[Layne Hoshin]

Layne had found herself a place to clean up and splash water around. Quite necessary after the workout she'd just had. As refreshed as could be, for however long it would take for the sand to get everywhere again, she stepped out of one of the buildings, and headed out.

[Luth Khalan]

Luth stepped out of her building in the morning, heading toward the showers with a yawn. She stopped short, blinking as she saw Layne. "... No way."

[Layne Hoshin]

The expression of disbelief drew her attention, and she turned to face the woman.

"What?"

She didn't recognize her. Not right away. The hair was different. It took her a few seconds to grasp the memories... But then...

...then, by instinct, Layne drew her lightsaber. The one with the black blade. And flipped it on.

"He fucking sent *you*?"

She didn't run out for a strike, but she seemed to be considering it.

"Big mistake."

[Luth Khalan]

"Whoah!" Luth stepped back instinctively. "No! He didn't sendme, I'm here with the Republic! I am Republic!"

[Layne Hoshin]

"A likely story," she said, reaching out into the force to get a sense on Luth's surface emotions. A trained assassin could overcome such a limited application of the force power, of course... but it didn't hurt to try.




Sense: 2eF 2 Light Side

Contested discipline: 3eA 2 successes, 4 advantage


((I believe contested by your discipline pool, so you can roll that as difficulty/challenge dice))

[Luth Khalan]

Luth's surface emotions were exactly as they appeared - surprised, worried with a lightsaber in her face, a sense of underlying exhaustion.

"Yes! Very likely! True, in fact!"

[Layne Hoshin]

She frowned. If she was a trained agent trying to fool her senses, surely this wouldn't be the emotional response. She'd be calmer. Although it was still possible that she was lying, and the emotions were the natural result of the unexpecte encounter with Layne...

"...You come walking in here, the very day I feel Baras through the force? Quite the coincidence."

Still, her stance relaxed slightly.

[Luth Khalan]

Luth's eyes went wide. "You felt him through the force today? That's... troubling, to say the least," she worried.

[Layne Hoshin]

"Yeaaah... and then one of his assets walks in. Strange how that works."

[Luth Khalan]

Luth rubbed her face with one hand. "Layne, I was a Republic spy back then."

[Layne Hoshin]

The darksaber retracted, and the young 'jedi' seemed to be trying to parse things.

"Do you... do you have any proof of that?"

[Luth Khalan]

"Ask Arali... or Niall... Or my boss, who got promoted after my old handler died during the ruckus at the Republic compound," she replied after an exhale when the lightsaber retracted. "I could list more, there are lots of people who can corroborate my story."

[Layne Hoshin]

She slowly clipped the saber back to her belt.

"Still... for you to have fooled Baras... it seems unlikely."

[Luth Khalan]

"Yeah... Now that I understand him a little better, I'm sure he let it happen deliberately," she replied, shaking her head. "Well, it is what it is. Thought enough about that job to last a lifetime already."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Alright..." she said, slowly, "...I'm willing to believe you're not full of shit. That you were a spy and all, and that you going up against him with us wasn't just a fakeout. So now that we're past that, maybe you can fill in some blanks for me."

[Luth Khalan]

Luth shrugged. "I'll do what I can."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Last thing I remember, I took a saber to the gut. Everything else I know about what happened went through the propaganda filters. But you probably know the details."

[Luth Khalan]

"He took down Zeno and Rumun ran... He destroyed the only means of controlling the barge as he went. So Syl and I slid down and attacked the engines. Between us and Baras' people, we took it down before it crashed into the Republic compound. Baras didn't kill Syl, but he did release him from service, and I healed up Zeno and escaped into the city and back to the Republic. Seemed like a good time to do it," she explained, going over what she remembered in the confusion and chaos.

[Layne Hoshin]

"Torsin always complained that Baras favored me. Don't suppose he admitted he was wrong, in the end. And I'd say you should've let deathlite bleed out, but Master Tyl would be so dissappointed in me."

[Luth Khalan]

She shrugged. "Probably, but I couldn't, so... There you go."

[Layne Hoshin]

"That so, huh? Odd thing for a republic spy to do."

Clearly, Layne was not yet entirely convinced.

"Well, maybe he still has a role to play. Who knows. Shame you didn't stick around after that anyhow. Would've been nice to know if they'd gave me a memorial service, at least."

She joked. Layne knew perfectly well that her 'memorial' consisted of being framed as a mass murdering terrorist.

[Luth Khalan]

Luth shrugged. "He was a friend, and I don't like death."

"Yeah, maybe... At this point, I prefer not to speculate."

[Layne Hoshin]

"You're a sniper who doesn't like death? Okay."

She shrugged.

"So what brings you out here then? Hate to say it, but infiltrating the mando's seems pointless."

[Luth Khalan]

"I'm a scout and a sniper at the moment," she replied with a shrug. "No more infiltrating for me. What've you been up to? I mean, you're here, which is not what I expected."

[Layne Hoshin]

"I am nothing if not full of surprises," she said, cracking her neck. "You'd think people would learn to stop underestimating me, but they never do. Obviously, I've been staying alive, getting stronger, training, that sort of thing."