TheDutchman
Knight Commander
Force Alignment: 1106
Posts: 4131
Avatar courtesy of For Tyeth
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« Reply #37 on: October 17, 2017, 11:18:54 PM » |
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“Prakith.” The Kage’s voice sounded pensive. “So that’s where Palpatine and Vader had installed them.”
“Yes, Kage.” When I was between bacta treatments, D’Aylanna had visited me many times. I’d told my wife the particulars of our excursions to Prakith and Byss. Obviously, D’Aylanna had spoken to the Kage for her to already know what she did. “But, as you no doubt already know, none of us knew that they’d be there.”
Orange eyes glinting, the Kage’s face once again assumed a stolid expression. So, the Kage DID know something about what we’d gone through already. I had to wonder why then she was making me tell her as if she were hearing it for the first time. Allocution, perhaps? I mentally shrugged; what did it matter? The fault mine and mine alone. If only I could have saved—
“Koawan Zearic.” The Kage’s voice interrupted my thoughts, pulling me back into the present. “After arriving on Prakith, you located the Mining Guild’s Offices of Statistical Process Control, correct?” She continued after I nodded my head. “You were obviously correct in presupposing that the Mining Guild was at least in cohort with the Empire.”
“Not ‘at least,’ Kage. The Guild IS a front, a massive one, on the order of trillions of credits. The Empire controls the entirety of the Guild’s business. And almost no one knows. A secr…no a CONSPIRACY this big and almost no one knows the specifics. As G’av, Jaim, and I found out with the datadump, there were circles within circles. I doubt that the majority of the Imperial hierarchy has any idea about this project.” I stood up straight. “But it was blind luck that we came across the Ci—”
“Koawan Zearic. Not to digress, but inform the Council what else you found on Prakith from the beginning.”
No question about it now; that interruption had been deliberate. The Kage KNEW. “Very well. Jaim, G’av, and I had gained access to the Mining Guild’s datanode…”
______________________________
My strategy had gone surprisingly according to plan: upon landing at the industrial complex, G’av and I had changed into some non-descript utilities, whereas Jaim once again donned the Kuati Security uniform, with some minor alterations. Without the Kuati plaque, the uniform looked virtually no different than that of the Imperial Security Bureau. With G’av’s datacard to confirm his bona fides, Jaim was given access to even the most sensitive materials. And where G’av’s slicercard couldn’t grant us access, Jaim’s mental “suggestions” did.
“And you don’t even have to wear that hideous hat,” G’av whispered to the tall koawan. Jaim chuckled; coming from him, that was as good as a loud guffaw. Still, besides G’av’s genial quips, we were all alert and vigilant. We were deep in enemy territory. And we were about to find out just how true that was…
Sitting in the superintendent’s desk, Jaim was downloading the datanode onto one of G’av’s datacards. With G’av directing him over his shoulder, I took the opportunity to inspect Prakith’s other ventures on the opposing databank. Listening with half an ear to my friends, I began a search of the planet’s chief entities. While the list wasn’t particularly long, I glanced over it without really seeing any of it. Until I came to one entry and the blood drained from my face.
“By the Maker…” I cursed several times, looking up to see the shocked, intent looks on both Jaim’s and G’av’s faces. “I…I’ve found it. The Citadel Inquisitorius.”
Almost simultaneously, my friends exclaimed. “What?!” “But, how?!” “Impossible!” Meanwhile, they’d crowded around the terminal that I was looking at.
“Look. There.” I arose from the chair and began to pace. G’av quickly took my seat and began typing furiously. Jaim stood his full height behind him, watching me while I was lost in thought.
“How is it that no one knows about this?” G’av wondered as he continued working frantically. Jaim let out a heavy sigh, trepidation spread across his face.
That’s when I spoke. “No one knows because…anyone who does—and isn’t a Dark-sider—never leaves this place alive.” I looked at each of my friends in turn. “Get the hyperspace route and let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Zearic, wait. Look at this.” G’av moved out of the way, showing me what looked like a hololog record between a parent and argumentative children. “There’s too much security for me to access anything important from the Citadel…but apparently personal communiqués aren’t as high-level as, oh say, structural schematics.”
Looking at the transcription, I saw what G’av meant: from what must have been junior Inquisitors, the tone of the dictation was petulant and even pleading. Clearly there was nothing concerning the Imperial Navy or anything to do with the Mining Guild and the doonium conspiracy. But one and all, they addressed a single person. Ja’ce Yiaso.
I blame myself for what happened next. With all of our attention turned towards the monitor, we didn’t even hear, much less sense, the superintendent walk up to the door. The only warning we had was when the metal doors slid aside, revealing a short, extremely fat, balding man in an ill-fitting jumpsuit. But even as he spied us, his eyes betrayed a discerning intelligence that his subordinates had lacked. With swiftness that belied his obese body, he had a blaster in his hands even before I was able to ignite my lightsaber. Instead, I jumped into G’av and Jaim, bowling them over just as the blaster bolts lanced over their heads, destroying the data terminal we were looking at. Still stunned and my body entangled with my friends, I struggled to rise, looking up just as the barrel of the man’s blaster leveled in my face.
“Don’t even think about it, Jedi.” The man remained out of saber range. “All of you: up. Get over there against the wall.” To emphasize his words, he waved his blaster towards the far bulkhead.
“Friend. I don’t know what you mean but me and—” G’av began.
“Shut up. Most people might not know what a laser sword looks like anymore. Well that ain’t me. Over there.”
Jaim squared himself up. “Superintendent, I am Agent Nuuti Magnus of the ISB. These men are my Inquisitor escort. I am—” As he was talking, a blaster bolt exploded on the floor right next to Jaim’s boot. The fat man didn’t even bother to dispute Jaim’s claims.
“I told you: over there. The Emperor will want to talk to you all. And reward me.” The man finally smiled, what little of a neck he had disappearing beneath his chins. “I hear told that you Jedi were deadly. Yet you three look about as dangerous as a bunch o’ baby porgs!” He laughed. Almost imperceptibly, Jaim moved as if to take a step forward.
But I’d had enough. Opening myself to the Force, my anger already hot, I reached out, crushing the fat man’s throat. As he dropped the blaster, I caught it telekinetically, calling it to my hand. Straining to get a breath, the superintendent dropped to his knees. His eyes widened almost comically as I advanced on him, blaster in hand. But if he momentarily forgot his ruined windpipe, his face began to turn blue from lack of oxygen. Finally, I crouched in front of him as he wheezed out his last, pointing the barrel right between his eyes. The last thing he heard was me pull the trigger.
“Dammit Zearic, you didn’t have to do that!” G’av’s angry voice hissed behind me.
Without remorse I stood, towering over G’av. “I told you: this is more important than us.” I could feel my fury rising, but this time without any mitigating remorse. “Didn’t you hear him? He was going to turn us over to Palpatine!”
G’av didn’t flinch. “You are letting your rage control you, NOT the other way ‘round.” G’av pointed to Jaim. “He was about to use his ‘suggestion’ after he got close enough to the superintendent.”
I folded my arms. “Seriously G’av? That man wasn’t going to let ANY of us close enough, let alone Jaim.” He wouldn’t have. Would he? Doubt crept into my thoughts. I’d never been cavalier about killing but sometimes it was absolutely necessary, as it had been for those Inquisitors. But the superintendent? I…now, I wasn’t as sure.
My consternation must have shown through on my face. G’av’s voice softened. “Brother, I know that you’ve been worried. As have Jaim and I. But you are THIS close to losing control.”
I felt Jaim’s hand on my shoulder. “Brother, you are under excessive duress. I understand that this…enigma has you apprehensive. But, as G’av stated, your control has been…less sufficient as of late. You are too emotionally invested.”
My thoughts turned inward. I WAS quicker to anger. This…mystery about the doonium had me worried although I still couldn’t determine anything exact. I just knew that with the level of obfuscation surrounding the doonium, my anxiety wasn’t baseless. Unfortunately, I was no nearer to an answer… Still, we weren’t done here.
Going over to inspect the smoldering terminal, I had G’av grab the datapad from the superintendent’s desk. “Is the download complete?” G’av nodded, checking to make sure that we had the correct hyperspace course. While G’av erased all trace of our activities, Jaim and I inspected the workstation that the superintendent had shot. The entire databank had been obliterated, the documents destroyed. But I still remembered the name: Ja’ce Yiaso. And now we knew where Palpatine had established the Inquisitor’s main base. Now that all remained was to escape off-planet without being detected; even the mere HINT that we might have knowledge of the Citadel would be detrimental. Somehow, we had to make this look like an accident. It was Jaim who provided the solution.
“Essentially, this factory is a series of explosions waiting to happen. I am sure that we can find an explosive rock around here.” Jaim grinned.
G’av bent down to the data terminal. “OK. Well, what I can do is write and run an algorithm—”
“Actually,” I interrupted the small koawan, “I have an idea. And it’ll cause a major impediment for our ‘Guild-fronting’ Empire. While we did our ‘inspection’ of the factory, I noticed something at the base of this very tower. This facility, gentlemen, has set up a cortosis refinement center.”
Jaim frowned while G’av whistled. We all knew about the benefits of cortosis. It could disrupt a lightsaber upon contact, causing a feedback loop which would short out the blade. Granted, with enough lightsaber strikes, the cortosis would be rendered inert and would vaporize but that took time and repeated blows. But UNrefined cortosis ore was incredibly deadly; even the lightest tactile contact could cause death, even with Hutts. And in every ore there was a lethal chance that it held a lethane pocket. Lethane was one of the most combustible materials in the universe.
“G’av, can you cause a short in the filtration system, specifically in the refining room?”
G’av looked thoughtful. “…Not from here. I’ll have to actually be there. The mainframe is a stand-alone.”
Of course. And everything had been going so well before. “OK. Well, then Jaim and I will do a ‘probative review’ of that section. That should divert attention from you, G’av. Once you have control, kill the filtration system and overclock the refining machinery. That WILL cause a catastrophic malfunction in 1-2 minutes. From there, it should cascade into complete failure in just under five minutes. We have that much time to get out.” I stopped abruptly right before we exited the superintendent’s office. “But…casually.” I grinned.
After G’av jammed the door to the office, we took the lift to the sub-basement. There, it was a matter of minutes with finding one of the foremen. ‘Agent Magnus’ had the supervisor corral the workers while I did my best to look bored. In reality, I had opened myself to the Force, alert for any raised alarms. Nothing; well, nothing beyond inconvenienced workers making time at their job. And none of them noticed as G’av casually headed to the refining area. And who would? G’av looked and—more importantly—behaved as if he belonged.
…Except to one industrious worker. Before he could follow G’av, I intercepted him and, adopting an uninterested tone, asked, “What is the purpose of this machine?”
The worker, caught off-guard, turned and stuttered as he answered, “It’s a cortosis shield-weave production unit. Er, sir.” I could start to see him sweat, G’av all but forgotten.
“And, pray tell, what does it produce?” I practically yawned.
“Er, sir, it manufactures armor with cortosis embedded into the knit fibers.”
I stopped abruptly, drawing myself up to my full height and stared down straight into his eyes. “And why is this machine NOT working right at this moment?” All trace of boredom and non-chalance was gone from my voice. And from what the worker could see, I was a triple threat: an angry, ignorant, bureaucrat. One of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy.
“Er, no, sir. I mean, yes sir. The fabricator isn’t working because there’s no refined ore. We need refined ore because the armor only works if it is. Refined, that is. And it takes time, to refine, that is. The ore, that is. Sir.” I’d seen men who had gone into battle less anxious. My gaze never wavered.
“And what is fabricated when the machine IS working?” I subtly touched upon the worker’s fear with the Force. Something unseen but felt, a pair of eyes that you’re sure are following you, a breath felt on the back of your neck while you’re in an empty room. Jaim had taught me well.
“Ah, sir, it’s armor. I, I mean MAKES armor. I mean…here, sir, look.” Looking relieved, the worker went to one of the conveyors and grabbed a lone glove. He handed it to me. “See, sir? It’s a glove. I, I mean a gauntlet. For your hand.” My eyes bored into his as I said nothing, holding the glove seemingly without a care if it vanished. However, inwardly, I was ecstatic. A cortosis gauntlet?! This was BEYOND rare. Moving slowly, deliberately, I held up my left hand before I pulled the glove on one finger at a time. Incredible. The armored mitt was still supple; indeed, I had expected for it to be cumbersome but it was anything but. And it was a perfect fit for my hand. When I turned my head from the gauntlet back to the worker, I pushed a bit more on his fears. Outwardly, I kept the annoyed (if weary) look on my face.
“I see. You may go.” The worker almost ran over Jaim in his haste to be anywhere but here. Recovering quickly, Jaim grinned.
“Making friends, I see.” His face turned earnest. “I’ve sent the workers to their barracks in anticipation that ‘Agent Magnus’ will be inspecting there next.” Jaim glanced over my shoulder. “G’av’s back.”
Turning, I was relieved to see him. “You OK?” When he nodded, we all started heading to the ship. “In five minutes, this place is going to be a smelting facility. Jaim, we need to be in orbit in three. Can you do it?” I already knew his answer. “G’av, I need you to feed the hyperspace lane into the nav computer before we hit the stratosphere.” I still kept thinking about the Citadel and the lost opportunity of its secrets. I didn’t even know where on the planet it was. But at least the Gray Jedi would now know WHICH planet the Inquisitors were stationed at. I looked at my chronometer, admiring the cortosis gauntlet above my wrist. “That’s one minute, gentlemen. We need to move.”
If anyone was watching, they would have seen an ISB agent with his two adjuncts heading towards their ship to depart.
But…casually.
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