"Captain? Fordo. Strictly off the record today. It's more of a personal visit. Things have been disconcerting recently. There have been certain... Experiences I've had with members of the Republic military that leave me rather on edge. I just— I have to ask. Hypothetically, if the Republic were to turn on me, label me an enemy of democracy. Were you ordered to hunt me down, knowing me and my ideals, would you?"
There’s a brief, tense pause before he forces a pronounced sigh. Leaning forward, he retrieves a stylus from his pauldron, opens up a flim-zine on the caf table, and begins to write.
“First off, it’s Commander now. You’re letting your anxiety get the best of you again, Langley. You know by now Clone Troopers are inherently suspicious, especially here on Coruscant. Took a while for me to warm up to you, after all. I realize tensions are high since the droid invasion, but the war’s almost over. We’re only a few weeks away from victory, if that. Things are gonna be back to normal before you know it, and you can go back to writing about... what’s going on in CoCo Town, or whatever the hell it is you used to do.”
Clicking the stylus off and returning it to its sleeve, he slides the flim-zine back towards Alsaine so she could read his note.
OpSec. Not a good place for this. You have reason to be worried, and you have a right to know why. The following instructions are for one of our dead drops. Advise you gradually tone-down your critical writing until further notice, try not to attract too much public attention. Just in case. Burn this later.
“I digress. The answer is no. Of course I wouldn’t.”
Fordo stands up and walks over to the room’s small kitchenette, turning on a hot plate and digging through some cabinets.
“I’ll get you some tea. How’s that friend of yours, the zeltron?” He snaps his fingers a few times. “Hartley? Haven’t seen her in a while.”
