Liberty And Justice For All

[Connor Harrison]

Connor pulled back, with a cheeky little smile.

"You did, but you know I don't play by the rules. As long as that button was pushed, then I've done what you ask."

He gave her a look, and walked past her, turning as he walked.

"Come on, keep talking. I always seem to want things I can't have, it's a habit, so I just wanted to have a glimpse of what the fruit was like. It was very sweet."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay smirked and slowly shook her head at [member="Connor Harrison"] as he spoke of pushing her button. He did that, as well as pushing a certain boundry.

He walked past her, leaving her to process what had just happened before his words broke her from her train of thought. Kay started walking again, moving at a quicker pace in order to catch up so that they were walking side by side again. "So what you're saying is that the moment you have me, you won't want me anymore? Now -that's- very typical of a playboy....Just as I thought."

Kay's light mood faded as she thought of her late husband's death. She was used against him by a Sith Lord nearly 15 years ago and she didn't want anyone else to suffer the same fate. So she kept everyone at arm's length. It was kind of hard to believe that her old self had so many friends. Didn't they realize that she was a threat to them? Maybe they do so now.

"Do you have any ideas as to why this all has happened? I sometimes wonder if we'll just be used as cannon fodder for the next big war. Or maybe they just want to take over our bustling economy..."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor rolled his eyes, at both her statements, and waited for her to catch-up to him.

"I will always want you, but will never have you, so don't worry. You're stuck with me."

Looking out over the garden, he exhaled and shook his head.

"Why does anything happen, that's what I say. I don't know the answer. All I know is we have certain things we can give to people who want our help and treat us with the respect we deserve, and so will do all we can to enforce our views onto others. It's a big cycle. They'll do it, we'll do it, and so on and so on. Why do you ask?"

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay smirked a little. Stuck with him. Like a shadow, perhaps? No, not that close. But at least [member="Connor Harrison"] was one on her side, and one that she might be able to confide in. Her old self had a confidant, but he's a Jedi. Unless he turned, he couldn't be near her right now. He held memories that were lost to her and the last thing that she wanted was to get him killed. They'd be lost to her forever if that happened.

She gave a sidelong glance to Connor while they crossed the meadow, her eyes then turning to the stars that began to decorate the sky. "I was merely curious of your point of view. We don't think the same way and as I said before, that makes you valuable. You can see things that I can't and vice versa. It's important for a leader to not have their advisors filled with people that agree with them all the time. Remember that and you'll go very far."

She wondered just how far Connor would go to get everything that he wanted. There was no doubt that he would kill. "What skills in the Force do you have already?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor gave a grateful nod towards Kay.

"And to you, I know in the past I may have crossed boundaries, but you were a constant enigma to me. I didn’t know if you were a bounty hunter, freedom fighter, political activist…or now Queen! I still don’t, but that’s the enigma I’ll keep on trying to crack."

He smiled at himself, the thought of all those past meetings from slave camps in baking desert worlds to the heights of Bespin among First Order troops.

"And my ability is basic, in many ways, just focused and attuned. Telekenisis, healing, lightning and judgement. And of course we have the enhanced attributes like strength and speed if required, and also Shatterpoint but that’s not something I’ve touched on for years. Combat come easy to me also."
He thought a moment.

"There’s probably more, but usually I don’t think about it, the body just takes over and the Force helps me survive that little longer."

With that, he turned to the Queen.

"How about you? I always get the feeling you aren’t totally comfortable you’re your Force position. Is there a reason, or…?"

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay smirked a little. So she was a mystery to him. That's what always drew him in. Maybe that's how it worked for others as well. She had an uncanny ability to bring trouble and powerful Force users, whether they were friend or foe.

[member="Connor Harrison"] had more skills than she thought. But he had a very different life as well, so it was to be expected. His gifts were welcomed while hers had to stay hidden lest she lose her job. There were many that didn't trust Force users in power. Sometimes that distrust was deadly.

"I wasn't trusting my gifts because I was weak. I was encouraged to keep them hidden for my political career, but I still had training. It was done in secret, however. I learned how to heal, had plenty of practice with that due to my late husband. He was always on the battlefield and needed my help afterwards.

He taught me some self defence, and I picked up on some others skills along the way from others. But Shatterpoint? I haven't heard about that one."

Kay kept a lot of details out on purpose. He could use them against her some day.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor stopped and leant on a rail, taking in a more sombre reflection from the Queen. He made a note of her conversation while he addressed her curiosity.

"Shatterpoint is a little complex, and I admit I don’t use it often, if at all, but it basically helps you focus on a single weakness, be it in a material item like armour or even a speeder, or a building. Even, at times, a person. You focus on that one weakness with the Force energy to accelerate, rupture and exploit it, and it will fan out and take the whole armour apart, or weapon. Or person. Like a small crack in a pane of glass – find it, tap it and the whole thing breaks.”

Without missing a beat, he folded his arms.

”Tell me about your husband. Was he military or aligned with the Jedi? If you don’t mind, of course, I just am curious about you."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay stopped walking as [member="Connor Harrison"] did. They had arrived at a little observation deck near one of the canyon cliffs. She listened to his explanation of Shatterpoint. It sounded like a difficult thing to master, so it was no wonder that it was so rarely used.

Then he popped the question about her late husband. It had been so long ago that he had died, and she had finally made peace with it. But during her captivity she was forced to relive the circumstances of his death over and over again.

Kay clasped her hands in front of her, looking up at Connor so that she could study his face, rather than at the view of the canyon. "He was dark, training to be a Sith Lord, but I held him back. We were a great team, negotiating between both side so that disputes wouldn't become huge wars. He was a great military strategist and he loved battles. But he knew that I wanted peace, and like a fool he submitted...I was supposed to die that day, not him...At the last moment, he took my place."

 

[Connor Harrison]

He leant on the railing, hands laced gently before him and listened, granting her eye-contact for a delicate subject.

"What happened?”

If Kay had been sitting on this for all the while he had known her, even in service of the Light, it could explain a lot of her actions now and in the future.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay looked at [member="Connor Harrison"] 's fingers then, looking at how they locked together, each one fitting in it's place. She was certainly glad to be outside at this moment and that it was getting dark.

"We were pawns in a powerful Sith Lord's game, my husband and I, a few of our friends. And one too many times we defied him, tried to get out of his game. The Sith Lord let us know how expendable we truly were. It was a fight that seemed to last forever and with four against one, we should have won. But we were all young, far younger than he was. And we were all beaten near death. I was what held my husband back from greatness, but my husband made a deal. I watched as the lightsaber wet into him, saw the life leaving his eyes as he stared at me....The Sith Lord came to me then, knelt down and whispered in some language that I didn't understand."

Her eyes went back up to his, and she shrugged her shoulders a bit as though the whole event was a trivial thing. "Then he was gone. I never saw him again. I hope that I never do."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor offered one of those thin smiles and a little frown, the kind people do to try and show they are sorry to hear of the bad news, but try to understand.

"Well I had no idea you'd had such trauma in the past.”

And now maybe this had all caught up to the present, and her anger and grief had bubbled up to be manipulated by another Dark Lord?

"Do you know who the Sith was who committed this crime?”

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded a little to [member="Connor Harrison"] , rubbing her upper arms as though she was cold. There was still plenty to fear from that Sith Lord.

"Yes, though not his real name. I remember what he looks like, or at the very least, what he chose to let us see. He had the ability to change his appearance. Both of us saw him do it."

It was an evening that filled her with much shame. The Sith Lord disguised himself as her late husband. They were kissing on the couch in their home when her real husband showed up and caught them. It was a wedge that the Sith Lord drove in between them, in an attempt to break them up so that her husband could reach his full potential.

"I don't want to seek Masq out. I'd rather just move on as though he was dead."

 

[Connor Harrison]

Going over his years, Connor tried to recollect the name of the Sith, but it didn’t ring a bell, and he simply shook his head. While he didn’t care much for the past, Kay at least was here and had lived through quite a life-changing ordeal, and one that had blossomed quite recently.


"You have my condolences, but if there is anything to go by, is that you are a natural survivor and you have found your place. And I hope you maintain that place, and don’t let others hurt you the way he did. The Sith, I mean.”

He gave her a little smile and turned back to the canyon.

"It’s all in the past now.”

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay wasn't quite sure which was worse. The loss of her late husband all those years ago, or the hellish captivity that she went through in order to gain the power that she had. Either way, [member="Connor Harrison"] was right. She was a natural survivor.

"You're right. It's all in the past. And I don't ever want to lose this or you. I am just trying to figure it all out and narrow my focus."

She started walking to the edge of the canyon and sat down, dangling her legs over it, looking to the twisted labyrinth below.

"This is what my life looks like...Teists and turns guided by...something."

 

[Connor Harrison]

He gave a shrug to himself, batting off the compliment as she walked to the edge.

"Oh I doubt I’m going anywhere fast so you’re probably stuck with me more than you’d like to be.”

He tried to not look a little edgy as she walked forward, and he took a step, but stopped when she sat. Who knew what a Queen in sentimental torment would do on a cliff-edge. Connor stayed standing and looked over it before them.

"Twists and turns, but there’s always a beginning and an end. No matter what happens in the middle, the way out will always be reached, so don’t think it’s a bad thing you’re facing this now. It’s very early days yet, you must remember that.”

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay smirked a little as [member="Connor Harrison"] let her know that she was stuck with him. That wasn't a bad thing at all, unless they argue too much and end up trying to kill eachother. Anything could happen.

She noticed that he didn't come to sit beside her. That wasn't all that unusual. Some were just afraid of heights. Kay had scared at least a few people by driving over the cliff's edge on her speederbike. But she knew where the rock outcropping lay that led to just a fifteen foot drop.

"So much of my path is foggy. It frustrates me to no end that I can't remember people that know me very well. It puts me at quite a disadvantage. There is one that holds those memories. He showed me a glimpse and I know that there's much more..."

She wanted to find him and regain the memories back. The problem was that he was a Jedi.

There's always a set back.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Thinking of being a use to her, he squatted just beside her, toying with the small pebbles on the ground.

"Who is it?”

Chances are he would know directly, or at least where to direct her.

If it was Silver territory he could have a chance still.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

"My old self's bodyguard and advisor, Veiere. We share a connection. When I came back and imprisoned all of my old Ministers, he negotiated their release."

She shook her head a little. "A young Knight of Ren didn't approve. She said that I made a mistake..." Her gaze looked further ahead in the canyon to where the end might be. "But I think that it was a strategic move on my part. My Master said that I am their weakness, so I will take advantage of that."

Kay looked up at [member="Connor Harrison"] , noting how he was just fidgeting. There was probably a lot on his mind. "Do you think that I made a mistake?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

He continued to pick up, rub and throw pebbles, watching what he was doing.

"Veiere is in Silver space, the snake. Doesn't surprise me, runs off to their sanctuary.”

He brushed his dusty hands.

"And no, I don't think you made a mistake. You made one by trusting that fool, but the Ren? They're First Order aren't they? Who was that?”

The First Order - they were an interesting bunch and pretty inspirational in terms of galactic history.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay couldn't help but defend Veiere's decision. "He probably brought them there to try to keep them safe. But the Commenori don't stray from home for long. They'll be back..."

But at least [member="Connor Harrison"] agreed with her decision in part. So there was no need to bring it up again. Not unless that decision came back to bite her in the butt.

"Yes, the Ren are First Order. They have an Embassy here, and we have one in their capital city. Her name is [member="Samka Derith"] . I think that my old self and her used to be friends. She is guiding me in some small way, so I value her input, even if it's wrong."

She looked to the canyon again, squinting her eyes as she focused on something unseen. "A floodgate has opened. Can you feel it? So much power and Darkness is heading our way. Perhaps it's just curiosity on their part, but it's coming... It's coming straight for us..."

Kay got to her feet, dusting her backside off, her eyes filled with determination and confidence growing in her like a flame. "I need to be ready."