futurology | (voice) un: ren

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(voice) un: ren

[Kylo Ren’s voice comes through the magitek a few hours after the chaos of the ambush has evaporated.]

I have discovered some information of importance that may aid us going forward.

[Look at him, being a team player. He has grown up so much. (No he hasn’t)]

As it turns out, our terrorists are not affiliated with the colors they wear. I was able to determine that they acted alone, without the instruction of the Empress of the Crashing Wave.

I believe an unknown third party may be attempting to escalate tension in order to incite civil war between the clans.

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[His eyelashes are beautiful, thanks. Also, because speaking at text is weird:]

There was no interrogation.
It would have drawn suspicion, hence the minimal information we have at our disposal.
She confessed, and was taken by a guard. Presumably to serve out her sentence as a criminal.

A confession of her own free will. How remarkable.

We should speak again. In person, if you have the time.

Very well. I've taken residence in the commoner's district.

[Because its way easier rooming alone rather than trying to find a woman to room with in the noble's area.]

Expect me to arrive shortly.

[And true to his word, he does— still wrapped in the finery that had guarded him during his time in the noble's district, having opted not to change for the sake of visiting Ren sooner rather than later.

His fingers rap at the door on instinct; there are no mechanical devices in this world meant to announce an arrival, after all.]

Lord Ren.

[The door opens seemingly if its own accord. Kylo Ren sits on his cot, dressed in commoner’s garb. His noblewear is folded up on the table. It becomes clear after a moment that he’d opened the door using the Force.

Lord Ren. He doesn’t miss that address.]

You wanted to speak with me?

[It is as much of an invitation inside as a request for information.]

[There is no formal reciprocation of Thrawn's greeting from Ren. He draws no attention to its absence, but there is a faint mental note that accompanies it regardless— a natural comparison between one Emperor's enforcer and the distant successor to that role.

The door is slid tightly shut behind him, checked once for security's sake: what they speak of here should not be overheard.]

I did.

[Red eyes sweep the room once, and then, with consideration:] Were you harmed in the attack?

No.

[A partial lie. He was still nursing a horrible bruise in his already tender side, from where he had been struck with the bowcaster bolt -- its impossible to tell, from how straight he sits. But it would fade -- there was nothing to be done about it now.]

A few miscreants with fire would need a little more than the numbers they had to do any damage to me.

[Even without his lightsaber, and the Force.]

[He says nothing, but his stare fixes silently on Ren where he's settled— pausing for a moment to fully evaluate the other man's posture, searching for signs of weakness or injury.

Eventually, (and likely to Ren's relief) he moves on from any current scrutiny.]

Yes, of course...

[Arms clasped behind his back, Thrawn tips his head towards the nearest closed window, as though briefly distracted.] Then let us get to the core of the matter: I find that insurgents are often times embers too easily stoked. There is a momentum to their motivation that needs only a single spark to act as a catalyst.

In your opinion, how likely was the agitator you captured to be of local origin? Specifically the Mountain Clan itself.

I agree.

[Kylo Ren lifts his head to watch Thrawn cross his room, but does not get up himself.]

Likely enough. If there had been an opportunity, I would have asked for the guard's opinion. But it was difficult enough to avoid suspicion, given that I was alone in the middle of it all.

[That is definitely a lie.]

I find it more likely to be the Mountain Clan, because of the logistics involved that would allow the Sea Clan into the festival in the first place.

[But since they have no evidence either way...]

However, someone had mentioned seeing a Sea Clan emissary present in the village.

[It draws him back in, Ren's recount of what had transpired; information combined with his promise that he was uninjured, and that he faced at least more than one assailant at the very least.

One brow arches sharply, the silence between them is thick for the shortest of breaths.]

Alone? Against so many of them?

[Oops.]

You misunderstand me.

[Not so much in that he did not think his responses through, but he can reroute them easily enough. He hopes.

He shifts forward to relax some of the pressure on his injury, elbows resting on his knees.]

My information was obtained after the chaos departed. A sound decision, given some of the responses I received after relaying my information to the rest of the guild.

How interesting. It has been quite some time since I found myself making such fundamental mistakes when communicating with a member of your species.

[Thrawn doesn’t blink when he says it, his voice walking a line that rests painfully close to the dryness of Tatooine without ever fully crossing it. He sounds serious. He sounds apologetic.

He looks unreadable.]

A shame that my personal aid and translator is not here to assist in facilitating this conversation.

But by all means, please continue. [Lifting a finger, he adds:] Slower this time, so that I might fully understand exactly what happened.

When the initial attack occurred, you were...

[There is something about this conversation that digs at him, clawing at insecurities he'd thought he had long since buried.]

It doesn't matter.

[His reply is instinctual, falling back to his usual defense when he did not want to linger on details. It only worked on the Supreme Leader because there were more important things to worry about other than this feelings.

He isn't sure it will work on Thrawn.]

You wanted to know how likely it was that members of the Mountain Clan were involved. I do not know. I only know what I read in the brief moment I had contact with them. They have a powerful hate for the Empress Nama, and believe her to be false.

[It is not an attempt to stall on Ren's part, it is an outright distraction— as abruptly executed as any that Governor Pryce herself might employ when her back is nearing the wall. For years she has offered him clear vision regarding the signs of stubborn uneasiness, and for years he has patiently endured the limitations of a political hierarchy that does not permit any sort of direct interjection from him.

Yet this time he opts not to argue.

There is something else more attractive in that dismissive segue. Something worth pursuing.]

Explain.

[False in her claims to the throne, false in her leadership, false in her very presence, there are so many possibilities, and to assume would be entirely foolish.]

[Ok. Good. No need to die on that hill today.]

They did not believe her claim to the throne was legitimate.

Due to her heritage? [Thrawn inquires, thinking specifically in regards to her lack of it.]

The Force did not reveal such details to me. I was only able to glance before the guards approached.

Edited 2018-01-24 22:11 (UTC)

I see.

[It is the last drop of relevant information needed in regards to their aggressors, noted and filed away; Thrawn anticipates he'll need to look elsewhere to fill in the gaps that now remain. Of course, that leaves only one remaining matter to be addressed.

Thrawn's posture squares where he stands, leveled directly at Kylo Ren. There is no mistaking it.]

Was it Rey that was with you in the Merchant's District during the attack?

[Thank the Force he's not looking directly at Thrawn when he casually drops Rey's name.]

No.

[That lie is easy. Thrawn doesn't actually have any authority over him, and so there is no reason to fear retribution should he catch him in said lie. But he does look up with slightly narrowed eyes of his own after he's delivered it, because he wants to know:]

What made you think so?

[Surely Rey had not told him, even possibly not knowing he was an imperial agent. Surely she did not waste his time like that.

He has to know if he's been making all this effort for absolutely no reason at all.]

[Narrowed eyes, a stricken posture— Ren clearly did not expect to be confronted with her name, nor the accusation he thought he'd so narrowly avoided earlier being brought back to the forefront of their conversation.

He may also be lying.]

During our first meeting I chose to withhold the name and description of my informant in the hopes of protecting her from any...loyalist resentment. [After all, Ren's own approach at the time had been acute and invested, his attention sharply focused on determining whether or not Thrawn had truly met the woman.] Imagine my surprise when I was instead met with curt elusiveness on your part during subsequent inquiries as to your relationship with her, particularly when you were so helpfully forthcoming with the names of those in the Resistance already situated here.

[He meets that narrowed stare, watching to see if Ren might understand exactly he's revealed before Thrawn opts to show his full hand.]

An evasiveness that I now have noted only seems to surface when I broach topics that you do not wish to discuss in detail.

[It takes him a second to swallow everything that Thrawn feeds him. Somehow, he'd manage to talk himself into a corner without saying almost anything at all. It'd be impressive, if it wasn't pressing in on all of his various insecurities.

So he stands, to make himself look bigger. It takes him a second to straighten, but his frown only gets deeper. It becomes clear that he is a man used to being heeded, and someone who thrived on intimidation as much as he did on his own power.]

Usually, when I've made it clear that I don't want to talk about something, people stop asking.

[His right hand flexes, and then contracts back into a fist. He's debating his next move -- he could mind trick him, erase this entire encounter and start over. That's the most attractive option.

Or he could wait for Thrawn to move on from the idea himself. The latter was less work, and less of a guarantee that it would not come back to haunt him.]

I will permit you one last question on the topic of Rey. And then, I do not want to hear you mention her to me again.

[He really really doesn't want to talk about anything to do with her, agreement or no agreement.]

[Ren stands, and in a rare moment the two are of equal height and similar stature— no uniform heels or armored tunics acting as an imposing pretense. There is silence. The air is still, and Thrawn's glacial features remain still and unaffected by the ultimatum now being delivered in barely concealed anger.

He inhales once in patient thought, and then— ]

I refuse.

You refuse?

[Some of the monotone leaves his voice and escalates to anger, because he can't tell if Thrawn is defying him or if he is choosing to give up the invasive line of questioning.]

Was my response unclear?

[This, Commander Vanto would claim, is yet another instance of Thrawn's inability to properly navigate human politics. No soft-edged speeches, no humble willingness to play along with any given parameters when it comes to stating his opinion.

Or his intent.]

I do not accept your terms. Nor can I promise that I will limit myself in what subjects I discuss, either with you, or with any of the other members of this guild.

My words are my own. I will utilize them as I see fit.

Then we are done here.

[Thrawn, in his honesty, has made it clear that he cannot be trusted to keep his mouth shut in any instance, and that is not a person he will be discussing any perceived ideas about himself or his life with.

He moves to the door, with the intent of showing the other man out.]

Should you decide you are capable of respecting the boundaries I've layed, then perhaps we can try again.

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mitthrawnaruto - 2018-01-25 05:38 (UTC) - Expand

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