As Acheron communed to Judicar through their telepathic link, to get to Sal-Solo's office and quarters in Centerpoint's sublevels required special access to one of the reigning political party's private hovercarts. That access, moreover, was granted only by ranking members of that party; the common citizen could no more access Sal-Solo's estate or office than any commoner on Denon could access the Chief of State's home or office.
Fortunately, Centerpoint's public databanks provided the open listing for all Centerpoint members who had a direct connection to Sal-Solo. Unfortunately, that list might as well tell Judicar what the price of spice on Kessel was for all the good it would do her for telling her where those members actually were on the station. She could wander inside Centerpoint for years without bumping into any of these people, and without knowing what their Force-presences were, she feared that she could be facing a dead end.
Furthermore, even their contact information could only be accessible by other ranking party members; at least the commoner on Denon or some other GA planet could send Cal Omas letters expressing their admiration or disappointment of his performance as their government's leader. At this point, Judicar wondered if the people on this station liked Sal-Solo just because they were told by the authorities that they had to like him; that wouldn't be surprising, since she had some idea that her second cousin wasn't exactly the nicest man in the galaxy, given his past.
As she sat at the databank of the library—which she remembered happened to be the very same library where Jacen had his public fight with that dead Sith—her frustration was exacerbated with her continued self-cloaking of her Force-presence. She could feel her brother looking for her, and so far, she made sure that she couldn't get a lock on her aura. For all the good that making herself small through the Force was, she found it was difficult to use against someone like Jacen who had more experience with it, even if Lumiya wasn't exactly a slouch at teaching it herself.
A part of Judicar wanted to just go back to her original plan of simply rampaging through Centerpoint until she reached the control room and used Anakin's lightsaber to reactivate the station's firing mechanism. But after also learning about the anti-Jedi traps that Sal-Solo would have planted throughout Centerpoint, Judicar realized that she would have to bite down on her impatience and try the more stealthy option, which also meant getting Acheron's help. And, again, to do that, she needed to get to Sal-Solo, even if it meant using one of his underlings to get into a face-to-face meeting with him.
But now that she had hit a metaphorical duracrete wall, Judicar was seriously considering the initial option from when she had arrived on Centerpoint. She may even get lucky and not come into contact with any of those traps that Acheron had brought up.
"Hey, check this out!" Judicar heard a whispered voice from elsewhere in the library. "It's Wedge Antilles!"
Judicar looked over to her right and saw two teenage human boys sitting at a reading desk; one of them was holding up a datapad while the other was leaning over to get a better view of the 'pad's monitor, and they both had entranced looks on their faces.
"No way!" the leaning boy replied, not taking his eyes away from the screen. "And that's the rest of Rogue Squadron!"
"Hey, can you two be quiet?" a human teenage girl from another nearby desk harshly whispered. "Some of us got exams to study for!"
Both boys looked over to the girl with a shared grimace. "Ain't exactly crowded in here," the one holding the 'pad said. "Other desks away, y'know. And it's not exactly like we're bein' too loud, either."
The girl mirrored their grimace before she stood up, collected her own datapad, turned, and headed further back through the library.
When the boys turned their attention back to the 'pad, their gazes were gradually lifted up by the looming presence of Darth Judicar standing over them.
"Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron are here, you say?" she asked them in a pleasant tone.
"Uh, yeah," the one with the 'pad said. He hesitantly offered it up to her, not knowing why a sudden bout of fear was overcoming him. "Wanna see?"
Judicar took the 'pad without even thanking him and looked; indeed, she saw through the holocam footage being broadcast that Wedge and several retired Rogues had attracted a crowd in one of the food courts.
And in that broadcast, she saw Mirax Terrik Horn sitting alone at a nearby table just before the 'cam's view shifted to that of Thrackan Sal-Solo and a retinue of armed bodyguards heading toward the Rogues.
And the caption beneath the footage said that this unexpected reunion of the legendary X-wing squadron was currently taking place on Level Ten—just two levels up.
Judicar tossed the 'pad back to the boys—the owner just barely caught it from hitting the floor—before she turned and headed toward the library's exit.
Acheron? Judicar communed telepathically once she was walking out through the corridor for the nearest turbolift.
Right here, the other Sith returned.
Sal-Solo is out in the open. I'm going for him.
This have anything to do with his impromptu meeting with Rogue Squadron?
Yes, it does. Why?
Notice that Mirax Horn is there?
I caught it. And?
Did you know I killed Corran Horn?
That actually caused Judicar to stop in her tracks for a moment. You did?
Yes, I did, Acheron confirmed with a note of pride in her conveyance.
Judicar grinned herself before she resumed her walk. I killed Mara Jade Skywalker.
A moment later, Acheron communed, Good for you. But back on track here; now that you know that I killed Horn, I assume you can connect the dots of why his widow is here?
Yes, I can; she knows you're here and wants you dead. But what's this got to do with... Judicar trailed off as a thought occurred to her, and just as she reached a turbolift.
Yeah, Acheron said as she sensed the same thoughts. Perhaps they may be the key to getting to Thrackan in a way that doesn't involve you publicly rampaging through the station.
You want me to bide more time for you? Judicar asked with some annoyance as the 'lift doors parted before her; she stepped into the empty elevator and waited as the doors closed behind her and shot the car up to Level Ten.
It's either that or chance coming across one of Thrackan's anti-Jedi traps, Acheron said. Besides, do you feel it, too?
Feel what? I've been having to cloak my presence from Jacen; just talking to you right now is kinda leaving me exposed to him finding me out. Moving around kinda helps in preventing him getting a trace on me, but sooner or later, I think he'll find me, and I'm not sure he won't tell Thrackan about me.
Well, in that case, I'll just tell you. Not long after I came into contact with you, I've been feeling a buildup of the dark side of the Force, and I can sense that it's going to coalesce here, in the Corellian system. I think it may have something to do with whatever's bothering Thrackan right now; I can sense a vague impression of anxiety from his mind that has nothing to do with one of my fellow Sith coming after him.
What do you think it means? Judicar asked as the 'lift doors opened up to deposit her onto Level Ten.
I'm not quite sure. I just have a feeling that something will happen soon, and we will need to be ready for it. So, in the meantime, you keep tabs on Mirax Horn and Rogue Squadron and see what they come up with on finding out on how you can get to Thrackan privately.
Judicar breathed out through her nostrils as she made her way toward the food court where Rogue Squadron had met with Sal-Solo. Fine; we'll do it your way, Acheron.
Thank you, Judicar, Acheron said before Judicar felt her "sign out," for lack of a better term, of the telepathic communication.
That left Judicar alone to join the now-dispersing crowd that had gathered around the Rogues and Sal-Solo's group; she knew that with her continued self-cloaking of her Force-presence, she wouldn't be able to necessarily mind-trick anyone into not noticing her if she were to follow the celebrities.
However, that didn't mean that she didn't have some other means of tracking them. Meters away from the departing Rogues and Sal-Solo's retinue, Judicar reached into her purse and pulled out a stick of balm.
But, at the same time she did that, she also pulled out a thumb-sized tracking device that was wedged between her grip upon the balm.
And with a simple flick of her finger, and some Force-assisted telekinesis that didn't raise Jacen's awareness from elsewhere in the station, the device soared so that it stuck onto the back of Mirax Terrik Horn's collar.
Judicar then applied the balm even before she pulled out the small mirror from her purse to help her look like she was simply applying her makeup. And as she did, she once again had to silently, and begrudgingly, thank that dead Chiss pervert Oklip for yet another useful tool for her to use.
. . .
Wedge was the last to enter Mirax's hotel room. Before him, she and the other Rogues who had made it to Centerpoint made themselves as comfortable as possible through the more or less sizable quarters, and they all looked at him expectantly.
"Sorry I'm late, people," he said as he joined Mirax's side by the room's table. "Had to sign a few more autographs on the way if I wanted to be left alone. I wonder how Face deals with this kinda stuff."
"I'm sure he just barely makes it on a daily basis," Tycho quipped from near the refresher.
"This is what I found, Wedge," Mirax spoke up in a clipped tone; she directed his attention to the monitor that played the recording of his meeting with Sal-Solo. "You see these very fine, barely noticeable cracks that run perfectly symmetrical behind Sal-Solo?"
"Uh-huh," Wedge said with a nod. "Trapdoor?"
"Trapdoor," Mirax echoed humorlessly. "Probably leads to his actual office on this station; the one he led you to is more than likely just a cover for the masses."
"Right, anyone who doesn't like him tries to assassinate him, they'll probably just fall into a trap," Wedge surmised. "Question is, what's the trap when he and his goons aren't there for something like the meeting I just had with him?"
"Probably something for us to scope out, isn't it?" Bror Jace asked.
"And you didn't bring the Wraiths with ya, huh, Wedge?" Kirney Slane asked. "They coulda been a big help with their skills."
Wedge levelled a serious gaze at her; whatever mirth he had from when he entered seemed to have evaporated from his persona. "They didn't know Corran as well as we did; this doesn't concern them."
"Alrighty then," Kirney said with a nod that was as awkward as her tone.
"Besides," Wedge said as some of his more characteristic friendliness returned, "I was a Wraith, too. I think I can lead you all the same way I did them."
"Well, maybe not the exact same way," Tycho piped in. "None of us are as crazy as them."
"Fair point," Wedge returned. "But if any of you sneak a toy Ewok into my room, I'll start to have my doubts." He then looked back to view the monitor when something caught his eye as his gaze swept over the back of Mirax's collar.
"Hey, Mirax," he said, "what's this?"
He picked up the thumb-sized device that was there, and Mirax's gaze narrowed as her sight laid upon it.
"Looks like a tracking beacon of some kind," she said.
"Could it be Sal-Solo keeping tabs on us?" Aril Nunb asked with a worried tone.
Mirax took the device from Wedge and looked at it more closely. "No, I don't think so," she said after a moment. "Doesn't look like it's of Corellian design. If anything, it looks more... Unknown Regions-y. Like the Chiss or something like that."
"The Chiss?" Ooryl Qyrgg asked. "What have they got to do with this?"
"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out," Mirax said as she set the tracking device on the desktop, right in front of her portable computer. "I'll look into it. Meantime, you guys can search Sal-Solo's fake office and see if it has any surprises for us."
"Actually, we should turn in for the night," Wedge said. "I think we could all use the rest."
"If you want it," Mirax said as she carefully began taking the tracking device apart.
"That means you, too, Mirax," Wedge said firmly.
Mirax stopped doing what she was doing and looked up at him angrily.
Wedge leaned down over her. "We can get ourselves killed if one or all of us gets too exhausted getting caught up in all this."
"Did I say I was going along with scoping out Sal-Solo's fake office?" Mirax retorted. "If I'm here, I won't compromise that task."
"Maybe not directly," Wedge conceded evenly. "But if we need you for whatever reason-"
"Whoever has a bead on this tracking device is gonna be an unwanted complication when we're dealing with Sal-Solo and Veila," Mirax interrupted with a stoic tone that contrasted sharply with her angered face. "For all we know, whoever's tracking me with this thing can get an assassin to try to kill me, maybe even the rest of you, too."
"And if you tamper with it, you don't think that's gonna draw suspicion from whoever's keeping track of it?" Wedge countered sternly.
"So you're saying I should just leave this device as is, Wedge?" Mirax asked.
"For now, anyway," Wedge said. "And I think we can all handle ourselves, be on the lookout. I think each of us has learned to keep one eye open when we sleep, right?"
All the other Rogues nodded, with a few of them saying, "Yeah," or "Sure."
"You know I'm not like everyone else here, Wedge," Mirax said. "I'm not one of your subordinates."
"No, but if you don't do as I ask, I'm more than willing to pull everyone outta here," Wedge said.
Mirax abruptly stood up to her full height, even though she was several inches shorter than Wedge, and glared daggers back at him. "You wouldn't," she growled.
"Yes, I would," Wedge replied firmly.
Mirax scoffed. "You coward."
A brief bout of anger washed over Wedge's face before he calmed himself just in time to say, "I'm only looking out for my squad; I don't wanna lead them on a suicide mission."
"Corran certainly wouldn't want that," Tycho said.
Mirax grimaced as she directed her gaze upon him; Tycho just crossed his arms over his chest and looked back at her with the most neutral and level gaze he could muster.
She then redirected her gaze back at Wedge. "You sound so much like Kenth Hamner; he's deliberately keeping Valin and Jysella outta avenging Corran because of 'emotional compromise,' as he put it. You think my judgment's clouded on this, too, Wedge?"
"If you don't back down now, Mirax, I will," Wedge said, his firm tone unwavering.
They held each other's gaze for an uncomfortably long time before Mirax was the one to concede and exhaled a frustrated breath. "Fine; I'll play it your way, Wedge. I'll get some sleep... for all the good that'll do me."
"Thank you, Mirax," Wedge said. He turned away from her and said to the Rogues, "Okay, people, let's head back to our rooms for a good night's rest. That's an order."
