"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Dacien looked at the Voice, his eyebrow raised in question. "Sometimes, overkill is under-rated." The Hapan closed the array on the datastream as it confirmed the signal had been sent. The Justicar thought about that for a moment. The alternatives had been weighed, to be certain, and while this was not a critical element, it would send a rather precise message. He imagined the face of Oligard, stressed to a furious red, and it made him chuckle as he nodded, turning away from the head of the Inquisitorius, leaving him to his work. Bridge The Fallen Spear Hyperspace Muz stood facing the miasma of hyperspace, his hands clasped behind his back. The bustle of the bridge moved around him, the eye of this storm; his storm. He heard the orders that Blackwind gave, the standard sneaking tactics of dropping out of hyperspace just outside long-range scanner reach, activating cloaks and creeping up on their prey until his part would come. It was not the first time they had done this, and likely not the last. Even retired, the Throne liked having him available for specific and urgent needs. He went over the details again. Trandoshan tracker, signal bouncers, other agents in play. No doubt another handful of inquisitors would be making their move at the same time, seeking glory, seeking to make a name for themselves. They would distract the enemy, leave them twisting and confused by the time he arrived. Muz felt the shudder of the engines, signaling the impending drop into realspace. The harsh snap from the gossamer back into the void rocked across his senses as he reached out. The cloaks would interfere with the sensor array, muddying up the signal from Grot's tracking beacon, so they would have to do this a different way. The signal was intermittent anyway, intentionally sending at odd intervals to avoid pattern detection and keep the device active and secured. It might be a few minutes before it sent again, for them to triangulate where their prey was headed, for him to get a sense of the situation. He reached out, eyes sliding shut as he felt along the edges of the universe, tracing the lines of intent, the scent of fear, the sweetness of rage. Life was cruelty, wrapped in tenderness. These were the flavors he knew so well. Black eyes opened. The sensors chirped a half second later. The secondary whine started from the back of the ship as the cloaks engaged. The crew maneuvered quickly, setting about their work like well-oiled machinery. He watched as the display shifted, computer generated algorithms placing lines across the view, a reticule of where they were headed. The ship stirred, the sense of movement somehow dampened as he watched the distant planets grow larger. He turned away, nodding at the captain before stepping from the bridge, a smile creeping up the side of his face. Three hours later The Fallen Spear She staggered forward, stuncuffs maglocked to a shockcollar around her throat, midnight blue bangs matted with sweat. The scent of ozone hung heavy around her, her right hand mangled and spraying sparks on occasion, pale blue skin marred with several burns, a shallow river of pain at her thigh, exposed by severed cloth. She limped ahead of him, the door of the airlock opening on their approach. Her eye adjusted slowly to the light of the bay, thinking to herself how much she had relied on the technology she had imbued herself with over the years, how it felt like she was crippled without it now. How she wished for the shackles to be gone, with a good toolkit and a few minutes to herself. The dark armor of the troops came into view as her eye focused, rifles at the ready as two stepped forward to lead her to whatever awaited her. "This looks suspiciously like a Chiss." The accent was strange to her. She focused on the lilt, wondering where the human was from, trying to place the black and purple uniform. This was not the Iron Forces that she had come to expect, nor any of the clan equipment she had read about or seen. Her mind spun as she tried to piece it together. "If I recall, the mission was to find a human male, not a chiss female." "They had already retrieved Vance." The voice was gravelly, deep. "I was not going to leave empty handed." "Of course not." He nodded, turning to her. "Colonel Darius Blackwind. You seem to be Kendra Icasta, unless I am mistaken. Welcome aboard the Fallen Spear." She cursed silently as it gelled in her mind. The Fallen Spear. That meant Darth Ashen. She twisted her neck, eye widening as she saw him remove his helm, revealing the blackened eyes and pale skin of the Lion of Tarthos. It made sense now, how he had torn through her Shikari with such ease. How she could not catch a break, how he had maneuvered out of the range of every one of her dirty tricks. The legends said he lived backwards in time, and so he could not be surprised. She felt nausea wash over her. If it was true... Muz smiled at her.