It wasn’t working.

“I am very worried about my friends captured aboard the Relentless, and for Galen. These people are all friends of mine that I’ve helped time and time again. Good friends..”

He paused then, pursing his lips a bit in thought before continuing. “Terrin will probably go down swinging, to do whatever he thinks he can to save Galen, Captain Joao, and the Ryn; that I’m certain of. What does disturb me, however, is the apparent lack of action on Jedi Jetii’sad;s part. From what I know of him he’’s got a brother who turned to the dark side that he killed...

...but on his way out the brother took Kyan’s connection from the Force. Even so, I’d think he’d be doing something, anything to help protect his fellow shipmates, ones that have obviously put their trust in him.”

Shawn trailed then, frowning. “I don’t like it. It does in fact look like Terrin may have made some kind of alliance with the Mandalorians, or at the very least he had some sort of interactions with them that somehow ended with Galen gaining a Mandalorian ship. What doesn’t make sense to me is why he wouldn’t have sought their help in this matter to begin with...

....or why in fact Jedi Jetii’sad would not have. Instead he ended up coming to you which—forgive me—doesn’t sound a damn thing like the Terrin Danner I know. And it doesn’t sound a damn thing like what a Jedi, whose first mission should be to protect the innocent, should be doing either.”

--------------------

"You're as insightful as I'd expect any Jedi to be, Shawn, and those insights serve both you and I well.

"The apparent inaction on the part of this Jedi with them is extremely worrisome. Even more so when one considers he is Lt. Jeti'saad's grandfather... Kani, who was pissed as hell at the Jedi when being erroneously told they were the ones who brought about her mother's death.

"But now it's come out that apparently we, the Imperials, were the ones to blame... and now she is pissed more than ever.

"At us. Or rather, them.

"Which reminds me; I've not yet heard anything back regarding her request that I dig up her mother's effects. I believe I should delve a little into this personally; it may help seal her trust in us, and perhaps further cement her alliance with us when the poo-doo hits the fan. At least I hope it will.

"In the meantime..."

Now I played with my console, drawing up a menu of HQ's posh "mess hall" frequented by only the top brass in the Empire. Choosing a meal for myself, I waved Shawn over to my side.

"Discussions such as the one approaching us require full bellies," I said simply. "Not to mention I've had quite enough to drink without eating anything. I'm having our meals delivered so we may remain here, behind locked doors, hopefully in further peace and quiet in order to figure out exactly where in Hell's Seven Circles I should go next with all this."

--------------------

“She is pissed as hell,” Shawn agreed in reference to Kani. “And these Mandalorians...”

Shawn trailed, frowning. ”Oh hell,” he then said suddenly, looking across the greelwood desk at Sorben. “Maybe I have had too much to drink without food myself. Between escaping from potential Imperial capture with her and setting ourselves up to go undercover depending upon what had happened to you when you were taken away, I’d forgotten Kani mentioned communicating with her people that there was a potential Imperial shake-up in the works; she just didn’t know quite how they’d respond to her message.”

Shawn quieted for a moment, scowling at himself for not thinking of this sooner, scowling even further at the apparent lack of discretion in how the potential news was being responded to by the Mandalorians. For certainly they had quite a few ships out there, one incoming right on top of Coruscant.

“Apparently discretion is not the better part of valor when it comes to whatever they are doing. Nor is there concern for the apparent collateral damage we’ve already been referencing, if in fact Captain Danner, Galen, and the others had some sort of interactions with the Mandalorians themselves in the meantime.”

Shawn shook his head, his dismay clearly evident. “Terrin’s tangled with the Sith, and his business partner has had rebel alliances against the Empire of his own. I don’t know if there is any way to disentangle the Challenger team from this utter fiasco...

...but I think both EE owners would take more measured, careful steps considering everything that both of them know is at stake here.”

--------------------

"And I'm sure those involved with these as yet unknown civilizations believe they either have some kind of protection against the Empire... or, should things make a rapid about-face, will be able to so easily assist in implementing an alliance between us all.

"Nothing but visions of grandeur if you ask me; they simply do not know how the Empire acts. Oh, they're fully aware of the power and the super star destroyers and the technology and the terror... but they know absolutely nothing about the politics!

"They had, and indeed have absolutely no idea of what Actar was about. Not that I condone his actions in any way shape or form, but the man was a bit more politician than terrorist, and I did learn a little bit from him, you know."

I ended my pacing standing at my desk again. For a moment I simply stared down the my reflection shining there, before slamming my fist smack on top of the image of my own nose.

"Damn loose lips and sinking ships anyway; what the Hell did Kani think she was doing? I mean, yes I asked if she could arrange a meeting with me and her grandfather... but to go beyond that simple request and hint that something big was coming down the spacelanes was not in the mission plans at that time! No one, and I do mean no one was to have even a smidgeon of a hint of a whisper that something was going on with the Imperials, let alone 'some kind of shake down!'"

I snorted away from the desk, paced around a bit longer before whirling back to face Shawn again.

"If I didn't know you and the people of your acquaintance, I'd be tossing you in detention simply because you know. But I feel that your Jedi honor would preclude you from letting anything slip other than what we decide should be slipped, and where, and to whom, and when.

"Am I right, Shawn?"

I took a wide stance, planted my fists on my hips, and met his gaze with a meaningful one of my own.

--------------------

“You have my word that what has been said in confidence here, stays in confidence,” he then replied simply. “After all, it’s all fun and games and taking care of one another until you’ve got to think about what might be best for the entire galaxy.”

Pausing then, Shawn’s eyes defocused a little bit as he thought of what he had in fact done as a Jedi to protect a larger portion of people while not doing the one thing that perhaps some had never forgiven him for.

“You are talking to the Jedi who stayed on his mission while his twin sister was kidnapped from the Jedi Praxeum, after all. And the same Jedi that was on yet another mission that held import even the Jedi weren’t aware of yet when the Praxeum on Yavin IV was taken over.”

Shawn shook his head then, but at his own thoughts, and not at Sorben. “Kani’s decision was a knee-jerk one that was made before we really had enough information to know how to react. And now this...”

Here he trailed, raising his hands, palms upward, as if indicating the invisible set of circumstances like they were really tangible.

And as it stood, they were becoming more and more tangible by each passing moment.

[ 02-22-2019 07:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

"Her decision... and perhaps mine in letting her in on my change of heart. That my friend might come back to bite me."

I walked around the table now, letting him know my trust in him by placing one hand on his shoulder. Then I let it drop,.

"Unfortunately, I don't believe I can fully trust the young and entirely too hot-headed lieutenant, not after this. Now there are two Mandalorian ships headed our way; on one hand, they may be expecting to be welcomed with open arms, while on the other old suspicions might be skewing their rising hope and or trust, if indeed they are capable of entertaining these feelings at all. The slightest wrong blink at those ships, and they'll be out of the picture entirely, if not actively tossing in their lot with another upstart of a rebellion should that ever arise again."

I rubbed my face with my hand, suddenly weary to the bone.

And this isn't even the Prelude to the Suite...

A sudden and rather genteel chime announced the arrival of our meals. My aides and assistants were nothing if not thorough; I opened the door to reveal a heavily laden rolling table, chock full of good things to eat and better things to drink and gleaming silver and rising steam and the heady aroma of nerf steak l'flange. My watering mouth and rumbling stomach reminded me at that point just how hungry I was; I flipped another toggle and a hidden panel in the wall slid smoothly up, revealing a small, personal dining area.

White linen, gleaming silver, shining Alderaanian porcelain, the whole shebang.

I waved the porter, hidden but there behind the load he was pushing, toward the little niche, following that with another wave in Shawn's direction. I waited as he seated himself before taking my own, noting with a little smile that not one but two bottles of both Walkn'Fall and Whyrene's adorned the feast, accompanied by three bottles of our finest red blend.

I let the porter serve us, waited while he ferried the whiskeys to the sideboard, and with a stiff little bow trundled his table from the room. The door closed with a quiet whoosh in his wake, inviting us to begin.

I picked up the already uncorked wine, poured both Shawn and I a good glassful, then picked up my fork.

"I'm really not liking what I'm thinking I might have to do with Kani," I began, trying to pick up somewhere in the vicinity where we had left off.

"But she really does have a bad tendency toward jumping the gun, not to mention being the owner of a temper even hotter than Galen's ever was."

At least Galen's hot-headedness was tempered with an even measure of humor, combined with a good dose of logic, and sprinkled quite liberally with those amazing gut feelings she always seemed to have.

"No, I'm not liking it at all."

I put a hefty chunk of steak in my mouth, and chewed slowly, thoughtfully, giving Shawn time to think as well and hopefully provide me with another one of those Jedi insights of his.

[ 02-22-2019 08:10 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

--------------------

“Kani’s been misguided, over and over again,” he observed once he took his first swallow and a sip of wine. “She’s been grappling between whether she should trust the Empire, the Jedi...or for that matter anyone in general, especially in the past few days. You’ve definitely won some of that trust, of that I am certain; I’ve ‘been in her head’ after all.”

Shawn paused then, taking another bite, his look deepening. “She does have some intense Force abilities. With that and the Night Whisperer training she has had I’m afraid she’s leaning to the dark side of things. She’s been trained to hate and mistrust; programmed to do so, even. The only things that are going to undo that are time and training; while I know I’ve gained her trust to some extent as well I don’t know if she’d trust me further with that. She has stated she was trained to almost a full Jedi Knight...

...but now I’m not even sure if the memories she has are truth or planted.”

Pausing to consider this, Shawn’s eyes turned a bit vague, concern clouding them. “She’s very confident in her skills, and proud of her heritage. This is going to be a slippery slope, and I don’t know if she’s ready to face that she might not be as invincible as she thinks.”

[ 02-22-2019 08:46 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

"Which," I waved my fork for emphasis. "She most certainly has not. In fact, while on Tatooine I had to demote her from her former rank of Major, and removed her from being my active aide because of her stepping entirely beyond her bounds in attacking you on Tatooine. I don't care what universe you come from, that behavior was totally non-befitting of an officer, especially a Major, and even less so for a Jedi. You saw.

"I'm telling you, Shawn, that young lady is a loose cannon. Yes, I realize she's been through personal hell... but if she's been trained to the near-Master level of Jedi as you suggest, shouldn't she be a bit more, ahhh... level-headed about things? Shouldn't it have gotten pounded into her head to look before she leaps?

"To think?

"No, I think you're right. I think that for whatever reason she's had some mighty nasty memories planted inside. By whom, and for what purpose, I haven't the slightest idea; any suggestions in this area would be welcomed so we could address that as well.

"As long as we're addressing everything else that we are.

"But, does this mean I should still give her the leeway I started giving her? Loose lips sink ships, as I briefly alluded earlier... but loose cannons blow them up altogether.

"Boom."

I took a drink of wine, and followed that with some Nabooan olives that were just sitting there, begging to be eaten.

[ 02-22-2019 09:08 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

--------------------

Frowning a bit at this, Shawn then took another bite of nerfsteak, chewing it seriously as he considered who in fact would have done this to Kani. “As for who might have potentially planted memories in Kani, I can tell you she believes the Empire, or rather Actar, did it. I know that’s certainly possible, and I think you do too. After all, Actar managed to put Galen in some sort of mind cage at one point, a mind cage that only he was able to break. And I know this based on my first hand involvement at the time; I was there.”

Shawn shook his head, recalling that time, and not with any sort of fondness. “Still, I’m not certain why Actar, or anyone else for that matter, would have done this...”

He trailed, taking a bite of some sort of root vegetable as a possibility dawned on him. “...unless it’s because of the uniqueness of Kani’s Force ability. She’s a Force “siphon,” and is able to harness the abilities that one Jedi has to use for herself. For example, my primary Force gift is Healing, as is my sister’s. Kani is able to drain that ability from me and use it for herself; but the drain in turn can weaken whoever she siphons from. It’s a valuable asset, and a rare skill. And if used in a specific way, it can be deadly.”

Shawn looked across the table at Sorben, the look in his eyes shifting slightly. Knowing what he knew from his experience over the past few years, he had to point out another possibility.

“Now I have serious reservations regarding anything Actar has done, and he’s done some pretty abhorrent things. But I also know he’s not the only one who could have done something like this. After all, mind conditioning is about as old of a tactic when it comes to war as the galaxy is itself, and it doesn’t necessarily take any Force ability or magical power to do, just the right set of circumstances and skills to condition.”

Quieting at this, Shawn took a sip of wine as his eyes darkened, the very idea of it all disturbing him to his very core.

[ 02-22-2019 10:13 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

Nodding in general to what Shawn had said, I lifted my wine glass to take another sip even as I flipped the toggle next to the little light...

...only to freeze as words began scrolling across my screen. They remained there a moment, pulsing slightly as though to imprint them into every synapse my brain possessed before the words not only disappeared but the entire screen went black as well.

After a moment it returned to normal mode. After a couple abortive attempts, I finally managed to reach a hand to certain switches and toggles, flipped them in this sequence and that.

Nope. That particular message was dead and gone.

Except for where it was still burning across every aforementioned synapse in my brain.

"Holy Mother of Mynocks!"

The words just burst from my lips. I could not have stopped them any more than I could stop the suns from rising on Tatooine. Or the one here on Coruscant, even if we could see it for all the pollutants in the atmosphere.

I turned wide eyes Shawn's way.

"Khani's mother is... alive!" was all I could manage at the moment before trying to bring my shocked system into a semblance of normalcy in the pretty much chugging of the entirety of my glass of wine.

Which was immediately followed by a refill.

I raised the glass with shaking hand when a sudden thought struck me.

Shawn and I had been talking about a lot of things in this room that would easily have been interpreted; hell, outright seen to be treasonous. I had already told him that there were big ears everywhere.

Even, perhaps, here...

I held a hand up to Shawn, the other first placing a finger to my lips before waving it about in a manner encouraging idle chit-chat. He obliged, yammering about the quality of the wine, the flavor of the steak... all while I began a stealthy perusal of my very own ready room.

I found it hidden in the framework of the door to the dining area... on the inside.

Pulling it carefully away so not to disturb it in any fashion, I scrutinized the little thing closely, trying to determine which kind of...

"Stealth bug. Utilized by Night Whisper."

I sighed, then poked around more carefully. Thankfully, the thing proved to be only a simple recording device, not anything containing an active transmitter. I tossed it up in the air, let it fall, and then crushed it beneath my boot.

"And now, my Jedi friend," I went on, giving the room in its entirety an extremely thorough, final sweep before deeming it clean and regaining my seat. I took hold of my glass, and raised it to him.

"You must pardon the distractions. You were saying?"

[ 02-22-2019 10:37 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

--------------------

...but now he sat there, practically frozen, his wine glass mid way between the table and his lips.

”Sithspawn!” he muttered, the look in his eyes dark. Were it not for the brown contacts in his eyes, his greeny-blues would have been encroaching on a storm in their depths.

“Not to be overly suspicious— although now, of all times, I think it’s most certainly warranted— but are you certain of your source?”

Shawn trailed for a moment, taking a long drink of wine, the glass now empty. “Oh Bloody Hell, who could have done this...

..and why? There are the obvious answers, of course: Actar or the Night Whispers themselves, who are clearly set to infiltrate and control the Jedi, per the Admiral’s orders as far as we know...”

Shawn fell silent again, an altogether troubling possibility coming to mind. “But then, I still don’t know why they would have told Kani her mother was dead and not have just done the deed if in fact it’s nothing more than they hate the Jedi, and simply wanted Kani’s skill as an asset to do their work.” He looked across the way at Sorben, not liking what he was about to say in the least. “I really, really hate to suggest this...

...but could the Mandalorians have set Kani up as a plant? I mean, if her mother is alive, and is a Force user as is Kani...”

Shawn paused, something of the Force niggling within in warning. Or perhaps in confirmation. “Kani’s mother has to know of this...”

He fell silent, a final mental addendum slamming home.

And she could very well be a part of it...

[ 02-22-2019 11:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

"Wait, wait, wait my friend," I said in a vain attempt to stem the flood of concern and speculation coming from the man. "I didn't get a chance to finish; I'm sorry, but the thought of being bugged crossing my mind tossed everything else into the ether."

I drew in a breath.

"Kani's mother has been found to be incarcerated... on Ambria. Records show she is alive, but in some kind of odd... coma."

I let that sink in, well recalling the words Shawn had spoken mere moments before concerning Actar's treatment of Galen.

My wife.

No.

No longer...

I pushed that aside, and went on. "My guess is that it's the same thing he did to Galen; since of course there is no one other than Actar who could possibly have done this sort of thing to Kani's mother. His reasoning behind it eludes me; I was never made privy to this information before now, but it simply had to have been him. Why he did this to Galen too, why he continued to pursue her so relentlessly eludes me further yet."

Not QUITE the entire truth, but enough of it for the moment.

"Suffice it to say that it happened... and somewhere in Actar's stronghold on Ambria, I believe the mother of an extremely angry young woman is laying in the same horrific mental confines Actar imposed upon Galen.

"Retrieving her is one thing. But removing this force... thing of Actar's is something that to my knowledge only Actar himself can do."

I sighed.

Indeed, it never rained but it poured.

[ 02-22-2019 11:23 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

--------------------

“You know, back when I first started helping Terrin out, well before matters got complicated by alliances with the Sith that later seemed to fall by the wayside, he and I had this theory that was somewhat later confirmed,” he said, seemingly floating off topic. “Whatever happened the day that Jharmeen Jhin’Dar became Graysith, Galen was impacted as well by whatever changed her sister. This in turn gave her the “ability,” so to speak, to have babies that at the time Terrin and I simply thought were Force inherent.”

Shawn paused then, sending a meaningful look in Sorben’s direction. “I think you know as well as the rest of us do now that it’s far more than that. Actar, along with other nasties of either your aquantaince or mine or both, know the power potential of having access to someone who can have children like that...

...and also access to those children in order to train them up in the way they should go, so to speak.”

Shawn trailed, making a final connection then. “Kani is a Force siphon, another rare Force talent....

...and a deadly one. And here Actar has her mother on Ambria and in some sort of coma too; her mother who is also a Jedi and very capable of having more children of the same stock, for such skills in Force users, like traits in anyone else, are genetically linked.”

[ 02-23-2019 12:05 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

It made sense. It made total, complete and utter sense.

Actar's plan, to breed children able to siphon inherent strengths, to perhaps use Galen as mother of the children bred whose talent could then be siphoned off to...

To do what?

I nodded, emptying the first bottle of blend and then reaching for the second.

"This makes sense. But why the intermediary? If he can just use Galen as some sort of... breeding stock, why bother with using Kani's mother's possible siphoning genetics? Unless..."

The thought made me freeze.

"Unless he was planning on breeding a new kind of 'Force' user able to siphon off any attacker's possible abilities to thus strengthen their own. That one, using what power Galen's sister has, and what might be in Galen herself, would be invincible."

I paused, sending a steadying look Shawn's way.

"We can thank Khaandon that Actar never had the chance to complete this plan, if indeed it was his plan. He is... gone now.

"But..."

I froze, then voiced the one final speculation that was suddenly starting to grow to worrisome proportions.

"You don't suppose that he had a group under is command in this arena, do you? A group who might still be following his orders, even if he disappeared for days or weeks on end? He has been known to do so; Shawn.

"Do you think this might possibly be going on even as we speak... and do you think this group might be the Night Whisperers?

"AND what better reason to... plant Kani as my aide. I was, after all, married to Galen."

[ 02-23-2019 12:30 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

--------------------

Shawn paused. Still love her, even...

He let his spoken statement rest a moment, again hoping he hadn’t crossed a line. Then he continued with, “As for Actar having a group out still doing his bidding in regards to whatever he was plotting with people like Kani’s mother and Galen, I’d bet a lot of money that is in fact the case. And that the Night Whispers could be the ones, as well. After all...”

He quieted again, waving a hand expansively around the room, and then pointing down to the floor in the direction of the crunched survelliance bug. “And to add to all this darkening speculation, how convenient is it that Galen is off on a Mandalorian ship, one that was probably acquired by her somehow through Kani’s grandfather...

...and one that is now stranded out somewhere inoperable in space. Is this merely a cocincidence...

....or is something else far darker at work here?” He frowned then, the look in his eye clearly concerned. “I don’t really believe in coincidence, but either way it means an Imperial ship is hopefully at some point soon going to find that ship...

...but it’ll leave Galen in harm’s way, should there be an active group out there still trying to do what we think Actar may have been trying to do...

..delivering her potentially right into their hands, Night Whisperers or not.”

Shawn’s look darkened. This was getting worse all the time. His final thought escaped his lips before he could stop it. “If anything like that happens, and Terrin finds out I even suspected something, he’ll never forgive me.”

[ 02-23-2019 01:01 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

"Galen is not going to be delivered to Night Whisperers, if indeed they are involved to the degree we think they may be. After all, we are operating on some fact and a lot of speculation; but of one thing you can rest assured, and that is Galen's safety.

"And that of the crew of Challenger as well, should push come to shove. I'm going to do everything in my power to make certain they don't become the collateral damage I spoke of earlier.

"I need them as friends and allies; I can only hope that they will one day be able to realize the reasons I was following the course circumstances demanded I follow."

[ 02-23-2019 01:22 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

--------------------

“I can act as a buffer, if need be,” he then said, pausing a moment to raise a hand to ward off any rising concern, “I know, I know. Again, what has been stated here, stays here. I’ve kept my share of secrets over the past few years. I am a person of mutual trust, however,” he then added.

Letting that statement speak for itself for a few moments- for in fact, Shawn Petrolu had kept his share of secrets regarding the Sith, the Darker Realms, and abilities far greater than his to tap into the Force- he finally reached out to refill his wine glass, taking another sip then along with another bite of food. Only then did he continue.

“But regarding Kani and how to handle the current situation with her? I am a Jedi Master, and I can help ascertain what is truth and what has been planted within her. And with what we now know regarding her mother, I’m certain she’s going to need facts and guidance. If her anger and tendency towards acting before she thinks is going to be dealt with, I do believe that will start with nothing more than the truth, from those that she has developing trust in.”

Shawn paused then, taking a bite of food, considering the potential best course of action with Kani as he did so. “Still, the information we now have could certainly set her off the deep end, and that we most certainly do not need right now. I’m afraid timing, at least until we ascertain exactly what the Mandalorians are up to and how involved Kani may potentially be, is going to be key.”

[ 02-23-2019 09:25 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

Kani’s eyes shot open, she had been in a meditative trance almost akin to a Jedi healing trance. Because she was still not in full control of her abilities, she didn’t dare enter that state of semi consciousness. If her unique abilities ran amok without her having the proper mental barriers in place to prevent her from harming innocent people, well she didn’t want to think of that. The voice she heard she thought it came from the mask itself but then she realized it was coming from within her mind. Scanning the room it appeared oddly vacant of activity, no people milling about, no droids monitoring patients, even the patients… That was until Kani reached out with the Force and found them all there, but they were frozen in place, some one, no something had stopped their movement. Kani tried to open a comm to well anyone and found the controls to be dead.

That won’t work. We wanted this meeting to be private NW-1154 or should we all you Harbinger.

She knew that name, she had heard it several times in the past but for the life of her she couldn’t place it. From behind one of the bacta tanks emerged a figure, one she also knew from somewhere. Though in armor of a sort the figure look human or near human in silhouette but when she reached out to get a better feel she found she was blocked from reading him. Though he was masked somehow Kani knew that it was smirking at thwarting her attempt to read him. It raised a finger and offered her a wagging motion in mocking chastisement, the hand then opened palm out and Kani was slammed into the back of the tank pinned by an invisible force.

What the hell is this, how can he use the Force on me and I can’t see it?

Again she knew that the man before her had the biggest grin behind the mask at the bewilderment building in Kani. Every tactic she tried was suppressed, no canceled out Kani saw. To every attempt an exact and equally opposite effect was employed effectively nullify her powers. Through this ever fruitless attempt of tug-of-war Force powers Kani realized the top seal of the tank opened and a pair of hands descending into the bacta and grasping her by the temples. With iron like grip they clamped on compelling her to look ahead at the first figure while she felt pressure building in the back of her mind.

“While impressive that you broke free it is most unfortunate that we lose such an asset… for now. Its funny to tell you any of this considering that soon you won’t remember any of it but alas orders are orders. Harbinger they are lying to you, and we, well we still have plans for you.

He retreated toward the door way resting his hand on an alarm klaxon before nodding. A wave of pain washed over Kani as she felt something boring into her mind rummaging through her thoughts and ransacking the place. As quick as it began it ended with Kani being dropped back into the tank her vision slowly fading to black. The first figure now joined by the second and together the pair exited the room tripping the klaxon as they left. Every one else began moving again as if nothing happened but turned their heads toward the now blaring klaxons, and preparations to evacuate their patients. Kani meanwhile kept on sinking and before the black overtook her she reached out to any mind that could listen to her mental call.

“Harbinger…”

The lights in my ready room immediately dimmed from their normal illumination to red, while digital readouts inset along the walls both top and bottom flared into flaming life, the top ones pulsing red-to-black-to-red, the bottom remaining steady to provide an easily seen escape route to the doorway. Simultaneously, the alarm klaxon filled the air with its teeth-gritting, stomach-coiling, warning blare.

I shot Shawn a look as intense as the ice field suddenly forming in my gut, then shot to my feet.

"Come with me," I said tersely, about to make tracks toward the door when with a final electronic burp the klaxons shut the hell up, followed nanoseconds later by the flaming lights. Lighting returned to normal and relative silence resumed.

Other than the continued alarm blasts still ringing in my ears, that is; altering my vector now I moved with alacrity to my desk, slammed open the comm channel to HQ.

"What the hell is happening out there?"

--------------------

He wasn't in error. The first transmission, coming on the very heels of the initial alert, was from General Tarnus.

The lieutenant took a nanosecond to study his board.

"Current situation accounted for to a degree that we can return to general quarters per standard protocols, Sir. What we have been able to ascertain at this time is that the alarm was triggered in Imperial Medical Center 1A, deep intensive care unit."

"Troops are currently investigating, Sir, but it appears that there is nothing untoward going on at this time. It is possible the alarm was triggered by a power surge of unknown origin; Engineers are currently engaged in following up on this angle.

"Sir."

He was about to send off the reply to General Tarnus when one of the replies coming in to HQ triggered a blinking red light, indicating something was definitely not status quo. He opened it, read the words scrolling across the screen, took a look at the image which followed, and attached it to the reply he was readying for the general.

"New information has come in from deep intensive care room 115; images taken by security cameras show that room was entered by two unknowns. Patient visitor logs show no such entry being acknowledged there.

"I am sending this to you now, Sir."

With that he sent the transmission, then immediately returned to his boards, checking to see if any other supplemental, pertinent information would be forthcoming from elsewhere within the hulking base, information which he would have on immediate hand to give to General Tarnus when the man responded to his reply. Which he knew he would.

But so far, all other incoming transmissions were continuing in lock-step agreement with each other:

All clear.

[ 02-24-2019 11:58 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by The Empire ]

--------------------

I read the reply quickly, then pushed another switch. Immediately the words on my screen disappeared, only to be replaced by a photo image of room 115 of the Deep Intensive Care unit in Imperial HQ Hospital section 1A.

Just off-center and to the right was a bacta tank. Hanging quietly within was the nearly-silhouetted form of my young, hot-headed Twi'lek assistant, Kani Jetii'sad. Scattered about portions of the periphery were the feet of hospital beds, all occupied.

I frowned, for nothing seemed to be worrisome at all in that photo. I pushed the same button; now that image disappeared only to be replaced with another taken a short period of time afterward. Now I was shown a dark foot coming in from at about 345 degrees relative to the center of the image. Other than that, nothing.

I pressed the button, and was obliged again. Now said foot was clearly seen to be attached to a dark, shadowy humanoid, who clearly seemed to be on a bearing heading straight to Kani's bacta tank. I frowned, punched the button again.

On and on, each time the images shown at a few seconds interval. I watched as this unknown approached the bacta tank, winced in sudden and completely unexpected empathy as Kani's already beaten body was shown apparently slammed brutally against the back of the tank, then shown up higher against its back wall, frowned with both consternation and absolute fury as in yet another photo gloved hands were shown reaching inside the tank and grasping her by the head.

The next image showed two shadows, now heading for the door. The final one, nothing but the limp form of Lt. Kani Jetii'sad now sunk down a bit more deeply in the tank, still apparently unconscious.

I quickly opened a little drawer, took out a small but portable drive, and copied the series of images directly to it. I repeated this with another drive, this one which I handed to Shawn.

"Guard that with your life, my friend," I said tersely before with a flick of my finger erased the message in its entirety, following with a deep cleanse I sure even Night Whisper couldn't overcome.

I then opened another channel to Control.

"Keep me apprised. General Tarnus, out."

I then turned to Shawn.

"The game suddenly got more complex, my friend, but it certainly does look like Night Whisper is up to something. Unless there's another deep security spy department I'm unaware of.

"I'm not liking this at all. Kani's mother alive. General Swatzi assassinated, but perhaps now not at Actar's hand. Those two were like this," I held up a fist, two fingers crossed. "It really doesn't make any sense for him to kill Swatzi at all. Actar did have plans for the Galaxy; for as long as I knew him I knew that in his own way he wanted what was best for the people. He wasn't acting like the stereotyped Emperors of old, who were under the auspices of the 'Sith,' a people we now know were not true Sith but rogue Jedi gone bad."

I rubbed a tired hand down my face.

"There might be another connection between them and the Night Whisperers. I know for a fact that there were those calling themselves 'Darths' adhering to the old ways scattered about here and there, remaining relatively quiet but all seemingly trying to bring things back to the way they were in the days of Palpatine. One 'Darth Wicked' stands out in particular, one of personal acquaintance to me. The only difference was that in the days of Palpatine the 'Sith' went by stiff adherence to operating only in pairs. It may be that they have changed their modus operandi, my friend. I don't know if this speculation is correct or off in left field.

"What I do know now, more than ever, is that I don't dare give Kani the opportunity to run rogue. I think she has already unwillingly given out the very thing I'm trying to keep under tabs; Shawn I may have to reveal what's happening sooner than planned. I had hoped to use the discovery of Galen being in that Mandalorian ship as reasoning behind me taking control. I may not have the luxury of time any longer; damn, but I hope they find that ship soon!

I straightened, motioned Shawn come with me.

"Hot-headed or not, Kani needs to be with us. She needs to know that I trust her. I was annoyed as hell at her blabbing a bit more to the Mandalorians when all she was ordered to do was set up a meeting between them and us. However, this now can more than likely be used to our advantage.

"I want to be there when she regains consciousness. Let's go."

With no further ado, I opened the door to my ready room and nodded to the pair of guards standing there. Standard protocol would have had more guarding my room during a base-wide emergency; I approached the gold-pauldroned one and ordered him to recall his men.

They hadn't gone far; soon the sound of booted footsteps announced the arrival of a squad of them.

"I want this door guarded!" I barked. "As well as the entirety of my ready room. And the dining niche as well.

"Absolutely no one is to enter; keep me apprised if anyone approaches with the slightest excuse to do so."

The leader nodded, then barked orders in turn to his men. The door opened, and at least twelve honest and loyal stormtroopers entered, aligning themselves about the room in a pattern meant to keep every single millimeter of it under constant watch, while simultaneously watching each other's backs. The door to the dining niche slid open, to be guarded jealously by yet another pair.

Satisfied that my ready room would be safe in my absence, I hastened along under the protection of yet four more, hurrying Shawn along with me.

[ 02-24-2019 12:47 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

--------------------

Shawn Petrolu, Jedi Master, trained in the use of the Force since he was barely older than a toddler, heard the call. While Sorben tended to what was needed in regards to securing the safety of the Imperial base, Shawn sensed outward, easily identifying the call’s source, more confirmation coming as Sorben went through the images sent from the intensive care unit. Shawn took the the drive that the other man handed him, placing it safely within a pocket of the nerfskin coat he wore...

...not far from the lightsaber he yet carried on his person. All the while he was yet listening intently to Sorben’s words. The “Sith” that Sorben was referencing...

....Shawn knew well of them. And although Shawn couldn’t be sure, there was something somewhat familiar about those two shadowy figures.

And considering what he and Sorben had speculated could be going on in relation to Kani and her mother...

Hurrying along beside Sorben to the intensive care unit, Shawn took a moment to stretch out to Kani. Even in her unconsciousness, he could feel the inward turmoil and confusion. Despite his now apparent calm and collected exterior, Shawn frowned slightly at this, troubled.

The frown didn’t last long, however, as his face shifted into utter, impassive composure. In transit, he would say nothing anyway since at the moment it was still speculation and, as Sorben had been so wont to say in the past couple of hours, there were too many eyes and ears around them.

Besides, what they really needed at the moment were facts. In not too long a span of time, Shawn and Sorben entered the med center, proceeding along then until they came to a specific area and the intensive care unit with a bacta tank in its center. Within its bubbling depths was the somehow weighted down and unconscious form of Kani Jetiis’ad.

Shawn’s eyes darkened with empathy, his senses keenly attuned to not only what was going on in that bacta tank, but also to all that was going on around them.

Nothing untoward outward. But within Kani...

Shawn outwardly maintained total composure, turning marginally to Sorben. Cocking a brow in the other man’s direction, Shawn raised one pointer finger, just barely touching it against the side of his own forehead before minimallly pointing it towards the unconscious Kani, and then back to his forehead once more before smoothly moving his hand back to his side with a waggle of his brow as he did so.

[ 02-24-2019 02:49 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shawn Petrolu ]

--------------------

"Please state the nature of your inquiry," it asked politely enough.

I turned to face it directly, now indicating Kani's bacta tank with a wave of my hand.

"It had been reported that Phase One of Lt. Jetii'sad's therapy had been completed," I began easily, then letting my hand drop. "This lieutenant is my... aide; I need to know how soon I might expect her to be recovered enough to report back for active duty."

The unit gave me an electronic stare, then moved to a small keyboard on the side of the tank. His jointed, mechanical fingers moved like lightning, and soon a virtual monitor appeared upon the glassine, glowing a beautiful shade of teal. Everything about it was that beautiful shade of teal other than one small dot which was blinking fiery red to draw as much attention to itself as it possibly could.

The droid reached out and touched the dot; script began scrolling beside it too fast for either Shawn or me or any human for that matter to follow along. At length it stopped, the dot disappeared, and the monitor returned to its beautiful and quite uniform shade of teal once again.

The A-1 unit turned to me.

"Lt. Jetii'sad is recuperating nicely during this second, but longer phase. Her injuries were severe, but not incurable other than a loss of vision in one eye."

I shot Shawn a somewhat surprised glance at this, raised an eyebrow and waggled it right back at him, indicating clearly that this little wrinkle needed greater explanation than what the med-droid was currently supplying. Just not at this particular moment.

The med-droid had been going on about this nerve bundle stimulation and that muscular ligament reattachment when the quite singular words he was now stating caught my ear, and I focused completely on him again.

"There is indication of something I cannot exactly describe as anything other than being some sort of direct cortical stimulation. This stimulation, of unknown origins for it certainly is not in her recovery prescription, occurred approximately 6 standard minutes ago. That is what the alert sigil you more than likely noted was all about; I have given her current EKG full scans, and have found nothing out of the ordinary at this moment in time, other than some increased activity in the pain centers of her parietal lobe, which is to be expected considering the extent of damage she received and the length of treatment she needs for her recovery."

It paused then, and cocked its metal head to one side. Damn but someone had programmed this thing well!

"I expect her to be recovered enough for active duty in two more standard days." It paused a moment more.

"However, this portion of Phase Two implementation ends in another five standard minutes," it finished helpfully before falling into robotic silence.

I shot Shawn a glance, resisting the urge to cross my arms.

"We'll wait," I said.

[ 02-24-2019 04:42 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Sorben Tarnus ]

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Direct cortical stimulation? Not part of the treatment? Oh Fates...

Shawn pursed his lips a bit as he considered this, not liking the way things sounded in the slightest. He couldn’t help but look over to Kani’s bacta tank, his eyes growing a bit distant as he mentally assessed her physical state as best he could without looking too...

...Jedi.

Shawn was keenly aware that she was per the moment unconscious, and felt that she might be for a little while yet. He was also keenly aware that, although there was nothing seemingly untoward now, that she had recently been distressed, to the point of calling out in the Force.

Harbringer...

Shawn’s eyes shifted from the bacta tank to Sorben. He knew he could do more to assess the situation, and that he would probably be able to do so very soon. But not now, while there could still be the prying eyes and ears that they were most certainly around. He quirked a brow at Sorben minimally, even as more med droids entered the room and began to pull Kani from the bacta tank.

--------------------

It was the sensation of weightlessness that she first remembered that and a viscous fluid flowing off of her skin. She had no frame of reference for what was happening just a pounding headache as she tried to make sense of the hazy world around her. Kani was vaguely aware of thing moving around her, one removing the electrodes fitted to her body another taking away the mask that still clung to her face. Once free of all the medical contraptions and probes she drew in a series of steadying breaths to center herself.

“What… where…” Kani asked in Mando’a.

The world began to transform, blurry shapes regained their sharp edges. Incoherent sound began to take the form of speech. It was difficult to make out at first but slowly she recognized it as Galactic Basic.

More, she needed more information.

She stretched out her awareness, feeling the two lifeforms in front of her. Both familiar but also escaping her as to why, and from one she felt a strong connection to the Force. The weightless sensation began to vanish as she went horizontal being placed onto some flat surface. More figures moved about applying different sensors, different leads still without answering her in a way she understood.

My head is on fire, what just happened.

Kani raised both of her hand to her face rubbing at her eyes in a vain attempt to will away the throbbing pain at the back of her skull. Little by little the world came into focus as she blinked away the haze, with a final shake of her head enough of the proverbial cobwebs in her mind cleared away that she could finally get a clear look at the room. It was a medical facility of some kind, of that much Kani was certain. She felt that she should know the place but something was missing, context for how she knew that fact. The droid which she could now make out continued to move about, clearly staying out of the way of the two humans that Kani now recognized. Or at least she thought she did until she couldn’t place them into any frame of reference. All of this made her head hurt even more than before.