House Troubles (Ongoing Story)

Ragious went early and alone.  Sitting in one of the booths of a cantina on Nar Shaddaa, he didn't even attempt to guess at who the slicer he'd been referred to was.  He was once again in something to identify him as Sith, but it was a simple outfit, not the full armor he often wore.

Sheridan Zila walked into the cantina a few minutes before the scheduled meeting time, strolling toward the bar without looking in Ragious's direction. She nodded to the bartender, who immediately poured her a drink and slid it over to her. In return, she slid something across to him, and he gave her a short nod before announcing that he was going to take a break. Once he left, Sheridan and Ragious were the only people in the cantina.

Watching her interact with the bartender, Ragious's lips curled into a grin.  He waited for her to make her move over to where he was sitting before he spoke up, "Well, I must say, you aren't at all what I pictured in my head."

Sheridan's longcoat concealed an array of weaponry, the dramatic red halter top and tight pants wrapped around her shapely curves meant to keep attention away from that fact. She picked up her drink and strolled casually toward Ragious's table, her boot heels marking each step with a soft clack on the floor tiles. She slid into the booth across the table from him, smirking at his greeting. "What did you have pictured in your head? A mousy little thing with glasses or someone covered in implants?"

"Possibly a mousy little thing covered with implants.   I like this much better."  He kept his hands on the table, doing his best lately to not be threatening, to not even appear as such. He wasn't going to give her an opportunity to find some fault in his action.

Sheridan noted his posture as she grinned back, taking a sip of her whisky before responding coolly. "So, you're the big, scary Darth Ragious. I thought you'd be...no, you're just what I expected," she chuckled good-naturedly. "I have to say I have been looking forward to meeting you."

"Really?  You've been looking forward to meeting me?"  He grinned across the table at her, "Probably not for the reason I want but I'll take it nonetheless."

"Let's see how I do, shall we?" she ventured with that air of someone who likes a good challenge. "I knew you were handsome, powerful, and from your war record, you have a pair of durasteel balls. I didn't need to meet you to know any of that. I wanted to meet the man who could make a certain redhead -that- willing to risk everything to be with someone who stands for so much that goes against who she is. I figured there was something I wasn't seeing.

"I mean...you could argue that people will do anything for love - and I couldn't very well argue back, given what I've seen - but not this particular woman. She's got a backbone made of that same durasteel your balls are. Hell, she even scared me a little, and no one scares me - not even you."

"You did your research obviously.  Was that what she hired you for I wonder?"  He looked across the table at her, his smile still quite charming even if it was showing some wear these days.

"Aittera wasn't the only one taking risks, her very presence on the Avenger was a risk for both of us.  As to that way she scares you? It's part of why I love her."

"Why don't we start with what you'd like to know, and then, we can negotiate a price."

"Ultimately I want to know where Aittera is.  Kelri said you did some work for her. I know she is out there, because she sent a  message after one of my holobroadcasts but my people failed to trace it."

Sheridan nodded in response, setting her glass down on the table, her deep brown eyes never leaving him. "Yes, I saw that. Decrypting the source would take months. There's no way she did that herself."

"So who is doing it for her?"

"That's a damn good question. If you find him, would you give him my contact protocol?" She winked. "In the meantime, I can tell you - and only you, by the way - what she paid me to do before she left, as well as give you a copy of the files she paid me to get."

"She knew I would come to you then.  That is what you are telling me?"

Sheridan nodded, and though her expression and demeanor remained laid back and confident, her eyes took on a more serious light. "Did you ever know her not to be at least two steps ahead of you?"

"The very first time we met.  I had the advantage that time."  He didn't linger on it,  quickly moving on "What did she hire you for?"

"Price first. She said to make sure you make this worth my while," she grinned playfully.

"There are several ways I could take you know."  The grin he returned to her was just as playful.  "I have a feeling you know what you want already though."

"Smart man," she chuckled. "There's an algorithm that's used to produce access codes for security clearance to sensitive data. It changes periodically, but the base formula generally stays the same. I'd like to get my hand on the one used for a specific Imperial database. Just so we're clear, this has nothing to do with the war, and I'm not working for the Republic. This is for my own personal use."

Ragious leaned back in the booth and whistled.  "That is something that I can't just hand over lightly.  At least I would need to know more about what you are going to use it to go after."

"Information is power, and in my business, power is credits. I have a way to dig up information from Republic and Hutt sources, but something Imperial would give me the hat trick."

He seemed to consider her request, taking several drinks from the glass of water he had in front of him.  "I can't provide direct access to that information..."  He began to hold up a hand to stop any protest as he continued, "I can however tell you of an automated relay station that someone of your skill could easily access.  You will be able to gain what you seek there."

She grinned, nodding satisfaction. "That will do. Just remember that if this is a wild goose chase, I'll make sure to take payment in a way you may not like. I'm damned good at what I do."

"You have my personal guarantee, if what you seek is not gained from that location I will deliver you my personal access codes to the Imperial holonet."

"You have a deal." She reached into a pocket and withdrew a datapad that she slid across the table. "Just enter the information about the relay station there, and I will tell you everything."

He took the datapad, and entered the location and best approach for breaching the station undetected.  He also entered the times it had been observed to be unoccupied.  He slid it back over to her with a grin.

She took the datapad back, secreting it away in her coat before producing a portable holoterminal that she placed on the table between them. She activated the display as she spoke. "I'm sure you know about the warrant that SIS released. An old associate of Aittera's gave her a heads-up about it, and that's when she contacted me. I'd worked for her in the past, so she trusted me - well, as much as she trusted anyone.

"I tracked down the issue order for the warrant itself and the evidence it was based on." The holoterminal displayed the security footage from the Avenger. "When we first saw this, we thought it came from someone undercover who had managed to secure a spot on your staff somehow. This was placed in an SIS dead drop used for compiling and relaying data collected in the field."

"I won't say that it is impossible that my staff was infiltrated but it is at least improbable.  I hand picked all of the officers, and I always controlled the non military personnel on my flagship."  Still the idea that the SIS had eyes on his ship, even just security footage unnerved him.

"That uniform was for her protection.  It made sure she would pass unquestioned.  She didn't choose it, I did.  And she is no longer affiliated with the SIS, that they think they can continue to control her life will cost them dearly."  He was angry of course, and he let the threat hang in the air.

"Yeah, she explained the uniform, and she asked me to dig a little deeper, because she saw the same red flags you did. The dead drop used turned out to be in a sector in Hutt space, light years away from where your ship was. She asked me to keep chasing that lead at the time, but the other thing that caught her attention was the source of the order - Director Jax Brixen. He was her CO on her last mission for SIS, and she seemed to think that his fingerprints on this is proof of a personal vendetta, but she didn't give me any further details."

"This entire thing feels personal.  Aittera and I have a connection, we always did, she was always so easy to feel in the force and now I can't feel her at all."  He sighed and took another swallow from his glass.

"I don't suppose you know where I can find this Jax Brixen?  I believe his neck and my lightsaber would become fast friends."

Sheridan shook her head. "No, and I doubt it'd make much difference now anyway. I think he was just taking advantage of the fact that the footage fell into his lap. I traced the signal back to its original source eventually, and Aittera was right. It didn't come from an SIS agent."

"Who did it come from then?"

She pressed her lips together, considering how best to answer his question, and in the end, she reached for the holoterminal again to pull up surveillance footage from the street outside Aittera's apartment. "This is from the night before the local port authority logs the last time the Devious Hope left Nar Shaddaa."

The familiar form of Ragious's wife, Kiabe, stalked toward the door, and when it wouldn't open, she forced her lightsaber blade into the lock until it melted away. The footage ended with her forcing the door open and charging inside.

"This is footage from Riukii's system isn't it?" He had a feeling he knew what he was looking at, "I want to see the rest.  And please do not insult me by saying you don't have it."  He wasn't angry, in fact his face had taken on a sadness.  He was Kol Arren in this moment not Darth Ragious.

"I honestly don't have it," she answered apologetically. "It was scrubbed from the system. I can tell you that whatever happened that night, it changed everything. When I saw her before she left, it was obvious that whatever happened had affected her deeply.

"She didn't give me any details," she quickly added, lifting her hand again to ward off that inevitable question. "She knew you would eventually come to look for answers, and she asked me to convince you that she was dead, but when I saw this, I realized that  there was more to it. Then, when Blue said you had told her that Kiabe was dead, I thought maybe Aittera was trying to protect someone. Knowing what I know of her, it's probably a list of someones that includes you and herself."

"That was the night my wife died."  Ragious offered a smile to Sheridan he didn't want her to think this was going to be something he grew angry over.  "If it was scrubbed did you do the scrubbing?"

If she was relieved when he didn't react angrily, she hid it well, though she imagined he could feel the uptick in her nerves through the Force well enough. She shook her head, answering honestly. "It wasn't me, and it was done so well, even I couldn't figure out who'd done it. Believe me, I looked. Very few people are good enough not to leave some kind of print behind - and I'm damn good at finding those traces."

"It's not fair.  I can't even bury her.  No body.  I can't return her to her home.  My wife and I spent decades sparring with each other.  Our entire marriage was spent challenging each other in some way."  He took a drink, swallowing hard.  It was probably to give him time to recheck the emotions that ran so deep in him.

"After seeing this, I feel that Aittera killed her and the only thing I am angry about is that I am not angry.  I loved my wife, I love Aittera.  That footage tells me Kiabe died in battle and I can not be angry about that.  What I can be angry about is being robbed of the chance to give my wife a goodbye appropriate for her."

"I know you're not asking for my advice, but I'm going to give it. Search the local medical facilities. Body dumps rarely take place far from the scene, and this clip suggests the scene was here on Nar." She spoke in the quiet support of one soldier speaking to another.

"Thank you, I will try that."  He offered her a smile, truly grateful for the way she had regarded him.  "You've never thought about switching sides have you?  You've been invaluable, and I would give you anything you wished for you to work with me."  It was a long shot of an offer he knew, but he was genuine in his regard of her skills, and that he would likely give whatever she desired if she would join his staff.

Sheridan smiled back. "I'm happy where I am, thanks. I think I see it now, though."

"See what?"

"Why she was willing to compromise everything that she stood for for you."

"I never asked for that, by the way.  I will never ask her to do anything against her personal beliefs."

"Maybe, but you had to know what it would do to her reputation and her credibility. She burned a lot of bridges to be with you."

"And I vowed that I would make up for each and every one.  That I would be there for her, and that's what I am doing.  I must find her, and if I have to have my forces cut through every single SIS operative until they retract that vendetta they have on her, I will."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck, sincerely," she offered as she fished a datastick from a pocket to slide across to him before putting the holoterminal away. "That's your copy of everything I have."

"Thank you, truly.  Keep my offer in mind, if the Republic ever becomes too constricting I can guarantee you the highest of freedoms to pursue what you desire in the Empire."

"Oh, I don't work for the Republic anymore. I'm with a PMC, and I've got the freedom to pursue any side contracts I like."