'Tis Some Visitor

[Sal Katarn]

"Darth Osano," Arkaitz smiled faintly, as much as one could under the circumstances.

He sat opposite the masked Darth in a Saaraishash interrogation room. The fact that his hands were not manacled seemed, quite frankly, a miracle. Getting summoned into an such a chamber was never ideal. Usually people went in and shells of people went out.

Thankfully, Arkaitz did not see the black orb of an interrogation droid floating anywhere in the room, so he dared to hope that this was just about some menial matter.

That did not stop him from breaking out into a cold sweat when the masked Darth simply stared at him. His father's protection only went so far. Anyone who knew the Iron Tyrant well enough knew that the Butcher did not care overmuch for the spawn sired from his loins. "I'll find another."

"To what do I owe the pleasure?"

[member="Darth Osano"]

 

[Darth Osano]

Located on Bastion, the Tower of the Eye was a large, bleak tower and something of an eyesore. Aesthetics were not of great importance when designing it, of course. Only usefulness. The tower was to be the nerve center for the entire Eye of Truth, the department of the Saaraishash charged with monitoring the Empire's citizenry for signs of dissent. It was a daunting task and one that Maleagant took very seriously. He especially took things seriously when random elements belonging to other sections of the Saaraishash began detaining people - very specific people - in the name of rooting out treason.

That was his job.

So what this two bit spawn of a Pacanath whore thought he was doing, thought he was playing at, was completely beyond him. But the whore had coupled herself with an Emperor for a refreshing change of pace, so apparently it was not appropriate for Darth Osano to simply snap his neck and feed his body to... Something. Wolves? Rakghouls? Did it really matter what manner of beast consumed the body? It was salt in the wound regardless. For his next of kin anyway. He doubted [member="Arkaitz Zambrano"] would care too much what ate his body, seeing as he would be dead, but now we're getting off track. Darth Osano remained standing in the doorway. He expected this meeting would be short and so had not bothered to sit down. There were more important things to do.

"You detained and interrogated two Valkyries recently. They were not suspected of treasonous activity. You did not prove that they were engaged in treasonous activity. It was not your place or duty to decide whether they be detained and interrogated." Osano's voice was dull and monotonous. Like he was listing off the grocery list of a person who ate nothing but grey paste. Again, better things he could be doing. "You will explain yourself. Then I will decide what to do with you."

 

[Sal Katarn]

"Oh."

The panic set in, along with flashes of hot and cold.

"That."

He had always imagined dying in a lightfoil duel upon some Tapani world. A thrust to the heart, falling dead on the grass beside a gurgling fountain. Surrounded by those few friends dear enough to be called seconds.

Somehow, he doubted the Saaraishash disposed of unwanted assets in such a manner.

Where would they find his body, he wondered. If they found his body. Fed to Massiffs? Dumped in a recycler? No way for a prince of House Zambrano to perish.

The worst of it was, he barely knew this Darth Osano. Some masked figure who had risen through the ranks of the newly reformed Empire. Mysteries did not have weaknesses to exploit. Deprived of his sole defense, Arkaitz decided it would be best to simply tell the truth. Or most of it anyway. Thankfully, there was no footage of the events to countermand him.

"Darth Imperia openly spoke of her allegiance to the Dark Lord in terms that would be loose at best. Treasonous at worst. It fell to me to investigate. I knew the woman had a history of, erm, being uncooperative, so I used the means at my disposal to be sure she was brought in for questioning. Naturally, it would behoove any investigator to follow through on any possible leads, so I took in her known associate Aria Vale as well."

[member="Darth Osano"]

 

[Darth Osano]

To say that Arkaitz had his heart in the right place would be fundamentally incorrect. Not because Osano disbelieved everything the young man just said, but because Arkaitz was a Sith and - on top of that - a filthy, degenerate Zambrano swine. He did not have a heart. None of them had hearts. What a fundamentally correct statement would sound like was "Arkaitz knew how to fabricate an excuse despite already being caught as an incompetent, but at least he was a somewhat passable interrogator."

Yes. A Zambrano good at interrogations. How revolutionary. But seeing as Helpful [member="Aria Vale"] and Blazed-Out [member="Darth Imperia"] had both emerged from their brief detainment with minimal physical and mental scarring, Arkaitz could potentially prove useful yet. Useful Arkaitz Zambrano. But only after a thorough scolding.

"​Did it occur to you that the government apparatus whose duty it is to investigate such claims was already aware of both individuals," Maleagant inquired rather flatly - so flatly it didn't even sound like he was asking a question. "That they had both already been investigated. That they had both already been deemed compliant."

Helpful Aria Vale was indeed helpful, but her activity in the galaxy was sporadic at best. Meanwhile, Blazed-Out Darth Imperia's only claim to fame was the fact that she had been thrashed to a pulp by Thengil Ri'Shajirr. It was difficult to ascertain what, exactly, her business was. She was a peripheral member of his circle at best. In any case, these were not people who were capable of carrying out meaningful seditious acts on their own. Not any good ones, anyway.

He continued, "Questioning the loyalties of the Valkyries, as openly as you have done, was taken as an insult. They have requested you be castrated and forced to serve as their perfumed, eunuch shield-bearer."

It was not a question of whether the Valkyries were crazy enough to make such a demand - it was a question of which one had issued it. Could've been any of them, really. They were just as likely to demand Arkaitz be flogged, drawn, and quartered as they were to turn him into a slave to help them carry their bags out of the shopping mall. Crossing fickle women with the eldritch, corrupting power of the Dark Side generally brought about such horrifying results.

[member="Arkaitz Zambrano"]