Re: Part 15 - Home of the Hutt
"I think we're better off taking them back with us," Shard states, meandering back to the group from her musings. "I don't want to have another situation like the last one. Before we turn anyone over to 'liberators', I want to be sure of who we're dealing with." She cocks an eyebrow at Wakuda. "Just because you're on the level doesn't mean your bosses will be. If you want us to just drop off these people -" she doesn't use the word slaves, no "- with you, we'll need more information. Lots more."
Her lips twist into a grimace. "Last time we trusted someone - someone whose life we saved, sound familiar? - he took these people and dumped them off on Oomba to make a profit. That is not happening again."
She shoots a quick glance at Haarmon. "If that Ubese had been there, it would have turned bad, yes. Lucky for us he wasn't." Lucky for him as well...would have made sure he went down before we did.
With that, Shard blows out a long breath, nodding her head. "Now, maybe the Colonel will check things out and decide Wakuda's employers are on the level, in which case everything's good. But I'm sure you can understand -" this to Wakuda "- that we can't just turn them over to anyone. Not after last time. Secondly? Haarmon has a good point." Again. Has been happening a lot, recently. "We need to find a way to contain potential information leaks, first."
Then Shard rubs her forehead - there's a dull pain forming there, mostly due to stress but partly due to guilt. "And Rhijans? I screwed up. Should have reported in to you through comm, let you know something of what was going on. It's my fault, not Haarmon's - I was worried about interception, but that's not the whole truth. Part of it was I was flying by the seat of my pants, and maybe..." She sighs. "Maybe I didn't want someone telling me it was a bad idea."
She spreads her hands wide. "It could have gone badly, and success is no excuse. I'm sorry. That put us all in danger, and next time I'll make sure to consult."