Private Two Ladies and the Tea

[Ingrid L'lerim]

The Red Witch (Ingrid L’lerim)
The Red Witch; Emperor's hand; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard ​

Location: Tea Shop, Alteria/Anarris
Equipment: BCR-X10 Sniper Rifle | 2x vibroblade (hidden) | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | Simple light armor, modified Tactical Turtleneck | Holographic disguise matrix | G1 OmniLink
Tag: NPC Treasury

”Her friends, she was there with them on the planet. If she didn’t try to stop them, it would make her just as guilty as if she had pulled the trigger.”

She jumped off the roof where she was and walked over to the woman completely calmly. As she walked, she carefully and slowly took out and activated a holoprojector. On the device was the footage that the rebel woman had sent to the Empire earlier, threatening them. And Ingrid played it for Kay.

When Cyril motioned for Aya, the woman nodded and retrieved her banner, standing as proudly as she could where he indicated, in case this transmission was an image as well as voice. "This is Lady Clarke, of House Clarke, to deliver unto the Empire 'Eternal' a message. Though this is but a small post, your end at my hand has begun here. With but a few, I have done what should take many, and with many I shall tear your empire apart brick by brick. Your defiance to fate will be punished. I await the arrival of your bright future's Eclipse eagerly."

”You can keep it, examine it if you want, the recording was not manipulated, others, they later saw your daughter in the company of this woman, in one place. It might not hurt for you to chat with her to pick her company better.”

If Kay wanted, she gave the woman the holoprojector, and then stepped back a few. It also indicates that she does not want to harm the woman in any way.

”Again, everything is ordered by the Emperor, he can only bring up what he did. Do you know that if someone says otherwise, they will be executed? It is a military dictatorship. You continue to project only your personal problems into an entire state and only see fault in them, no one else. Everyone is evil just because they are trying to survive? Don't be naive, no one is innocent. But you can be calm, I won’t hurt you, I won’t touch you or your son. Today. Next time, who knows what the future holds. Take it as a warning, raise your daughter, or you and your son will pay the price for her actions.”

​

 

[NPC Treasury]

"No. Being there doesn't make her guilty. How do you know that she didn't try to stop them? You don't because you weren't there."

Kay looked to the projection as it was displayed, furrowing her brows as she listened closely. When it aas finished, she took the projector from Ingrid L'lerim in hand. "I don't know of Aya Clarke . But it appears to me as though it's a personal vendetta that she has against the Empire and you're using the first circumstantial evidence you can find to pin it on my daughter. Lori's a better person than you think."

She shook her head as Ingrid claimed that no one was innocent. Of course she didn't believe such a statement at all. It was an absurd notion. And what was worse was when Ingrid threatened her and her son. "Don't threaten my children. It is not up to you to punish them. Nor do you have the right to use us to punish her. We are not your citizens or your property." But anyone can bet that she'll speak with her children after this. She had to. There was no other way.

Kay knew that she could attack Ingrid of she wanted to, but she decided not to. Now wasn't the time and this wasn't the place. But the future was sure to be filled with opportunities.

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

The Red Witch (Ingrid L’lerim)
The Red Witch; Emperor's hand; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard ​

Location: Tea Shop, Alteria/Anarris
Equipment: BCR-X10 Sniper Rifle | 2x vibroblade (hidden) | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | Simple light armor, modified Tactical Turtleneck | Holographic disguise matrix | G1 OmniLink
Tag: NPC Treasury

”If she had tried to prevent it and failed, would she have worked with such a person later? I think you get the answer no.”

In fact, the profilers also came to the conclusion that the girl would not work with such a person. The nice thing about the situation was that if Loreena wanted to clear herself of these accusations, she would have had to give up and get in trouble for everything else. So, even if she wasn’t in it, she was still in trouble because one way or another, she was breaking the laws of a state.

”If you were right and she wasn’t in it, wouldn’t it be time to clarify these? Anyway, I noticed that every rebel has a personal vendetta because something violates their sense of justice and they can’t live by the rules. Only in chaos.”

After she spoke, Ingrid tilted her head slightly to the side. Luckily, she could look at the picture in big and see what was wrong and what wasn’t. The same was true of legality and outlaws. She understood that many were unable to accept a military dictatorship, but there were other methods.

”Well, neither does your daughter have the right, as an outsider, not a citizen, to threaten or even take action against the citizens of a state or Empire. There are two sides to the coin, lady, but you also typically forget that the rules and laws apply to you. What would you have said if someone had begun to break, crush, threaten during your Commenor rule because they didn’t like what you represented and wanted to change the planet in their own image? You would consider him crazy, a terrorist and act against him with the force of the law, right? The Eternal Empire does nothing else. The other side…”

Here she waited a few moments for the woman to respond to her words.

”There is also a legal way to rebel, to protest peacefully. Your daughter chose extreme and aggressive terrorists. That says a lot about it…”

​

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay didn't have all the answers when it came to Lori. Especially as she wasn't around her much since the girl was fourteen. Instead she went by what her family and friends told her, as well as how the girl was while growing up.

"And how exactly is she to clarify things for herself? I know what your trial systems are like. It's a sham. It's built so that justice isn't blind, but narrow minded instead." Kay knew from personal experience. "One doesn't have to live under a military dictatorship-styled government to have rules. Not everything outside of a dictatorship is Chaos." Again she spoke from personal experience. Commenor and the CSA had rules and did quite well for itself for decades.

Kay listened further to Ingrid L'lerim and very nearly drummed her fingers on her arm. "From what I gather, not every world wants to be taken over by a military dictatorship. It is their right to say no and not your right to take over them anyways. The people have a right to defend their homeworld from you, and get help to do so. Just as you have the right to defend your own from others trying to occupy it. I have already gone through a hostile occupation of Commenor by the Sith, which was all a political move to ensnare my niece. With the aid of allies we were able to liberate ourselves and stop the destruction of our home."

She paused for a moment as she listened to Ingrid again. "Peaceful? I highly doubt that you'd ever listen and bow to the wishes of a people carrying placards and shouting slogans of wanting freedom from oppressive rule. I saw the footage from Bakura. Everyone was rounded up in the square and slaughtered. Even infants. Don't even pretend to tell me that those that don't even know how to walk or speak as they are barely in their first year should be labelled as violent terrorists that deserved to be executed as those on Bakura were. Acts like THAT are a part of what drives people to rebel against you."

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

The Red Witch (Ingrid L’lerim)
The Red Witch; Emperor's hand; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard ​

Location: Tea Shop, Alteria/Anarris
Equipment: BCR-X10 Sniper Rifle | 2x vibroblade (hidden) | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | Simple light armor, modified Tactical Turtleneck | Holographic disguise matrix | G1 OmniLink
Tag: NPC Treasury

”And again, you project your own experience onto a system. The fact that the head of said state had a personal problem with you cannot stamp an entire state!”

Yes, it bothered Tacitus that the woman had called herself Empress in Zakuul, just because of the name match. Ingrid would never have cared at all. If she had gone through it, the woman would still have been an Empress. She knew that the Emperor was not perfect, but that was why the man had the right hand to help as a counsellor and try to have better insight. She didn’t always succeed, but Ingrid never went after her personal views, for her the prosperity and stability of the Empire came first.

She noted that the woman evaded the answer as to what she would have done if someone had acted against Kay's system on Commenor. This was the easiest thing to do, but the silence was like accepting the answer and nodding in approval. There were no counter-arguments to it, just the Sith attack, again. And Bakura. Can they wash this shame off of themselves? She wasn’t there, if she’s there, it might not happen.

”Bakura was an unfortunate event that should not have happened. Anyway, it’s interesting, but did you also notice that there was never a massacre in places where the Emperor’s Hand is also there somewhere? In fact, have you heard that she even let her daughter leave one of the planets?”

She wasn’t trying to set herself in a better light, these were just facts. Whenever possible, Ingrid always tried to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, as well as war crimes. In her view, wars are fought between soldiers. Once civilians get involved on purpose, it’s already a assassination war, but that ones not done in public, this is why they called them assassination war.

”You speak as if millions or billions are rebelling, instead of a few thousand terrorists… ridiculous. If they rebelled as much as they believed, they should have shaken the rule of the Eternal Empire from themselves long ago.”

​

 

[NPC Treasury]

"He didn't come after me on his own! He came in full force and not only captured me while I was enroute home from a diplomatic mission, but he had sent others to Zakuul to kill my government and helped fund the efforts of First Order remnants to attack and blow up some of the cities. This wasn't the case of one man against one woman. It was one Empire against another..." And once there was no sign of Kay trying to take the lead of some other Empire or government, she was left alone.

"No. I don't think that the reports are detailed about who exactly show up to the takeovers. And no, I didn't hear about Lori being allowed to leave somewhere." Kay lowered her arms, no longer standing so defiant but instead choosing to reflect instead. "It's been some time since I had spoken to my daughter. The last time that I saw her was when I let her and my son know that their Dad had been killed." That wasn't exactly a happy visit. Yet both her children were more concerned about her than they were of themselves. It had taken months for her to get over her grief, yet she was much better now.

She frowned a little as Ingrid L'lerim continued to misunderstand her. "How do you know of how many are against being ruled by the Eternal Empure? How many people fight back when the Empire expands it's territory? Do you give them the chance to leave? Or trap them? Why do you not let the planets vote for themselves and see if they wish to fly your banner? In that way you might get a true vision of whether or not there'd be a resistance to the Empire arriving."

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

The Red Witch (Ingrid L’lerim)
The Red Witch; Emperor's hand; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard ​

Location: Tea Shop, Alteria/Anarris
Equipment: BCR-X10 Sniper Rifle | 2x vibroblade (hidden) | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | Simple light armor, modified Tactical Turtleneck | Holographic disguise matrix | G1 OmniLink
Tag: NPC Treasury

Ingrid was never surprised that her Emperor sought the graces of the First Order, as they were quite similar to each other. So it was no wonder that it was in their former territory that the Eternal Empire also had the opportunity to acquire new territories after they came out of the CIS. The red-haired woman was not so familiar with this war, but Kay’s words told her much.

”Oh, no, this is not an empire against the empire. It's personal. From your words, I have come to the conclusion that you are unfamiliar with the concept of the War of the Assassins.”

War is usually pure unless dirty things are used in it. But it’s basically clean, even if most people never recognize it. In contrast, Assassin War is never. It's always dirty and can't be explained. The person who grows up in this will never forget. Ingrid will never forget either. She nodded to the next, she had also heard of that duel between Prazutis and Arenais, the fight had a pretty big reputation as two very prominent people fought that duel.

”Then talk to her, she might be behaving so irrationally because she lost her father and couldn’t get over it.”

Ingrid was lucky, they were alive, all of them. However, not a person who was important to her, but she had to kill him before he was used against her and her family. The first person she loved. Then she vowed never to fall in love again, she fell for this twice in fifteen years, falling in love with her targets both times, whom she might as well have had to kill. Tubrok Ragal and AMCO . But this was not too important or relevant this time.

”Well, you don't seem to know the Empire system. It may be a militaristic state, but people have the right to vote. Anyone who has spent two years in the military can vote. In addition, most of the worlds, as I have seen as bounty hunters, are planets where the First Order previously ruled. Compared to their system, the Eternal Empire is a less oppressive regime. Not to mention that slavery is not recognized either.”

​

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay folded her hands in front of her, now no longer in a defensive mode. It was clear that for the moment Ingrid L'lerim wasn't a viable threat. Besides, she was gaining much from the conversation at hand.

"No. I haven't heard of the War of Assassins. Is that a part of why you're after my daughter and my family? To continue that war? Or is it just revenge for her actions agains the Empire?" Ingrid was more than just a bounty hunter. Kay didn't quite know who she was, yet she knew that she was more than what she seemed.

"I will talk to her to hear her side of things. But you misunderstand me. Citizens of a world that you choose to take over shouldn't have to wait for two years before they can exercise their right to kick you out. BEFORE you decide to take over a planet, it is better to see if your regime is even wanted in the first place. Rebellions don't just happen. Planets don't just bow down to the first Empire that comes to them. Letting the people choose, letting them have the freedom to leave will only help in the long run. Otherwise they'd only feel themselves to being prisoners in their own homes."

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

The Red Witch (Ingrid L’lerim)
The Red Witch; Emperor's hand; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard ​

Location: Tea Shop, Alteria/Anarris
Equipment: BCR-X10 Sniper Rifle | 2x vibroblade (hidden) | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | Simple light armor, modified Tactical Turtleneck | Holographic disguise matrix | G1 OmniLink
Tag: NPC Treasury

”Oh, not really. If that were the case, you would be dead with your son. There is no warning in that “game”. Probably your entire tea house would have been blown up with you, your employees, and the guests in it. Last but not least, it is always a pleasure to see someone suffer and wrestle.”

She said the last sentence with infinite satisfaction and almost pleasure, and even let the other woman feel it from her. Of course, it wasn’t true, it didn’t give her pleasure, but rumours could be heard about the Red Witch enjoying her work. So she had to confirm this to see if the woman had a relationship who had heard of her before. And of course, Ingrid was perfectly able to play these when she had to.

However, she did not intend to explain why not everyone gets the right to vote. She had already seen that this woman did not live among the realities. She didn't know if she was crazy when her husband died or if she had been before. But it didn't really matter. But by now she was really pretty sure that the woman couldn’t accept anything that wasn’t happening the way she wanted to see it.

”You live in a dream world and not in this reality. Your beloved faction, where your son is, they also swallow planets if the planets want it, if not. What you want is the system did not work in the time of the Republic. It would be time to wake up. I’m starting to feel like Darth Prazutis has done your husband a favour by killing him, so at least he doesn’t have to live with you anymore and endure you, he doesn’t have to listen to these nonsense. That’s probably why your kids aren’t with you, too. Killing you would be salvation for you, a much greater punishment is if you survive or I let you live…”

​

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay's calm and relaxed demeanor changed once Ingrid L'lerim gave her a veiled threat. Instead it was moreso one of shock and disappointnent. "It wouldn't be the first time that someone took glee in watching me suffer..." She had gone through it a few times at least. More often than not, her enemies used it as a tactic to get her to bow down to them. But she had no position of power for any of them to try to use for their own goals. She was just a mother and a tea merchant.

"My faction?? I'm not a part of any faction or government. Don't think that because my son is--" Kay had interrupted the woman but then stopped to let her continue. Yet she had wished that she hadn't. The harsh words that Ingrid spouted cut into her like a knife, although she tried to hide it. Having only recently been trying to get over her grief, the months since Veiere's death had been difficult to say the least. "That's not true. You don't know my family as well as you think." Was it all a ploy to get information from her? She couldn't tell. Either way Kay just slowly balled her hands into fists while speaking quietly. "I think that you should leave...."

 

[Ingrid L'lerim]

The Red Witch (Ingrid L’lerim)
The Red Witch; Emperor's hand; Director of Blackwatch; Baroness of Vengard ​

Location: Tea Shop, Alteria/Anarris
Equipment: BCR-X10 Sniper Rifle | 2x vibroblade (hidden) | Viper Mk. I Skinsuit | Simple light armor, modified Tactical Turtleneck | Holographic disguise matrix | G1 OmniLink
Tag: NPC Treasury

It didn’t even matter to Ingrid that Kay was no longer a high-ranking person or influential. The most important thing in the present situation was that the woman was a mother. The threat wasn't really for her, it was for Loreena. To the Emperor's Hand Kay was nothing more than a statistic, a tool that could be used to accomplish something. It didn't matter if the woman was a living thing or not. After all, it was for a single purpose, and Ingrid's plan was probably different from the ones Kay had dealt with.

”Maybe, but this will be different this time!”

She said with still satisfaction in her voice. And the sequel is good that Kay let the red-haired woman say what she wanted. She almost felt that she could have stabbed her “opponent” in the heart even with a knife, so for what she came she did it successfully. All that was left now was for the woman to notify her daughter, possibly her son, who could walk into the trap and everything would be perfect. She just nodded to the part that it was time to leave, ignoring the words before that.

”Yes, you're right, but this was not our last meet!”

As she said goodbye, she nodded in the direction of the woman, then stepped back a few. After the third step, she reached into the Force and disappeared from Kay's eyes using the Force Cloak ability. Now no one could see or perceive her. She did the task, the machine continued its work, now she just had to wait for the results. She waited a few more moments and then left the tea house and its surroundings, there was no reason to stay here anymore.


// Thank you very much for the great game, again! //

​

 

[NPC Treasury]

Different, yes. That was for sure and certain. Kay wasn't going to be the one being punished, but to be used to punish her daughter. That is if she was found again.

As Ingrid L'lerim informed her that they would see eachother again, Kay merely nodded. "I'm sure it won't be...." Yet at least the next time she might be more prepared.

It was more than a few minutes after Ingrid disappeared in place before she turned and headed back inside of her shop. She needed tea and badly. And she needed a clear mind before she could approach this situation that her daughter and possibly her son were in. This was no time for a brash response. She needed to be smart.

And she needed allies.