Seated in his command salon, Hesklon finished giving his report to the Empire of the Hand's Supreme Commander, a red-skinned male Twi'lek named Fehdas Kelssar, via holocomm.

"Over a thousand of these Killik capital ships, you say?" Kelssar asked in disbelief. "And just in this one system?"

Hesklon nodded gravely. "And according to the other scoutships that we've sent ahead, there are hundreds of these other capital vessels stationed in various other systems across the territories that had yet to be charted by the Chiss Ascendancy or by the EH." The scoutships that he was referring to were remote drones that had followed the ion trails left by the ships that had attacked Kerspla; those drones recorded images that were transmitted back to the Thrawn's Vindication and revealed the extent of the Killik forces, as Hesklon elaborated.

"Send me the footage, Admiral," Kelssar commanded. "I need to see this for myself."

"Yes, sir."

A few minutes later, Kelssar directed a renewed gaze of horror upon Hesklon. "There is no error in any of this footage. This Killik threat is very real, indeed."

"And we can expect more attacks from them soon, Commander. As the mercenary Saharis Dhreat estimated, the attack on Kerspla was merely a prelude to a much larger Killik invasion; they were testing themselves there, it seems."

"This would be troubling enough if this was all we had to deal with, Admiral. But because of the ongoing war that the Ascendancy is waging against the Galactic Alliance, and the Chiss' need to pull out several of our forces from time to time, we barely have enough to guard the planets that we're already occupying. There would be no feasible way to launch a full-scale counterattack on the Killiks; not without abandoning our duties, anyway."

"Of course, you agree, Commander, that we can't just allow the Killiks to build up their strength so that they could launch an invasion on the Chiss systems."

"Indeed, I do, Admiral. However, perhaps there is a way that the Thrawn's Vindication could single-handedly cripple the Killik threat."

Hesklon's eyes shot up in curiosity. "What do you propose, Commander?"

. . .

As Dhreat lounged across the sofa in her quarters like a careless spice addict, Hesklon stood in the center of the living area, arms across his chest, bearing down on her. Had she been an actual ranking member of his crew, he more than likely would have had her outright flogged for this apparent display of insubordination. Fortunately for her, Dhreat's status as an advisor allowed her certain liberties that the rest of Hesklon's crew weren't afforded, and fortunately for him, the admiral needn't have her flogged anyway since it was just the two of them in here.

"The Empire of the Hand is aware," Hesklon began, "that Gorog, and, by extension, the other Killik nests, were controlled by two Dark Jedi named Lomi Plo and Welk, both of whom died during the Battle of Yoggoy over a year ago. And when Jaina Solo killed them, Gorog scattered themselves throughout the so-called Unknown Regions in sectors that the Chiss Ascendancy had yet to cover."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Dhreat asked while idly looking at her fingers; she wasn't even painting them like a teenage girl. "I don't need a history lesson. I was part of Gorog, in case you forgot."

Hesklon kept his annoyance over her behavior in check. "I'm just establishing a baseline of logic for you to follow before I explain what I'm going to ask you to do."

"You've established it. Now stop wasting my time and tell me already." Her tone was one of apathy rather than impatience.

"Fine, then," Hesklon replied in a casual tone. "I'm thinking about sending you in to kill whomever is running Gorog now."

As the admiral expected, Dhreat stopped looking at her fingers and directed her full attention up at him.

"Go on," she said in a completely serious tone.

Hesklon kept his demeanor professional as he asked, "Do you know how powerful Gorog has become? They have thousands of these capital ships across the systems that we've discovered them to be hiding in. And probably even more of those dartships of theirs. As you told me yourself, they can get quite busy."

"Yes, they can," Dhreat said as she sat up on the sofa. "Which means that if they're that powerful, they have someone like Plo and Welk leading the hive-mind again."

"Most likely. And if that person or people are killed, then maybe Gorog can be scattered again, if not completely dissolve."

"We can only hope," Dhreat said stoically.

"Tell me," Hesklon said after a moment, "is there anyone you can think of who would be able to lead the Dark Nest like Plo and Welk?"

Dhreat looked away from Hesklon as she fell into thought. When she looked back up at him, she said, "I think I do. Tell me, Admiral, do you know about Alema Rar?"

"A Twi'lek Jedi, formerly of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order, who had escaped from Yoggoy after Plo and Welk died. From what I understand, two other former Jedi were with her: a Barabel named Tesar Sebatyne and a human named Tahiri Veila. But I gather from you mentioning Rar specifically that you believe her to be the prime candidate of being Gorog's new queen?"

Dhreat nodded. "Yes, I do."

"And why not Sebatyne or Veila?"

"Because they're both dead," Dhreat said without hesitation.

Hesklon eyed her suspiciously. "How do you know that?"

"Before I escaped Gorog, I sensed through the hive-mind that those two had died first. Both Veila and Sebatyne's deaths could be felt. Rar is the only one I can think of who could feasibly lead Gorog."

"I see." Hesklon didn't sound that convinced over Dhreat's explanation. If this woman was holding anything back from him, he had every right to suspect her of severe wrongdoing and thus have her neutralized, whether it would be through arrest or termination of life.

At the admiral's simple statement that implied so much more, she stood up and walked over to him so that they stood less than a meter apart from each other. Though she was shorter than him by a few inches, and far less muscular, Dhreat seemed no less diminutive in this standoff.

"You think there's something I'm not telling you, Admiral?"

"Quite frankly, yes, Miss Dhreat."

"Then ask your question."

"Gladly. But first, let me preface it with an admission of my ignorance. I haven't had any experience with Force-users, whether they be Jedi or some other Force-cult, like that Kel Dor stuff on Dorin or those Aing-Tii in the Kathol Rift. So, at best, I have only passing knowledge on Force-users, Miss Dhreat, based on rumors and what I hear from the HoloNet. Moreover, I have yet to see any demonstrations of your own skills or abilities, so I have no real idea of how powerful you really are. Indeed, for all I know, you could be someone like Tyria Sarkin-Tainer, who may not have been strong enough to use the Force to become a full-fledged Jedi."

"You seem to know more about Force-users than a man who's spent most of his life in Wild Space should, Admiral."

"Oh, I haven't spent most of my life in Wild Space, Miss Dhreat. Just a good chunk of it. But anyway, with that admission of my own ignorance said, I must question why you weren't a more... shall we say, critical part of the Gorog hive-mind with your Force-sensitivity, like those aforementioned former Jedi."

Dhreat tilted her head in a dismissive way. "Perhaps I am like Tyria Sarkin-Tainer. I just wasn't that powerful."

"That so? You see, that's funny to me, Miss Dhreat. Because when Supreme Commander Kelssar sent you to me, he informed me that you were quite powerful in the Force."

"Did he now? Well, while I have no doubt about Supreme Commander Kelssar's skill as a, well, commander, I do wonder if he could be a good judge of Force-skill if he isn't a Force-user himself. Frankly, Admiral, I suspect you know more about Force-users than he."

"That maybe, that maybe," Hesklon said with an overly agreeable nod. "He wasn't very specific about your skills, after all... only that you could be very useful to us. Which, of course, doesn't tell me just how powerful you are."

Silence fell between them before Dhreat asked, "But you think that even if I weren't as powerful as the average Force-user, I would still have been quite useful in Gorog's hive-mind, don't you, Admiral?"

"Tell me, Miss Dhreat, when did you join Gorog? Before or after Luke Skywalker's Jedi Knights?"

"After, Admiral."

"How long after?"

"Does it matter?"

"I just want to know when exactly you joined Gorog."

Dhreat looked away in thought. "I think it might've been a week or two after the Battle of Yoggoy, sir."

"Week or two, huh?"

"Look, what's the point in this little interrogation, Admiral Hesklon?"

"I just have my doubts about why you would have been treated like any other Joiner instead of one of those Jedi that Plo and Welk held under their sway, Miss Dhreat."

"Well, doubt all you want, Admiral," Dhreat said defiantly, as if she weren't in any potential danger of having any of the Thrawn's Vindication's crew coming after her by a simple order from Hesklon. "Because I don't know what else to tell you. I guess I just wasn't seen as useful as those other Jedi."

"Perhaps you weren't," Hesklon said skeptically. "Could you come with me to the nearest conference room, Miss Dhreat?"

She waved a hand to her quarters' exit. "By your lead, Admiral," she said in a mocking tone.

. . .

In the conference room that Hesklon led Dhreat to, whatever scorn or mockery she had left to direct at him completely vanished as she looked through the reconnaissance drone footage of the worlds that the Dark Nest had taken over. As the admiral could tell from the mercenary's stunned expression, it was one thing to be told about how large the Gorog forces had become, and it was a whole other to actually see it even through holocam footage.

"Now tell me, Miss Dhreat," Hesklon said as he stood on the other side of the holoprojector table, "among all these systems, which one do you think Alema Rar could be?"

She looked at him through the footage for a moment. Then her lips firmed before she said, "I'll show you, Admiral." She rewound the footage so that it was showing a Killik-occupied system that featured a lush jungle world. "That one."

"System GH-31-SL," Hesklon said as he read the system's designate at the bottom of the footage. When he looked back at Dhreat, he asked her, "Why this system?"

"Because this was where we felt the queen to be," she answered without hesitation.

"You're sure about that?"

"Of course I am!" Dhreat nearly shouted.

Hesklon held his hands up in a defensive manner. "Relax. I'm just making sure myself, Miss Dhreat." Once he was sure she had calmed down, the admiral allowed his arms to drop back to his sides before he returned his attention to the frozen image of the jungle world. "Of course, even if Rar is here, we don't know which of these capital ships she's aboard. Based on the configuration of all these vessels, there doesn't seem to be anyone that's more important than the others. Unless..."

"Unless she's on the planet," Dhreat suggested.

"Yes, that maybe," Hesklon agreed evenly as he placed a hand under his chin in thought. "Of course, we'll need to make sure first."

"How ya gonna do that? You can only get so much from one of these drones."

"Yes, of course. And even with life-sign readings through more advanced scans, we still wouldn't be able to pick out Rar from any other Twi'lek Joiners. Unless, of course, we're lucky enough that she would be the only Twi'lek in this system. How much you wanna bet on that, Miss Dhreat?"

"Probably not a lot," she replied dryly.

"Yeah, me neither. Still, I'm thinking there is a way."

"Which I presume involves me, huh?"

Hesklon nodded. "To be clear, you wouldn't go any further into this system than that drone, Miss Dhreat. And you'll be well outside that system's gravity well to jump back into hyperspace and return to us safely. All I'm asking you to do is to stay there long enough to sense where Rar could be hiding in that system. And that's assuming, of course, that she even is there and hasn't changed locations since you departed from the hive-mind. But if she is, when you return to us, we'll follow you back in full force and cover you so you can mount a raid upon where she is."

"Look, Admiral, even if Rar isn't there, me just using my Force-senses to try to sniff her out will be detected by Gorog one way or another, and they could get to me before I could complete a thorough scan."

"Then don't be thorough. Just do what you can before you get their attention, Miss Dhreat." Hesklon's voice was as firm as if he were addressing an actual subordinate.

She sighed. "Look, Admiral, I'm not scared that they'll shoot me down. Believe me, this wouldn't be my first dogfight. I'm willing to risk my life, I'm not a total coward; I wouldn't be in this job if I were."

"I didn't say you were."

"Of course not. What I am scared of is that if I use my Force-senses to try to pick up Rar, even if she isn't there... Gorog could take over my mind again."

"You broke free of them the first time. What makes you think you can't do it again, Miss Dhreat?"

"Well, as you can clearly see, they're much more powerful, Admiral. And I think we can make a fair assumption that with more members, Killik and Joiner alike, the Dark Nest's hive-mind can only grow stronger."

"So you think that they can overwhelm your mental defenses?"

Dhreat hesitated before she responded. "Yes, Admiral."

"I see." This time, when Hesklon said that, his tone was less suspicious and more sympathetic. "In that case... what would you suggest we do, Miss Dhreat?"

She sighed after a moment. "Honestly, Admiral, I don't see an alternative."

"So you'll do it anyway?"

She nodded. "On one condition: you give me a cyanide pill. I may be able to end my life before they take me back and possibly use me against you or the rest of the Empire of the Hand."

Hesklon was silent for a moment longer than Dhreat was before she conceded that this was the best way to find out where Rar was in System GH-31-SL.

"If I agree to that," he finally said, "the Empire of the Hand would be losing a valuable asset."

"At least you wouldn't gain a new enemy," Dhreat countered evenly.

"Perhaps not. Of course, in either case, we'll be back to square one in finding Rar."

"Yeah, you might."

"Hmm. Very well. I'll give you a cyanide pill, Miss Dhreat. But hopefully, you won't need it."

"I hope so, too." She then hung her head, as if she were in the process of accepting her fate already.

Silence fell between them again before Hesklon asked, "How did you break out of the Dark Nest hive-mind anyway?"

"What?" she asked as she looked back up at him. After he repeated his question to her, she answered with, "It was because of Sebatyne and Veila's deaths. They shocked me out of the hive-mind."

"Shocked you out?"

Dhreat nodded. "Yeah, they, uh... when they died, I... I felt disgusted over what happened. I didn't wanna end up being like them, Admiral."

"Is that the only reason? You wouldn't happen to have known either of them personally? You know, before you joined the Dark Nest?"

"Can't say that I have, no."

"No?"

"No."

Hesklon held Dhreat's stare for an awkwardly long moment before he said, "We'll be dropping off a few parsecs from..." He trailed off before he looked back at the screen. "System GH-31-SL." He returned his gaze to her. "We have a few hours. I suggest you grab a bite to eat and some rest before you go into that system yourself."

"So that'll be all, Admiral?"

"That'll be all, yes, Miss Dhreat."

She nodded before she turned and left the conference room.

Yet, even after Dhreat was gone, Hesklon continued to look in the direction she left and narrowed his eyes in further suspicion.