Nar Shaddaa

After leaving the pits of Shadow Town behind Kristal found herself enough time to dress herself appropriately for someone of her station once again. Stepping into her Cantina of choice she found her way back to the familiar bar and ordered herself a drink. Sitting on the stool as the usual Mandolorians and worshipers of the former milled about she pulled up her communicator and typed away her coordinates to a number she wasn't sure would actually receive the message.

All she had to do after that was wait...

“Not exactly a high class establishment,” Cipher-3 says as he takes a seat next to her after about twenty minutes of waiting.

“Mandalorians, effective but crude.”

"They stick to a code of honor, that part of them I find I can respect," she commented as he took a seat beside her.

"As far as the establishment, well, I appreciate a location that I can trust no one cares what I have to say to another out of sheer curiosity. "

Cipher-3 shrugs and then waits for the purpose of this meeting to reveal itself.

"You are not a man who I imagine allows himself to remain idle or be caught off guard," she opens up the start of her request.

"With that said, would I be wrong in assuming you know what is about to transpire on these streets... somewhere on this cesspit of a planet? What is at stake?"

“I have a general idea though I suspect you have a more specific focus in this matter than gang wars and corporate espionage,” he replies.

"Have the whispers of the one they call Magpie made their way to you yet, or have you been far too busy... enjoying your work?" she asked, looking over to him as she leaned against the bar top.

“Watcher 5 has tried to reign me into that bloody mess, I try not to get involved in Sith power plays… at least directly. Let me guess you are now involved with this mess?” he says motioning for the bartender to bring him a drink.

“My advice is to walk away focus on something easier, like teaching the Dark Council how to love.”

Kristal stifled a laugh into a chuckle, "Darth Baras, the intended target, is the man who most likely orchestrated my fathers frame," she said, raising her hand with a flick of the wrist to signal the bartender to bring one for her as well.

"He is also the man that Darth Marr has tasked me with learning the true fate of, and if given the opportunity keeping alive for the good of the Empire."

“Now this is new, a Dark Lord of the Sith showing concern for another lord of the Sith. Well at first I just thought this would be boring but with a twist like that, count me in, what do you need?” he offers.

"First, I would ask of anything you might have heard of the situation. Any chatter you might have come across that you deem of importance?" she asked, starting at the easier portion of the tasks ahead.

“Well I know your friend Shaisha has been involved with chasing an agent named Magpie and an order just came down from the top to make catching Magpie our primary focus which has made my job more complicated,” he responds.

"Then allow me to offer you the chance to make your job easier," she said, setting the stage as she enjoyed doing.

"Darth Baras is alive, that I am certain after speaking with his other apprentice, Layne Hoshin. Perhaps it is merely my own thoughts of the man extending from subtle pieces of the woman's demeanor but I believe she knows her Master is alive. Follow the apprentice, find the Master."

"Once we know where Darth Baras is, we know where Magpie will be. Give me his location and I shall extend Marr's protection," she offered.

“Layne Hoshin,” he says with a laugh.

“In hindsight that seems terribly obvious. Like hiding in plain sight; I will put my resources to task. Chances are Watcher 5 may already know if you can stand working with him.”

"I can suffer it, if need be," she said with a light irritation to her tone. Though she had considerably worked off the annoyance he had caused her. "Given an opportunity I will meet with him again to ascertain that fact."

"Though," she said, looking more directly to him, "it will be good to see you doing work that actually benefits the Empire," she teased.

“You wound me, everything I do is in service to the greater good of the Empire, it’s the Sith politics that complicate things. It’s always this lord or that lord trying to better their position and screw over the rest of us,” Cipher-3 counters.

He takes a drink and says, “But, comes with the job. We have a great retirement package though.”

"As you have always told me Cipher, and yet the only thing I have actually been able to witness is your own attempt on my life," she said back, taking a drink to hide the smirk.

"A grave without a name?" she finishes with a smirk.

“I am not even sure we get graves. Usually they dispatch a Cipher agent to retire the old Cipher agent. Not that I know from experience,” he says grimly.

“That was not my best moment, but the mission was accomplished. I am just a dutiful servant, one day I am toppling a political state another I charged to destroy a beautiful friend. It’s a living.”

“I am still waiting for the moment that Kristal Serasai saves the Empire, you should hurry that along if you want to compare impact on the dominance of the Empire.”

"If I act too quickly I might startle someone who tends to send Cipher agents to do their jobs, once again," she said with a knowing look.

"Your line of work is not of a world I am accustomed to, even if your abilities you dispatch are often admirable enough. It remains something I would do away with, if that were at all possible," she said honestly.

“But then how I would get my daily bread?” he says with mock offense.

Kristal smirked at the response, "I am certain a man of your caliber would manage to find other work he is competent at. Though, you might not have all those fun toys I am certain you've grown accustomed to."

“Well if your goal is to eliminate espionage then you have far loftier and perhaps more unattainable dreams than I had originally thought. You seek to change the very nature of the Empire, you looking to become the Empress, my lord,” he says dubiously.

Waving her free, hand she eliminated any truth from the words as she spoke, "Not Cipher, I do not have those listed among my true goals. Some Sith do not believe they can change the entire Empire in their image. I will certainly settle for seeing it back onto a proper, healthy, course."

"What's a healthy course?" he counters.

"One that does not see Intelligence assets being used against our own, loyal, populace," she says with the touch of something relevant. "One that does not have good and loyal men and women of the Empire losing their lives so that someone less apt may take their place in a greedy pursuit of power. Where good, honorable service to the Empire is always rewarded with praise and recognition instead of with a knife in the back and wrongfully being remembered as a traitor."

Taking a drink Kristal paused, allowing a moment to settle, and said in summary, "An Empire that can sustain itself."