.

"I can't go into re-education..." She shook her head, unwilling to accept such a possibility, her gaze slipped from his as though she was imaging what would happen if she were to be re-educated but his suggestion snapped her back to reality.

"Yeah..." She replied, cautiously but immediately showing reluctance. "But if I do that then I may just be negating what I had achieved through saving the Padawans in the first place. I'm not happy about what happened but... I don't regret it either."

"I don't hold any loyalty to them but this isn't about loyalty, it's about what's right." She told him, showing how the issue was one of moral complexity and not any particular loyalty. Her notion that she wasn't a traitor seemed to be slipping further and further from reality, no matter how she tried to frame it. "I don't know if I can do it." She sighed and put her head in her hands.

 

[Thane]

P A G A N
NEW IMPERIAL ORDER
IMPERIAL SECURITY BUREAU
FIELD OPERATIONS GROUP
Zoraya Ives-Ayres

DEEP COVER
​

He should’ve known her instinctual sensibilities would catch up to her, he thought. That was the grave misconception many in the Galaxy encountered. That the Jedi were by any measure innocent or morale.

“I see your meaning but unfortunately, none of it is ‘right’ not in the slightest.” He iterated.

“Padawans are merely sycophantic freaks in training, waiting to be fully realized cultist radicals like their masters. Each living Padawan, or Jedi at all is the lives of several dozen Imperial service-members at risk.” Thane says, hoping to reframe her mindset to his perspective.

“They may be wide eyed children now but every day they spend within the clutches of the Jedi is another day they’re preparing to rip apart everything we’ve built. So tell me- is allowing you to risk the lives of our comrades right?” Thane asks, further pressuring her into his means of solving the issue.

“You can salvage an advantageous position here, you need merely milk the sympathies of these Jedi to mission critical information to you, or possibly position these particular Jedi in a situation placing them as terrorist threats to the Empire, further serving to weaken the Alliance’s position on the Galactic stage…and perhaps even re opening the schism between the Jedi Order and the Alliance government proper. That is the path I suggest.” Thane offered.

“However, I am not so uncompromising. I can…erase you from Imperial records, however, I need to know…what you know, about these Jedi.” He affirms.

 

[Zoraya Ives-Ayres]

Zoraya gave a hesitant nod at his sentiment, almost indicating a level of agreement, though she was clearly plagued by other thoughts. It was just so difficult to reconcile her actions and beliefs and it was sending her spiralling towards a cognitive dissonance that she didn't think she would able to escape from, not this time.

"No." She replied, meekly, though there was much complexity in the thoughts behind her response. She wondered where the line could be drawn between themselves and the Jedi. She was not a Jedi sympathiser by any means, especially after their idiotic use of child-soldiers but those Padawans had been equally as manipulated as loyal Imperials - How could they not compare?

"I know, I know. Our priority is to the Empire and our people, but..." She shook her head, dismissing the thought. "Yeah, you're right." She seemingly agreed, continuing with vaguely aligning answers.

"I suppose... that does seem like the only way." She sighed. "I'm not sure how long it would take for them trust me, if they ever do at all. They told me I'm Force-Sensitive to maybe they'll might take more of a liking to me. Maybe they'll trust me if I..." she paused, an brief expression of disgust crossed her features. "...if I express interest in becoming one of them."

Her expression shifted to a more hopeful one at his following comment. "You would do that?" She asked in disbelief. "If I do this for you - for the Empire - you'll let me go?" She asked for clarification.