CHAPTER 37
Subversion
Dathomir – 2 BBY
Nara felt the airflow from beneath her helmet cease as it sealed in place, her HUD activating into a clear view of the reddish landscape laid out before her. In all honesty, calling it a landscape didn't feel like doing it justice, as it was more along the lines of a hellscape. With its twisted vines, gnarled plants and eerie atmosphere…she could see why Bo Katan had referred to Maul as a monster.
This place was vile.
"Don't leave my side," Bo Katan commanded, her finger pointed down to Alhara. "I've heard horrific things about this place, and I don't want you out of my sight. Got it?"
Alhara didn't seem very enthusiastic about her protective treatment, but she didn't voice any protest in confirmation. "Got it."
"Good," Bo drew her second blaster. "Nara, I want you at the rear. Watch our flank."
"You got it, boss," Nara nodded her head, shutting their fighter's loading ramp shut…and then let out a shiver as the realization set in. They were really doing this.
Dathomir was completely unknown to her, and not even the Ascendancy's records of the known galaxy before they retreated back into the Chaos had the planet in their database. Judging by Bo Katan's willingness to be here, the Darksaber had to be sitting in this secluded lair.
She was worried more about Alhara…even if the girl had become a little menace in her two years of training thus far, not having the strength to match a fully grown adult or a massive creature didn't exactly set Nara at ease. Perhaps she should have more faith in herself and Bo Katan to keep her safe…but the thought still lingered.
This place just…felt wrong.
"How far is it?" Nara queried. "I hope those landing coordinates we got didn't make us walk across this entire creepy ass planet."
"Just keep your head up," Bo Katan bit back. "You can bitch about it later."
Shutting up now.
Her dogmatic obsession with progressing was starting to get on her nerves, but she suppressed a quick retort, instead following Bo's advice.
"I can…feel something out there," Alhara said, keeping pace in between the two of them. "It's…"
Nara stiffened as the gnarled brush quivered beside them, her blasters charged and aimed; her fingers beginning to compress around the triggers. She felt her heart pound as the anticipation passed, realizing it was nothing but a small reptilian creature scurrying away.
"Ah, see, just a lizard," she pointed out. "Nothing to—"
She was cut off immediately by a spine-tingling snarl and a shout in warning from Bo Katan, and her quick reflexes barely saved her from the massive claw that swiped over her head. The beast roared, swiping again and again, forcing Nara to retreat with her jetpack, firing frantic shots that strayed mostly wide until she scored multiple hits into its hide. That only seemed to infuriate it more, and in a sudden, frightening motion, it leapt into the air and collided into her airborne form.
Nara cried out in surprise, her jetpack useless lest she incinerate her own legs, and rolled across the dirt, feeling every pointed rock slipping through the gaps in her armor. Her keen eyes barely saved her from the vicious bite that sunk into nothing but air. Revealing her wrist blade, she plunged it deep into the beast's flesh, making it cry out in a fit of rage as its massive forearm brushed her aside in a violent smack, her armor the only thing stopping the claws from digging out her intestines and spilling them onto the ground. She crashed into the brush, thorns snapping from their stems as her superior weight tore them away, and without warning, the beast began charging towards her with rabid tenacity.
The blaster bolts finally started pounding their way into its flesh, and the beast's tenacious charge ground to a halt as its perforated body slumped over and slid across the surface. Bo was offering her hand within seconds of the kill.
"Took you long enough," Nara quipped, letting her mentor pull her to her feet, only to let out a scream in pain as she fell to one knee.
"What is it?!" Bo Katan gasped…and then she saw it. "Oh…dammit, Nara."
"Oh my…gah! It fucking hurts!" Nara reached towards the broken thorn protruding from the back of her knee. "AHH!"
"Nara!" Alhara cried out, only to have Bo Katan's arm stop her advance as she took a knee, getting a better look at her wound. It felt like her leg was being actively electrocuted, flash-frozen and then dropped in molten lava in the span of each second, repeated over and over. Each movement was incredibly difficult, and soon she finally learned to stop entirely.
"Bo…fuck! Get it out! Bo, please get it out!" she begged, on the verge of tears.
"Hold still!" she demanded in turn, reaching down for the thorn with her gloved hand, and then yanked it free. Nara screamed, and that was when her eyes began to water, her whimpering becoming more and more anguished. The pain refused to stop, and seemed to be only getting worse.
"We have to help her!" Alhara insisted. "What's wrong?"
"The thorn was toxic," Bo Katan surmised, exhibiting as much calm in her voice as she could, moving to cradle Nara's helmeted head in her lap. Fishing through her belt pocket, she revealed a small autoinjector. "She's going into anaphylactic shock."
Nara's vision became hazy, and by now she couldn't even move her leg, let alone her lips. "I…can't…" she struggled.
"Hold still, Nara," Bo eased, Alhara looking worriedly from her knees beside her. Quickly, she removed Nara's helmet, and then rapidly injected the devices contents into her neck. "There. That should…work…"
The chiss felt her throat begin to close, Bo Katan's helmet the only thing her restricted vision could perceive. She tried to gasp, but her lungs remained empty, feeling herself gag, reaching up at her in a desperate attempt to cling to anything that would save her.
"…ara!" she barely heard, and then watched her tear that helmet away, grasping Nara's hand as she frantically screamed in vain…all of it silent to Nara's shimmering senses. Alhara grasped ahold of Nara's armor, shaking her motionless body as she began to fade…her vision turning black, and left with one, final thought.
A fucking plant killed me.
And then…just as quickly as her pain had begun, it ceased.
She gasped, the light in her eyes returning as her body lurched forward, sucking in a wholesome breath, and then felt the embrace of a smaller body around her. Instinctually, she returned the hug as her senses returned, Alhara's grip strong around her with her face buried into her breast.
"I thought you were dead…" Alhara whimpered, sniveling in her grip. "You just…stopped moving."
Nara swallowed, her throat still raw as she rested her chin on her head, rubbing the girl's back. "I'm sorry, baby. I…I thought I was gone too. I…couldn't move, couldn't see…couldn't hear…"
Now that she considered it…how was she still alive? Was this the afterlife? Was this the purgatory she always knew had awaited her? Stuck on this red hellscape with nowhere else to escape to?
"You were infected with the neurotoxin from the bleeding gut," an unfamiliar voice answered her own question. "You were lucky I arrived in time to save you."
Nara slowly turned, and was greeted by a pale-skinned woman with white hair and black tattoos. Her wardrobe was a beautiful combination of red, gold and black, its design very…reminiscent of a sorcerer. She blinked, giving the woman a once-over, and then another, finally concluding that she had no idea who this was.
"Who are you?" she asked.
The woman looked to Alhara, and gave her a slight smile. Nara looked down to the girl in her arms, who finally released her grip, wiping her own tears away.
"Her name is Merrin…she's a friend of my mother. Dathomir is her home, and she's going to help us find the Darksaber."
Chimaera – 2 BBY
"A traitor in our ranks is supplying the rebels with Venisium-313 from the spaceport here on Lothal," Thrawn revealed, his back to the collective group as he spoke. "Since the compound is so exceedingly rare, and can only be forged within an Imperial laboratory, it seems to be the only logical explanation for the continued survival of the rogue Separatist Super Solider, codenamed Banshee."
Nerah suppressed a desire to scratch her nose, lest she reveal the aching strain that was building upon her still-injured left elbow. After spending the three negotiated days recovering before the Chimaera jumped to Lothal, the swelling had completely dissipated…but the lingering pain that was miniscule as she arose from her quarters for the day had mounted significantly. She could not display weakness, especially in a situation where a traitor could be anyone within the room, but that task's difficulty had only increased.
She'd found that taking her mind off it worked wonders for at least a moment.
From her guardian vantage point, seated and standing before Thrawn were four figures: most of them familiar. Seated the furthest from her was ISB Senior Agent Elena Markov, her former interpreter and tutor before Nerah could even speak Basic. Behind her stood ISB Colonel Yularen, and beside him Admiral Konstantine, one of the ship captains under Thrawn's command. Sitting in front of him, and closest to Nerah was the scowling Governor Arihnda Pryce…who looked none too happy to barely be hearing about this now.
"I vet my sector strictly, Grand Admiral," she protested with a hint of contempt. "What you're suggesting is utterly ridiculous."
Thrawn gave her a sideways glance. "Is it? Nerah, if you would be so kind."
Nerah silently nodded, letting her blaster hang from her trigger holding right hand…and then realized her instincts had doomed her injured arm to opening the crate just in front of her. It was already stressful with her former commanding officer staring daggers into her heart, but she pressed on, letting her gloved hand rest on the lid, and then push it from its position.
She hid her wince the best she could as a lightning bolt shot through her arm, but managed to reach in and pull the cylinder from the crate for all to see.
"We found plenty more during our investigation," Thrawn continued, now turning to face full frontal. "Whoever our spy is marks them for pickup for Fulcrum to identify, and since these crates are usually merely rations and general supplies, losing them to pirates quickly falls under our radar."
Pryce's upper lip twitched in irritation, her gaze finally returning to Thrawn. "You had better not be suggesting that I—"
"I am not," Thrawn assured her. "My observations have lead me to believe that our spy is in some way connected to my own operations aboard the Chimaera, as they have leaked vital information to warn insurgent elements along our way."
"That narrows it down then," Markov cut in. "I can begin cross-referencing officers involved with your resupply before you left the Lothal system to begin your operation."
Thrawn kept his expression level, but Nerah couldn't hide her frown. "Thank you for your offer, Agent Markov, but I am afraid very few are above suspicion. Unless Colonel Yularen states otherwise, your connections to our past tasks adds you to the list."
"I have already conducted her interview, and I will need her assistance in this hunt," Yularen said. "It's the reason I brought her here."
Nerah's eyes panned down as Markov tried to steal her a look in confusion, however the ISB agent stayed professionally silent, her expression neutral.
"As you say, Colonel," Thrawn accepted. "It is imperative that this spy is found quickly, for this trail may run cold within days, and I am on the verge of making a breakthrough towards locating the rogue Admiral Reyna Vorchenko."
Konstantine shifted. "S-sir, with all due respect, no one has ever been able to pick up the slightest lead on her whereabouts…and yet you say you're about to make a breakthrough? How?"
Nerah felt a small smirk warm her cheeks.
"There has been speculation for over a decade of the connection between the rebel informant Fulcrum and her whereabouts. Had it not been for what occurred on Botajef, this connection would have been impossible to prove. Now that she has taken her fleet into hiding, I can definitively say that she is using their intel to execute her hit and run attacks on various Imperial outposts and bases," he explained, pulling up a holographic map of the galaxy. "I have marked each of her sightings over the past 10 years, and the occurrences are far too random to be mere acts of grandeur. With what we have discovered on our previous mission, I believe I will be able to expose Fulcrum, and subsequently rob the Admiral of her method of travel. From there it should be a rather simple procedure."
"I've also heard Fulcrum is merely a fairy tale," Pryce butted in, still agitated. "As you said, this proof would have to be quite substantial."
"Indeed," Thrawn agreed, shutting off the holomap. "That is all. Dismissed."
As the room began to clear for the next group, Nerah tried to fetch Markov's attention for a potential meeting once she was off duty…but she was instead blocked by Governor Pryce, whose expression made it quite obvious she would not be denied.
"May I borrow your guardian for a moment?" she turned to Thrawn, who was returning to his seat.
"For what purpose?" Thrawn inquired. "She may be needed at any time, and I cannot have her occupied for long."
"This won't take much of her time," Pryce peered to her, to which she did her best to keep her expression neutral.
Thrawn inclined his head. "Very well. You may speak in my dojo if you desire privacy," he offered, opening the door to the much brighter room to his right.
"Acceptable. Commander, if you will," Pryce beckoned her to follow, and Nerah reluctantly obliged her, sealing themselves within the room and away from prying eyes and ears. Immediately she watched the Governor's expression turn back towards intense irritation, the muscles in her eyes twitching with anger. "How did you not discover this?" she scolded, keeping her clenched fists clasped behind her back. "A few weeks with Thrawn, and you return with an entire conspiracy?!"
Nerah clenched her teeth behind her lips, but bowed her head. "Investigation is not my purpose, Governor. I apologize that I was not able to warn you of this, but my duty is to shoot where you point me to, nothing more."
"Your duty was to protect my sector by any means necessary," she growled. "It doesn't matter how many rebels you kill if their operations remain intact!"
The chiss shook her head. "And I apologize for that, Governor—"
"I do not want your apologies, I want your services back in my sector, where they belong! Tarkin promised your assignment to me until the rebel forces were completely eradicated."
"I do not dictate my assignments, sir. Surely you understand that." Nerah tried to appeal to the woman's common sense…to no such avail. By now, she was being actively reminded of all the reasons Nerah had accepted the permeant transfer to the Chimaera as soon as it was given, freeing her from the unreasonable foolhardiness of the woman before her.
"I don't believe for a moment that it was beyond your control," she snarled. "Since you departed, my shipments have been attacked by pirates at nearly triple the rate of before, and you—"
"I'm here now, Governor," Nerah cut her off, her frustration overriding her need to respect a superior officer. "We're going to find your spy, I promise."
Pryce still looked as if she wished to tear her in half for interrupting her tirade, but she understood the bureaucratic nightmare it would be to actually have Nerah punished for mild insubordination. Still, that didn't stop her from speaking her mind.
"I could have you locked in my brig for interrupting me, Commander," she bit out. "Mark my words. I don't care if Thrawn stands in my way. He can't save you from everything."
Nerah elected to return to taking the tirade in stride, even if it ground her teeth down to her gums. "Forgive me, Governor Pryce. I meant no disrespect."
"Good," Pryce spat, a smugness to her tone, only infuriating Nerah even further. "You'd better find this spy…or I promise, I will make you wish you never left your precious…Ascendancy."
Believe me, I already do.
"I understand, Governor," Nerah bowed her head, and Pryce gave her one last, long scowl.
"Dismissed, Commander."
The mockery in her voice with each mention of her rank made her injured arm quiver evermore as it begged to keep her steady, but this had been beyond what she had prepared herself for. Pryce had the right to be upset, but she didn't have to threaten to make her life more miserable than it already was…and Nerah had seen enough humans try to size her down to the subhuman status they considered her to be.
As Pryce left the room, Nerah's wrist commlink chimed.
"Commander, I need you back in my office as soon as possible," Thrawn ordered.
"Understood, sir. We just finished. On my way," she replied, and turned towards the door, preparing that quivering arm to suffer even more weight upon it.
Dathomir – 2 BBY
Nara was reattaching her greaves to her shins by the time Bo Katan had finally come to see her. The woman looked as if she had gone an entire night without sleep, the muscles in her eyes sagging with exhaustion. That determined, jovial woman who couldn't contain herself before they landed had been completely wiped away…and Nara felt her heart break just a little at the sight.
Bo Katan swallowed, her gaze alternating from her to the ground, before finally finding the courage to remain on her counterpart. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I should've never brought you here."
Nara shook her head, sitting atop the stone altar she had awoken on. "Bo, I would've never let you go alone…you know that."
"It doesn't matter. I didn't weigh the risks, consider the consequences…I lost my element, and if it weren't for sheer luck, you'd be dead now," she said, and her voice sounded as if she'd rehearsed this multiple times. "That's unacceptable."
Nara frowned, securing the final section of her armor into place. "You had no way of knowing my body would react that way…I didn't even know."
Bo's expression hardly changed, and eventually, she let her head incline towards the ground once again. "You have no idea how many people I've lost because I wasn't prepared. When Saxon betrayed me, he wiped out nearly my entire unit in one attack. I should've seen it coming, prepared them for the inevitable, but I felt invincible. I was Regent of Mandalore. I'd avenged Vizsla's death…and I just never imagined that it could all be taken from me in an instant."
Nara let the worry show on her face. "Bo…it's alright."
"It's not alright," her tone switched to stern, the muscles in her eyes tightening again. "Do you know why there are only two of us left, Nara? They all died that day, everyone I'd ever known, wiped out…slaughtered, because I wasn't prepared!"
"I'm still here!" Nara rose to her feet, knowing better than to play the pity card with her any longer. "Dammit, Bo, if it weren't for you, I would've overdosed on fucking zro dust years ago. I would've died forgotten, my body merely food for the insects and rodents instead of fighting for a cause I believe in," she said, grasping Bo's hand tightly. "For a warrior I believe in."
Bo Katan regarded her gesture for a moment, until her lip twitched, and scowl returned, freeing her hand from her grip. "Then you chose the wrong warrior," she spat. "I would've traded your life for that sword…and I didn't even realize it."
Nara's eyes widened.
"You want to know what scares me? What really scares me?" Bo Katan asked, her scowl melting into an expression of tempted despair. "When I saw you die…I felt nothing. Nothing at all…just the lingering thought that I'd have to find someone else."
The chiss felt her heart sink to the darkest pit it could find, her anger rising in the form of a clenched fist, but the expression Bo Katan gave her was nothing of sadistic pleasure…but fear. The scars…the battles she had endured…they had finally begun to get to her, her infallible armor on the verge of striking skin as it chipped away.
The strike that would finally break Bo Katan Kryze would come from Bo Katan herself.
Nara relaxed her fist. "So what now?"
Bo Katan snorted, chuckling darkly for a moment. "What now? That's what you want to know?"
"Well, since I'm just another body bag waiting to happen, I'd thought you'd already have it all worked out," Nara bit back. "We've got the pale lady. Let's—"
"It's over, Nara," Bo Katan cut her off. "You and I are heading out."
Nara blinked. "Just you and me? What about Alhara?"
Bo Katan's gaze instilled a measure of finality. "Ahsoka asked Merrin here to help us, and she's the only reason you survived. I told her to give Alhara the idea she was here to press on, but she's really just here to take her back to her mother."
Nowadays, Nara had seen so much that it was hard to be surprised by anything…but that…that left her speechless.
"You're not serious," Nara denied, only to see her mentor's expression remain unchanged. "You're fucking serious?!"
"It's what's best for her."
"It will destroy her, Bo!" Nara shouted, her anger finally bursting through the seal she had maintained. "How do you expect her to accept that?"
"She'll get over it!" Bo Katan turned, facing her fully.
"She'll think you abandoned her! That you don't think she's good enough!" Nara protested. "How can you not see that?"
"Better she accept that now, than die years later in a pointless battle I send her to!"
"Bo—"
"Enough!" she shouted, and then shook her head, turning away. "It's settled. We are not doing this."
Watching her turn her back…it was the last straw.
Nara tossed her helmet to the ground, letting it clang against the surface, and then spat, "You fucking coward!"
Bo Katan froze.
"Go on, walk away!" she waved. "Just stand back and watch as your apathy destroys everything you ever loved…just like Pre Vizsla."
Fire erupted from Bo Katan's wrist as she screamed, the torrent blazing beside Nara as she dove to the side, firing stun bolts from her wrist blaster. Bo's wrist shield guarded the blasts as she dropped her helmet and advanced, unleashing a flurry of kicks and punches that the chiss was able to keep up with, blocking each attack and throwing in several unsuccessful counterpunches and sidesteps. It was obvious from the beginning that Nara had no chance at winning this bout, but that was hardly the point.
Bo Katan needed to unleash her feelings…not hide them.
Nara managed to grab ahold of her overcommitted arm and entrap it behind her back, but Bo Katan's expert back heel easily freed her from the pinning maneuver, and Nara earned a backhand for good measure. Holding her jaw as she stumbled backward, her hand fell back to grip a piece of pottery, and as Bo Katan moved to press her advantage, she swung, the worn object shattering against Bo's gauntlets as she protected herself.
"Is this how the last of House Kryze finally falls?!" Nara challenged. "Beaten by her own ward?!"
"I made you!" she retorted, engaging in yet another flurry of attacks that Nara was forced to meet. "I can just as easily undo that!"
Nara's defenses held firm, trying her best to take advantage of Bo Katan's imbalance and frantic movements, but every opening she saw shut itself within moments of its reveal. Before long, her fists were only meeting beskar, and her face was barely avoiding a broken nose.
Her cheek met Bo Katan's fist, and as her vision blurred into a daze, she was held in a headlock before she knew which way was up again.
"Yield!" Bo Katan demanded through grit teeth, pinning Nara where she lay. She struggled, spit drooling from her mouth as she pulled, but to no avail.
"What happened to feeling nothing?" Nara struggled. "Lose your spine?"
"Yield!" she demanded again, pressing tighter on Nara's entrapped arm, making the chiss grunt in pain.
"Why?" Nara groaned. "So you can send me to my death, just like you promised?"
"I would never do that!"
"Yeah?" she challenged. "You're a cow—ah!" she yelped, her arm releasing a fresh wave of pain underneath Bo's knee.
"YIELD!" Bo Katan yelled, saliva splashing across Nara's face.
"No…" Nara gasped. "Only if you look Alhara in the eye—ah! When you…send her away!"
"What?"
The struggling ceased, and they both looked up to see Alhara watching their tumble from a distance…her brow furrowed in confusion as Merrin watched from behind.
"Alhara tells me this is normal behavior for the two of you…" Merrin frowned, her eyes narrow. "However, I can't figure out how this helps…anything."
Nara chuckled slightly, wincing from the pressure still on her trapped arm. "Builds character…"
Bo Katan was still staring at Alhara.
"Alright, I fuckin yield. You can let me go now."
Bo pulled her knee and released the headlock, leaving Nara to massage her elbow as she sat up, groaning with discomfort. At least her opponent struggled to catch her breath, flushed with embarrassment as the others stumbled into their scuffle.
"Bo…what's Nara talking about?" Alhara asked, her confusion still evident.
Nara could still hear her breathing heavily behind her, and no words came to answer Alhara's burning question…and the chiss's rage returned as Merrin squatted beside the girl.
"Alhara," Merrin began. "She told—"
"No," Bo rose to her feet, cutting her off. "I'll tell her."
Immediately, Alhara's expression morphed from confusion to complete understanding…and eventually into a deadly scowl.
"You're sending me back home aren't you?!" Alhara challenged. "I knew it! You've never thought I was good enough!"
"Alhara, that's not true!" Bo Katan protested, only to watch the girl turn back the way she came.
"Leave me alone!" she said, running off. "Just go!"
Merrin bowed her head as it unfolded. "I will watch her…I suppose. Let me know what you decide."
As the pale woman left, Nara looked up to Bo Katan's despondent eyes…and knew that her gambit was on track.
The rest was up to her.
Chimaera – 2 BBY
After many hours of overlooking interviews and various investigations, Nerah had finally secured a patrol task through the halls of the Chimaera, instructed to scout out any suspicious activity while Thrawn and Yularen sifted through the evidence. She'd been handed tedious tasks before, but hearing the same questions and answers repeated over and over had nearly lulled the chiss to sleep a few times, and it had been the memory of Pryce's little tirade that kept her snapped awake. However, even now she could feel the mental exhaustion beginning to pile on, even if her body were more than capable of taking on a full day's worth of work.
Her experimentation had made her physically strong certainly…but mentally, she was still the same young adult who'd grown up on Copero in the House Vigan estate. Part of her relished a return to a simpler time, one where she was only concerned with what her troublesome sister was up to.
That old thought hadn't aged well.
Nara…why?
Why did she have to run away? Why couldn't she have just waited for her to come back? Why did the two of them have to be enemies?
Ignoring the male pair of an ISB Agent and young Imperial officer passing her by as she continued her path, she stopped. Ensuring no one else was around, she took a peek at her personal holoprojector…displaying the image of her and Eli Vanto. Quickly, she felt the thoughts about her sister fading, the frown she wore evening into a thin smile as she stared.
She wondered what he was doing now…probably being scolded by Admiral Ar'alani for his poor Cheunh speech. Either that or, taking a collection of numbers that had always looked meaningless to Nerah, and putting them together into a collage of infinite possibilities.
Her cheeks warmed. He'd always known how to impress her, even when he wasn't trying, always knew how to make this messed up galaxy make so much more sense. Even if she couldn't see him, she knew he was doing great things.
Without her.
Nerah swallowed, running her thumb over the projector. "I miss you," she whispered.
Someone cleared their throat behind her.
Whirling around in embarrassment as she shut off the projector, she stood at attention. "Yes, uh…Elena!" she smiled in surprise. "Hello."
"Hello to you," Markov chuckled slightly, cocking her head. "May I just remind you that it might not be the best idea to be surreptitiously looking at a holoimage right about now?"
"Oh," Nerah cleared her own throat, seeing her point entirely. "You can examine it, if you'd—"
"I was mostly kidding, Nerah," Markov waved her hand dismissively, before placing it behind her back again. "You're exhibiting about seven other tells that indicate you are not being seditious…and usually three to four of those is plenty for full exoneration."
Nerah blushed, pocketing the projector. "Well, I suppose having an ISB Agent as my interpreter taught me a few things about cracking down on sedition."
"I suppose it would," she winked. "So…Commander?"
"Senior Agent?"
Markov nodded. "Yes…finally have a little more liberty with my assignments. I imagine you and the Chimaera are a couple now?"
Nerah patted the durasteel wall, rubbing it gently. "She's the sweetest there is. I couldn't dream of being anywhere else."
"I did miss her in my time away," Markov agreed, looking upwards with a reminiscent smile. "Although I trust her captain to treat her well."
"Of that, I can assure you," Nerah inclined her head.
"Well, that's good to hear, and it's great to see you again," she returned her gaze, but then flipped her expression back to a more professional instance. "By any chance, have you seen one of my colleagues pass by?"
Back to work.
Suppressing a sigh, Nerah rolled out her shoulders as she reaffirmed her grip on her rifle. "Not that I can directly recall. Did Yularen call in another?"
Markov shook her head. "No, Alexsandr…excuse me, Agent Kallus works directly for Governor Pryce. He and I were supposed to compare our findings before we reconvened with the Admiral…however I seem to have misplaced him."
Nerah blinked. "You two know each other?"
"Of course," she shrugged. "We graduated from the academy in the same year. We go back a little ways."
A smirk worked its way up Nerah's face. "Just a little?"
"Oh, eat shit," she whispered through a teeth grit smile while Nerah giggled slightly. "Alright…maybe…" she retracted, and then shook her head vigorously. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. I need to find him, and it's for security purposes only."
Oh, I'm sure.
Even so, she recognized her longtime friend's honest plea to return to work. She keyed her comm.
"Grand Admiral, do you copy?" she said, winking as Markov looked on in disbelief. Calling up a Grand Admiral on a lark was virtually unheard of…but Nerah couldn't resist the chance to display how far she had moved up in the world, even if it weren't entirely proper.
Only, she received no answer, only static…and that was even less normal.
Feeling her worry manifest slightly, she keyed it again. "Admiral Thrawn, this is Commander Nerah. Do you copy?"
More static.
"Perhaps he is locked in his office once again?" Markov shrugged.
Nerah furrowed her brow. "Perhaps…but…no, he always has his commlink. No, something's wrong," she determined, and then began to jog in the direction of his office.
"Nerah, wait!" Markov called back, but her speed had already placed her far ahead of her compatriot…and by now she needed to know he was safe as quickly as possible.
To remain ignorant was unacceptable.
Her boots pounded against the durasteel as she rounded corners with her rifle held out in front, and within moments she'd managed to reach his office entrance…and found the guard was not as his post. Beyond that, a young Imperial officer was sprinting down the hallway, leaving no indication he had any interest in investigating the obviously improper situation.
Switching to stun, she fired her blaster in his direction, but to her surprise, he dodged each bolt with ease with sidesteps and movements that almost defied physics, all the while still running with his back turned to her. "Hey!" she shouted, firing again, only to watch him disappear behind the next hallway junction. "Dammit!"
"I've got him. You check on the Admiral!" Markov tapped her shoulder as she sprinted by, continuing the pursuit towards the officer.
No…that was no officer…not someone who could move like that.
Her eyes widening, she tore open the door to Thrawn's office, grimacing as her elbow flared with pain, and then charged through the entrance. What she found was the pair of training droids Thrawn usually sparred with unleashing deadly haymakers in the Admiral's direction, completely ignoring his voice-command override. Masterfully, he ducked, sidestepped and weaved through their swings as he recognized the pattern, allowing Nerah to raise her weapon in an attempt to shoot them dead before their pattern went much more erratic. To her dismay, no shot she could take had Thrawn out of the line of fire, and she judged any risk to his life too much of one.
Just as she predicted, he was forced to halt one of the droid's backhands with his bare hands, while the other swiped him straight in the gut, his body slamming against one of the pieces of artwork on display. Tossing her rifle aside, Nerah sprang into action, slamming her shoulder into one of the droids for a solid takedown, her momentum enough to knock it off balance long enough to give Thrawn a chance to get back on his feet.
"Get out of here!" Nerah insisted, ducking under a swipe from the second droid, but the other had recommitted as well, and her left forearm rose instinctually to block the swing. As it impacted, she screamed in pain, her whole arm almost going limp as her raw elbow nearly gave out, but a quick drop and duck released the pressure. It throbbed with every movement, and as she continued to find her opening, she soon realized that the left side of her body would be completely exposed before long…and all her immense strength wouldn't do her any good in that regard.
"Prepare your right fist!" Thrawn shouted over the commotion. "Aim for the one to your left. I will tell you when!"
Nerah mentally nodded, closing her fist as she continued to dodge. The droids converged, seemingly unaware of each other, and after a few more ducks and sidesteps as her left arm began to limp evermore, the one to her right took the chance to swing at her left, nothing a sidestep couldn't avoid.
Then she saw it.
"Now!"
With the droid to her right overcommitted and now in the way of the left, Nerah winded back her good fist and slammed it into the left droid's head, feeling the satisfying give of her immense strength knocking the droid stumbling into the wall.
"Now roll to the right!"
Nerah followed his commands, somersaulting beneath and retaliatory swing, and then heard the sound of blaster bolts burning into each of them. Looking up, Thrawn advanced with a stormtrooper's blaster rifle, shooting both dead with ease. They collapsed…the danger finally averted.
She rose to her feet, grimacing immediately as her adrenaline faded and her pain mounted, grasping her elbow as her arm hung uselessly to her side. "Are you alright?" she asked, wincing through each word. "What happened?"
Thrawn waved his hand for silence as he reached for his commlink, and Nerah knew that indicated time was of the essence, and platitudes could not be exchanged. Pacing to her dropped E-11D, she retrieved her weapon and tried her best to shake out her pain…only to make it worse.
She'd have to try to get through it.
"Colonel," Thrawn called, still breathing heavier than normal. "Listen to me carefully."
Markov had lost the officer long ago, now operating with the assumption that a subversive would next flee to an escape route after completing their task. Whether it was to finish their consolidation of Venisium-313, or to assassinate Grand Admiral Thrawn was still up for debate…but the cause hardly mattered at this point.
Whoever she was chasing was heading to the hangar bay.
With her boots screeching against the flooring as she grinded to a halt just before a closed blast door, she slammed her palms against it in frustration, turning towards the approaching squad of stormtroopers.
"Get this bloody door open!" she demanded, to which one of them took a knee beside the scomp port, working to force it open. Twirling her twin blasters on her fingers, her wait was interrupted by Colonel Yularen's appearance with more troopers.
"Blow it. We don't have time to waste," he directed, to which Markov accepted with a curt nod.
Within seconds, they were charging through the smoking remains of the blast door and into the hangar bay, greeted to the sight of her long-lost and MIA colleague Agent Kallus firing at a fleeing Imperial Lambda shuttle with his blaster pistol. She picked up the pace, pulling ahead of her squad and raising her own blaster to fire as well, only to realize there was no use in the gesture. The shuttle, presumably with her fleeing imposter aboard, had made its getaway.
Or so she thought.
Kallus revealed in a swift motion that he actually held that officer in his grip, his gloved hands wrapped tightly around his upper arms…and a look of raw fury boiling his face.
"Traitor!" he spat. "You're the rebel spy! Troopers, seize him!"
She expected the officer to struggle, but instead he fell rigid…almost as if the accusation stunned him. "What?" she heard him gasp. "What are you talking about?"
Yularen wasn't so hesitant, gesturing for two of the squad's troopers to take the treasonous officer out of his hands. "Take him away."
"No…wait! I'm not the spy, Governor Pryce is!" the officer begged as he was dragged off, catching Markov's eye to notice that the person of interest was struggling to rise, looking groggy from the aftermath of a stun blast. She quickly moved to assist her, offering her hand to be taken.
"Easy, sir," Markov said, helping her to her feet. "Are you alright?"
Pryce pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation as she regained her balance on two feet. "That treasonous bastard stunned me!" she grimaced, her eyes flashing with recognition. "I suppose I have you to thank for this rescue?"
Markov frowned. "Actually, that honor belongs to—"
"Tell them Kallus! It's her!" the officer shouted as he was dragged further away. "Kallus!"
"…Agent Kallus," Markov echoed, eyeing the man closely.
"Hm," Pryce mused. "I suppose it's to be expected."
Indeed it was. Kallus knew Lothal better than anyone in ISB, so if anyone had bet credits on who would be the one to discover the identity of this spy…Kallus would've been the leading bet, certainly. However, if Markov had learned anything from the Bureau, it was that the leading bet coming so precariously on top had the high chance of being a cover-up. Everything had happened so suddenly without Markov or perhaps even Thrawn's knowledge, and yet Kallus had managed to keep all his findings to himself, just to miraculously reveal that he had tracked down the traitor without reporting to anyone?
It just…wasn't his style, and it was just too convenient. Yet, the implication that thought process pushed forward was even more ridiculous. Agent Kallus, stalwart and loyal servant of the Empire, a traitor? Not even being the obvious leading bet would ever explain something so utterly impossible as that conclusion. Markov had known the man since she was barely 18 years old, a fresh recruit at the Academy on Coruscant. He loved the Empire…and would never betray it.
She shook the insanity from her mind. She should be congratulating him, not looking to charge him with treason just for beating her to the punch.
"It seems you've stopped our spy from escaping, Agent Kallus," Yularen said, seemingly just as confused and relieved as she was. "I suppose your lack of reports were for a good reason?"
Markov made sure she was in his view as he answered that question. They shared a glance for a moment, but Kallus didn't hold it long. To be expected.
"Yes sir. I apologize, but the moment called for me to act, lest I let Lieutenant Lyste escape with his rescue party."
She suppressed a chuckle. Lieutenant Lyste? The man was a sycophant to anyone in power around him. Certainly, a guise to hide his treasonous activities. How did she not see that?
"I see," Yularen mused, turning to Markov, prompting her to stiffen to attention. "I thank you both for your service in this investigation. I must report to Grand Admiral on our findings."
"Yes sir," they both inclined their heads, watching him go with Governor Pryce not far behind him.
With them gone, Markov finally relaxed her shoulders. "Looks like you're the hero again, Agent," she turned to him, giving a small scowl. "Although a little knowledge of your plan couldn't have hurt."
Kallus met her gaze equally, never letting his eyes pan downwards. "If I had more time, you would've been the first to know."
She ended up losing their little staring contest, and bowed her head. "Sorry…that was inappropriate."
"It's alright," he eased with a small shrug. "I figured this time I couldn't let you take all the credit."
Her head snapped back up. "When have I ever—"
"It was a joke, Elena," he eased, beckoning her to walk beside him out of the hangar bay. "I forgot how jealous you got."
Now she knew he was definitely kidding.
"And I forgot how insufferable you were," she bit back, unable to hide her smile with an eye roll.
"To each their own, I suppose," Kallus conceded.
"This code cylinder confirms our suspicions," Yularen reported, placing the object on Thrawn's desk while Nerah did her best to pretend she still had two good arms left to hold her rifle steady. "He used it to override security, release the prisoner, and contact the rebels."
"I have my own proof of Lyste's treachery," Pryce grimaced as she rolled out her shoulders, and finally stopped sneaking glares Nerah's way. "Thank you again for your brave actions, Agent Kallus."
Nerah clenched her fist tightly around her foregrip as her crimson eyes met the bearded ISB Agent standing just beside a slightly beaming Markov.
"Well done, my friend," she praised, prompting Nerah to aim her eyes downwards.
"Unfortunately not in time to warn the Admiral of a possible assassination attempt," Kallus grimaced. "My apologies, sir."
"None required. Commander Nerah arrived in time to ensure that he did not succeed," Thrawn smiled thinly, drawing eyes to his chiss counterpart, and alerting Nerah to raise her own again to incline her head in acknowledgement. "The Empire will make a note of your service, Agent Kallus. You may go."
All rose aside from Colonel Yularen, and Agent Kallus afforded him one last respectful bow, before leaving with Markov just beside him. Nerah didn't even bother to acknowledge the final scowl Pryce sent her way, and as the door shut, the chiss finally released her breath.
"Commander…I believe that was your cue of dismissal," Yularen noted, drawing Nerah's gaze to him.
"Just a moment, Colonel," Thrawn interjected, drawing the elder man's confusion as he rose to his feet. "Her services are still needed. Commander, your report?"
Nerah nodded. Moment of truth.
"You sent her on a private assignment?" Yularen figured, just as Nerah presented the helmet she had found in the empty cell she had investigated on Thrawn's orders, placing it on his desk.
"Not long after my call to you, I instructed Commander Nerah to investigate the prisoner our Lieutenant Lyste, accompanied by Agent Kallus, brought aboard the Chimaera upon his summons," Thrawn revealed. "After checking the logs into my office, where his code cylinder had been used to access it, my suspicions against the Lieutenant had been all but confirmed. Therefore, I figured it was necessary for Nerah to decipher whether this prisoner was merely another bounty hunter, as the logs stated…or a possible accomplice."
Yularen narrowed his eyes, turning to the helmet. "I suppose he escaped then, leaving Lyste for dead."
"On the surface, it appears that way," Thrawn nodded. "Commander?"
Nerah swallowed. "When I was pursuing the man who had broken into the Admiral's office, he was able to dodge my blaster shots with impossible agility…seeing them before they happened. Lieutenant Lyste has minimal, if barely any combat training…and it takes someone with rather unnatural skill to best my own."
Yularen shrugged. "Perhaps your injury lead your shots astray," he pointed out. "Although, I will grant you I do not believe Lieutenant Lyste is even capable of what we've accused him of. Are you suggesting that the person who broke into your office is not Lyste?"
"Indeed," Thrawn agreed, placing his hand atop the helmet Nerah had brought. "Colonel, what do you think of this design?"
Yularen studied the orange and white painting atop the crest of the helmet for a moment, before looking up. "A beast of some kind?"
Thrawn turned his gaze to Nerah, and she advanced, trying to make her correction as respectful as she could put it. "We believe it is a lothcat, Colonel. A native creature of Lothal."
Yularen paused, and then turned his gaze to Thrawn for the explanation he knew was coming.
"This stylization was rendered by an artist familiar to those of this sector, especially so to our esteemed Commander, who served Governor Pryce in her efforts to pacify the rebels in this system," Thrawn answered, pacing to an art display of the orange phoenix on his wall. "The use of this specific color…the angle of the lines…I believe this is the work of the rebel Sabine Wren, and this helmet belongs to her compatriot, and our escaped prisoner: the young Jedi, Ezra Bridger."
Nerah growled to herself silently, cursing all the failed attempts at flattening the young brat underneath her fist.
Yularen almost gasped. "Bridger? I suppose it explains the Commander's observations…but if he was the prisoner Lyste brought aboard, why didn't Kallus alert us?"
"Because Kallus is the rebel spy, Colonel," Nerah answered for him, finally unleashing the words she had wished to scream at Markov when she had last seen her…but Thrawn's explicit orders not to had held her tongue.
"Indeed," Thrawn agreed, his tone as dark as she'd ever heard it. "He used Lyste's cylinder to impersonate and implicate him, but more importantly, he used the young Jedi's powers to gain access to my office and reprogram my droids…very skillfully, I might add."
Nerah's grip tightened around her foregrip evermore.
The Colonel shook his head, an internal fury finally breaking his professional exterior. "I never would've expected one of my best students would be capable of this…betrayal," he hissed.
Thrawn offered him a sideways glance. "And that is why you, Agent Markov and so many others have been deceived," he said, and then turned full frontal to the stunned Colonel.
"S-should we arrest him now?" Yularen asked. "Or…did you have something else in mind."
Thrawn inclined his head. "Agent Kallus serves as a vital link to Fulcrum themselves, and I will need him to begin the first phase of my plan to draw out Admiral Reyna Vorchenko. If you would consider…I have a mission for Senior Agent Markov."
Yularen swallowed, nodding. "I would."
Nerah winced as Thrawn began his explanation, feeling something cutting into her fingers. Opening her hand, she noticed that her vice grip had crushed her foregrip into a useless shape, bent and distorted with an imprint of where her fingers once remained.
She'd completely forgotten about her crushed elbow…for she knew Markov was about to be subjected to far worse.
This was an adaptation of the Rebels episode "Through Imperial Eyes", which was one of my favorites, and couldn't resist molding various parts of it to this chapter. Nowadays I try to avoid absolute adaptations entirely, and did my best to make it still make sense in the context of this story.
And Merrin is back (in a small capacity)! You'll see more of her in action in the next chapter. This was just a taste.
As for the Memories chapters I've been posting, they are shorter versions of Interludes that will tell a story of the past leading up to the events that began this part of Inquisition. They also serve as a chance to bring you guys more frequent updates!
Thanks, as always, for the support and stay safe out there!
