Galeres Quaestor’s Office

The Citadel, Selen

“Your skills are impressive, mercenary.”

Braecen Kaeth’s voice was quiet as he reviewed the after action reports that had filtered their way up to him from the Galeres military troopsthat had been directly involved in defending against Teroch Erinos’ mercenary forces in the recent attacks against Clan Arcona.

Braecen’s fingers ghosted across the datapad, flipping through the virtual pages before finally looking up at the other occupant of his dark office. A pale Human was reclined casually on one of the visitor’s chairs opposite Braecen’s desk, leather jacket hanging loosely off his lean frame. His bloodshot eyes stared intently at the Adept with a slight smirk touching his lips.

“It says here that you held a choke-point near the Citadel by yourself for almost an hour before military reinforcements could respond,” Braecen continued, his voice calm. “Very impressive.”

“You get what you pay for,” the leather-clad Human replied with a slight nod. “You paid very well for my services, so you got my best.”

“Indeed,” Braecen replied with a thin smile. “Your payment is being credited to your account now, along with a generous bonus. e will be keeping you in mind for the future. If there is nothing else, Larrik?”

“Just one thing, actually,” Larrik Dul’vak said as he fished out a thin sheet of flimsiplast along with a pen. “Was thinking that you guys would be good for a retainer.”

Braecen’s eyebrows rose but he remained silent as Larrik dashed off something on the sheet before handing it to the Adept. Braecen accepted it and read the scribbled message before looking up sharply at the Mercenary.

“Ordinarily we wouldn’t consider such an arrangement with mercenaries,” Braecen said slowly as his eyes flicked back once to the sheet of flimsiplast before returning to stare unblinkingly at Larrik. “You, however, would warrant an exception, since you’ve proven yourself so capable in the recent fighting.”

“I like to think so,” Larrik replied with a sardonic grin. “I’m sure your intel boys already got a full dossier on me, so you know I’m ex-military and know my fair share of tactical knowledge up to corps level. Enough to be a good second in command, at any rate. Wouldn’t ask me to run the whole show off the bat.”

“Yes.” Braecen nodded slowly. “And how much do you know about our military forces?”

“Probably more than what your intel boys are comfortable with.” Larrik’s grin widened. “No offense to your boys, but your intel security isn’t as tight as you would like it. I know about the Nighthawk, for instance. Beautiful little ship by the way, would love to take it out for a spin.”

“Hmm.” Braecen’s eyes narrowed slightly. “And how loyal will you be?”

“I’m not going to feed you a load of bantha poodoo,” Larrik said flatly. “You make your own opinion on that. I will just say that if you buy me, I stay bought. I know better than to cross you ‘sorcerers’, and no amount of credits is enough to gamble with betraying you types. I’m loyal to a steady paycheck. You keep paying me, you ain’t gotta worry about me stabbing you in the back.”

“A true professional,” Braecen let an amused snort escape him. “I think we can use you, Larrik. We will negotiate your contract shortly, but as of today, I am employing you. You will report directly to me, and act as my agent. Tomorrow, we’ll begin getting you up to speed on our current readiness, force capabilities, and so forth.

“You got it, boss.”

With his new Aedile appointed, Braecen opened a comlink to the Proconsul, Uji Tameike, to inform him of the decision. The surly, former Aedile of House Galeres, seemed agitated by interruption. “I am sorting out the details of Teroch’s assault, Kaeth. This better be important.”

**

Captain's Quarters

AVG Nighthawk

Captain Rulvak Qurroc was, to put it simply, exhausted.

With Arcona reeling from the vicious attack by the clone Teroch, the Dajorra Intelligence Agency and its attached units, the Nighthawk included, had been put on high alert.They were maintaining a high tempo to their operations as they began to ferret out truth from the lies in all the intelligence that had been gathered in the past several days.

The additional pressure coming from the Arconan Proconsul and his new right hand wasn’t helping matters. Their obsession with rooting out the individuals assaulting the Dajorra System had become manic. Interrogations, espionage, and outright military might had become popular answers from the Shadow Scion and his new Barabel Lieutenant.

“The Proconzul iz ordering updatez every six hourz from you or your staff until further notice,” the hologram of a huge Barabel was growling out as it stared down at the Sephi Captain. “What iz your current statuz?”

“We’re enroute back to Selen,” Rulvak replied with an internal sigh. “We’ve assisted the DIA agents on the scene at Dusk Station, but Atyiru and the others determined that we were needed back at home.” He still felt suspicion about the Consul’s orders; however, he could not argue with the Shadow Lady. Her rule was absolute in this system. Yet, the circumstances that had lead the crew of the Nighthawk to Dusk Station had been peculiar. And there were still too many unanswered questions. Why had Teroch assaulted the station? Why did it require so much secrecy and so many Elders? What was Dusk Station really?

“Good, I will have more information for you az soon az you arrive,” Zakath Agrona replied, displaying a toothy smile. “The Tal’mahe’Ra and the DIA agents on Eldar found something. They will continue their inveztigation on Eldar while you purzue this lead.”

“Oh?” Rulvak’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Anything you can tell me right now?”

“We intercepted a tranzmizzion of a holocommication from what we believe to be between agentz of the Inquizitoriuz,” Zakath replied, his holographic fists clenching. “We will show you it when you arrive. The Proconzul had decreeded that no evidence regarding thiz matter iz to be tranzmitted over the uzual channelz.”

“Zakath, that’s going to make operations very diff—”

“Difficult, I know,” the Barabel interrupted. “But thoze are the orderz. If you want to object, you can make your caze in perzon when you arrive.”

“Understood. We should be in-system in the next few hours. I’ll signal you when we’re in dock.”

“Good.” Zakath nodded. “We’ll be waiting.”

The hologram faded away as the call disconnected, and Rulvak sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Damn Barabel’s getting to be a pain in the ass. Proconsul too. As if we weren’t paranoid enough already…

Rulvak grunted slightly and punched the intercom. He needed to focus on something he could control. His focus shifted from the grand scale of Clan politics to his ship. His fingers hovered over several names before he settled on his Executive Officer’s name.

“Shawnathan, turn over command in the bridge and get to my office ASAP. And bring the latest data on the Talons’ combat effectiveness with you.”

There was a brief pause before the new XO replied, his voice coming in slightly distorted over the communications link. The newly minted Hunter was still struggling with his sudden ascension to second in command. It was a position he, much like Rulvak, had never asked for. War required personal sacrifice and he was settling into his role well enough.

“Yes, sir. If I may ask, why am I bringing that? Isn’t this something for the next staff meeting?”

“No, this is something else. I want to make a proposal to the Upper Summit when we get into Selen, and I want the data to back me up. Just get in here and I’ll explain everything.”

“Yes, sir, be there in ten.”

Rulvak knew it would take the man at least ten minutes to comply with his orders. He used the rare opportunity to pull up the dossiers on his newest members: Mateus Kelborn, Vivibelle Baenre, and Davin Yoll. Welcome additions to the Nighthawk due to recent losses of Rhace and Emily. As a diligent Commanding Officer, he began reading their dossiers in earnest. He wanted to know everything about every man and woman that served under his command.

He was just finishing up the preliminary review when the office door chimed.

“Enter,” he barked out as he kept his eyes glued to the computer terminal, reading the last lines of the dossier on Davin Yoll.

He could hear the door whisk open and within seconds a polite clearing of a throat came from the front of his desk.

“I have the data from the latest combat evaluations, sir,” Shawnathan said as he stood at attention.

“At ease, let me see that,” Rulvak replied as he held out a hand for the datacard. “Have a seat.”

“Yes, sir,” Shawnathan replied, quickly settling into the visitor’s seat.

“Now then,” Rulvak began as he plugged the datacard into the terminal. “Since the Nighthawk’s commissioning, we’ve functioned primarily as a mobile command center for the DIA. In that role, we’ve been effective in terms of intelligence gathering, but not acting on that information. This is something I want to change.”

“How so, sir?” Shawnathan’s eyebrows rose in polite surprise.

“When we get into Selen, I’m going to try and talk to the Upper Summit and propose that we expand the Nighthawk’s role into something of a more… hands-on approach. Something similar to Soulfire Strike Team, but with closer ties to the DIA, as to allow us to act on the information as it comes in.”

“I can see the benefit…” Shawnathan’s voice trailed off for a few seconds. “...but if I may ask, why are we not going through the normal channels? Wouldn’t this be the Quaestor’s decision?”

“Normally, it would,” Rulvak nodded slowly. “But these are not normal times. This is a decision I want to see handed down from the Upper Summit, before Kaeth can intervene.”

Shawnathan’s dark brown eyes had narrowed. “You don’t trust the Quaestor.”

“I don’t trust anyone who didn’t start in Arcona,” Rulvak corrected with a thin smile. “Kaeth came from Plagueis. He even led that Clan for a time. So no, I don’t trust his agenda. You’ve seen the evidence yourself. He might very well be loyal to Arcona, but he has an agenda of his own, and until I know what it is, I’m not going to trust him.”

“I see. But — if I may be so bold to point out — if you approach the Upper Summit directly with that proposal without running it by the Quaestor, you risk making an enemy out of him,” Shawnathan pointed out. “Is that approach wise?”

“Normally, you would be correct.” Rulvak’s smile widened. “But I’m not going to directly meet them myself. Do you know a Barabel named Zakath Agrona?”

“Ah, only by reputation. One of Arcona’s most loyal warriors, and not someone to be trifled with.”

“Indeed. He’s a man of action, one who would approve of this proposal, I think. And more importantly, he used to be the Nighthawk’s Chief of Security.” Rulvak leaned back into his chair, steepling his hands. “I’ve recently learned that Zakath has ascended to the Proconsul’s side. If we can win over Zakath, I think the rest of the Upper Summit will be amenable to the proposal. And the directive will then flow from them — without any overt involvement from us.”

“Only if you can keep the meeting with Zakath hidden from Kaeth,” Shawnathan replied in a thoughtful tone. “If he even gets a whiff of suspicion…”

“If he finds out, it would be too late,” Rulvak nodded. “But he could make things hard for us going forward. That’s why it’s important that he doesn’t find out. Understood?”

“Understood, sir.”

“Good. Now let’s go over the Talons’ data now, I want everything to be prepared by the time we reach Selen.”

**

Temporary TMR Base

Aifreann, Eldar

“We have just received communications from the commander; our base on Arconae Secondus managed to go undetected during Teroch’s attack.” Tamashi Adaephon Delat was reporting across a holocomm call. “Probably because the Tal’mahe’Ra was established after Teroch left our Clan; therefore, he wasn’t privy to its creation.”

“Good,” the holographic form of Zakath nodded. “We have enough failure to deal with without having to eztablizh a new base as well.”

“Agreed,” Tamashi’s masked face nodded. “We’ve just received the final reports from the DIA agents here on Eldar, and based on their analysis — and ours — we believe that the Inquisitorius strike team has definitely left the planet. If their job was to hit the Undesirable safe houses on Eldar, then they’ve accomplished their mission.”

“Yez.” Zakath’s eyes shone with hate. “The Inquizitoriuz choze itz timing well to attack while we were diztracted. Another piece of the puzzle fallz into place.”

“You think Teroch was acting on the Inquisitorius’ behalf?” Tamashi asked, a slight frown forming behind his mask. “That seems… far-fetched, from what I know of the man.”

“No, Teroch was acting on hiz own agenda.” Zakath shook his head slightly before continuing on, “My guezz iz that they uzed each other to further their rezpective goalz. A temporary alliance at bezt, we think. It iz something we will inveztigate on our end.”

“Your end? Then you have new orders for us?”

“Yez.” Zakath rested his hands on his hips. “I believe the Inquizitoriuz iz regrouping for their next attack. We muzt remain viligant, but I do not want you tied up handling the affairz of the military. Therefore you are to begin inveztigationz of the arcane ritualz of the Dark Side… beginning with the onez the Inquizitoriz uzed on me when we firzt met. Until the Inquizitoriuz strikez again, that iz your primary directive.”

“Understood.” Tamashi bowed his head. “It will be done.”

“Good. I will let you decide how bezt to begin thiz mizzion, but you will exhauzt yourself in this charge.” Zakath’s eyes were shining even brighter now with dark power, clearly evident even across the holocommunicator. “When the Inquizitoriuz strikez, I want uz backed up with every ritual and power pozzible. When they dare show their facez, we will drown them in a gezter of their own blood.”

“It will be my extreme pleasure,” Tamashi replied, his hands clasping behind his back. “I will brief you once our investigations has begun.”

Zakath nodded once and then disconnected the call. As the hologram faded, Tamashi’s thoughts were already going into overdrive planning his next move. Preparations would have to be made to reorganize the Tal’mahe’Ra’s base into a more optimized area for conducting research into the arcane arts, ties would need to be established with archaeological societies to gain access to crucial data on ancient sites once used by powerful Force users or their tombs, and much more.

“Xenna!” Tamashi barked out sharply.

A few seconds passed before a beautiful woman, her skin as pale as freshly fallen snow, entered. Her amber eyes were nearly hidden by the hooded black cloak that she wore around her lithe and athletic body, revealing just enough to set fire to the imagination.

“Yes, Master?” Xenna asked softly, inclining her head in a brief gesture of respect.

“Zakath has finally given us the go-ahead.” Tamashi’s lips curved up into a sinister smile behind his ebony mask. “We will be beginning our research into the true mysteries of the Force.”

“Finally,” Xenna breathed out, her eyes widening with excitement. “I thought he would never let us off the leash. Zakath is a fool for not pursuing this avenue sooner, especially with what was done to him.”

“Be cautious with your words, Xenna,” Tamashi warned with an upraised hand. “Even someone as Zakath has eyes and ears everywhere. But yes. Zakath’s motivations are… misplaced. He focuses on revenge when he should be focusing on power. Power is what will destroy the Inquisitorius, not eliminating their low level agents.”

“At least he has come to his senses, finally.”

“For now,” Tamashi agreed with a slight nod. “But I suspect we will be put onto the Inquisitorius’ trail again soon once new leads appear. We will need to move quickly to begin our pursuit for the Force’s mysteries. The more deeply involved we become, the less easily Zakath would be able to extract us from what really matters.”

“How do we begin?” Xenna asked, a thin brow raised questioningly.

“We leave this planet,” Tamashi said, his hands clasping behind his back. “Order the rest of the Tal’mahe’Ra back to Arconae Secondus to begin the base’s reorganization along the lines we’ve specified.”

“And me?”

“You will be accompanying me to Selen,” Tamashi replied. “We have a visit to make to the H. W. Jones Archaeological Society. The first of many.”

“Very well.” Xenna nodded slightly. “I will have our shuttle prepared.”

Tamashi smiled as he watched Xenna walk out, his mind already exploring the possibilities open to them.

Power awaited.