AN: Long wait... Sorry! Too many stories to write at the same time. -sigh- Anyways, I'm introducing more characters, some OC's, some not. I mention Kir Kanos, he's from Crimson Empire. I don't remember if he had any family, but for the purposes of this fic, he has (living). Katraasii space port is seen in PC game Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith.
DISCLAIMER: Thelea, Wellen, Marsh, Ken are mine, Rukh, Thrawn, Drayson, Pellaeon, Wedge aren't. SW isn't mine. The plot of this fanfiction is.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Thrawn glanced around him as he walked towards the ramp that led out from the hangar. The spaceport was small but amazingly well kept. Everything he saw seemed to be in quite good condition, despite the changes that had been brought to Empire's financial status by the death of the Emperor, as well as the loss of Coruscant to the Rebels, who now called themselves 'the New Republic'.
As he walked down the ramp he glanced at his sides, and found that Captain Pellaeon was walking on his right hand side, and his personal noghri bodyguard Rukh was on his left. A group of stormtroopers were escorting them. Excellent. Now to meet the prefect and the one time Royal Guard's man.
As they exited the hangar building, they were met by a group of Imperials. He stopped his group in front of the other one, and was approached by the man who, judging by his rank badge, was the prefect.
The prefect saluted. "Welcome to the Katraasii spaceport, sir. I'm the prefect in charge in this spaceport. The young man next to me is Ken Kanos, who used to be part of the Royal Guard."
The admiral's red eyes found the young man in question. The name Kanos, he had heard it before, and the boy indeed had some traits of the man he knew having that surname. "Are you related to a Royal Guard's man known as Kir Kanos?"
The boy blinked, seemingly surprised. "Umm, he's my older brother, sir."
Admiral's gaze found the prefect again. "Is he sensitive to the Force?"
The prefect nodded. "Yes, sir."
Thrawn smiled. "Good." His attention went back to the boy. "We are leaving immediately. You are to follow me to the bridge as soon as we have arrived at Chimaera. Leave your belongings in the shuttle, they will be transported to your quarters."
Ken Kanos was standing next to his new superior's commanding chair, while the said superior was sitting in it, looking at the holographic picture that was projected in front of them. The woman in projection was tall, had a golden hued skin, white long hair, milky white eyes, and what appeared to be clawed hands.
His eyes widened at recognition. "Sir, is she an Arkanian?"
He heard a soft chuckle from next to him, before the Admiral spoke. "Yes, she is. I see you have heard of them."
Ken swallowed hard. Arkanians had a… reputation. "Uh, sir, why are we looking for her? The prefect only told me that I was supposed to find someone who had been on a personal leave for too long. This someone, I believe, was one of Emperor's Fists."
Thrawn kept his silence for a moment, and just when Ken was about to repeat the question, the Admiral finally spoke. "I will tell you what we know of her. She was born in Arkania, but was raised by Emperor's son.
"Soon after she joined the Empire, the Emperor made her one of her fists. Some time after Emperor's death, she became part of something we call as Infiltrator wing, and eventually was infiltrated to Coruscant.
"Then, three years ago, she requested, and was granted, a personal leave. There are no records of further explanations from her part. She has not been heard from since."
Ken turned to look at the Admiral. "Sir, why are you looking for her now? Why not before, or later, after giving her time to return anyway."
He gulped as Thrawn's red eyes narrowed at him momentarily, before his eyes went to the projection. "She is an important asset to the Empire. I do not wish to lose someone like her, especially not to the Rebels."
Ken's eyes widened as he realized what the blue skinned admiral was insinuating. "You think she left the Empire to join the New Republic, and never had any intentions to return from her leave."
Thrawn inclined his head. "Yes. It is possible that she has done just that. If she has, she will be treated as a traitor. I prefer having her alive, on our side, though."
Ken turned to look at the projection. He hadn't missed the glint of something that had flashed through Thrawn's eyes. He nearly shivered at the memory.
Thelea was in SunGem's cockpit, looking at the moon that was innocently floating through space. Yes, innocently. But she knew better. She knew who was in there, waiting for its prey.
Reluctantly she landed the ship nearby an abandoned rebel base and walked to the base command room. To her 'delight' she found that there were still something usable for her left untouched in the base, after the Alliance had evacuated, and the Imperials had come.
She took a data card from where it had fallen, or placed in purpose, from between a desk and a wall, and placed it to her datapad.
The data card's contents came visible to the datapad's screen, and she was relieved and anxious at the same time. Relieved that she didn't have to go through the entire jungle, but anxious that she couldn't just leave because she couldn't find what she was looking for.
Not that she would have, of course. A lot depended on this.
Admiral Drayson was sitting behind his desk in Coruscant, two data cards in front of him. His datapad was lying in between the cards, and he grabbed his comlink. "This is Admiral Drayson. Get me Wedge Antilles, now."
He only had to wait for a moment before there was a knock at his door. "Enter."
His door slid open and the leader of the Rogue Squadron entered his room. "You wanted to see me?"
He waved at the chair opposite from him. "Yes, sit down. I have a mission for you."
Wedge looked at him curiously as he sat down. "What is it?"
The admiral held his silence, and just pushed the datapad and the data cards at the Rogue Leader, who took them, confused. He checked the cards with the datapad, and as he realised what they were, his eyes widened and he glanced at the admiral. "These are personnel files, of two of our pilots."
Admiral nodded. "Wellen Carlan, and Thelea Jeth. They have both been in personal leave for three years, and we're getting worried. Either they're dead or otherwise in trouble…"
Wedge finished for him. "…or betrayed us and joined the Empire."
Drayson nodded again. "Carlan was Imperial once, and Jeth was raised by a man who appears to be the Emperor's son."
Wedge got to his feet, placing the cards and the datapad on the desk. "I'll find them. If you don't mind I'll ask Luke to come with me. He's a Jedi, like Jeth."
Wellen Carlan was standing in front of one of the view ports on the Moonlord's bridge. His eyes were at the Hyperspace through which they were travelling at the moment. His thoughts were at Thelea.
She had told him that she had to leave to take care of a personal matter. She hadn't explained any further, and he was getting worried. No one seemed to know where she was going, or when she was returning.
He startled as he heard the substitute admiral's voice breaking through his reverie. "Captain, she will be fine. Mitth'el'eana Jeth is Arkanian, and they don't know how to lose a fight or how not to get out of trouble."
Wellen turned to look at the Chiss Admiral. "Mitth'el'eana? Do you mean Thelea?"
Admiral Marsh grinned. "Mitth'el'eana is her real name. Thelea is only the core name. Like the name you know me by. And don't ask me why she has that kind of name, I don't know."
Wellen narrowed his eyes a bit. "Sir, how did you know I was thinking about her?"
Admiral chuckled. "It's obvious that you love her. It wasn't difficult to guess."
Wellen sighed, and was already turning away, before he remembered something he had thought about earlier. "Admiral, did she explain to you where she went? She only told me that she had to deal with personal matter."
Admiral's red eyes flashed. "She is taking a dangerous journey, looking for things and people she shouldn't. If she forgets who she is, the Dark Side will have her. If she succeeds, she will save the future."
Wellen got confused. "Could you explain, sir?"
The admiral only grins. "You'll understand some day. Now we must concentrate on our mission." He pointed at the view port, and as Wellen turned around, he saw that the ship was slowing down, and was now back in real space.
Admiral's words were true, he had a job to do.
