He laughs.
"I thought you would have pieced it together by now, Xavier. I KNOW these things already! I know what you're like! Though obviously you've become a bit thicker since our last meeting..."
He reaches up and removes the breath mask, then slides up the goggles onto his bandana. He glares up at you with the chiseled face of Friste Tem.
"Don't you recognize me?"
"The Council sent me on a suicide mission, Xavier. I will admit that, despite my prowess, I could not handle what they sent me into. Nowhere near prepared, I stumbled straight into Svidrigailov's clutches. I should be dead, Xavier, but I convinced Svidrigailov that he could use a man of my talents.
"The Jedi teachings taught me to never impose my will upon the innocent, and to never use my power for personal gain. But where does that fit into slavery, Xavier? It's a combination of forced will and personal profit, through and through.
"I have long since embraced the Dark Side, Xavier. My life as a Jedi Knight is over. I have the Order to blame for that."
"Weakness? I have never been stronger!" He accentuates the point by holding his arms before him, clenching his fists. "The Jedi are afraid of the power that the Dark Side can bring! But I am not. It is the Dark Side that strengthens me beyond anything you could bring to a fight. You are the one in weakness."
"Soon, Xavier. Very soon. Typically I would alert Svidrigailov to scum infiltrating his operation... but I think we'll just see where this goes.
"I'll make you a deal, old pal. I'll let you try to finish your mission, whatever it is. If you fail to bring down the Pirate Lord or myself, I will drop your eviscerated corpse into the nearest star. But if you succeed... do what you like."
Friste turns to leave, then remembers something.
"How's Master Cabas?"
"Such an illogical deal, but I will accept."
"Last time I checked he was doing well, although I haven't heard from him for what seems like ages."
"Oh and Friste someday you will have to tell what it feels like to lapdog of Svid. Does he pet you every night before sleep at the foot of his bed?"
Xavier didn't mean the last part. He could care less where Friste slept or what Svid did to him. Logically though keeping Friste's mind of balance and emotionally charged could cause him to be irrational. That could cause him to make a mistake.
He had already done that though by allowing Xavier to live. That was a big mistake the next one would likely be fatal.
Friste contorts his smug expression into a sneer.
"I could still change my mind, Xavier. Don't think I didn't note that you do not have your lightsaber."
He reaches into his jumpsuit and pulls out a lightsaber, newly designed with a hooked hilt, as opposed to the customary cylinder of most lightsabers. He presses the activator, allowing a red shaft of energy to jump from the weapon.
"You are nothing without your lightsaber, Xavier. I have you at my mercy at all times. Remember that."
Friste deactivates the weapon and conceals it once more. He does the same with his face, repositioning the breath mask and the red goggles. And then he takes his leave.
This certainly changes things, Xavier. The Council presumed that he had perished when they sent you on this mission; they did not expect him to be working for your enemies. Somehow you think this a bit foolish on their part, but you knew his character better than they did, perhaps.
Xavier doesn't reply to Friste, just watches as he leaves the room. The Counsel should have allowed for this possibility. Xavier almost knew exactly when he fought him that it was Friste.
No that is worries are confirmed though, the fact changes very little about the mission. Xavier would just have to be a tad more careful.
One thing is for sure; you will need to inform and consult Cabas on the matter of Friste and Trax's proposed slave rebellion.
But how would you find him? And how would you go about leading a slave uprising with Friste the Crazy hopping around? As you sit in the bacta tank, take the opportunity to plot your plots...
Xavier sits long and hard contemplating on the matters at hand.
First he needs to get in touch with Master Cabas. Xavier ahs a feeling it was Cabas that told him to save the girl. Which means he is around. Xavier will think back on their many missions. Surely during on of them Master Cabas taught Xavier a way to get in touch with eachother if they became separated.
As for how he will lead a slave rebellion. If some of the slaves have been here long enough like Trax then they probably hold a bit more sway cause they are survivors.
As to how Xavier will get around the watchful eye off Friste, Xavier thinks having Trax be his middle man may help with that.
Actually, in retrospect (hah!), the brief telepathic message that crossed your mind did not sound like your Master. That leaves only one person it could have come from. Normally Jedi can only send telepathic message between each other if there is a deep connection between them, such as Master and Apprentice. But in this case, Friste's hatred of you and his connection to you as a rival... he forced that message to intentionally provoke you.
Bastard.
No, Cabas gave you no real way to get in touch with him. You don't even know if he was successful in sneaking aboard one of the slaver transports.
Trax can be of great use in rallying the slaves, but they are of no use to you if they do not have a plan of attack! Not to mention they are all unarmed. You could outnumber the pirates a hundred to one, but if the slaves were weaponless, the pirates would crush the uprising with no real difficulty. That is how they are kept in check now.
Xavier has Jedi Lore?
So Xavier wishes to think of a story that Master Cabas particularly likes. Perhaps if Xavier begins reciting the story, Master Cabas will get the hint that Xavier needs to talk to him.
Yes weapons. Xavier needs to find out exactly where the slave holding area is compared to the Armory. Also each one will probably be locked. So Xavier will have to find out how to unlock them, either via control panel or force if need be.
They will also probably be under guard so Xavier will have to figure how to get past them. On the same note Xavier if Svid is consistent that means Xavier will be under constant watch as well.
Yes. Why?
Unfortunately, Jedi telepathy is extremely limited. You can read emotions and connections between people... but worded messages sent by thought are indecently short. And Jedi cannot read minds.
Finding the armory would be a good idea! But you're not allowed to simply roam the ship. But Trax can get you that information.
If Cabas is on board, getting past the guards and the sealed blast doors will be simplified by retrieving your lightsaber from him. But decent alternatives never harmed anyone.
Well I was thinking is Xavier could recall a particular story that Cabas liked and begin to recite if Cabas was anywhere nearby maybe he would get the hint. Or better yet perhaps a story where something similar was going on and people needed to talk to plan.
Yeah the best way to get past the guards is remove them from the area. I think the best possible situation there if Xavier doesn't have his Lightsaber is to trigger an alarm in another section of the ship so they have to go there.
But yeah any further planning will require me to speak with Cabas and Trax to get more info, but so far the General idea is distract the guards, free the slaves, and go straight to the armory to retrieve weapons.