Paneau: capital city of Dalon
Dalon Detention Center
2.5 APC

Whirling around to face Koril with Horatio backed up against the wall behind her, Mand looked as though he had just called her a liar.

"What!"

As his attending guard lowered the shield briefly for him, Koril slowly stepped into the cell, standing just in front of Mand with a solemn expression while also keeping an eye on Horatio behind her.

"While I was recovering from my attack last week, Veon told me he might know who the spice was coming from," he began carefully. "He said he was on the trail of a group, Soran's spicers, and that he knew I wasn't the only victim. He was the one who had me search Salastryn and Demmar for those other spice overdoses; he already knew about them.

"But," he paused as he looked to Horatio, "he never told me he knew where they were. How did you know to contact Veon for their location?"

Wary of Koril, but even more so of Mand, Horatio hesitated still as he glanced between them. "...I didn't. I was trying to talk to Commander Redgrave, but Veon answered instead." Turning his gaze away, he finished quietly. "Soran...is Joshua Redgrave's older brother."

Surprised by the connection, Koril furrowed his brows as he looked to the floor in thought. So it had been a family secret Veon was trying to keep under wraps, and that was why he had tried to do the investigation by himself so quietly. Veon's brother-in-law Joshua Redgrave, husband of his younger sister Vianne Banarecc, was a well-respected man, Commander of the Rallye Squadron for the New Republic, so it would have been at the very least a scandal if the Paneau found out the attack on their High Commander had been carried out by a relative of another Royal. Trying to protect his family and determine the real culprit behind it all...

"Veon got too close," Koril completed his thoughts aloud with sorrow. He continued with frustration, though, his fist clenched at his side as he closed his eyes briefly. "I told him to back off, let the Royal Forces handle the investigation..."

"You're buying this?" Mand challenged him angrily. "You honestly think some half-witted spicer scum could've killed Veon? After all he's been through? That's ridiculous!!" She quickly spun on her heels to face Horatio again, just as furious. "Veon would have never been willing to meet with you. You tricked him!"

Even with Mand angrily in his face, Horatio calmly shook his head. "No, I didn't have to tell him my name. He already knew who I was, what I had done...and he still agreed to meet me."

In the span of an instant, Mand's expression went completely blank as she froze in place, suddenly devoid of any emotion. Something Horatio had said had touched a nerve deep within her, and Koril couldn't gauge her reaction. Had he triggered a painful memory? All the anger and resentment she had directed at Horatio moments before was gone as though she had come to some kind of realization, but unsure what it was, Koril released a careful breath as he continued with Horatio.

"And he was going to give you Soran's location?"

Glancing only briefly up at Koril from the floor, Horatio nodded reluctantly. "If my story checked out, he said."

"About your nephew?"

Again, Horatio nodded, avoiding their gazes. Though Koril would have normally suspected Horatio of withholding more information, judging by the reticent look on his face, he found himself actually...believing the mercenary's claim. Horatio had been reluctant enough to tell them something that was obviously very personal and important to him, and he just seemed so defeated, as Koril had never seen him before.

He had other things to worry about for the time being, though, and since Horatio was no longer their prime suspect, he had to make up for lost time. Turning to Major Jax who stood outside the cell's containment field, Koril began his orders.

"Bring all of the investigation teams back in for a debriefing. I want to reorganize so we can send out every officer we can spare to find these spicers --"

"No, don't!" Horatio interrupted him with alarm. As they all turned to him again, he backed down quickly, again wary of their reactions. Mand remained silent, though, still recovering from what he had said earlier, but Koril narrowed his eyes, not appreciating in the slightest being challenged by him.

"Excuse me?"

Surprising him, Koril could almost see an apology in Horatio's expression as he began to explain, his tone remaining careful but still assertive at the same time.

"Look...if you send out your forces in a huge official front, you'll make Soran do one of two things: he'll either kill you, too...or he'll pack up his group, and they'll all leave. You'll never find them again, which means you won't be able to get justice for your friend."

As much as Koril didn't want to admit it, he had to agree with Horatio. Soran had already proven how resourceful and dangerous he was, having slipped assassin droids past Paneau's security so easily, so giving him another target was not a viable option. If a Paneau investigation forced the spicers to leave, however, taking with them their deadly, highly refined spice, the overdose deaths would stop, wouldn't they? But why hadn't they left earlier when Veon started getting too close for their comfort? Was something tying them to the sector, something that they had to kill a former king to protect?

Too many questions, and no more answers to get out of Horatio. Koril kept his expression stern as he silently turned back to Mand, concerned for her as she still had yet to respond to anything or even move for several minutes. Gently wrapping an arm around her back, he led her out of Horatio's cell, giving the attending guard a quick nod to confirm that the interrogation was over. Major Jax walked alongside Mand, as well, as they returned to the observation room, meeting the troubled gazes of the admirals and generals who had seen and heard it all. More worried about Mand, though, he slowly sat down with her, dismissing his officers briefly to talk with her privately. Expecting Jax to stay, Koril was surprised to see him leave with the others, giving his High Commander an uneasy glance. Unsure what it meant but deciding to discuss it with him later, Koril instead returned his attention to Mand, studying her face as she stared ahead with an unfocused look in her eyes.

It took him three times calling her name before she finally blinked and met his gaze.

"What did he say to upset you, Mand?" he asked quietly, watching her closely. Her lips trembled as she drew in a breath to answer, looking back down to the floor in front of her as she slowly spoke.

"The first time I met Veon...I was supposed to kill him."

Taken aback by her blunt statement, Koril held his breath as he listened to the rest of her explanation.

"It was part of my mission for the Huxnel when I arrived here eight years ago. I was supposed to infiltrate royalty and...take them out. The Huxnel leader, Admiral Armiger, wanted the transition of power to go smoothly once they began invading Dalon, so...that was my job. But Tascit and Elena had already begun to turn me before I got anywhere near him, and I told them everything while I tried to do all I could to prove I wasn't going to double cross them. Still," she paused briefly, her tone darkening, "one of his advisors made sure he knew what I had been, what I was going to do, right before we began to retake the Palace." Another pause, but this time, her voice quieted as her eyes saddened. "He knew... He knew, and he still wanted to meet me."

Hearing Horatio's words in her emotional recollection, he understood why it had affected her so: she saw her past self in her former partner, and it was the part of her past she still couldn't come to terms with.

"How do you get over something like that?" she asked him with tears gently rolling down her cheeks. "How can you ever come to trust someone...a trained assassin...who was supposed to end your life?"

Fighting his own emotions as he mourned, as well, Koril released a shaky breath himself. "Courage," he answered softly, "and faith. You know Veon always believed in you, Mand, even when you didn't."

A small sob escaped her as she looked down, shaking her head. "He had no reason to."

"He had plenty of reasons. You just didn't know any of them yet."

Comforted as Koril gently rubbed her back, Mand finally calmed after a moment, taking in a few deep breaths to quiet herself. "We have to find those spicers," she told him as she met his gaze again. "We have to stop them."

Agreeing, Koril nodded, but she continued before he could.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but...Horatio is right. We can't risk going after Soran with Paneau's Royal Forces."

He released a weary sigh. "What would you suggest, then?"

As she thought, she again looked to the floor, but an observable sharpness returned to her eyes, removing at once all traces of grief. She was focused once again. "Something he wouldn't suspect. A small, one- to two-person team." With another brief moment of thought, her features sharpened, too, as she became resolute. "I'll do it."

But Koril immediately disagreed. "They'll recognize you."

"I can disguise myself. I've done it before."

Her tone wasn't...defensive, but it was confident, as though she were stating a fact. She was going to go in, and Koril knew he couldn't stop her. Running a hand through his hair as he straightened his posture, he sighed.

"I don't want you going alone."

"No offense, but I don't think any of your officers or guards could pull it off. These spicers will be tough."

She had a point. His officers were strict military men and women, and most of them had known nothing but the general peacefulness and tranquility of Paneau that had been untouched by major crime and disasters for centuries. None of them would know the first thing about going undercover, let alone going undercover in a dangerous criminal organization. Only one other person came to his mind, even though he couldn't believe he was thinking it...

"...how long do you think you could trust Horatio to work with you?"

Mand's reaction was hard to read. She seemed both insulted and fearful at the same time, but she controlled it, looking away from him.

"Think about it," Koril asked carefully. "We know his motivation --"

"If it's even true."

"I think it is." Catching her gaze again, he continued. "Put aside everything you know about him and how you feel about him. Couldn't you see the desperation, the genuine concern in his eyes? I've seen it from him before, and I believe him."

She still didn't look convinced; in fact, she seemed to think his change of heart was biased. "We have no way to prove if he actually did give you that antidote, you know."

He shook his head. "That doesn't matter. What matters is I think that the two of you could do this successfully. You know how to work together, and you know what this would take. You might not have the same goal that he does, but you both can go about it the same way. If you're going to do this at all...I think you'll have to work with him."

Mand remained silent and motionless for a long, tense minute before she finally returned her gaze to him and nodded slowly, her eyes saddened once more.

"For Veon."

Hoth
Lyran Residence

Only two and a half years had passed since the first time Elena had ever felt so helpless and distressed, and feeling her heart break for the fourth time in such a short span, she wasn't sure what else she could endure.

The first loss, Queen Tascit Banarecc's death in the Dalon Palace collapse, was made even more unbearable by the devastating amount of civilian casualties. Tascit had done nothing short of single-handedly inspire Paneau's return to greatness following the Huxnel's destruction of the major cities eight years ago, and she had been an invaluable Jedi mentor and compassionate mother-like friend to Elena since her arrival on Paneau at fifteen years old. She mourned with the Paneau at the loss of their Queen, and little did she know that her second heartbreak would follow only months later.

Koril's reported death at the hands of the mercenary Remo Scorne on Coruscant had completely drained her of her own life, leaving her numb to everything else going on around her. Even though Koril had actually survived his encounter with Remo, his death had been announced as part of a plan to capture the mercenary. Three agonizing days had gone by while she thought him gone, and she had remained in shock even after she had seen him alive again, unsure about her feelings for him. She continued to struggle with it for weeks despite spending her nights with him in the Manor, and it eventually became painfully complicated as she learned the reason for Jedi Master Aalon Noor's selfless sacrifice a short time later.

Along with Masters Noor and Lithess, she had confronted the four Dark Jedi who had been involved in the abduction of Rech and Mand Natiyr on the city-planet. It had ended in tragedy, though, as Noor gave his life to protect Elena and her son Derek she didn't yet know she was carrying. She still bore so much guilt for Noor's death, knowing that she could've prevented it if she had only sensed her pregnancy earlier and dealt with her Dark Jedi opponent differently. But after being stashed away on Hoth, dozens of light years away from Paneau and from her closest friends, there was nothing she could have done to save Veon, and it tore her apart just the same.

She had just finished another difficult transmission with Major Jax moments earlier, and he had brought her up to date on the recent developments. Though they had arrested Horatio on the Banarecc Estate grounds, they had interrogated him and determined that he hadn't been responsible for Veon's death. After running his own investigation into a spicer group that had set up business somewhere in the sector, it seemed that Veon had gotten too close for their liking, and they had eliminated him for it. The thought made her sick with anger and disbelief; despite being removed from the throne and exiled two years ago, Veon had been exonerated and brought back home to Paneau, and he was still treated as any other member of the Paneau Royal Family. He would have had the same amount of, and perhaps more, guards surrounding him in his home at the Banarecc Estate that she was used to seeing with her in the Manor. She had even frequented the Estate several times a week, serving as an advisor of sorts for the young King Verojec, and she knew how well protected it was. How had this been allowed to happen?

Everything had been going from bad to worse since she and Koril had returned from their honeymoon on Bespin almost two weeks ago, but how was it all connected? Was it all connected? So much had happened in such a quick succession that it was almost overwhelming. That night at the benefit concert, she had met Brylie Herrell for a second time, but Koril's former love had been less than civil, though she had spouted all of her venom with a broad, insincere smile. Other than stealthily humiliate two of the most powerful people on Paneau, Elena couldn't find much else of a motive to Brylie's attack, and maybe that was her sole intent. She couldn't ignore, however, that mere hours after their confrontation, Koril had been poisoned and nearly killed with spice. One of his own lieutenants in the Royal Navy may have actually handed him the spiked glass of water, but something in the back of her mind told her it wasn't an isolated incident, and the lieutenant's own mysterious death just days later solidified her suspicion. Whether Brylie had been directly involved in it or not, she wasn't sure, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt certain that she couldn't rule it out.

But what of the dozens of other deaths around the sector attributed to spice overdoses like Koril's? Major Jax said that the earliest one they could confirm had happened more than six months ago on Demmar, but they had only recently begun to piece each of the cases together and look more closely at their similarities. Nothing yet had tied the deaths to each other except for the specific kind of highly refined spice, the same kind that had been in Koril's system, but there had to be something connecting them. Was this spicer group Veon had been trying to locate responsible for the deaths, or at least for providing the means? And what interest would an outside criminal organization have in taking out Paneau's High Commander and its former king?

There was but one lone glimmer of hope in all the death and uncertainty surrounding her, even as she spent her days far removed from Paneau in her own exile of sorts. Though forced to remain elsewhere and therefore to forfeit all involvement and any chance to help by her Rys'tihn Ghost Heir, Elena had a new life to nurture. Her second pregnancy had been a bittersweet revelation, since she had been so swiftly taken away from her husband's side after his attack because of it, but it was still a welcome one, despite Koril's reservations. She knew he was only concerned because of his fear that the residual effects of his Huxnel virus might have some kind of detrimental result for the child, though she had reassured him countless times that it wouldn't. Still, she hadn't really gotten to share her excitement about it with him before all the recent events had stolen their focus from it, and she hadn't even talked to him since she had been removed to Hoth almost a week ago. Major Jax insisted that Koril knew where she was and that she was safe, so why hadn't he contacted her? She had tried to when she could avoid Deilia's surveillance, but she could never get through to him. He was most certainly busy, in the middle of the spice investigations and now Veon's murder, but how could he not have time for just a short transmission?

The longer she went without hearing his voice, without seeing his face, the deeper she felt herself slipping into a state of numbness. Being unable to see Jec or attend Veon's funeral only worsened her sorrow, fatiguing her body and her heart as she both tried and tried not to imagine what Paneau looked like at the moment. Would the people mourn alongside the Banareccs and the other Royal Families, or would they be too frightened to venture out, knowing that not even their royalty was safe from dangerous spicers? How was the young king faring, having lost his parents and one of his sisters to separate tragedies? Jec had already endured so much strife in his short life, but losing his father in this manner had to be excruciating, and the thought brought her to tears once more.

Curled up on her side in her bed with her arms wrapped around her stomach, Elena couldn't even be bothered to pull a blanket up over herself as she shivered, feeling uncharacteristically cold. Her emotions and her hormones had been throwing her body temperature to each extreme, which she knew couldn't be good for her health, but she shielded her child from it as best she could. Though she had retreated to her bedroom alone after her discussion with Major Jax and kept the lights within it dim, she wasn't surprised to hear the door slide open and a pair of soft footsteps making their way inside. Uninterested, she didn't shift her tear-blurred gaze to see her visitor, but feeling a light blanket being carefully draped over her, she had an idea who it was.

"Leave me alone, Swip."

A few moments of silence passed before she saw him slowly pull up a chair beside her and sit, looking over her with a concerned expression.

"I won't say a word," he began quietly, "and you don't have to, either... You shouldn't have to be alone right now, m'lady."

Feeling another wave of tears, she closed her eyes tightly, releasing a few trembling breaths to calm herself before she became inconsolable. She did find Swip's companionship comforting, even in her heightened state of anxiety, so at least thankful for his care, she couldn't send him away. She allowed a lengthy quiet between them, however, running a hundred thoughts through her mind before she decided on a few to share that might ease her distress.

Looking up at him again, she blinked a few times to clear her eyes, and stifling a lingering sob, she spoke up quietly. "Do you know how I ended up on Paneau, Swip?"

He shook his head gently. "No, m'lady."

She took a moment to gather her thoughts, taking in some deep breaths before continuing and somehow forcing her weak voice to work.

"I was a terrible student at the Jedi Academy...probably one of the worst in my class. I was clumsy, forgetful, disorganized, not particularly strong in any realm of Force studies. What I lacked in finesse and skills, I made up for with my stubbornness, and that got me into trouble more than once. By the time I was fifteen, I was falling far behind my classmates, but it was my hardheadedness that earned me an outside mission.

"I had argued with my instructors one time too many over something trivial, so I was assigned to retrieve supplies for the Academy. It was supposed to teach me obedience, humility, and probably a few organizational skills on the side, and despite what they thought of me, I was eager to learn, I just hadn't found the right avenue yet. So I left Yavin IV in a small hauler for this little Outer Rim world I'd never heard of before, never once thinking I'd stay there longer than a day.

"When I was introduced to Veon, I at first thought he was...insincere, but he was just busy and distracted. When prompted, I rattled off the list of supplies I had painstakingly memorized on the way there, and he...he complimented me for it. I didn't know what to say. He had no idea how much something so...small, so insignificant had meant to me, and how quickly it changed what I thought of myself.

"Of course, it didn't end there. I was on my way back to the Academy when the Huxnel arrived; I couldn't outrun or outgun their Star Destroyer, so I quickly returned to Dalon to offer my help. Though Veon refused to let me, I eventually had to after the Huxnel began bombing and later invading the city. I tried to act as a bodyguard of sorts for Veon, but...I failed, and we were both captured.

"For some reason they kept us in the same cell together. I hadn't yet recovered from their stun bolt, so I was semi-conscious and shivering on the floor. Even though he had every other concern in the galaxy, every other worry for his planet and for his people weighing so heavily on him...he cared for me... A king...a king I had only met hours earlier...sat on the filthy, freezing floor with me and tried to keep me warm. Me...a Jedi Academy runt who meant nothing to him...

"He could've blamed me for not protecting him. He could have let me freeze to death in that cell...but he didn't. He...trusted me, even though all he knew of me was failure. Once we were freed by Tascit and Mand, I had to stay, and help, and fight. I had never seen such...strength...courage...and resilience from one person, from the whole Paneau people... I had never felt more like a Jedi than on that day, and I know I wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for Veon."

Feeling her sorrow overwhelming her again, she closed her eyes once more, bringing a hand up to cover her face as she wept.

"I should have been there with him at the Estate that day," she sobbed, recalling the meeting she had with him the very morning of the attack. "I could have saved him...I could have saved them all..."

After a few moments, she felt Swip gently pulling her hand away from her face to hold it tightly. "Shhh, m'lady... You can't think like that. If you had been there, you might've died, too."

But she shook her head stubbornly, her heart searing with denial. "No, I would've known...I could've warned everyone earlier..."

"M'lady...this is not the way to think, and I know you know that. You were telling Leikam and me the same thing just a few days ago."

Giving him a short, bitter laugh, she looked up at him as tears continued falling onto the pillow under her head. She had calmed the Edgepoints' regrets after they hadn't acted upon the warning signs they had seen from Koril before his collapse, and it was morosely ironic that he was in turn having to say the same thing to her. Allowing her sobs to subside for a few minutes, she felt fatigue beginning to pull her into sleep that she hadn't gotten for days.

"I have never felt so...worthless...or alone, Swip," she told him weakly, barely keeping her eyes open.

"You are neither, m'lady," he reassured her softly with a small smile. "And I know you know that, too."

Even a few lingering sobs couldn't halt the heavy slumber that overtook her so completely, putting her mind and her heart at ease for a little while.