Private White Chicks

[Maeve Linahan]

As Cora performed her little mind trick, something Maeve hadn't even considered to begin with, the Force began to wind its way through the librarian's thoughts, her very will, fighting to compel her as it would to many. It should've more than sufficed. But strangely, the older woman's eyes did not magically glaze over, and neither had she fallen under their spell.

"I don't know what it is you're trying to do," the librarian said, before reaching beneath the desk and retrieving a small, ornate key. "But as long as you have faculty permission, fine. Just leave me a moment's peace, please. I am trying to read."

Handing over the key to Cora, the librarian settled back into her cushioned chair and eagerly returned to her novel, burying her nose into its sticky pages. Maeve was a little stunned by how easily she'd given it up. Even more so by how incredibly resistant her mind was. She could only thank the Force that the woman was too distracted to bother dealing with either of them.

"Uh, thank you?" Maeve said, retrieving the key. As she spun around and walked across the library, she cast Corazona a sideways look. "I'm not sure how it is you've been so lucky since we arrived here, but whatever it is, keep it up."

She raised her head. Upon reaching the forbidden section, where an iron-wrought gate stopped them short of proceeding, Maeve plugged in the key and twisted, eliciting a painfully long croak of metal. Her nostrils flared. The air was heavy with dust and that old, book smell as she entered. The place might've been as ancient as the archives on Coruscant. It was vast, too.

"Great," she murmured. "Now where do we begin?"

Corazona von Ascania​

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's breath hitched heavily in her throat. She held it there for an uncomfortably long amount of time as the irritated librarian scrutinized her. Panic wormed its way into her mind, tightening her expression and almost trembling her legs.

What had she done? Did she really think she had the skill to pull off a mind trick?

Even though the Force hadn't persuaded the librarian, the result was the same. Cora exhaled audibly and flashed the woman a bright smile.

"Thank you!" She chirped. "We will not disturb you any longer!"

With that, the Padawan practically skipped behind Maeve, before realizing that she must've looked rather silly. Instead, she tried to emulate the Shadow's more purposeful steps.

The quasi-complement caused her cheeks to flush pink. "I chalk it up to that…novel she was reading. I've never seen such a thing."

There was something satisfying in the metallic groan of the old gate, in the scent of aged paper and glue and dust. Cora breathed it all in, filling her lungs with musty air, then sneezed.

"Oh-" She paused, lips twitching sheepishly as she dabbed at her nose with a monogrammed handkerchief that had inexplicably appeared from her pocket. "Excuse me."

Fortunately, there was a terminal in the corner of the hall, framed by towering shelves lined with texts and tomes. "Maybe we can begin there? It might help us narrow our search."

Gingerly, and with a grimace, Cora wiped back the dust from the keypad with her sleeve. "This section doesn't appear to be…particularly well maintained." There was an edge to her voice as she spoke, but the ancient library still retained some charm.

Fingers moved slowly, tapping in a few keywords carefully.

sith artifact fertility naked woman statue

"So…" Cora ventured, watching the terminal screen flash and flicker as it trawled through the catalogue. "How did you come to be with the Jedi, may I ask?"

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

"Good. Novels like that are only rot for the brain. You would be wise to steer clear of them in the future."

Maeve entered the forbidden section of the library, waving away the dust in her face with one hand. What natural lighting bled through the atrium skylight did very little to dispel the archive's oppressive gloom. High and overflowing shelves surrounded them on all sides, and with the iron gate at their back, it was like they'd walked into a different world, where shadows lurked and swarms of book lice roamed.

Thankfully, she and Cora didn't have to scour through it by hand.

As the Jedi Padawan directed them to a dust-laden terminal, Maeve stared deadpan at the flickering screen as she typed into the search bar. A long stretch of silence passed between them, broken only at Cora's attempt to make conversation.

"It is not a pleasant story," Maeve warned, but continued besides. "My family was murdered by Sith cultists seeking to harness my connection to the Force. So, I murdered them in retribution and escaped. I was found by a traveling Jedi Master not long after and have been serving the Order since."

Maeve wore a blank stare as Cora scrolled slowly through the catalogue. After another long, painful moment of quiet, she asked, "How about you?"

Corazona von Ascania​

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Rot for the brain.

That thought rolled around in her head as silence settled between the pair. Cora was dead set on Maeve never discovering her own literary preferences, because she found the Jedi Knight cool and wanted to be liked by her.

"O-oh." Blue eyes grew wide upon hearing Maeve's origins, and she instantly regretted asking. Not only was it unpleasant to hear, but she'd prompted Maeve to bring up such terrible memories.

Why couldn't she of been scooped up by the Jedi as a baby?

"I'm sorry about your family." Cora's voice had lowered to a somber whisper, but even that seemed to echo in the stillness of the ancient archive.

Silence lapsed between them for another uncomfortably long period.

"I, er, was sent to Coruscant by my family when Ukatis began to seriously pursue membership with the Galactic Alliance. As a show of good faith, it seems."

Previously, Cora had thought of herself as a representative. In reality, she'd been more of a gesture, especially given that Ukatis had been under the protection of the Confederacy of Independent Systems before their exit from the galactic stage.

Still, she didn't sound bitter about it at all. Cora had been quite excited to join the Jedi Order.

"…oh!" Squinting, Cora peered closer to one of the results.

"Extragalactic Artifacts of Virility," She read aloud, cheeks turning pink. "…by Kiva Droshare."

"That sounds…isn't that the lady professor Tumaz mentioned? The archaeologist?"

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

"Don't apologize. They died years ago and I've made peace with the fact."

A lie. The voice of her father, her mother, her baby sister—they haunted her dreams for many nights, begging her to come home. Maeve had heard their screams when they died. Felt their life bleed out through the Force, one by one, like guttering candles in the dark. But she'd taken comfort in knowing they'd been avenged, and still were being avenged.

Every Sith she murdered, every wretched artifact she cleansed or shattered, was another offering to their graves. It was why she became a Shadow. Why she was so resolutely stubborn on retrieving this fertility relic, no matter how harmless it seemed. Nothing good could ever come from the Dark Side.

"So, you were something of an ambassador," Maeve said, breaking out from those darker thoughts as she looked on to Cora. "I think you make a better Jedi."

If she looked closely enough, Cora might've even caught the ghost of a smile on her lips, but it was there and gone in an instant as the book they'd been searching for came up on the screen. Kiva Droshare. "Yes, she's the one," Maeve said and squinted at the text's location. "Let's find her."

With a determined whirl, Maeve cut a clean path through the archives. Much of the section was not listed in alphabetical order, but categories. So, she was scarcely surprised when she found Droshare's book implanted in a shelf full of other... related books.

Despite her superior senses, she found it difficult to see in the dim light and plucked the first familiar-looking text she found. She lifted a brow. "Who the hell is Lady Velvet?"

Corazona von Ascania​

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora could only give a slow, careful nod to Maeve. Death was a tricky subject—at least for the younger blonde. Family was, too.

Her lips did manage to work into something a muted smile at Maeve's next comment about her making a better Jedi than an ambassador. Cora worked hard at her Jedi training so it was a nice complement to get.

Over the next few seconds, she began to wonder whether it really was a complement, or a dig at her being a poor diplomat.

She wouldn't get the chance to express that thought further before Maeve lead the way with Cora trailing eagerly behind. While the Knight began her own search for the book, the Padawan busied herself with the texts on an adjacent shelf.

"Who the hell is Lady Velvet?"

Cora's body stilled, rigidly so. Her veins turned to ice, chilling to her core. How could one simple question elicit such a dramatic response in her?

Fighting back her instincts to clamber up the nearest bookcase and leap from an open window, she turned around and feigned a look of innocent confusion that promptly went up in flames at the sight of a displeased Maeve holding a copy of Taming the Devaronain Devil.

​

"I-I haven't the faintest idea." She sniffed, cheeks rosy even in the dim light. "That novel looks like absolute filth. Certainly it belongs in a section that is much less…" Cora's lips peeled back in a grimace. "...restricted. Perhaps in an area where commoners of all walks of life can enjoy it."

"Erm, I mean, where they can...partake in such indecent works if they so choose. Which I, personally, would not recommend if you were to ask me!"

She topped it all off with an awkward, pathetic little laugh.

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

Maeve squinted at the novel's cover and shuddered. "Just what nonsense is this?"

She thumbed open the book and came upon a random page, heavy with prose and descriptions far too detailed for her liking. Her jaw unhinged. "Mother of Moons," she murmured under her breath, her mind unable to comprehend what her eyes were seeing. "How is he... what is he…? Is that even possible? Asha's Light. Who would be so shameless as to write something this depraved?"

Perhaps it was not so terrible, but for Maeve? She found it appalling. Romance and passion were alien concepts to her and reading a book as steamy as this one was like the equivalent of her cracking open an ancient tome of the Dark Side. It was unspeakably foul. Repulsive. Worse, it was tempting.

She slammed the novel shut. "No. Absolutely not. A book like this should never see the light of day again." Maeve shoved the copy of Taming the Devaronian Devil back into the dark hole it came from. Still too paralyzed with shock to have noticed Cora's suspicious behavior, she moved on to the lower shelf. "Such writing can only be the work of a Sith."

Maeve cast the padawan a warning look. "I pray you never have to suffer reading such a text. I fear you would not survive it."

Corazona von Ascania​

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Oh, n-no you don't have to…"

Cora reached out in a pathetic attempt to stop Maeve, but she was already cracking the book open with a sneer. In their short time together, Cora discovered that the Shadow was not known for pulling her punches.

And each review hit her like a well-placed sucker punch to the gut.

"D…depraved??" Cora's entire face flushed as red as the Devaronian's skin. She was clearly embarrassed, but not for the reasons Maeve was likely to think. Sure, some of the scenes were steamy, but artfully so!

Clearly the Knight was not a fan of heaving bosoms and gratuitous moaning.

What she said next caused Cora's throat to tighten to an uncomfortable degree.

"Y-you think that a Sith wrote that?" She squeaked before her throat bobbed with a visible swallow. "Do…do Sith even like romance?"

The blush was spreading down her neck and collar now.

"Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad!" She waved a hand with a watery smile, almost trembling. "It may not be your style, but I'm sure that there are plenty of people out there who can appreciate such light-hearted yet intimate stories."

Turning back to the shelf, she bit her lower lip and hovered her fingers across a row of dusty titles.

"O-or so I can imagine!"

Before she could dissolve into a puddle on the library floor, Cora's eyes flared in recognition.

Extragalactic Artifacts of Virility

"Oh, I think I found it!" She chirped, hurriedly pulling the book from where it rested between two other nondescript texts. Wiping a layer of dust away with her sleeve, Cora's nose wrinkled as she cracked open the book and thumbed through the pages.

Not all of the pictured artifacts were as tame as the nude statue, inspiring new life into her previously subsiding blush.

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

"Sith are known to lack restraint over their own desires. The tradition may be outdated, but centuries ago, the Jedi Order once believed that attachments could lead to the Dark Side. It would only makes sense if the Sith indulge in such… perverted behavior."

Maeve waved a dismissive hand. Before she could explain further, thankfully, Cora had discovered what they were looking for among the dusty shelves, ending the subject. Problem was, Droshare's book proved to be just as vile, if not worse, than Lady Velvet's. Maeve alone could tell by the dumbstruck expression Cora wore on her face.

"Good grief." She snatched the text away. "Stop gawking."

The Jedi Padawan might've been more than old enough to learn the facts of life and what the texts contained, but Maeve didn't feel quite comfortable to let Cora's eyes roam so freely over its pages. She was still Valery's apprentice. Better to leave such a responsibility to a qualified, mature...

"Cockroach's shit," she gaped, eyes almost falling from her sockets.

Maeve had visited a wealth of morally bankrupt Rim worlds and Sith temples, but she'd never witnessed something quite like the vulgar images captured in this book. Her jaw nearly dropped. If she was capable of flushing red, her face probably would've been bright as a radish.

Swiftly, she skipped back to the index and searched for the exact page where the artifact would be found. A sigh of relief escaped her when she did.

"Here." She leaned the book towards Cora. "Now it is safe to read."

Corazona von Ascania​

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

An indignant squeak escaped Cora's throat as Maeve seized the book right from her hands. The eldest of eight, she was usually the one taking things away from her siblings when she'd deemed them too young or inexperienced for whatever the item in question may be.

It was hard to keep her smug look entirely at bay when Maeve expressed similar surprise at the scandalous images. One corner of her lips twitched upward ever so faintly, but she got that under control by the time the text was back in her grasp.

"See, I'm not a baby." She almost drawled before clearing her throat and refocusing on the page.

Cora exhaled a relieved sigh when only the image of the nude statue stared back at her. In a sort of horrifying revelation, she realized that it was comfortingly familiar in a sea of utter filth.

"Let's see….the Venus of Korriban was unearthed in…"

Ever the dutiful student, Cora didn't skip out on the details of where and when the statue was first discovered. Her pointer finger skimmed along the text, voice slowing down when she reached something juicy.

"...believe that this artifact, when touched by a sentient capable of bearing children, drastically increased fertility. How this was achieved is uncertain, and the mechanism of which may alter depending on the species in question and their own unique reproductive mannerisms. For most humanoid species, this item increases the length of the ovulation cycle, allowing multiple eggs to be released in succession--"

Sliding a finger beneath the page, Cora turned it over, blushed like a tomato, then immediately turned back to where she'd been reading from.

"W-well, I think that tells us all that we will, er, need to know, right?" Her tone rose higher than usual, rounding off with a hopeful note.

"So...which one of us has to touch that thing?"

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

The longer Cora went on, the more Maeve's mood soured.

"Wait, what?" she said, and relieved the girl once again of the book in order to read it herself. She scoured the pages from top to bottom. What were the odds? The Force worked in mysterious ways, but this—this was irony at its worst.

"The Force certainty does have a sense of humor."

Maeve slammed the book shut. Dust spewed out, which she blew away with one exasperated breath. "There is no guarantee wearing gloves or wrapping the artifact in a curtain will be enough to shield you from its powers and I will not risk you laying hands on it. Not when I'm here. There's no reason why I shouldn't be the one to touch it."

"It won't... effect me the way it will you." Maeve hesitated. Perhaps it was too much to admit, but Cora at least deserved an explanation, if only to serve as some comfort.

"I—" She cleared her throat awkwardly, "—had my womb removed."

Maeve set the book back onto the shelf. "Bleeding and cramping I found irritating, sure, but the thought of ever bearing children frightened me. I don't like them. I can't imagine raising them. I am Jedi Shadow, and as long as I live, I will stay one." There were a great deal of mothers in the Order, like Valery, who balanced between her family and her unswerving loyalty to the Jedi, but Maeve was not like them.

She could never be a mother. She spent too much of her time hunting Sith.

"Come on." Maeve waved a dismissive hand, as if to dispel any gloom or tension her words might've unwittingly produced. "We should head back. Tumaz may be heading to lunch soon. We can sneak into his office, find what we need, and be done with this nonsense."

Corazona von Ascania​

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora's brows knitted in confusion, but soon her eyes flared owlishly in surprise. Then, she sneezed as dust particles from the book flittered around her.

"You…don't want to be a mother that badly?"

The Padawan came from a world where her entire life had been scripted for her. She was the daughter of a Viscount, and as such, it was her responsibility to marry well and produce children. Still, that was quite a ways off. Father had insisted that she finish her Jedi training first in order to make her a more attractive marriage candidate.

It was all in the future, the distant future. For that reason, Cora had something of a rose tinted view on marriage and childbirth. Her husband would be equal parts dashing and gentle, and she adored children, so she took no issue with the ending that had been written for her.

To think that someone would despise children enough to remove their womb was unimaginable for her.

"I…sorry. That was rude of me to ask."

Cheeks flushing in embarrassment, Cora begrudgingly conceded that Maeve did have a point. Children were chaotic, and could make the work of a Shadow far more difficult.

When Maeve gestured for them to continue on, Cora remained motionless. Her mind was still trying to process everything the Knight had said. The younger blonde shook her head as if she'd been slapped.

"Right. Right. We have a task ahead of us."

The pair exited the library, and began retracing their steps back to the lecture hall, which sat adjacent to a row of faculty offices.

"I…don't mind touching it, you know." Cora trotted beside Maeve. "It's not as if the…effects will be anything I can use presently."

Her cheeks still flushed crimson at the mention. Perhaps it would be better for Maeve to be the one to retrieve the weird little statue after all.

Eventually they came upon Tumaz’s closed door. Cora knocked politely, but no answer. A quick glance through the glass side pane revealed an empty chair at a tidy desk.

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

"You're fine. It is a harmless question."

"Children are a living nightmare and I've never had the desire to settle down or start a family. I still don't. So, better if I'm rid of the ability to spawn more of the little monsters. No more bleeding. No more worrying." She raised her chin, almost proud. "You should consider the procedure as well. It would give you the chance to focus on better things."

Forget the fact that the procedure was considered risky for younger women. Maeve had been barely seventeen when she'd had it done. Not many doctors in the Core had been willing to perform the surgery, but out in the Rim? Anything was possible.

As she marched from the library and down the now busy hall, crowded with gossip and laughing students, Maeve cut her way to the faculty offices. As Cora attempted to keep up with her, she waved a dismissive hand. "Absolutely not. The effects may not work now, but down the line? Would you really risk giving birth to quadruplets after your first time?"

"It's already dangerous enough to have you around. There is nothing to say Droshare's study of the artifact covers everything. Just you being in its general vicinity may heighten your chances of... child-bearing."

At a turn, they arrived at Professor Tumaz' office. Empty. Only problem was, a locked door stood in their way, the doorknob rattling as Maeve attempted to enter. Her hand shook, as if jolting it enough would open it. When that failed, she settled for the next best thing.

Maeve gripped the doorknob and tore it out.

The door groaned as she pushed it aside. The move was not very much in line with her work as a Jedi Shadow, but it would have to do. She didn't have the time to try and tease open the locks and neither did she have the care to phase through it. She just wanted the artifact dealt with.

Corazona von Ascania​

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[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora almost balked at Maeve. Better things? What could be better than one's own children?

A lot, according to the elder Jedi.

The Padawan had barely caught up with Maeve, just falling into step beside her at the mention of quadruplets.

"M-my first time? But I-" All traces of color drained from Cora's face and she bit her lip. "Quadruplets? That's...I can't imagine I'd be able to...urk." Her voice squeaked awkwardly at the image of her trying to carry five babies at once. Valery had triplets, and even she was quite...rotund as early as her second trimester. The Jedi Master had a stronger, taller build than her as it was already.

Maeve wrenching the knob from the door swiftly chased away thoughts of childbearing, replaced by the alarm on Cora's face. She'd expected the Shadow to be more discrete, and the younger blonde found herself kneeling on the floor, chasing the little screws and springs as they tumbled to the ground. She hadn't the faintest idea of what to do with them, so they were slipped into her pocket for the time being.

Tumaz's office was meticulously organized. Alphabetized books lined the shelves, and papers were stacked neatly on his desk.

"He certainly keeps things tidy." Cora murmured. "I bet he's the type to notice if one little thing is out of place."

Wrapping her hand around the latch of a drawer connected to his desk, Cora slowly pulled it open and peered at the contents inside. Office supplies were arranged in immaculate rows. After some careful prodding, Cora slid the drawer closed and attempted to swallow her uneasy feeling at being a criminal. Technically, stealing was a crime. Maeve didn't appear to be burdened with the the same troubles.

The next drawer contained a mixture of benign personal knick-knacks and work related items. One in particular stood out, an ivory carving that hearkened back to their first lesson of the day with Wayland.

Cora simply stared, eyes wide.

"I am not touching that." She said softly, and closed the drawer.

The third and final drawer, as she soon found out, was locked.

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

"You're moving too slow. Who cares if the man notices we were here? I've already stolen his doorknob. It's irrelevant what more we…"

Maeve's words trailed away as her eyes landed on the ivory carving in the second drawer. Her face pinched in raw horror. What she'd seen earlier with Wayland paled in comparison to this particular artifact. Worse, it looked used.

"Ashla's Light," she mutttered. "What is wrong with this school?"

As Cora moved onto the next drawer, finding it locked, Maeve wasted no time. Like she had with the door, she cracked it open through brute strength, splitting wood. Caution mattered not. She spared little time in searching for the object. It was all she needed.

Gratefully, the small and naked statue was the only thing stored inside, laid out in a velvet red cushion like a cradled newborn. The sight of it made her scowl.

"It's even uglier up close," Maeve remarked sourly.

She picked up the artifact and tucked it into her bag. If it was supposed to have some kind of effect on her, she didn't feel it. Her ovaries had long been removed and left to rot in a Denon trash chute. No amount of Sith magic would harm her, and she prayed the same went for Cora.

She sighed. "We have what we need. Let's just go before—"

Steps echoed down the hall outside. Familiar footfalls, the same as when Professor Tumaz had entered the classroom only an hour ago. Dread pooled in her gut. The universe certainly seemed to have it out for her and she cursed under her breath, scouring madly for avenues of escape. There was none. No windows to lunge out from. No side doors.

She turned to Cora and cast her an apologetic look. "Sorry."

Then, Maeve vanished into thin air. A ghost. Thanks only to the Force Cloak technique Valery had taught her, she melded into nothing, and as a result, she left Cora standing alone in the dark, moments from being caught red-handed.

Corazona von Ascania​

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora was appropriately horrified by the reappearance of the weird little statue, and simultaneously relieved.

"Indeed." Was all she could croak out as Maeve secured the artifact. It disappeared into her bag just as the echo of footsteps on linoleum reached the quiet of the office. Despite there being nearly a dozen doors dotting this side of the hall, their instinct seemed to be mutual. Tumaz. Perhaps it was the work of the Force.

"Sorry?" Cora repeated lowly, as confused by the apology as she was by the look of regret on the Shadow's face. "What are you—oh!"

She was gone. Disappeared without a trace, both visually and in the Force. Cora could only stand there, stunned and red-faced. Terror, embarrassment, and anger burned her throat like bile.

She was so getting detention for this.

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

The footfalls ceased. On the other side, Tumaz attempted to grab at the doorknob only for his hand to pass uselessly through empty air. His brow creased. Anyone could sense his bewilderment through the closed door.

"What the—?" he said and slowly pushed open the door.

Cora had made no attempt to hide. Of course, there was hardly anywhere to hide. Cowering behind the desk might've seemed a good idea but the girl was like a griff in headlights. She stood frozen, paralyzed. Exposed.

Tumaz jolted at the sight of her. Hand to his chest, he instinctively reached for something in his bag. A weapon, perhaps. "Palpatine's tits, who are you? What are you doing in here?"

In the dark, Cora was merely a silhouette. A shadowed face with bright, golden curls. For a long moment, no one spoke. Surprise rendered the man speechless. No doubt Tumaz thought he was hallucinating, perhaps thinking it was a trick of the light, but it didn't matter. By the time his face sobered and realization dawned on him, it was too late.

Maeve stepped out of the air behind him and cracked the doorknob over his head.

Corazona von Ascania​

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

As Tumaz pushed open the door, a sliver of light from the hall cast a ghastly shadow against Cora's pale features. After he gasped, the two could only stare in baited silence. Cora hoped that if she was quiet and still enough, the ground beneath her would simply open up and swallow her whole.

Before that could happen, a loud clunk sounded from the vicinity of Tumaz's skull, and the Chiss professor fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap. Standing above him was Maeve, and the doorknob of fate.

"Gracious," Cora mumbled as she scampered around the unconscious teacher's body. "You could've—instead of—"

The lecture died on her tongue when she turned back to the scene before them. A broken door and a passed out Tumaz. It didn't reflect great on them.

Cora shook her head and inhaled sharply.

"Let's go!" She hissed, hurriedly pushing Maeve with both hands.

Maeve Linahan

 

[Maeve Linahan]

"He's fine."

The reply came shortly at Cora's utter shock. Burglarizing and assaulting an innocent professor on school grounds was far from behavior expected of a Jedi Knight, but did Maeve care? Not really. Tumaz was depraved. Between the ivory carving and fertility artifact, she wouldn't have been surprised if she found vials of his bodily fluids stockpiled in cold storage somewhere in his office.

Nudging Tumaz's crumpled form with the toe of her boot, Maeve shrugged. She had struck him with the doorknob hard enough that she prayed it would erase whatever memory he had of the whole altercation, but nothing was guaranteed. Just as long as he tried not to hunt down the artifact or pinpoint Cora's face, they'd be alright.

They had the artifact. What reason did the Jedi Council have to complain?

Before she could say more, Cora furiously ushered her from the room. Blank-faced, Maeve cast a glance over her shoulder as they strode back into the hall, towards a side exit where they both would be able to flee the scene and head back towards their shuttle.

She wore a puzzled expression. "What? Did I do something wrong?"

End Thread.​

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