Saga A Scoundrel's Life

NERA:
I commed Palpatine today. He was on planet so we met at a café for lunch. He is so charismatic and intelligent. I told him my suspicions about organized crime targeting the orphaned younglings on Corellia. I told him I just didn?t understand what they would have to gain by abolishing the orphanage system.

He leaned in and told me very quietly that he has heard whispers that seem to confirm the truth of my suspicions. He also told me that I can be certain there has to be a money angle?that the way democracy works, everything is done for credits or prestige and only deluded sentients believe otherwise. Then he dropped me a few names?Luzhan Fiel and Grack Pernitt. He told me to follow the money trail. And so I shall.



LOCH:
I?m a little unnerved about things I?m reading in Nera?s journal. It almost seems like there was this other part of her life that I didn?t know about. I thought she was an open book, that I knew her every thought and impulse. Was I just too self-absorbed to listen to her or did she keep it from me?

Palpatine. I recall her mentioning the name and I think we may have met once. I don?t think I liked him much, but Nera was so enamored with a bigwig taking interest in her career that she didn?t want to discuss it. She told me I don?t like anyone. Which is true, I guess. I just didn?t know she?d gotten as close to him as she seems to have.

I feel something about that too. I don't like it. Jealousy? Am I jealous that someone may have known a side of my sister that I didn?t? Is it something else? I wanted Nera to have friends. I wanted her to enjoy herself?but sometimes I think I was too overbearing

 

There so many things brothers usually don't see about their little sisters, Loch...

 

Another great update!

 

I cannot imagin Loch as overbearing.
And Nera's even having lunch with Palpy!! Nooooo!!! Too close to the fire!

 

Arthur: never! Loch is a cuddly laid back teddy bear. LOL.

Vadey:

Golden: You're very right. I have an older brother. He doesn't know a thing...

 

NERA:

Well some research on my part has turned up that both Luzhan Fiel and Grack Pernitt have fostered dozens of younglings over the last few years. Dozens. Charitable hearts, I wonder? Or is there a reason that Pernitt takes in the most troubled younglings, the ones NOBODY wants to deal with and straightens them out. Or they disappear off the record. Or quite a few of them seem to have died of drug overdoses?troubled as they are.

Should I tell Lochlann? Will he tell me to not stick my noses in other people?s business? Will he dismiss my worries with ?Babe, it?s not an issue??

Will he understand that I want to get to the bottom of this?

It?s lonely here without him.

LOCH:

Yeah?so I?ve done some poking around. Working in a casino helps with having connections. Nera was onto something. Every page I read in that datapad makes me cringe that she had gotten so far into trouble and wouldn?t ask for my help. ?Didn?t even TELL me, really. We talked every daycycle. Well, actually, I guess that she voiced a few of her concerns and I think that I told her what I think about politicians?I don?t remember now. I suppose I wasn?t much help.

I?ve gathered what info I can about Fiel and Pernitt. They?re both fairly private people. Pernitt is a judge and Fiel a senator. I?ve staked their places out and I think I?m most likely to get a foot in the door through Pernitt?s wife. I hope the Thrindarr charm hasn?t worn off lately. I?m gonna need it.

 

Should I tell Lochlann? Will he tell me to not stick my noses in other people?s business? Will he dismiss my worries with ?Babe, it?s not an issue??

Loved it.

 

I hope the Thrindarr charm hasn?t worn off lately. I?m gonna need it.

Let's hope...

 

NERA:

Things seem to be worse than I thought. Pernitt and Fiel are definitely ?in bed? together?politically, that is. And here?s the catch?combined the Pernitt and Fiel families own 70% of the stock in a Coruscant- based pharmaceutical company. I hope things are not happening that I?m thinking are happening?

From what I can see, most of the younglings are not human, even though Pernitt and Fiel are humans. I?m thinking that it may be harder to place non-humans in a world so heavily populated with them?so they may end up in even worse families than human children.

I?m going to comm Palpatine and tell him my suspicions. He?ll understand, and I hope, have some sage advice.

LOCH:

I?ve pulled some strings to get me hired as a chauffeur again. I?m escorting Pernitt?s wife around town. Trying to be my most charming. It?s a little difficult because I want to grab her by the scruff of her neck and ask if her husband had anything to do with my sister?s death. She?s a tough mark. She?s not vacuous like I was hoping. She?s not gonna be the type I can get into bed overnight. I?m gonna have to work on it a bit.

I can do it. I know I can.

Oh Force?Nera would disapprove of this in the worst way?

 

I think Loch can do it too. Poor Nera, always trusting Palpatine. She should have gone to her brother and had him deal with things the way he is now. There's the democratic way, and then there's Loch's way.

 

Oh Force?Nera would disapprove of this in the worst way?

Who knows... After all, what she learned costed her her life...

 

I have faith in Loch!

 

vadey: I'm glad someone does.

goldenjedi: Loch's conscience will always have Nera's voice, I think.

arthur: Loch + politics =

 

NERA:
Loch sent me flowers for my birthday! He?s such a doll.
Actually, Senator Palpatine did as well. They had a message that read ?Happy Birthday?keep your eyes on the prize. I know you?ll do amazing things.?

Speaking of which, my investigation seems to be pointing to some interesting things. I think a trip to Coruscant is in order. The politics in Corellia are too mired in corruption to address here. I may have to go higher up. Like the Galactic Senate.

LOCH:

I?ve got her. I know I?ve got her. The frosty exterior is melting. The verbal repartee has turned more?physical. I?ve dropped in some questions about why she?s been so motivated to adopt younglings. She?s definitely dismissive of my prying.
I have gotten access to the house though. You know, doing stuff like carrying bags and packages in and out, picking up dry cleaning.

I?m exhausted. I?m still working my job at the casino and this chauffeuring crap. My energy reserves are running down a bit.
I hate to say it, but I?m sort of enjoying this whole panther-and-vrelt manipulation game. It?s sort of like gambling?figuring out how far to push my luck?how much to reveal about myself?how much to withhold. Somehow I think that she feels the same way?which should be disconcerting, and yet, I want to match wits with her. In the end, I know I?ll win.

 

Careful Loch!! Don't let down your guard!!!!!

 

I?ve got her. I know I?ve got her. The frosty exterior is melting. The verbal repartee has turned more?physical. I?ve dropped in some questions about why she?s been so motivated to adopt younglings. She?s definitely dismissive of my prying.

Just don't get ahead of yourself, Loch!

 

In the end, I know I?ll win.

Yeah, but be careful about the kind of trouble you'll find in your way to success, Lock...

 

NERA:

I?ve booked a flight to Coruscant. I?m appealing to the Senate. Palpatine has made certain that members of the senate will hear me out. At best, I believe that the younglings that Grack and Pernitt have taken in are being used as slave labor?and at worst?I don?t want to think about that.

An inordinate number of the younglings that they have fostered have either disappeared once they?ve reach emancipation age or have died rather mysteriously. And there have been no investigations into what happened to them, which should be a routine procedure anytime something happens to a child in someone?s care.
I?m feeling lost. Lochlann isn?t here. I want to be on that transport with him, flying around the galaxy. Somehow with Loch around, I felt like nothing could ever really hurt me. A false sense of security I suppose-- because things have hurt me when he?s been around, but I guess then I always had someone to hold my hand. I miss him. I miss him. I miss him?

And here?s the thing that makes it worse-- there?s some part of me that knows that our lives can?t ever be the same as when we lived in foster homes and apartments together. I mean we?ll always have our sibling bond, but I sense that the separate entanglements of our adult lives have begun to move us apart. Of course I?ll have him forever. In years to come, perhaps my children will call him ?Uncle Loch? and wait for him to visit with as much fervor as I.

--Wait for his form to fill the doorway; rush to him with undisguised enthusiasm, and I?ll smile indulgently as they hug him. And I?ll pretend I don?t bleed. Pretend that my husband and kids are enough to fill that void in my life when he?s absent. Pretend that I don?t need my big brother to hold my hand anymore?when in truth, I always will.

LOCH:

Have not seen a single youngling around the Pernitt mansion. Of course, they have several houses all over the galaxy. Ms. Pernitt mentioned that most of them stay in their Coruscant apartment with a governess. Must be nice to be so wealthy that you don?t have to have anything to do with raising your own children.

I?m positive that she knows that I have another agenda. I think maybe she believes that I?m a reporter trying to dig up dirt on her for political maneuvering. I?ve given her the sob story of my youth?which she pretends to care about with unconvincing sincerity. I feel like we?re entering the last few steps of our uneasy tango. The trouble is, I?m not sure that I?m the one leading.

 

In years to come, perhaps my children will call him ?Uncle Loch? and wait for him to visit with as much fervor as I.

*sigh*

 

Yet another excellent update. Once again, I have to tell you how much I LOVE Loch!

 

I feel the same way about childhood friends. They all go away, and things change.

Stay in the lead Loch! Loch is always in control.

 

Golden: that makes two of us!

Vadey: I love him too.

Arthur:





NERA:

Oh my Lochlann. I know with a certain surety that I will not be coming back from this trip. I have a foreboding feeling that won?t go away and it?s grown so strong as to be tangible. I know my time here draws to a close. I?ve always had a sense that I was going to have to leave you in some way?that you would be the important one. That you would affect the galaxy in profound ways?not me, for all my ambition.



LOCH:

Well, Pernitt called my bluff. She looked me dead in the eye and said ?I know what you?re up to, Loch.? I feigned innocence.
She shook her head and replied, ?I know your last name, Thrindarr. You look just like your sister. Did you really think I wouldn?t notice??

The only thing that saved her from me putting her through the wall was that she?s a girl, and I seem to have some deeply mis-rooted sense of chivalry. I told her I?d ask her nicely then?once??did her husband have anything to do with Nera?s death??
She raised an eyebrow and asked me if I really thought she?d tell me even if she knew anything.

I told her if she didn?t want me to throw her through the window she might. She told me to get out before she called security. I called her a few choice names and left.

Soon after, Ms. Pernitt let slip to my employers that I?ve been mixing business with pleasure. --Made it sound like I?ve been harassing her, like she must take legal action if I am not disciplined. So they fired me.

So much for the chauffeur job. So she was using me, as I was using her. I don?t know whether to be annoyed that I?ve been thwarted, or slightly in awe that I didn?t see what angle she was playing me for. I believe I?m going to take a couple weeks off from the casino, grab the ship that Talia and I bought and head for Coruscant. It?s a gamble. If I leave and find out what happened to Nera, I won?t like what I find. But if I stay I?ll never know.

To top off my crappy week, I lost the cat. Sola came to visit and when the door opened, it darted out. I actually tried to chase it down, but it lost me in a corridor somewhere. I looked a bit and then went back to the apartment.
It?s been about a day now with no trace. I figured she?d be hungry by now, but still no sign of her. It?s kind of weird. I miss her a little. I can?t believe it, but I do.

 

It sounds like Loch needs a hug.

 

GET THE CAT!!!!! Hunger is not good.
Poor Nera! How does she know she's in trouble?! Why didn't she say?!
Poor Loch! Don't believe her. No one can one up the Loch-man!!!

 

Ouch... So he was outsmarted by that woman... And now he lost the cat?