Entry 12
I am going home! I said goodbye to my new friends in the 33rd Void Jumper unit and hurriedly made my way back to my StealthX. The first person I contacted on my ship transceiver was the Grand Master. I needed to know if he wanted me to go to Karazak to help Hanna and Valin with their investigation.
When my uncle answered my call I couldn't help but notice he looked deeply troubled. "What's wrong, Uncle Luke?"
He ran a hand over a couple days worth of chin stubble as he regarded me somberly. "We got word back from Karazak. We didn't find any Vong Void Jumpers. In fact, we didn't find anybody there. No slavers, no captives…just the buildings, and those were burnt along with their contents. There is evidence of a bloody conflict, but we don't know if there was a slave uprising or competing slavers came in and captured everybody to sell for profit."
I nodded. "I'll get right out there and use my psychometry abilities to see what happened."
"No," Luke said abruptly. "I don't want you there, Talon."
My eyes narrowed. "Why?"
Luke stared at me for a long pause, his eyes dark and haunted. "I'll send you a full report, but the images Hanna and Valin sent were so disturbing I don't think using your powers to 'see' what happened there would be prudent."
I was confused as to what he was talking about. "I thought you said you didn't find anybody there. So how would you know visions of what went on would be any more disturbing than what I've seen in combat?"
He gave a tired nod of the head. "Valin was able to pull off records from a few surviving computers and what we discovered was sickening. It appears the Karazak slavers weren't operating a normal slaving operation. It was mainly a pleasure slave trade, which is not surprising, but what is disturbing was they were custom designing slaves for customers." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. "They operated a surgical hospital which mutilated various species to appeal to particular fetishes. There are images of amputations, limbs removed from one species and added to another. Zabraks with lekku, Twi'lek's with no lekku, human's with tails, gender alterations and…" His voice cracked with emotion and he had to stop to compose himself. "Hanna found a dumpster full of discarded body parts in the rear of the medical building. We have medical teams collecting every limp, every scrap of flesh and every drop of blood and conducting DNA testing. I know it will be tough for loved ones to discover the fate of their missing family members…but it has to be done. What was going on there was cruelty beyond comprehension." He ran a hand through his graying hair and sighed. "I think using your powers to see what went on first hand, experiencing what the victims felt, might be too traumatic." He shook his head sadly. "Nobody should see that."
I was conflicted by this information. It is true that I never like using my Jedi ability to touch objects used in homicides to see the past connected to it, but in this case I was willing to take the risk. These slavers must be stopped. "Uncle Luke, I want to try."
He shook his head. "I didn't make this decision lightly. I consulted Jedi Rogek, our trauma healer, and she says psychic visions of torture and mutilation could be so harrowing that it could damage your psyche."
I groaned and closed my eyes in disbelief. "You talked to the psychiatrist about this? What does she know about my abilities? I never discussed my psychometric visions with her."
He looked away for a moment. "Ben told me how upset you would get when you assisted him with his Sentinel homicide cases."
"You discussed this with Ben!" I blew out a breath. "Did you talk to Aunt Mara about this? She was my Master. Does she agree with your decision?"
"Not at first, but after seeing the report she changed her mind." He turned back to me his gaze warm and fatherly. "We probably don't need your help anyway. The Chief-of-State is using the evidence we acquired to pressure the senate into taking action. He has declared the slavers to be galactic criminals that performed crimes against nature. He is sending a fleet out to hunt down and apprehend the slave syndicate. They may not be within Galactic Alliance territory, but there isn't any outlying planets that can oppose the power of the GA."
"That's good, right?"
My uncle shrugged. "If he is sincere, then yes. If he is using this as an excuse for a power grab and to annex territory then I don't know."
A nagging question crossed my mind. "What did Mokk Streke say when you revealed we were nosing around Karazak? At one point we suspected the Chief-of-State of creating of a Vong army of Jedi-killing Void Jumpers…shouldn't he have been upset about us sniffing around their last unconfirmed location?"
The Grand Master's brow furrowed. "I told him we were investigating reports of an upsurge of slaving activity in the region. It was a simple two-Jedi intelligence gathering mission." He paused in thought. "He appeared concerned, but he didn't act suspicious or worried that we were there. Perhaps he isn't behind these Vong Void Jumpers." He hesitated for a second. "But there were Void Jumpers there. Our other Jumper qualified Jedi looked at photos from the scene and verified boot prints found outside the compound came from Jumpsuits."
I thought about it for a moment. "Maybe the slavers are in the middle of a turf war and they are subcontracting Void Jumper security."
"Perhaps," Luke said slowly. "But that doesn't answer the one question that has been plaguing me…if it was the Vong how did the slavers find out about the Vong Shamed Ones and why them? According to your father he didn't even know they survived until a few years ago. The Chief-of-State was one of the only people who knew where they were resettled. And if it was a turf war why would they need Force-resistant fighters?"
"Tenel Ka's Chief-of-Security, Deke Tavik, knew. I heard him discussing it with my dad while we were on Hapes visiting Jacen and the Queen. Maybe Tavik is involved. He's a Void Jumper and he conveniently came across the video showing the Vong and their lightsaber resistant armor. He came right out and told my dad that Mokk Streke is building a Jedi-killing army. Maybe the video is a scam. Could he be playing an angle to pit the Jedi against the Chief-of-State?"
"What?" My uncle made a face. "For what purpose?"
I shrugged. "Maybe the Hapan government wants Streke out of power. He's been irritating a lot of people, possibly the Hapans."
Luke put up his hand in a halting gesture. "Let's not start pointing fingers. Now that I think about it, these Shamed Ones were probably transported to their new home by New Republic ships. There are possibly hundreds of people who have this knowledge. Besides, I doubt the Hapan monarchy is behind this. It would mean placing the Jedi in harms way to fulfill a political agenda and I can't see that happening. I trust Jacen and Tenel' Ka implicitly."
"I once trusted Jacen with my life, but then there was Kavan and Myrkr."
Luke's mouth flattened to a hard line. "Jacen is an upstanding Jedi. Don't bring that up again."
I lowered my eyes, discomfited by my uncle's censure. "Sorry. You're right." Although our transmissions were encrypted we did make a vow on Myrkr that we would never discuss Jacen's slip to the darkside ever again. The Skywalker, Solo and Tantiss family were conspirators in probably one of the biggest cover-ups in the galaxy. If anybody exposed our involvement it would destroy us. Still…Jacen did turn to the darkside once. What is keeping him from falling from the light again? I don't know...maybe I'm just being paranoid. Without further evidence I would defer to the Grand Master's judgment in this matter. "Where do you want me to go then?"
He gave me a wane smile. "I was told the Vazy Princess is on Bastion. Ben already rendezvoused with the ship. Why don't you go and meet up with them and I will get back to you if something comes up."
"Okay," I said softly. "Tantiss out."
Next, I contacted my wife. I told her to keep the bed warm, because I was on my way home.
