A good fight deserves a drink [D3, LA]

[Layne Hoshin]

"I don't get paid the big bucks for my youthful enthusiasm."

[Sylvain Torsin]

"Looking at your ship, you don't get paid the big bucks at all." He said in a teasing tone.

[Layne Hoshin]

"Yeah? How big is *your* ship?"

[Sylvain Torsin]

"You mean the Imperial Cruiser being named after my family? Substantially larger than anything you have ridden in the past year." He said with a chuckle.

[Layne Hoshin]

"That's not your ship though."

[Sylvain Torsin]

"Not yet." He said with a smile, "But our master has plans for both of us."

[Layne Hoshin]

"If you think that involves giving you your own cruiser, you're going to be very disappointed. Far too big of a waste to give it to someone who won't even use it."

[Sylvain Torsin]

He smiled, "We shall have to see what he intends then won't we?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"Yeah right. You're just as much in the dark as I am. Admit it."

[Sylvain Torsin]

"Would you like the true answer? Or the one you commanded me to give?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"If you know what his plans are, then by all means. Share the truth."

[Sylvain Torsin]

"I prefer living." He replied.

"Prepare for fecal precipitation."

[Layne Hoshin]

She sighed. "Why tease and then not share? What, you think I'm going to tell on you? Those days are in the past."

[Sylvain Torsin]

"Of the two of us, only one has tried to kill the other."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Please," she poured herself another drink, shaking her head. "I never tried to kill you. All I did was encourage someone to get even. It was nothing."

[Sylvain Torsin]

"Once again... dodging responsibility for your actions." Sylvain replied.

"Baras intends to reshape the Empire in his image. The overhaul will not be minor. It is best to learn as much as you can about subterfuge... you'll need it soon."

[Layne Hoshin]

She shrugged at the comment about responsibility.

"If I'm going to need subterfuge, it'll be too little, too late. Those are dangerous games to play anyway. There's always someone better at it than you. Little boys and girls should know when they're outmatched. But they never do."

[Sylvain Torsin]

He chuckled, "I'm assuming that's a comment about me."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Consider it valuable advice. The kind that'll keep you alive. We're barely out of the academy. Neither of us is going to outplay a Darth with this little experience. Doesn't matter how many of your friends you bring or how clever you think you are. Revenge isn't something you rush."

[Sylvain Torsin]

"I didn't know I was rushing anything..." He replied.

"Do you have intel on any plans I'm running that I'm not aware of? Cause if you know I'm planning something, then I'd like to know what I'm planning... it seems I should be... planning for it or something."

[Layne Hoshin]

"You're not the only one who can guess at things, Sylvain. It's fine, whatever. Keep your secrets. Or let me think you have them when you're really a sinless saint. And whatever you do, don't take my advice. You never have. I'm just the dumb, untrustworthy attack dog after all."

She was only a little intoxicated.

"Everyone's always rushing things. Zash and that smug asshole apprentice of hers. Both promoted before their time, and that'll come back to bite them hard. You wanting to take down Baras so you can have your moral reforms or whatever. Hell, Thaine was barely older than we were when she decided to go her own way. So I had to cut her down. Nobody in this damn empire of yours seems to have a proper sense of timing."

[Sylvain Torsin]

Sylvain stood up and put a hand on Layne's shoulder. Looking down he said, "Layne, you want to know what is going on? Come with me to my room."

He looked sternly, "Before you make some comment about flirting or some other flippant remark... just think... is it worth making Sylvain shut down and refusing to talk to you about what's going on? We just need a private place."

[Layne Hoshin]

For a moment, she looked like she was going to break that hand on her shoulder. Then for quite a few more moments, she seemed to consider whether to say fuck it, lets make a flippant comment anyway.

And then finally, she stood up.

"Fine."

[Sylvain Torsin]

They walked to the elevator in silence and to the door of his room. As they walked inside his apartment Sylvain allowed her to enter while he locked the door.

He motioned for her to sit and took a chair up next to her. "Layne... I don't know how to say this... and ever have you believe me. Our master is powerful... he has his hands in many of the most important matters of the day. He offers great reward and has great power which he can confer to his apprentices. But essentially of all the most powerful lords in the Empire... he is the worst master to have. His position is a vicarious one... especially at this moment."

He shakes his head, "Baras intends to kill the members of the Dark Council and set himself above them in a new position directly under the Emperor. He has hindered the work of our military throughout the galaxy for the past several years, allowing the Republic to take advantage over us in many sectors of the galaxy. He murdered my father and placed an incompetent fool as his Grand Moff who has done nothing but lose time and time again over the past year."

He continues, "He deliberately weakens those around him, leeches from them their strength, power, and ability to fight against him. He has done so with you as much as anyone else... leading you along, using you, and giving you nothing in return. His promises are great, but ultimately they are hollow. He has spent many years preparing his plots, slowly building the powerbases he will need to accomplish his aims. They are approaching a critical mass... just as he told us aboard the ship. It is possible that soon he may have the power to do what he has wished to do for some time... but that still does not mean that his promises are any less hollow. He will continue to enslave you, lead you along, and suck your power from you even more so if he succeeds in his plot. That is the man he is..."

[Layne Hoshin]

She was quiet as he spoke. Just sat there and listened. For once, not making faces or commenting the way she normally did. And when he finished speaking, she was quiet for a while longer. Finally, she crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and leaned back.

"What, you think I didn't know he was a manipulative bastard who'se just using me? He's a Sith, and he's an imperial. Kind of comes with the territory."