Eye of the Needle (D0, The Saarai-kaar)

[Shaisha Vreysk]

"We should be there in less than 20 hours or so, my lord," Anthy said as she came back into the loungeroom from the cockpit. The table was absolutely covered in the entrails of mechanical doodads that Jitter was working on, and Shaisha was watching the Jawa's work with a rather bemused expression.

"Excellent. Any word from Paz?" the Sith said with a small nod and glance to the rookie, leaning back comfortably in her seat and kicking up her feet.

Anthy produced her datapad. "Paz and the others will be in place when we land. Apart from that, he's got a file for you on other names who will be attending the peace summit." The file was passed from her datapad over to Shaisha's, and the female Sith picked it up to begin glossing over the list.

"... That's a lot of familiar names. Feels almost like I'm going to a school reunion." She murmured, then suddenly paused in her scrolling through the files. A few moments of silence passed, before she got up on her feet. "I will be taking a personal holocall in my quarters. No interruptions, unless the ship's on fire, or my master is on the line."

---

Shaisha took a deep breath as she readied herself. It had been nine months since she last spoke with her foster-brother, and while they had parted on improving terms, their last weeks at the Academy had been a rollercoaster-experience for the Terrible Trio. She had kept some tabs on him, but there was not a whole lot she knew about what he had been up to.

With a final deep breath, she dialed Sylvain's personal holo.

[Sylvain Torsin]

Sylvain was chatting with Asra about the specifics of Nar Shadaa as Layne sat brooding in a corner when his communicator started to beep. Looking down at the identification he smiled slightly.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to take this." He bowed to the other two and headed into his cramped quarters.

He plugged his communicator into the hologram system and accepted the call.

"My dear sister, I had a feeling you'd call. It's lovely to see you again. As beautiful as ever."

[Shaisha Vreysk]

The female Sith stood with a straight back, the kind of natural pride that fell easily to one raised in the home of a noble family like the Torsins. An open black robe draped from her shoulders, revealing the well-tailored clothing underneath. Her hair was down and unbound, its faint curls framing her face and arms.

"Brother," she nodded with a polite smile, which soon turned into an impish one. "Wish I could say the same. You seem like you've seen better days. Baras keeping you from your beauty sleep?"

[Sylvain Torsin]

He chuckled, "If he were the only thing keeping me from rest I think I'd still manage to look a bit more handsome than I do."

He brushed his hair back as he stood in a bit more relaxed posture, "How is your trip? Should be arriving in the next 20 hours or so no?"

He smiled knowingly.

[Shaisha Vreysk]

One of her ridged eyebrows perked up.

"Not taking kindly to you playing that sort of games with me, Syl. Been stalking me in the shadows since Korriban, but never called?"

[Sylvain Torsin]

He chuckled, "Hard to call a woman who disappeared off the face of the galaxy, no?"

[Shaisha Vreysk]

Shaisha is silent as she seemed to consider something.

"You had many more months before that," she said finally. "But, not like I called you either, so not going to berate you too much for it. Though you noticed I left... curious. Are you keeping an eye on me for sentimental reasons, or for your master?"

[Sylvain Torsin]

He chuckled, "Already starting to conflate my master and me are we? Seems you must have taken quite a liking to Vowrawn if you're wondering about where my loyalties lie."

He smiled, "Sentimentality is perhaps one way of saying it. But that's such an ugly word for the bond that we share."

[Shaisha Vreysk]

Shaisha smirked. "Vowrawn is an interesting Dark Lord, I admit. But you know I am only teasing you."

"So you'll be touching down on Nar Shaddaa soon too for the peace summit." It was not a question, of course. "Kris will be there too. Would be nice if the three of us could get together again."

[Sylvain Torsin]

He smiled and nodded, "That would be nice. I seem to remember a certain young Sith I know has some type of important event on the near horizon."

[Shaisha Vreysk]

"Oh shush you," Shaisha waved off the remark with a grin. "We can look at that when the day comes. Work first, alas."

It had more or less become the motto of her daily life under Vowrawn; work hard, party harder. And the two overlapped way too often.

"Speaking of work, an invitation ticked into my inbox not many hours ago. From an Anhel Rolm." Her fingers curled against her chin as she looked at Sylvain. "You got one too, yes?"

[Sylvain Torsin]

He nodded, "Wants to meet at the get-together once we arrive."

[Shaisha Vreysk]

Her arms crossed over her torso.

"Your assessement?"

[Sylvain Torsin]

"I doubt it to be a friendly talk. I'd assume he sees us as potentially dangerous and is possibly looking for a means to assess us himself." He replied coolly.

"He is somewhat well protected from what I can gather. His sister is Malgus' apprentice and will be present on Nar Shadaa." He tilted his head.

"I'm guessing more than us though, he probably fears Kristal. To all but us three and Baras, my father and his demise had nothing to do with these people, but Kristal's father... that is an entirely different matter. I assume he knows of our ties with her or there would be no reason for him to send us both a message."

[Shaisha Vreysk]

"So it might be likely he would attempt to aim for Kris through us, yes," she murmured.

"He's not a Sith, so we should be able to turn his gambits to our advantage. And from what I've heard about Lord Haydriss, she might not seek retribution if something were to happen to him."

[Sylvain Torsin]

He tilted his eyebrows, "Oh? What have you heard?"

[Shaisha Vreysk]

"She seems distant from her family. Left behind the Rolm name. Hasn't been seen in public with them... well, at least since I started going to all these social affairs the past months. Could of course be that Malgus is keeping her too occupied," she smirked as she aired her thoughts on the matter.

[Sylvain Torsin]

He nodded, "It is probably best to think of her as a liability until it can be proven otherwise. You, Kris, and I haven't been together in nearly a year and yet there is still nothing I would not do for any of you if you were in danger. She is a mysterious woman; difficult to predict. Perhaps one of us could have a discussion with her at some point in the near future?"

[Shaisha Vreysk]

"Hm... that, or get others we know to feed us information on her. Any of us three could perhaps draw too much suspicion. Lucky for us, there's going to be familiar faces at the summit."

Her left hand idly brushed against the extended ridge from her jawline.

"What do you know of this Anhel? Haven't encountered him before, but you were always the more social one of the two of us at these social events."

[Sylvain Torsin]

Sylvain nodded, "A people pleaser. One who attaches on to others of importance, but lacks any true ability himself. He is a noble, so he will be well-protected. I'll have my men look into his past a bit more. From what I can tell through my experience, I'd say he probably has more than one skeleton in his closet."

He put his hand to his chin, "I doubt he had much say in the coup, but he is perhaps the best living thread we have to unraveling more. Figuring out who put him up to lying about Moff Serasai and figuring out who this woman is that attacked Kristal's mother is imperative. From what I can tell among the chatter, she is not Baras' agent... in fact she concerns him."

[Shaisha Vreysk]

"Probably," she nodded as well. "I suspect they must have been counting on me turning to my father at some point to culminate the plan fully, but Anhel seemed to have been part of the plan to make sure there could be no thing left to chance..."

It subject irked her, and it showed on her face. At least enough for Syl who knew her well to pick up on it.

"A woman who is a concern for Baras? Now this is new..." Shaisha perked up a little. "Care to elaborate?"

[Sylvain Torsin]

He tilted his head, "Unfortunately there is not much I am able to say. Not because of my relationship to my master, but because I have been left out in the dark on this one. Baras maintains many of his closest plots and plans near himself. I only hear occasional communique which come through my office about the woman 'Magpie' who he seems to be interested in finding."

[Shaisha Vreysk]

"Hm..." she cocked her head to the side.

"I will have a word with my people when I arrive planetside. The name is not unfamiliar to me, and working with Section IX, we could get ahead of Baras on this one."

[Sylvain Torsin]

"Perhaps. She has gone dark for a few months now. If you find anything let me know... she too holds some piece to this puzzle and if we are to bring justice to those accountable, then we must see the entire picture." Sylvain nodded.

[Shaisha Vreysk]

Another nod.

"It will be good to work together again. You, me, and Kris. Will be just like old times on Dromund Kaas. Vowrawn's letting me stay at his private penthouse on Nar Shaddaa, so we'll at least have one place away from everyone else if we need it."

She grinned and gave him a wink. "Though your master might not approve of it."