Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Tethys Carrack]

A corner of Tethys's lips twitches up. "Have you found that hoping for your peers to be sensible and giving them credit for wisdom usually works out in your favor, as a Sith?" She doesn't sound especially reassured.

[Luth Khalan]

"Counting on their good sense and wisdom, no," she replied, holding up a finger. "However, counting on their selfishness and fear works a pip."

[Tethys Carrack]

"I see. So when you said they would need to be stupid, you meant stupid and courageous."

Tethys rubs her lips, unable to completely disperse the traces of a pained smile. "Do your colleagues know you think of them all like this? And I suppose they think of you the same way." She shakes her head.

"But you don't think the cowardly ones would betray your side for this other Empire, if it looked strong enough to protect them?"

[Luth Khalan]

"I don't think of all of them like that. Like I said, some have their own reasons, or are generally sensible enough not to fire a blaster into their foot," she rexplained. "Shyyyo, for instance. Zeno. Remmington seems polite enough to behave. I don't have a good read on Bellious, and I don't know Jo'Ren well, myself. I really don't know Zhorrid aside from seeming super into this whole Unknowable Dark thing. I'm extrapolating on observed societal patterns, admittedly, and what's worked during ops."

"I don't really know what they think of me, aside from that time that a rumor about a vengeful ghost started going around. Probably just as Baras' weapon."

[Tethys Carrack]

"Hm. Given your master's behavior yesterday, politeness seems to be no particular guarantee of a good working relationship," Tethys points out.

"So you still consider Zeno--that is, Lord Thul of Alderaan--you still consider him a Sith? That's interesting."

[Luth Khalan]

"It's how I met him, so I guess the association is still there." She smiled a little. "He's mellowed quite a bit, really."

"I'm just trying to answer your questions as honestly as possible. People vary no matter where you are. Mostly they're just people who wantto live their lives, they'll be fine. A few have aspects that will make them not, but it's not most of them. The rest you can extrapolate from the Sith Code."

[Tethys Carrack]

Her lips quirk and she exhales a breath of air that's half sigh, half amused snort. "If that's what he's like after Alderaan mellowed him, I'm half surprised he survived long enough for that."

"Your code itself is... contradictory, to an outsider, but I suspect that won't surprise you," Tethys admits. "I've found extrapolating is challenging, when every Sith seems to pick and choose what suits their own preferences among those contradictions. More a pretext for one's wants, whatever they might already be, than an ethos."

[Luth Khalan]

She looked amused. "He almost didn't. Fortunately, there were quite a few stimpaks on hand."

"Ideal follows impulse," she replied with a shrug. "Telling yourself that your internal rules totally justify something you do or don't want to do anyway isn't just limited to the Sith. But then, one of the top sections is with victory, my chains are broken. For many, that comes down to rules applying to the degree that your personal power dictates."

[Tethys Carrack]

"No wonder I've had little success figuring out how the rules predict behavior." Tethys half-shrugs.

"Well, I'm reassured that we can work together for now, at least. Not freezing or starving to death out here is a logistically complex task, but a philosophically simple one." The wry smile flits across her face again. "When other obstacles arise, we'll face them then."

[Luth Khalan]

"Indeed. Exciting, isn't it?" It was hard to tell if that was sarcasm or not just from face and tone. Her faces clears into a smile and she rose from the table, holding out a hand. "Good to hear. We all want to survive here. I look forward to working with you."

[Tethys Carrack]

"May the Force be with you." Tethys rises and joins her own hand to Luth's for a moment.

[Luth Khalan]

She nodded with a smile, let go, and

/exits
/scene?

[Tethys Carrack]

/scene!

On to the next...