"Get up Xander. I have your coffee."

President Xander Griff, awoke with a start, realizing his head was laying on one stack of papers, which were piled on his desk.

Must have fallen asleep at the office again[/b]. He thought, annoyed with himself.

He looked up, seeing his female Twi'lek secretary, Natana, standing over him holding a steaming cup of brownish liquid. He always preferred stem tea at this time in the morning, but lately she had been bringing him this stuff.

"Get that away from me. And bring me my tea." He ordered.

Natana ignored him, placing the cup in front of him, "Drink it. After another night in the office like this one you'll find you need it." She said.

She had been his secretary for years, back since the ORF days and was one of the few people he allowed to speak to him that way.

"What is on the agenda today?" He asked.

"I have made you a cot over there. So get some sleep and then you have a visitor." She said.

"Who?" He asked, grudgingly sipping the coffee.

"His name is Tal'ska, and he's a Zabrak. He wants to speak to you on the possibility of Irodonia joining the Sovereignty." Natana said.

"Alright. Give me an hour and send him in." Griff said.

"President Griff will see you now." A shapely Twi'lek female purred, her enticing cat-like stride pulling on Tal'ska's heart strings as she motioned for him to follow her.

Tal'ska rose and tapped his folded Zhaboka on the ground several times to give his synthetic ears a point of reference and to enforce the information his Force-sense had already relayed to him, his unfocused baby blue eyes, hidden from casual sight by light absorbing specs, shifted from here to there as he strode toward the door.

Heh, feels like my first steps after my accident on Iridonia's harsh, scarred terrain

He took a deep breath and felt the reassuring touch of metal on his forearm before stepping into a large, well furnished office. A man sat behind a paper filled disk and though Tal'ska could not actually see him, fatigue rolled off him in waves.

"Good sir, if I come at a bad time I assure you I can return at a more convenient date." He stated, more in a formality than an actual concern of the man's state. The President waved a hand dismissing the notion and gazed at Tal'ska.

Strong-willed...very good.

The blind Zabrak smiled wholeheartedly and took his fingers away from his Zhaboka's and Lightsaber's activation switches. His synthetic ears, enhanced with sonar emitters to give him a limited degree of actual sight relayed to him several hidden panels.

Prepared well in advance for any situation...also very good.

Tal'skas slipped his specs into a vest pocket with a subtle movement of his head and slid a small communique disk from within his left sleeve.

"Here you are sir...a formal request from my Homeworld for induction into the Outer-Rim Sovereignty." Tal'ska said in a carefree tone. He took a step forward and placed the small disk on the largest stack of papers.

Griff eyed the man, noting the eyewear. Such equipment was long obsolete, replaced by far more advanced technology using holographics.

Did that mean this 'Tal'ska' wore them for a different reason, perhaps something was wrong with his eyes?

"Hello, there, Mr. Tal'ska. Thank you." Griff said, accepting the datapad with the request on it as the Zabrak took his specs off, revealing his normal eyes. Nothing seemed to be wrong with them at first glance, but then Griff saw the way he focused, he never really looked at Griff, more like past him. Perhaps he was blind?


"Iridonia is in the Outer-Rim, near our territory. Could be a good investment. What do you think, Jorai?" Griff asked.

A figure moved out of the darkness of the back of the room, his small and unassuming. He also wore those odd spectacles, giving him a sort of erriee look. His name was Jorai Kovel, and he was the Director of the infamous Black Hand.

"Iridonia is a harsh world. Governed by many different species of Zabrak. I believe they have spawned a few Jedi," He looked pointedly at Tal'ska's lightsaber, "And a few Sith." He said.

Griff looked back up at Tal'ska, placing the datapad on the desk, "When did this arrive?" He asked.

"Iridonia is a harsh world. Governed by many different species of Zabrak. I believe they have spawned a few Jedi," Jorai looked pointedly at Tal'ska's lightsaber, "And a few Sith." He said.

Tal'ska let out a hearty laugh and turned his unfocused gaze to Jorai.

"Aye we have produced a few Jedi masters of the old order and yes we have had our fair share of Sith but, I find that life is hardly black and white." Tal'ska smiled and slid his lightsaber pommel into the palm of his hand. He laid it on a stack of papers and smiled at the president.

"I live more in a shade of grey possesing neither the sense of Justice that Jedi Knights possess or the pure desire for power and the nack for evil that Sith are known for." He tapped the activation switch on his Zhaboka and his seemingly normal walking cane immediately popped out to a length of 2 meters and a pair of prominent blades mounted on either end promised a swift agonizing death to any who fell upon them.

"I am not without my tricks though." He laughed again and laid the weapon on the floor.

Tal'ska took a breath and focused back on the objective at hand.

Griff looked back up at Tal'ska, placing the datapad on the desk, "When did this arrive?" He asked.

"I was dispatched from Iridonia about a week ago, but someone or some group decided that it would be best if I not make it here alive...my ship is a big heap probably being turned into components for your ships in one of your recycling facilities right now."

"Really?" Griff asked, slightly surprised, "Well, Kovel here tells me you are our Black Hand contact on Iridonia."

Griff eyed the bladed weapon that was now presented before him. Something moved behind Tal'ska, something large. Griff knew beforehand that it was the leader of the Praetorian Guard - Griff's personal guard unit - Zhou.

Zhou was of a species called the Quay, who could alter his form at will. Zhou know stood a full two meters behind the Zabrak, waiting for Griff's command to strike. After all, bringing weapons into Griff's office without permission was cause for death.

Griff motioned and Zhou backed off, watching Tal'ska very carefully.

"I will get you another ship when you need it. Now tell me about this proposal. I am afraid I know very little about the Zabrak. Tell me about Iridonia and the species, government, resources and so forth."

Tal'ska felt the sudden hostile presence of someone behind him rise to the front of his priorities and his subconscious insisted he act with urgency.

He felt life flow around him and he felt himself tapping into it, not with the the cool-headed, reserved efficieny that a Jedi Knight would use, nor the malice and desire only for a tool of power that the Sith used. Power grew within him, life flowed through him and he relished in it, death passed on within him and he respected it, he harnessed this strength that he felt since he was young in his own way.

A visible field of energy crackled around Tal'ska and a number of visilble strands of energy arced from the Zabraks form to take hold of Zhou lifting him from the ground and shifting him to the left side of President Griff's desk.

"That shouldn't of stung but I apologize if it did." Tal'ska said cheerfully, showing a broad grin of white teeth.

"And yes I am the BlackHand's contact on Iridonia." He answered winking at Jorai and pulled a few more discs from a pocket. He offered them to Griff with a reserved measure gauging the value of the data he was handing over.

Well it's not like he couldn't find out if he really wanted to anyways

Tal'ska extracted a small hankerchief and dabbed at his forehead. "I do apologize, its been a while since I exerted myself like that." He laughed and then suddenly became serious.

"Iridonia is ruled by a loose government consisting of a council formed by the heads of the many families of the different clans. Survival is our main objective and each family puts the survival of the race and our beloved planet above the immediate family. We are a race that has lived many times on the brink of extinction and we know how precious a friend is." He took a breath and ran down a list of what to tell next.

"Iridonia as you know is covered by many volcanos and as a result the planet is rich in purefied ores of many kinds and some substances used in ships and weapons are found in abundance in our harsh terrain. Some families have private shipyards and docks but the biggest construction facility is underground built into a dead volcano and could handle a few of the bigger ships...bigger if all the space is taken advantage of and it is expanded deeper underground." Tal'ska smiled at the thought of some of the colony and luxury ships that had been produced and wished he had had time to take a vacation before coming here.

"We are making this proposal both out of security for ourselves and for help terraforming parts of our planet to allow us to become more self-sufficent. Suitable farming ground is hard to come by on our world." Tal'ska smiled.

"In return we can offer a secure world with resources and a valuable personel bank to draw upon. We'll operate of course based upon your orders and everything but we won't suffer an occupation force, a Zabraks word is not something to take lightly. Troops and ships if any assigned to stand watch over our planet will man a string of Satelites and mining stations that we've refitted for space occupation...And I'm sure if you've heard anything about my people it's that they are famous for enduring torture, never has a Zabrak been broken." Tal'ska let out a very big grin.

"We make excellent black op operatives."

Zhou stood, unmoving, as Tal'ska spoke of his homeworld. Griff watched him carefully, knowing the Praetorian Guard leader would keep himself under control. Griff had learned that no matter the case, the Quay prided themselves on being able to learn from their mistakes. Zhou seemed to acknowledge he had made a mistake by standing behind Tal'ska and was chastising himself for it.


Griff now turned his attention to the Zabrak Black Hand agent standing in front of him. Kovel was also listening intently, paying very careful attention. Before the meeting with Tal'ska, Kovel had told Griff that the young agent being sent in was inexperienced, and would probably be too eager. Kovel had turned out to be right, but Griff didn't particularly care. So far, he liked Tal'ska, the agent had guts.

"We make excellent black op operatives."

With the guts to touch a Praetorian Guard unit leader without permission, I believe you. Griff thought.

He had always held a respect for Zabrak, even though not much was known about them. He assumed that the Old Republic had sent out envoys to the world, attempting to get in contact with it's natives. According to the minimal historical file Griff had on his desk, they apparently succeeded. But not many of the Zabrak natives were interested in leaving Iridonia.

Only about two cases of Zabrak leaving the world were ever documented. One was a Jedi Master, Eeth Koth, who was known throughout the Jedi Order for holding a large threshhold for pain. Eeth Koth was apparently killed in the Jedi Purge.

The other case was more remote. Some sort of highly trained Dark Jedi warrior had been seen several times leading up to the Battle of Naboo, and the electing of Chancellor Palpatine. This Dark Jedi - possibly a Sith - had faced off against Jedi on at least three known times. One on Coruscant, killing a Twi-lek Jedi Master, once on Tatooine, fighting but failing to kill Qui-Gon Jinn, and then lastly on Naboo, where the Dark Jedi himself was killed.

Griff frowned down at the report as Tal'ska waited for his reply.

"I agree with you, there." Griff said in way of response to Tal'ska's last statement, "What clan, may I ask, do you hail from?"

"Me and mine are from a rather somewhat disputed clan..." Tal'ska started, thinking that Jorai must have surely informed the president about his status among the Zabraks.

"My clan is mainly a myth on our homeworld, something I suppose you'd relate to something humans call 'Super heros' etc. We are raised as soldiers and spys and then released into the universe to safeguard our world." Tal'ska thought a moment more and looked to the head of the BlackHand questioningly.

"We are raised in packs you could say and are put through weapons training, mental and physical conditioning, interrogation methods, explosives, piloting, assasination, stealth, mathematics, sciences of all kinds, anatomy of different species encountered and sociology classes that help us to develop an ability to read peoples movements, expressions and tones and pitches of voices with a sharper eye and mind for detail...no doubt our high threshhold for pain comes from our amazing mental capacity and some of the more gifted youngsters are able to develop the ability into one of any form of mental powers." He took a moment to breath before continuing and his ghostly gaze shifted slowly between the occupants of the room.

"The force sensitive ones like me aren't just discovered of course, a few Jedi Masters of Zabrakian origin thought to of been killed in action returned to their home and combed the population for any possible students and tutored them in the ways of the force and generation after generation atleast some students matured enough to continue teaching the next generation." Tal'ska smiled and breathed a heavy sigh.

"I don't believe their teachings have gone unnoticed but I'm sure the Jedi Order has some reason for letting them continue. Anyways The reason my clan is a myth is because once released we may never touch foot on Iridonian soil unless called forth to defend it, but if me and mine do our job that should never happen...a tatoo at the base of our necks marks us but only appears under the Iridonian sun, a type of safeguard I suppose."

Tal'ska seemed to visibly pale a bit but the color soon returned. His lightsaber floated slowly from Griff's desk and shot into its' holster under his sleeve and his Zhaboka rose slowly into the air transforming back into its cane configuration so that he might support himself on it.

"Talking of home always seems to fatigue me. We come forth now because of what already has been previously mentioned we fear that some other Galactic Empire might take notice of our world and squeeze it dry, so we have made our choice before that happened and the ORS seems the best place for our allegiance."

"I don't mean to make threats but I'm sure of course that everything said in this room will never leave the deepest passages of its occupants minds." A sudden spark of hatred fanned up once in his eyes before fading away and he drew in a deep, calming breath.

"I hope this has been satisfactory for you, and I will answer any questions you have remaining before I take your leave to rest before delivering your answer to my homeworld."

Hatred

Griff had always prided himself his ability to read people, even nonhumans. He was one of the only people he knew who could figure out what one of the Mon Calamari species was feeling. Now, as the Zabrak Black Hand Agent stood before him, he could see a fading spark of anger in his eyes. Griff wondered what it could have been.

Pushing the thought out of his mind, he stood guesturing to two chairs in front of his desk that were waiting for an occupant, "Please sit, if you are tired." He said.

"I was not aware many Jedi survived the purge. But perhaps I have underestimated the strength and resilence of your people." Griff stated, "Don't you think, Jorai?"

The Black Hand Director stood near a window, gaxing out at the cityscape of Salis D'aar. Kovel seemed transfixed with it, not seeming to be listening. But Griff knew better, it was all a ruse. Kovel wanted to keep everyone around him off balance, and usually that meant him pretending to ingore them until they started to get impatient. Griff had learned long ago not to be, and waited silently as Kovel slowly turned to him, "Yes. I agree." Was all he said, before turning back to the window.

Griff looked back at Tal'ska, "Who will we be speaking with on Iridonia? Who is the ruling clan or leader?" He asked.

Tal'ska nearly laughed aloud at the mention of having a seat and waved away the notion.

"Since you are not Zabrak I understand that you would not know this but Zabrakians are a proud people and if we need something we will ask. To make an offer such as the one you just made, an incenuation of weakness would cost you much on my homeworld." Tal'ska smiled and reached out with the force, picking out thoughts and emotions from the air.

"Also never include 'underestimated' or 'weakness' and 'Zabrak' or 'your people' in the same sentence when talking on Iridonia or with the clan heads or other Zabraks, it would be an instant death sentence presuming your the real President that is talking."

Tal'ska turned his head in the general direction of Kovel and then shifted his weight to his other leg.

"That is of course only when your on Iridonia or talking proper with Zabraks. The Martyrs which is my clan is usually pretty reserved about such remarks." He fished around in yet another pouch and pulled forth another group of holodiscs, handing them to the president.

"These are the clan heads you will be speaking with. Power leads to greed and greed leads to ruin, so a careful system of checks and balances keeps power divided at all times in an even distribution."

Tal'ska started listing names and the importances of each, stopping now and then to make minor observations or offer some advice on dealing with the individuals.

"The council is made of 10 Zabraks, one from each of the 10 current ruling clans which you will meet in a station in orbit around Iridonia. Few other species are allowed on planet and even fewer want to visit at all." Tal'ska placed a small amulet with 10 different markins on Griff's desk.

"This is the councils seal and signifies that you have received the documents and upon the time of the conference, you will be asked to return this item." Tal'ska quickly made a quick mental run down of everything that he had to explain and was quite pleased to note that there was little he had missed.

"I of course will accompany you and I must say it's been some time since I've actually seen my home but I will travel with you under the guise of a Jedi and will remain silent unless asked a direct question."