She set it at high priority, and included orders to erase the message once the task was complete, then make sure the personnel who knew about the change were not on site when the Jedi arrived. Hopefully that would be enough to throw the damned zealots off the scent of heresy.
...
With that done, Tan'ya instructed the Mandalorian survey team and Sel Lur to get back to work again, immediately. They might not have the original survey data, but they should be able to use their own memories to help accelerate the process this time. Finally, she sent notice to Colonel Gon Seith for him and his men to stand down. The Jedi had already done their damage, and the few that were still here remained only to make sure they hadn't missed anything.
Finally, Tan'ya went home to craft a carefully worded report for her investors in the banking clan. She completed it in under an hour, emphasizing that it was only one region for which the survey data was lost, and the rest of the sites should be able to begin their works on schedule. After it was sent, Tan'ya sat back in her chair, feeling frankly, miserable.
"Why did I trust them?" She asked herself, staring at the ceiling. How could she have let herself forget what they were?
After a while, there was a knock at the door. Tan'ya opened it to find Madalee.
"Can I play with Eggy?" She asked, holding a coloring book in one hand and some color sticks in the other.
Wordlessly, Tan'ya stepped past her, leaving the door open as she did. She paused only to brew a coffee for herself in the kitchen, before going for a walk through the Palace gardens to calm herself down.
She received only two notifications while she took her break. One saying that the Jedi had found and confiscated her dummy eggs, and another asking for her to prepare a room for them at the Palace that night. Her reply only contained a hundred credits and the address of a two star hotel in the city.
Feeling only slightly better, she returned to her room to find that Marnaidu's incubator had been drawn on by her younger sister, but at least the egg was dozing peacefully. Tan'ya had a shower, and dinner was just about to turn in for the night when her compad rang.
She blinked in shock, seeing Hego Damask's caller ID. Quickly, she pulled on a reasonably formal jacket, and tied up her hair, before changing the comm device's settings to only show her shoulders and up, before answering.
"Mister Damask." Tan'ya smiled at him as brightly as she could. "I wasn't expecting you to call."
He examined her image for a moment, drawing in from his breather, before responding, "I should have checked the time on Serenno before I called. My apologies."
Internally, Tan'ya winced. Evidently, her attempt to dress herself up at the last minute was quite unsuccessful. "No, I'm glad to hear from you at any time. Really, I just wasn't expecting a call from you, I assumed you'd have more serious concerns."
"More serious concerns than my investments being squandered?" He asked.
Tan'ya swallowed. "You read my report."
"I read every report concerning my finances." Hego replied. "Knowledge is power." He took a long puff on his breather. "Now explain to me this delay in detail, please."
"Mr Damask, I want to apologize-"
"Your apology is accepted, Lady Serenno." A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Now please. Explain."
And so Tan'ya told him the story. The survey team had discovered a buried Sith fortress from the Occupation, and work had been delayed until the ruin and its potentially valuable artifacts were recovered. She had overseen the digsite, painstakingly extracting what she could until discovering a Sith warrior preserved in carbonite in a panic room at the bottom of the facility. Then she made the biggest mistake of her new life so far.
"I can only apologize." She told him, lowering her head.
"..." He didn't reply for a long time, taking a couple of long breaths. "Perhaps now you begin to understand my distaste for the Jedi."
She agreed internally, but didn't raise her head.
"Do you know what your real mistake was?"
"Trusting the Jedi." Tan'ya answered.
"That was a mistake, but your biggest mistake has a deeper root." He took a puff. "You passed responsibility to someone else, rather than trusting your own judgment. In doing so, you gave the Jedi power over you, when you should have trusted yourself, and used your own power to solve an issue that you fully had under control. You didn't even need to kill the Sith, you simply could have buried him somewhere else. Then you would have had the datacrons, and my sacanium mine would be back on schedule."
Of course Tan'ya couldn't refute him. Not only was he above her in his station, but he was also obviously correct.
"This is, of course, a minor delay, the other mines will not be affected. It may be better for you to learn from a small mistake like this than a larger, more important one later." Hego continued. "Of course I won't be withdrawing my investments, but please ensure that the other sites continue apace."
"Of course, Mr Damask. Absolutely. There will be no further delays."
"Good." He replied. "In regards to those datacrons, it does seem a waste for them all to be destroyed."
Tan'ya blinked, shocked. "You think you could convince Master Yoda to release them?"
"No, but a friend in the Temple might be persuaded to make a copy for you."
Tan'ya felt no real objection to such blatant corruption, not when it let her get around a law this ridiculous.
"I- Uh, thank you." Tan'ya managed to say, stumbling over her words. "Yes, that would go a long way to salvaging the situation."
"Very good." Mr Damask paused for a second, before adding, "Tan'ya, though you are wise beyond your years, you are also still very young. Of course I expect great things from you in the future, but for now I would like it if you would come to me directly with issues like this."
"I'm sure your busy-"
"I am, but I will make time for you." He promised, taking a final drag on his breather, before adding, "Nurturing talent is a passion of mine. I see a remarkable potential in you, Tan'ya, one that I would hate to see squandered by self doubt due to a few minor mistakes that could be avoided with a few words of advice."
A flutter of excitement filled Tan'ya. To be taken under the wing of someone so important would be the greatest opportunity she'd have received in any of her lives. If Hego was so concerned about preventing the rise of Galactic anarchy, and she wanted to govern a peaceful and prosperous realm, then having him personally bankroll her and her father's endeavors could make for a mutually beneficial arrangement.
"Thank you." She said, "Really, I would like that very much."
"Good. I'll let you know about that data when I have it. Now have a good night."
"Thank you, Mr Damask. And I hope you have a fine day as well."
...
Hego was as good as his word, Tan'ya learned. The Jedi ship carrying the datacrons had only been docked at Coruscant for a few hours before a copy of the data was shared with her. Whoever Damask had paid inside the Temple worked fast, and had even managed to recover the excavation surveys.
Delightedly, Tan'ya typed up a report for her investors to let them know that everything was back on schedule, and the Sacanium mine in the region would not face any substantial delay. It was really a pleasure to be working for a professional like Hego again.
Her lessons continued, and Tan'ya began to sink her teeth into the data recovered from the Sith temple. It was… disturbing, though very interesting.
The man in the bunker proved to be a fellow by the name of Darth Chymus. The title Darth had been outlawed by Skere Kaan when he unified all Sith under his rule in the Dark Brotherhood, and rather than give up what he saw as his rightful glory, Chymus had hidden himself in his bunker beneath the fortress, waiting for what he saw as Kaan's inevitable fall.
It wasn't an entirely foolish prediction. For the last thousand years before Kaan's rise, every great Sith uniter had been torn down by betrayal, and there was no good reason for someone living during that time to assume the pattern would end anytime soon.
Little did Chymus know that Kaan's fall would drag the entire Sith Empire to the grave with him. Having all his forces cornered on Ruusan, Kaan defiantly detonated a superweapon which claimed the lives of him and everyone fighting under his banner.
...
Apparently, chapters write themselves faster when Power Stones are involved. Who knew? Feel free to test the theory go ahead, toss a few my way.
...
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