The Cursed Holocron

Rathari broke himself from his daze as he quickly returned to Xim's side, as they walked up the stairs he noticed the guards look at them with a mixture of fear and anger, Rathari knew what the Sith empire had done to this planet during their primary invasion, they lay it to waste. Killing all of those in their way as they marched through The Republic worlds.

'Seeing two Sith walking towards the Palace must make them extremely nervous, I'm nervous, I don't know what master is planning to do here, I don't know why he has placed such importance on a single Jedi Padawan either. Going out of his way to make sure her parents are not taken by the Sith.'

Rathari looked over to his master, to see him simply looking down at the floor with a smile on his face.

A large man walked out of the palace, upon seeing Rathari and Xim a crude smile appeared on his face.

"Welcome, Master of the Grey, our Duke will receive you now in the common meeting room."

A few guards laughed at this, Xim knew this was a slight against him, the meeting rooms in Alderaan were designed to suit a specific guest they were hosting, there were three different types of rooms. Common (For the peasantry), Vassal and Royal, the room you meet in represents how the Dukes viewed you and the proposition you had.

Nodding, Xim remarked

"Please lead the way, I look forward to meeting the Duke."

Rathari who was also made aware of Alderaani customs on Xim's orders got even more confused by his master's actions, from what he heard from Lilith, this slight previously would have caused everyone present to be cut down and killed by their master. So why such indifference?

Xim noticing Rathari's confusion, smiled at him, a small pleasant smile, that others would perceive as a smile of contentedness however Rathari could feel the deep rage bubbling under the surface of his master's skin, a rage that threatened to kill everyone here.

As the Advisor continued to prattle on about the situation in Alderaan, Xim continued to make mental notes of the position of the troops within the palace as well as the entry and exit points, his mind formulating plans of attack, just in case he might need them in the future.

As they entered the meeting room, Xim immediately noted that the man waiting for him was not the Duke but rather his brother, someone who was desperately gunning for his brother's position and according to the information from the Empire, was willing to kill his brother to take it. Even going as far as to ally with the empire to make it happen.

Now knowing that these talks would all likely be pointless, Xim's mask fell, his bubbling dark side energy released itself from his body, engulfing the room, he sat down at the seat for the head of the negotiations while Rathri stood silently by his side.

"Why am I meeting with the brother of the Duke rather than the Duke himself?"

The man's face scrunched as he turned to see Xim sitting in his seat, as he was not force sėnsɨtɨvė, he couldn't feel the mass of dark side energy covering the room and snidely responded

"A request like yours doesn't require the Duke's attention, not when he is busy leading the war effort against House Thul and Ulgo. I have been appointed here to discuss with you the act of extracting the parents from our Vassal state."

Xim slowly nodded his head as small crackles of lightning left his finger's, slightly burning the poorly crafted wooden table in front of them.

"I see as my request is small, I ȧssume there is no need for negotiations, I should be able the extract them as long as they consent to it right?"

The Noble laughed.

"There will need to be a fee to compensate the Vassal state, after all, they will need to hire new maidservants."

XIm placed his hand on the table and pushed on it to stand up, the table broke under the strength of his push, walking towards the Noble, he put his hand out and shook it. .

"Of course however I hope you do not come to regret this extortion, I know hiring an ȧssassin to kill your brother will be expensive but I promise you, you made a mistake here."

Using a tiny amount of force lightning, Xim sent the shock up the body of the Noble, the force although not deadly was heavily concentrated, forcing the man to his knees, Xim looked down at the noble.

"I will pay the fee as soon as the family are safely in my hands, I want written permission from you to enter your vassal's lands and take them, do not think of double-crossing me. Rathari, make sure he writes and signs it and then come find me outside."

Xim walked past the Noble, smiling at the adviser he said

"If you think about telling the Jedi I harmed him, I will skewer you on a spit and roast you. Feeding you to Killiks you may think I'm joking but trust me I'm not."

Leaving the building he sighed, recomposing himself, he donned his pleasant smile again, walking towards the transport vendor, he needed to buy his way to the small keep where the Padawan's parents were.

After a quick transaction, Xim waited for Rathari before two of them rode a beast native to Alderaan, the flight to the castle was beautiful, it's scary for both Xim and Rathari to see the beauty of the planet even after the Sith invasion and the resulting civil war. It was as if the planet itself refused to bend to either side, springing natural beauty up where ever it could.

The mountain ranges, lakes and rivers were bustling with life, the cold wind reminded Xim of how different the planet was compared to his tropical home, a small frown covered his face as he remembered the challenge before him.

He nearly lost himself back in the meeting room, controlling his rage was becoming harder for him to do, releasing it, even a small amount helped but he needed to find some enemies soon otherwise he might lose control of himself once more.

"Rathari, I can feel it within you as well, you want to beat the shit out of that Noble, I do too, so bad however we need to play the long game here, we are but two people fighting a planet, the Republic and the Empire. I will kill that weasel myself before I leave this planet, once we have secured the Parents, you will take them back to our ship and defend it, I believe the weasel will try something."

Rathari nodded his head,

"What will you be doing Master?"

Xim smirked

"Negotiations."