Thane sighed in the semi-darkness of the half-lit chamber. It was a courtesy few of the others afforded the Firrerreo, but Idris was often good like that, if nothing else. Thane didn’t exactly make it a secret he could see into the ultra violet spectrum and, as such, was more sensitive to light than the other Councillors.
Other Councillors…that was a strange thing to say. For how many cycles had he stood apart? Now he was back.
And Idris had almost died.
That much was apparent as the other man was still hooked up to various medical apparatuses.
“Could have gone better,” Thane stated with his lilting accent. It was obvious what he was talking about even if he was short on words, as usual.
Idris nodded slowly.
“Could have gone worse too. Sorry you aren’t rid of me yet.”
The Voice shifted uncomfortably, sharp pain in his chest flaring with every breath.
“I will hold this over Dacien until the end of time though,” he with an exhausted sigh.
To that Thane nodded. As one should.
“Dacien trapped us both.” The Firrerreo scratched at his bearded chin and allowed another sigh. “We will need to adjust.”
In fact, several traps had been sprung. The first of which having been the Lordships granted to the pair of them by Evant. Now, Thane was burdened by responsibility he couldn’t evade and Idris was recovering.
Idris weakly flicked his hand. Dozens of holo-displays sprang to life.
“I was only mostly dead. Luckily that means some of these paths are still viable,” he muttered.
“I don’t think there is much we can do about the new job description however,” he joked.
Yet another sigh. Thane just wanted to research in peace. He had welcomed the Brotherhood’s resources but now that he was, for lack of a better term, the second in command…he couldn’t exactly launder funds. And he lost his research subjects.
“Get Adalinde assigned to an Inquisitor task force. We need to maintain order,” Thane intoned, eyeing the displays. “Collective is mobilizing again. Cannot be caught blind.”
“We’ve lost a lot of coverage,” Idris said pointing to several different screens. “Evant’s obsessions hit us hard. Even for us resources were limited.”
A single blurry photo appeared.
“Our friend Rath is sporting some new cybernetics. This was all they were able to get out. Our operative was fried while uploading.”
“Unfortunate.”
Thane took a deep breath and pondered their options. “Make the clans Dacien’s problem. All non-essential resources to Adalinde’s unit. Approval to focus on Rath.”
“Assignments and resource allotments updated.” The synthetic voice of E.D.I. chimed in.
“Of course there is also the matter of the Principate. They remain… unaware of our recent voyage into hell. They are growing, perhaps a bit recklessly. We are going to need to establish new conditions to our alliance. And as for the ge'hutuun, They are keeping a healthy distance, however some of their new friends seem a bit suspicious, even for the underworld,” Idris reported.
“Demilitarization is always a mistake,” he said with a sigh.
“We cautioned against it but overstepping I believe was the word thrown around.”
Thane squinted at Idris. His black-gold eyes seemed to shine in the shadows wherein he resided. “Is that not what the Brotherhood does?”
“Constantly but apparently not always in our own interest.”
We’re quite good at making enemies, he remarked to himself.
Another sigh broke through the silence between them. A few moments passed further before Thane looked over at Idris. “Your goals?”
Idris looked around the darkened room and ran a hand through his hair. It was still sticky and damp from his most recent bacta bath.
“That question has gotten a lot more complicated. Life was simpler when I was here for waadas. Somewhere along the way I started to give a damn.”
He paused again.
“I can tell you for certain not getting stabbed through the chest again is up there though.”
That got a chuckle.
“It is not advised.”
“It is a zero out of ten experience let me tell you,” Idris groaned shifting in his seat.
“But really. We can be more than we are. And I have no intention of stopping before the finish line.”
Thane idly thought of comparing his scars to Idris. No, that would take too long.
“Agreed. We will need to keep a close eye on Dacien’s plans.”
“He is going to be a very different beast than Evant was. Hope Dacien doesnt become obsessed with any of his predecessors. Hiding that we aren’t actually looking for them will be much harder with him than it was with Evant.”