Paneau: capital city of Dalon
Royal Security Forces Center
2.5 APC

"Again, I appreciate your concern, Major," Koril interrupted Jax as he slowly lowered himself into his chair behind his desk, "but it was my heart that stopped, not my mind. I am perfectly capable of joining the investigation. Continue with your report."

With a handful of Royal Guard officers flanking him beside Mand Natiyr and Ri Banarecc in the High Commander's central office, Major Jax nodded hesitantly, continuing after a few moments. "Demmar reports at least three that they know of. First Regent Qi was reluctant to say more when I spoke with her last night, but...I think she's more embarrassed about it than anything. Their first was reported as far back as six months ago, but they were still in the middle of restructuring themselves at the time and didn't have the resources available to investigate it properly. Now, in light of what happened to you, I think she may be feeling guilty that it slipped past their watch."

Stepping forward with a small datapad, Mand placed it on the desk, pushing it toward him. "Prime Minister Caledon said there have been more than seventeen on Salastryn alone since last month," she added her own findings grimly. He picked it up and read it, looking through the list of Salastryni casualties. None of the names sounded familiar to him, so they weren't government officials, but they were someone's family member, someone's friend... He briefly thought back to the list Master Kanomin had shown him after the Scornes had begun taking out Paneau citizens on Coruscant more than two years ago, and at first, nothing seemed to make sense. He had been the only one to discover the connection the victims all shared, eventually helping the Jedi end the Scornes' murders. Mand brought his attention back to the present, though, as she looked from Major Jax back to him. "...how did you know? He said they hadn't released anything to the public at all."

Leaning forward to support his tired upper body by his elbows on the desk, Koril met Mand's gaze without raising his head. "I had a hunch."

It had almost been a week since he had been poisoned with spice and nearly killed, but the investigation was stalling out. The most likely suspect, his own lieutenant in the Royal Navy who had brought him the spiked drink, was dead, and no one could tell him if her death had been at her own hands or someone else's. His 'hunch' to search the sector for other clues, though, had been a suggestion from Veon Banarecc, and hearing Major Jax and Mand's new reports unsettled him further. There had been other deaths like Lt. Macek's for months on Demmar and Salastryn, and all had been spice overdoses.

But his own attack hadn't been an overdose; the spice had just taken an opportunistic toll on his damaged body, wreaking havoc on his heart that was still in a weakened state from the Huxnel virus. He had hardly even begun to feel its effects, instead thinking himself simply tired before it downed him that morning in the Manor. Still, it was all far too much to be a coincidence; something else was going on. Looking back up to Mand and Jax, he straightened his posture before speaking again.

"Is there anything linking these people together?"

"Not that they've been able to find yet, Sir," Jax answered, "but they're still looking. Right now, the only commonality is how they died; it's the same kind of spice, the same kind you had. Where it came from and how all these people got it is yet to be determined."

Frustrated, Koril held Major Jax's gaze. "Is there contaminated food or water somewhere? Have these people traveled to the same places, met the same people, purchased the same medicines, clothing, anything?"

"We are trying to figure that out, Sir," Jax answered firmly but calmly, "but it's taking some time."

"Keep on it," he ordered with emphasis. "Put more investigation teams together and send some to Demmar to help if they'll accept them. I'll talk to Prime Minister Caledon again to see if there's any more aid we can offer them."

Mand looked expectantly at him as if anticipating an order from him, as well. But as he glanced at Ri at her side, he remained silent, still unable to see the girl as a Jedi apprentice rather than the Banarecc Princess she had been since birth. Confused at his hesitation, Mand spoke up.

"Ri and I can return to Salastryn --"

"You've done enough for now, Mand," Koril lied as he waved his hand to quiet her.

"But High Commander --"

"Go home, Mand," he interrupted her again, but he softened his voice as he continued, his eyes sympathetic. "Go see your daughter. I know you haven't yet since you returned from Coruscant."

A strange mix of disbelief and disappointment flashed briefly across her face before she controlled it, and though she began to argue again, she stopped herself as she carefully drew in a long breath. She eventually nodded after a moment and left with Ri, but before she was out of earshot, Major Jax returned to him.

"I could use their help, Sir. My teams are stretched thin enough as it is."

Mand continued on out of Koril's office without looking back, though, leaving him feeling even more guilty for sending her away. Deciding to talk to her later that evening about it, he nodded to Jax.

"I know...but later, not right now. The Dalon Security Forces should be able to spare some officers for you for the time being. Captain Arscoll's group is familiar with Demmar."

Jax nodded reluctantly and began to turn away to leave, as well, but Koril stopped him, his tone grim.

"And Major...I want you to put together another group to look into any other recent deaths on Paneau that may be related to all this. Somehow I doubt that I was the first victim here."

Though some of his officers began to leave with the order, Jax instead lingered with a grim expression, and Koril had an idea why.

"Is there something else you'd like to discuss, Major?"

Jax held Koril's gaze for a few silent moments, clenching his jaw before he spoke. "Your wife, Sir. I know it's not my place to say...but she would be just as safe here, and she could help with the investigation safely --"

"You're right," Koril interrupted sternly, "it's not your place."

But Jax refused to back down. "With all due respect, Sir, think about what it is that you've made her do. You've forced her to accept the fact that her life is more important than yours, than the rest of ours here on Paneau who might also be in harm's way. You know she doesn't believe that, and you know she would never leave your side in dangerous times, regardless of whether she was pregnant or not. This is not fair to her."

Though Jax's protests would have made him angrier if he hadn't already been weakened by his own guilt, he did agree with the Major. He could easily imagine how well Elena was not faring, being forced to leave as she had...but she had to be.

"I have my reasons, Major," Koril answered quietly, trying to keep the pain and fear out of his voice as his horrific nightmare flashed through his mind once more. "She's staying where she is."

Again, a long silence hung between them, but Jax's expression softened as he seemed to at least accept Koril's response, sensing his turmoil. He eventually nodded, and with a curt bow, he left with his officers, permitting inside other guards and officials who had been waiting since the early morning to see the recovering High Commander.

Paneau: capital city of Dalon
Rys'tihn Manor

With one more sweep of her hand, Mand had finished preparing some of her instruction tools that were reminiscent of what she and Ri had worked with aboard the Novalis while returning from Coruscant days ago. Her daughter Cordira sat quietly with her on the cool stone floor of the Manor's mostly vacant hangar, mesmerized by the boxes that had been moving about magically. Though partially covered by her fire red hair, Cordira's sharp gray eyes followed the last large storage crate centimeter by centimeter as Mand used the Force to bring it closer to them. Sitting opposite them on the floor, Ri waited patiently for her next lesson with her hands folded lightly in her lap.

"You've always done well with telekinesis, Ri," Mand told her with a hint of pride. "Even before I started working with you on it when you were four, your mother told me she had seen you lift one of your toys when you weren't much older than Cordira." She smiled briefly down at the toddler in her lap, then returned to her apprentice. "You can continue to practice with bigger, more complex things on your own later this afternoon, but now I want to know how keen your senses are with something that isn't under your own control. Close your eyes."

Ri obediently complied, allowing Mand the opportunity to bring in another few objects for the exercise. With a quick glance outside the hangar that opened up to picturesque grassy fields and a tranquil pond sparkling in the midday sun, Mand floated two smooth stones in and rested them on the floor behind Ri, careful to do so without making any noise. Of course, Cordira was transfixed, but Ri hadn't seemed to pick up on the movement, so Mand continued.

"You can't always rely on what your eyes see. Open yourself to the Force, and use it to feel your surroundings. 'See' without looking."

After a few moments of silent concentration, Ri nodded. "Okay."

Mand lifted one of the large crates again, hovering it just beside Ri. "What can you sense?"

Ri's brows furrowed together as she concentrated again. "You, Cordira, those guards at the door, the Novalis..." Within a short minute or two, she seemed to suddenly flinch and lean to the side away from the crate Mand was silently hovering at her side. Her expression was genuinely surprised, but she recovered well. "There's a crate next to me. It wasn't there before."

"Very good. What can you tell me about it?"

"It's...heavy, very dense...but only on the bottom half."

Without mentioning it, Mand picked up the two stones again with the Force, slowly orbiting them around Ri and the crate. "You must constantly be aware of your surroundings. They can and do change, just as rapidly as you can shift your focus. What was once stationary may become a moving weapon if your enemy thinks he has you distracted long enough. Instead of sensing each object individually, try a broader approach: feel the room as a whole first, then identify what's closest to you, what could be of use to you, what could be used against you... It will take some getting used to, but it becomes second nature fairly quickly."

Though still in her lap, Cordira laughed and reached her hands out to grab at the stones still floating about Ri, but Mand brought her arms down, hugging her closely to herself. Persistent, though, Cordira wiggled herself free from Mand's grasp and stepped over to Ri, giggling excitedly. Still with her eyes closed, Ri grinned and held her hand out to the girl, stopping the stones in the air mid-orbit. Impressed but not surprised, Mand smiled, too, releasing her control and lowering the crate and the stones back down to the floor. Sensing a break in her lesson, Ri looked up and playfully scooped Cordira into her lap, tickling her. The toddler squealed and giggled gleefully as she squirmed in Ri's arms, but without warning, Ri suddenly froze a moment later, and her face became pallid as intense fear drowned her expression. Before Mand could identify what had caused the change, Ri quickly lifted Cordira out of her lap and stood, stepping around nervously and looking about the hangar with extreme anxiety and sorrow.

"No...no, not again...no!!"

Confused as much as she was concerned, Mand stood, as well, gently gripping Ri by the shoulders as she leaned down to meet her at eye level. "Ri, what's wrong?"

Upset almost to the point of tears, Ri could hardly answer her. "I...I don't know, I feel...bad...I hurt..." A choked sob escaped her before she could continue. "I felt the same way...the day mom and Li died..."

Breathless, Mand reached out with the Force, searching for any source of panic or pain similar to what she remembered sensing the day of the Dalon Palace collapse. Li Banarecc, Ri's older half-sister, had died almost instantly, crushed as the Palace walls crumbled around them, and Tascit's injuries claimed her soon afterward, forcing the then-five-year-old Ri to experience the terrible, painful heartache of loss of her family as well as the thousands of others in the Palace before she really knew how to process it. But after a quick, desperate search, Mand couldn't find anything nearby that might feel the same to Ri, unless it had been just one person, someone to whom she was much, much closer and for whom she cared deeply...

"Ri, is it your brother? Your father?"

"I don't know," she sobbed, breaking down completely as tears fell freely down her cheeks. Desperate to comfort Ri but terrified herself about what had happened, she knelt down and hugged Ri tightly, trying to calm her. With her comlink in her hand, she urgently waved over one of the Royal Guards from the hangar's main door, spouting her orders quickly.

"Take my daughter to Kollie and Raen in the playroom, and put the Manor on lockdown immediately." Though the young girl was still weeping, Mand stood and pulled Ri with her toward the Novalis as she brought her comlink up to her mouth. "Koril, get Royal Guards to the King and to the Banarecc Estate right now!!"

Paneau: capital city of Dalon

With his three-day wait over, Horatio paced nervously beside his ship, landed at the exact coordinates he had been given. He was on time, too, so where was his contact?

In the pleasant, warm sunlight of a tranquil day, the dark, rugged Nyx stuck out like a decaying trash heap against the lush green and floral backdrop surrounding the small landing platform and its neighboring hangar, making him even more anxious the longer he stood next to it. Obviously, he and his ship didn't belong on Paneau; here, he couldn't blend in even if he tried, but hopefully he didn't need to. He was just there to collect one small bit of intel, and he'd be gone from Paneau for good.

Infiltrating the stillness around him, the rumbling sound of a few transports far off in the distance caught his attention, and he quickly realized they were drawing near. Instinctively, he ducked under the Nyx's port wing and watched as five pristine, gleaming shuttles zoomed into view in the clear sky overhead and landed on the front lawn of the large home attached to the hangar. From what he could see, the shuttles were unloading their occupants rapidly, and from a distance, the men all appeared to be wearing the same dark uniform. Some swiftly filed into the home as the rest swept around outside it, but such a flurry of activity so soon after his arrival couldn't have been a coincidence. Gripping his blaster holstered inside his jacket, he stayed crouched down as he stepped out from underneath the wing; he only had a small window of time in which to escape back into space before they found him...

"You! Stand up, turn around slowly, and keep your hands where I can see them!"

With his attention focused on the shuttles, he hadn't heard his company approaching behind him, and though it irritated him, he obliged, stealthily stuffing his blaster back into his jacket as he slowly stood and turned. He somehow kept his expression neutral as he unexpectedly saw only one lone young man, roughly his own age, holding him at blasterpoint, and even more surprising, the man looked familiar. He looked and even sounded just like a much younger version of Veon Banarecc, which confused him...

"You're not authorized to be in this area --"

"Actually," Horatio interrupted cautiously, "...I am. I was instructed to meet --"

"Quiet!" he returned with rapidly increasing anger. "You will come willingly. My guards will be here any moment. If you resist or if you try to escape, I'll have no choice but to kill you."

Horatio furrowed his brows in frustration. So those transports he had seen earlier were coming for him. He had a feeling his arrival wouldn't have been taken so well, but he had gotten through spaceport control just minutes earlier without any problems; what had changed?

Looking over his captor to decide if he could be defeated, he noticed the man's hand with the blaster was shaking as he struggled to keep his expression under control, indicating just how truly distressed he was. Had he never arrested anyone before? No, it wasn't inexperience; his stance was still strong, and he had positioned himself close enough to cut off escape routes but far enough away to discourage a hand-to-hand strike. It was something else entirely. It was...emotional pain?

Horatio slowly glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see the guards quickly surrounding them, but no one was even approaching them. As near as he could tell, the guards were still devoting their full attention to the home, and watching the activity for a few moments, he saw a few people being dragged outside by their arms...and they weren't resisting. What was going on?

The man noticed Horatio's attention on the guards, and looking himself, Horatio took the opportunity to make his move while he was briefly distracted. With a quick upward swing, he lunged forward and knocked the blaster into the air before he could react. He gripped the man's wrist and twisted his arm backward, but already moving, the man spun himself to make Horatio's hold ineffectual, and standing back to back, he elbowed him forcefully in the left side of his back as Horatio felt a rib or two crack. Though briefly stunned by the pain, the move gave Horatio time to draw his blaster from his jacket pocket, but the man also grabbed the weapon, fighting him for control of it.

Though still struggling with him, Horatio kicked the man's calf, felling him to one knee and loosening his grip on the blaster. Before he could recover and strike back, Horatio quickly stepped out of his reach, and turning back to him with his blaster aimed down at the man...he hesitated. It was hardly a moment, but it was long enough for the man to raise his own blaster, recovered from the ground beside him, and fire one bolt.

Hoth
Lyran Residence

"I think it's getting colder."

Looking up from his sabacc cards, Swip arched an eyebrow and glanced at Jeric Lyran sitting beside him. "Do I get extra points for figuring out his tell?"

Jeric laughed. "Just be glad we're not playing the version with partners."

"I'm serious," Leikam continued, pulling his jacket's hood over his head and sounding miserable. "It's colder than space in here."

"Oh, it is not. Are you going to draw or call sometime tonight?"

Leikam studied the cards in his hand for a few moments before his focus was again lost. "I can't feel my fingers, Swip. How can I?"

Amused, Jeric grinned as he looked between the two. "You guys are pilots, and you can't handle a little cold?"

"I can just fine," Swip countered quickly, tapping the glowlamp in the middle of the table impatiently. "Leikam: call or draw?"

"You've never been stuck in your disabled fighter for hours without environmental," Leikam mumbled as he again looked over his hand. He stared at one card in particular for some time before he furrowed his brows in thought. "How many points is the Commander worth again?"

"Are you two corrupting my sweet, innocent son?"

Swip looked up to see Sirema Lyran, Elena's mother, stepping toward their table, holding her sleepy grandson Derek in her arms with an amiable expression. He returned her genial smile as he reached up and gently ruffled Derek's dark hair, making the boy laugh tiredly. "Of course not, Mrs. Lyran. He's corrupting us."

Jeric rolled his eyes, laughing as he tried to look betrayed. "You're corrupted if you don't know how to play sabacc! I thought everyone in the Outer Rim played it."

Sirema shook her head, still grinning. "Sabacc, Jeric? Really? You had better not let your sister catch you playing it; she'll have you shipped off to the Academy, and maybe I wouldn't stop her."

"It's not illegal," Jeric defended with a suave smile, "just...occasionally questionable. Depends on who you play with."

Swip grinned. "We're four hands in, and he's already cleaned us out for all we're worth right now. I'd say that's 'questionable,' wouldn't y--"

Cutting him off, a woman's cry of pain echoed down the hall into the room, and he immediately recognized it as Elena's voice. Instantly on alert, he and Leikam both dropped their cards simultaneously and jumped up from the table, sprinting toward the source with their blasters in hand. It only took them mere seconds to find her in an adjoining foyer, but he couldn't make sense of what he saw. Just in front of a turbolift, Deilia was desperately holding Elena by her arms as she again cried out in grief, trying to wrench herself free of Deilia's grip. Her efforts were immediately defeated, though, by her anguished sobs that weakened her as she struggled.

"Let me go! Let me go!! I have...I have to..."

Alarmed and still gripping his blaster, Swip stepped toward them. "M'lady!"

Ignoring him and giving in to her sorrow, Elena fell to her knees as she continued weeping, but Deilia maintained a firm hold around Elena's shoulders.

"You can't," Deilia told her quietly, nearly breathless from her exertion. "There's nothing you can do now."

The Rys'tihn Ghost Heir looked upset, as well, and turning to the small crowd gathered around them, she released a tense, shaky breath, informing them all of the news that had caused Elena so much pain.

"...Veon Banarecc is dead."