Shadows of Bankor

Dove had pinged a message to Bowse in the morning once it had occurred to her that the bartender had given her his number. Figuring that the Neimodian didn't want to meet anywhere public, she made sure to have the apartment to herself for an hour or so.

Though she decided to wait outside the apartment complex for Bowse to show up. Not only didn't he know which apartment it was, but she also wanted to play it safe that he wasn't bringing all his Sep-buddies along to play.

It would seem a white haired woman was willing to contact the ghost of someone Bowze hoped was long gone. Hoped... but he suspected that was in vain.

The nemoidian made his way carefully, zig-zagging throught small alleys in order to throw off any stalkers or overly curious onlookers. He was eventually there, spying the one called 'Dove' from behind.

''Miss Dove''

"Sir," she nodded in return. "I don't think I got your name last night. Care for kaff, or something stronger?"

''Water will be good enough. I already had caff and it is too early for anything else.''

He tilted his head with a smirk

''And I am not sure I should trust you quite yet...but now you can call me Bowze, Bowze Coppa.''

"Bowze, eh? You're a brave man at least. Anyway, this way. My apartment is a pretty safe place to talk."

She gestured for him to follow her up a flight of stairs.

"You're wise to be cautious, but you got my word that I mean you no harm."

He was not so sure

''Very well...lets see if I am brave or a fool''

So far he didn't seem to be the fool, as he was led up some rather boring stairs that looked like they needed a new paintjob, and she opened up the door to a very plain apartment. It was tidy and clean, but it was hardly fancy... like most places in the slums.

She let the door stay open for him to walk in at his own pace to the living room, as Dove herself walked in without fear for what was possibly in the room... or fear of what the Neimodian behind her might do.

"Ice for your water?" the woman asked as she fetched a glass. With the small size of the apartment, there was no separate room for the kitchen, as it shared the same room as the living room.

''No need, thank you.'' he said, walking carefully into the appartment, observing most of what he could

It seemed rather...ordinary

''This does not seem to be a trap.'' he let out a sigh ''So...who are you?''

"Dove Gray." Full name, but it was still the same she had given to the Jawa. Water was poured and brought over to Bowze, and Dove herself took a seat on the couch.

"You probably do not know me personally, but I do know who you ar... were, is perhaps the better term. And you might've known who I worked for; Senator Claudia Ysaÿe of Tion. So... well, it's a surprise to see another like myself. Who were on the other side."

Bowze held the glass with two hand, eyes growing wide in recognition

''I do recall her...'' he paused, taking place on the couch as well ''I never thought I would meet another member of the CIS here...how did you manage to survive?''

Dove shrugged. "Perk of my job, I'd say. When you're already in the shadows, people tend to not go looking too much. To be honest, I really did not expect to see another CIS here, least of all someone so... important, as you."

She sighed. "To me, it mostly just feels like my enemy has changed its name and had a makeover. It's still the rotten piece of shit it was back during the war."

''You don't know half of it'' he said ''I was somewhat important...but nepotism was involved in it. Might be why I was not one of those who where initially murdered.''

He sipped some liquid from his glass

''Glad you made it out...I did so by the skin of my teeth after we lost control of our army. The clones seemed more interested in killing their jedi commanders then finishing us. I did not let that opportunity slip by.''

He frowned

''How much do you know about Dooku and the CIS council?''

The mention of Dooku did make her eyebrows rise slightly. "Thankfully, I was not involved much with those folks. I only saw the count himself once... from what I heard, the Council was assassinated near the peak of the war..." she rubbed her chin in thought.

"I dunno, it was just really messed up to see the clones start gunning down the ones who had been their allies for those years. Just... just like that, no warning, no tensions, no nothing. It was like lightning from clear sky."

He agreed, slowly nodding before fixating the clear water

''A good strategist can win a wars before any shot is fired...that's what happened to us...and them.'' he looked in Dove's eyes ''We were all played from the start. CIS. Jedi...even the Republic. ''

Her eyes looked at him questioningly. "... What do you mean, sir? It seems you know something I do not."

''I do...the information is dangerous and likely to get me killed by the imperial agent I managed to dodge so far.'' there was a grave pause, his jaw clenched and relaxed

''But you have the right to know, if you want to.''

She laughed silently. A hollow laugh. "I'm ever the compulsive intelligence agent myself, sir. Of course I want to know now that you've dangled it in front of me like a scrumptious meal."

He frowned and nodded

''The CIS high council and the war council were both heavily influenced by an individual named Darth Sidious.'' the frown morphed into a sneer ''He was the true mastermind of the CIS...Dooku's master.''

Has he recalled the memories of Sidious, the ex-general hands began trembling. Trembling with rage and fear. So much so he had put the glass down

''It was weird. None of us saw it coming. It was like we were under a spell. I remember making sound battle plans and present them to the council only to have Dooku change them to something else...something less them optimal but we never objected. They made us attack odd locations, some without strategical relevance or interest like the rockball of Dathomir...'' he held his breath ''I least I was not involved with that one."

He reached for his glass once more

''Sidious pulled the strings, led the council into a trap when our use was gone...and now we call him Emperor''

Dove's face was already pale. Beautifully pale some might say. But listening to Bowze made her paler... it was grave news indeed he told her.

"I... that's... far-fetched and crazy. The amount of luck, and planning, and skill... to pull off something like that. Orchestrating an entire war over years." She was stunned. Shocked even. A rare thing for her, and even rarer for others to see.

"By the maker..." she murmured, still digesting it all. "How do you know all this?"

''Nepotism is usefull...you gain access to a lot of information and nobody expects you to actually be competent enough to use it or know what to look for.'' he replied

''Chancellor Palpatine, now Emperor puppeteered not only the CIS but flew under the Jedi's nose all this time. Probably because he was one brand of them...the sort they called Sith. They might have been executed ofr the same reason as for the CIS council...or maybe because they found out.''

He took large gulps of water. He was thirsty.

''I suspect he had jedi turncoats with him. Their mind powers would have made it easier to make everything happen.''

"Hmm... it could make sense, I guess. It would explain these Inquisitors - they didn't pop up overnight, after all, and I've no reason to think they're clones." Her fingers drummed idly against her thigh as she considered it.

"So I guess hunting these Jedi, and the Clones killing their Jedi friends, could be to... I dunno, cut down any possible threat. Because of those cheatsy powers they got."

''I doubt a despotic regime centered around the personna of the Emperor can tolerate competition'' he said ''Like you said, cheatsy powers and all''

''I am not sure of the teneths of those religions but I recall the Jedi being quite driven to fight against the sith. The reverse might be the same...a convert or die type of thing.''

OOC: Perception or Vigilance at 2 red and purple with a setback for good position.

"Jedi, Sith... that's all a bit too much over my head." Sith was a new word to her. "Might have a point there though. Religions and cults tend to have an 'us versus them' mentality. I'm gonna have to see if I can learn more about that kind of stuff. You've certainly provided a great many pieces to the big puzzle of it all."

"It somehow makes sense now that some of the intel that we managed to get out from Coruscant to the CIS armies didn't get implemented, or was overlooked. Here I was, thinking it was sabotage from an enemy spy or something. That made the most sense to me..."


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D2 LM Perception against... something? Enemies?!: 1eP+2eA+2eC+1eD+1eS 2 failures, 2 advantage, 1 Despair


I guess my luck ended here.

''We never could see the full picture'' he admitted ''I wish I have in time but...''

OHSHIT Perception: 2R,1Purp+ setback: 2eA+1eP+1eD+2eC+1eS 2 successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph