"A-as long as somebody, knows.  I'm - re-evaluating - things - might, be - a minute -"

"Take your time, I'm not going anywhere." She re-hugs.

But does she have the time - oh, probably, the Force says, but the Force says a lot of things -

(There is a positive deluge of feelings boiling out of Darth Kalbetis, like she's a breached pressure-vessel.)

(She will eventually tidy them back away.  Surely.)

(When they're just a little bit less likely to scald her hands for the attempt.)

"I, you...  What were, what did...you expect...?"  ...She still has at least this much in her, to ask this one question.  (She is very much not letting go of this hug for a long while.)

"I could tell you weren't all right, but not much about the depth of it, it's not very physical. I'm not surprised, though."

"...mm."  She sniffles, a bit.  "I'm just...  Trying to not worry them."  She gestures widely at the rest of the ship.  "Which...  Is no incentive to look mortal and fallible."

"You are, though. But I'm not going to spread your secret past Daisy and Nine, and I trust them to keep it."

"I'm...sure Elcie knows, too.  And Medea.  And, really, I do...  Try to restrain their," her people's in general, she means, "expectations.  But I can't help but try to fulfill them nonetheless.  They're - they're my people.  I can't - let them down like that if I can help it.  And often enough I can and it's worth the price, and on and on and on until apparently this - this - happens."

"Maybe Elcie should talk to my Daisy, figure out how she can tell if I'm going to regret something I'm doing."

"...She does try.  I'm just a bit of a horrible listener."

"Mm. Well, I can't recommend picking up the skill the way I did, I nearly died. But I do think it's worth picking up. People can fend for themselves, at least a little; the whole burden doesn't have to come down on you."

"The responsibility, though, is ultimately mine.  If it were not for me they would not have these burdens."

"Is it?" she teases. "I thought you didn't do slavery."

"...Ghk.  Well.  You have me there, don't you."

"Mmhmm. Your people are here on purpose. Respecting that is part of respecting them."

"Curses.  I have been resoundingly defeated.  That means it's your problem now by the rules of Sithery that neither of us want anything to do with."  (To be extremely clear, she is joking about this.)

"...Idle fantasies about a galaxy in which I could legitimately retire aside, we probably don't quite have time enough to sit here all day, as much as I wish we did.  There's still Jedi to plan for."

"If you're feeling ready for that," she makes no move to desnuggle. "We were making pretty good time last night, I think we can spare a few more minutes."

"...They can hardly hurt, I suppose."  Blast, ...'''foiled'''... again.

Quite.

"Is there anything else like this that I might want to know about?"

"...I don't think I would know to be able to tell you, if there was, but...

"I don't expect that?"

"All right. I'll keep an eye on it, anyway."

And eventually: "So what should I know about the Jedi?"

"...Mmm."

"Perhaps that would be better handled from my office; I can pull up the holos and suchlike from there."

Whether or not they do adjourn there, she does have thoughts.  Once she has her mask back on from wherever it ended up.

"...I don't know everything about every Jedi.  I want to make that clear up front.  But, knowing that we were going to be in this sector and knowing who was likely to be responding, I was able to get more information on these Jedi than I think they'd want me to know, with a bit of legwork.  ...Perhaps more than some of them know about themselves - it's hard to get a good look at the person in the mirror, after all."

"With that settled - let's get to the briefing.  There's four Knights responding to Rafiik's distress signal, and two Masters, one with a Padawan that will likely be left with the Knight we're not supposed to be aware is close enough to try something.  There's three ships in play on their parts, as well - we handily outmass them, but goodness knows that starfighters are meant to punch outside their weight class if they can help it."

"What do you know about the types of Jedi?"

(Once Kalbetis has her mask back on, Pradnakt judges that she'll be able to get to her office without arousing any particular suspicion, and agrees that it's a better option. She asks Daisy to bring them a fresh pot of tea, as well.)

"Very little; I wasn't expecting to ever meet Jedi."

She nods.  "Leaving aside the Jedi Order's - support staff, as was, because their social structure renders them able to have noncombat specialists - there are, mm, flavors of Jedi Knight.  The Knight Consular is trained not just in combat but diplomacy - they often do diplomatic close protection, or arbitration between Republic systems.  The Knight Sentinel is trained for a long-term post not-otherwise-specified - working system security, for example, or in research and development.  Most of the Jedi Order's combat-trained Healers are Sentinels, too.  The Knight Guardian...  Well.  They double down on fighting.  And then, hidden beneath these classifications, you find the Jedi Shadows - specialists in intelligence, espionage, and us.  Well.  In Sith.  I'm not sure a specialist in people like ourselves yet exists."

Heh.

"And we're expecting the latter?"

"'Expecting the latter' is rather the wrong way of thinking about it - Jedi Shadows pass as other types of Jedi.  There was one Shadow close enough to come running, and for better or for worse they're a Shadow-trained Knight Consular."