Raezyr knew exactly why he was being pulled aside by security, so he allowed them to lead him a few feet while he pondered the best way to handle the situation.
Over the quiet thunder of the crowd, they could hear a man's voice yelling from a distance 'red-98!'
The large Sith turned to look in the direction of the voice, and could barely make out Helwae pushing his way through the crowd. From the distance he had to cover, it was impressive they could hear him at all. He yelled in their direction again. "RED-98!"
Raezyr turned to look at his temporary captors and he gave them a confused look. One of the guards explained to him "It's an audible code. It means we have a slight change of plans. Hang on."
Helwae worked his way to the guards, and after a brief exchange of hushed words, and a handshake where credits subtly changed hands, the security walked away without a word to Raezyr. The newly elected politician put his arm around the Sith and told him "You boys are with me. I take care of my own."
Raezyr looked around half-nervously. "Uh, Mr. Helwae..."
"Zhan."
"Zhan, my brother told you we'd like..."
Helwae began to walk into the crowd again and gestured for the two brothers to follow. "I know. Low profile. No worries. Come on."
True to his word, as he led them through the crowd, he shook a few hands and waved at several people along the way. When asked about them, he merely introduced them as good friends. He pointed to a couple of reserved seats near the head table and winked at them as he headed off to network a bit more. As they took their seats, they found more of his favorite ale waiting for them.
----------------
As the night wore on, even Trychon began to bore with eavesdropping on the upper crust members of the district. There was only so much interesting they'd be willing to say in such mixed company. He found that ironic, because if it weren't for a couple of Force-sensitives there, the crowd actually served well for keeping conversations secret. Even against listening devices.
He glanced over at his brother, who in between bouts of feigning narcolepsy, was scratching at his new leg. He watched him for a moment, then noticed he was actually feeling it out as though figuring out the quickest action to draw his holdout blaster. He yawned.
Alright, Trychon conceded. Let's get out of here.
'Bout time...
They had only taken a few steps towards the exit when Helwae intercepted them. "I won't take up too long of your time here, guys. Just meet a few like-minded businessmen who may be able to help you get settled here, alright?" He didn't wait for an answer, and led them to a private room off to the side. Several of the security guards followed the group, despite the politician's protests.
They entered the room and were greeted heartily by about half a dozen businessmen and a few women as well. The Sith had seen a few of them through the course of the night, but they had not been this enthusiastic. Now it seemed that outside of the view of the general public, they were relaxed a bit.
Helwae introduced them by name now, and explained to the unhappy brothers that these select few were actually business contacts that were very important in getting him where he was. When he explained to the group that Trychon and Raezyr were the ones who were taking over his brewery, and that they also supported independence, the small crowd cheered. Trychon nodded a small approval and thanks to Helwae for not mentioning their campaign donation. He did mention that they were very supportive and helped him get where he was.
One of the larger, rounder, more jovial men there, with a ridiculously curled mustache asked them in the midst of a chuckle "What did you do, loan him a Sith Lord!?'
"Yes... he lives in my hotel, across the hall." Trychon chuckled as he glanced at his brother, to make sure he was also taking it in stride, which he was.
At this point, Helwae interrupted with a scoff. "Yes, the Sith Lord. How ridiculous. Not just the story of my 'savior'... but the myth of the monster in general. It's pretty convenient that seemingly every Jedi that disagrees with the Jedi Council and strikes out on their own is cast as a 'Sith' and 'evil'."
"That's right." Someone from the back of the room chimed in. "I remember the start of the Sith wars. They recruited here, and there was never an incident until the Jedi and the Republic showed up. We had to kick both groups off-planet... but not before the Jedi."
"Exactly." Helwae nodded. "I don't think the Sith exist. Not really... not in the way they're painted by the Republic and the Jedi. More proof that Maflay was a tool for them. He bought their stories, and it bought him his demise. Poor fool."
One by one, the entrepreneurs talked to the brothers, several handing them business cards or other notes with information. Each explaining their connection to Helwae and or his old business and how they'd been mutually beneficial.
Without warning, both Sith got an uneasy feeling, and quickly noticed that of the four guards who had joined them in the private meet and greet, two had positioned themselves at the main entrance and were looking uneasy, while another had blocked the rear exit. That alone wouldn't have been unusual, except that the last had positioned himself alarmingly close to the Representative, and was giving anxious and furtive glances to the others.
Quickly and without word, the brothers split up with Raezyr easing towards the main entrance while Trychon backed towards the exit. Before they could fully get into position, the guard by Helwae reached for his weapon, signaling the others to follow. He began to yell something, but nobody was paying close attention.
Trychon put on a bit of extra speed to close the distance to the guard he was headed towards. With his final step, he unleashed a Force strengthened back kick that caused the unexpecting man to fly into the durasteel door with a semi-metallic clang, and then slump to the floor in shock, unconscious.
Raezyr moved even more quickly, and most likely quick enough to cause questions as to how, had any of the room's occupants been less distracted by the gun waving guard closing on Helwae. He unleashed a fist to the throat of the first guard, immediately shutting his airway before a single sound of protest could sound. Then he ripped the blaster rifle out of his hands and flipped it around, aiming a shot directly into the chest of the second guard and firing before his own rifle had even come around to bear.
The last remaining guard was just quick enough to get into position behind Helwae and throw one arm around his neck while holding his weapon to the politician's temple. "Stop! I don't know who you two are, but this doesn't have to do with you! This man conspired to defraud our government and threatened the life of a sitting Representative. Furthermore, his dangerously militant view on continued independence threaten the entire planet if not system! He needs to be brought to justice! Please throw your weapons down!"
The two Sith nodded, and gently and slowly tossed the rifles at the feet of the assailant.
As blasters skidded to a halt on the floor, Raezyr's hand moved fast enough that it would have likely given away some of his abilities, had anyone but Trychon's eyes been on him. He reached down and pulled out his holdout blaster that he'd so nearly lost earlier, and without bringing it into line with his shoulders, he twisted it and squeezed a shot off.
The man and Helwae fell backward to the floor. The assailant's head and body had jerked back so quickly from the hole created in his forehead, that he still had a firm grip on the Representative.
There was quite a bit of ruckus that followed, but the entire crowd was quick to get up off of the floor where they'd fallen screaming during the ordeal, and they were immediately crying out thanks to Raezyr for saving them.
Trychon pulled Helwae to the side. "We need this kept quiet. Can you help?"
"You're heroes! Why would you..."
"Heroes take a lot of paperwork. We're still not finalized on some of our transactions and citizenship, and this could slow things down for us considerably. Give one of these other supporters of yours the credit for saving you."
"I... I think you're wrong about the paperwork... but if you insist...."
"It's vital." Trychon put a little extra emphasis on the last word. Representative Helwae was far from weak-minded... but the Force also allowed a point to get through really well at times. This was one of those times.
No comments:
Post a Comment