Paneau: capital city of Dalon
Jax Residence
5.7 APC

The scene in front of the modest, two-story home was nothing short of chaotic as Elena and Swip landed their shuttle nearby. Dalon Security officers and Royal Guards alike swarmed about the grounds, and Elena struggled to determine just who was in charge as she stepped into the fray. Finally spotting a familiar face amongst the crowd, Elena made her way toward her quickly, passing a number of guards who swiftly bowed to her as Swip struggled to keep up.

"Feylora," Elena addressed the Dalon Security Chief informally to earn her attention as quickly as possible, which it did.

"M'lady," Chief Noxymer returned cordially, pausing briefly to give one more order to officers standing in front of her. Once they left, she shifted her focus completely to Elena. "Transport just took off. It's taking Major Jax to the medical center."

"Why! What happened?"

Suddenly hesitant to explain, Noxymer glanced between Elena and Swip before she released a short breath and gestured toward the home. "You should see inside for yourself."

Desperate to know more but unable to formulate any further questions, she followed Noxymer closely into the home's front foyer...where a substantial pool of blood had collected in the center of the floor, disturbed with boot prints and drag marks. The sight froze her breath in her chest, and she had already begun to expect the worst before Noxymer spoke up to explain.

"A nearby security patrol was sent here when Tavyna Jax didn't arrive at school this morning, and no one had been able to get in contact with Major Jax or his wife. None of the exterior doors on the property were secured, but they weren't forcibly opened, either. They found Major Jax here," she needlessly indicated the blood on the floor, "where it looks like he had been hit from behind. His head injury was...severe, and he had no defensive wounds, so it's probable that he never even saw his attacker."

The scene she imagined playing out in the major's own home earlier that morning nearly made her sick to her stomach. But as much as she cared for Jax, she worried more for his family, which Noxymer had yet to mention. Her voice shook noticeably as she spoke despite her efforts to subdue it. "And Tavyna?"

"Completely unharmed," Noxymer was quick to respond with relief. "Her room is just over there, but she said she didn't hear anything last night. The door to her room was the only one locked in the whole house. It...may have been the reason she was spared."

"Where is she now?"

"On her way to the medical center with her uncle, Major Jax's brother Eger. We made sure she never saw her father so...critical."

She was relieved as well, but she sensed there was still something more that Noxymer hadn't reported... "And Milowi?"

Reluctant to answer directly once more, Noxymer eventually pointed upstairs. "The bedroom."

Dalon Security Investigators were already swarming about the home in well-rehearsed choreography, collecting evidence and cataloging the clues, but Elena still felt less than useless. She followed Noxymer numbly up the stairs to the second floor, steeling herself for an even more disturbing scene than the one she was leaving. If the transport had already left, taking Major Jax to get the treatment he needed so urgently...did that mean Milowi was already dead?

Hardly able to bear the crushing weight of dread, Elena only stepped into the main bedroom once she felt Swip's presence just behind her. Though similarly full of investigators like the rest of the home, it was very plainly evident why Noxymer had insisted on showing her instead of merely describing the state of the room. The aftermath of a lengthy, intense hand-to-hand scuffle was hard to miss; not a single piece of furniture was in its proper place, having been tossed aside or turned over, even broken. Trinkets and other personal items, probably once carefully arranged for display on a dresser or on shelves hanging on the wall, were violently strewn about the floor, and not even holos had survived the fight. No one item had been left untouched, but as Elena continued to study the room, she began to realize...

"She's not here."

Chief Noxymer shook her head sadly. "We've searched the entire grounds, every room twice already. Milowi Jax is gone."

Without warning, an errant thought came to her, and she desperately hoped it hadn't occurred to anyone else. "This was not a domestic incident..."

Noxymer was quick to shake her head. "I don't think so, either, m'lady. But I would feel better hunting for a suspect if we could explain why their home's security was completely disabled. None of the cameras were working when we think the attack took place, sometime early this morning, so we have almost nothing to go on."

As hopeless as it looked with an unknown motive, an unknown assailant, and an unknown outcome, Elena at least took solace in the fact that Tavyna hadn't been harmed. The poor girl had been through enough trauma already, one of the few in her class who had survived the attack on the Dalon Provincial Academy thanks to her father's quick thinking. But now that she was in danger of losing both of her parents, how much more could the quiet two-year-old endure?

Taking another focused, more painstaking look around the room, she quickly noticed that despite the damage to just about every object in sight, she saw no obvious traces of blood anywhere. So the fight had been fierce, but neither Milowi nor her attacker had been severely wounded, giving Elena hope that Milowi may still be alive. Had she been the intended target? What did Milowi have that someone wanted?

A pair of Dalon Security officers sprinting into the room broke through the tense silence, bringing Elena's attention back up to Chief Noxymer as they addressed her urgently.

"Chief, a security camera on the home next door recorded the intruder."

Elena held her breath as she stood beside Noxymer, watching the recording from a data pad the officers had brought in. The area was poorly lit in the dark, early morning hours, but she could just make out the shadowed silhouette of the suspect hunched over a control panel on the rear side of the Jax home. He had a few tools in his hands, and without much time or effort, the control panel went dark. No alarms sounded as the back door opened for him at his command, and just as he stepped into the house, he took one last look into the alley behind him, revealing his face.

Elena felt her stomach turn to ice. "The Kel Dor."

The same mysterious assailant who had tried to take the children from Mand's room at the medical center two months ago had returned and escalated his tactics, opting to attack a high-ranking Royal Guard and his family instead. He had made such quick work of the home's security, disabling it without anyone's knowledge, that Elena was quickly coming to the conclusion that this Kel Dor was definitely a professional mercenary, hired for a specific purpose...but what was it?

Major Jax was practically the High Commander's right hand man, privy to nearly all operations of the Paneau Royal Forces on the ground, in the air, and around the sector. But the Kel Dor had disappeared with Milowi, not the major. Was he going to use Milowi against her husband, bargaining her life for information or access to the Rys'tihn children? Or, Elena thought with sudden fear, did he actually know just how valuable of an intelligence agent Milowi had once been? A former covert agent for the Rys'tihn Ghost Heirs would still know so many sensitive details of the Rys'tihn Manor and the Rys'tihn Retreat; the layout, security, secret tunnels...

Bringing Elena back into the room, Chief Noxymer returned the data pad to the officers who had brought it to her. "Get a message out to all districts to be on the lookout for this Kel Dor again. He can't slip past our checkpoints this time." They both left as quickly as they had entered, and Noxymer looked to Elena once more. "If he tries to leave Paneau, m'lady, we'll know. The Royal Navy has maintained tight operations, checking all inbound and outbound transports thoroughly, ever since that incident at the medical center a few months ago. Now that we know he's still here on Paneau, he can't escape. We'll find him, m'lady, and we'll find Milowi."

Though Noxymer's assurances did little to calm her racing heart, she nodded, dismissing the Security Chief to return to her duties coordinating the investigators on the scene. Swip was quick to step up to Elena's side once Noxymer left, seeming to anticipate being needed despite still being in shock over everything himself. She knew he had noticed the change in her expression, though it had been subtle, and thankfully she didn't have to explain herself. She wasn't sure she'd have to strength to, anyway.

"I need to get back to the Retreat."

Swip nodded understandingly. "I'll take you."

Paneau: remote Naeron Mountains
Rys'tihn Retreat

After quickly checking in on the children who were all asleep for an afternoon nap, Elena made her way through the Retreat's tunnels alone, determined to find the Rys'tihn Ghost Heir who hadn't been seen in months. Deilia, too, had disappeared before during times of severe unrest, presumably to settle things herself, but that still left Cade on Paneau to continue monitoring the situation at home. With Deilia in exile, though, Cade's continued absence was unsettling, to say the least, and if he couldn't be contacted...Elena was prepared to begin the hunt for Milowi Jax herself.

The dark, damp cave Cade called home was unbearably silent as Elena raced inside from the tunnel that connected it to the Retreat hundreds of kilometers away. She had expected to find it full of other covert agents preparing to search for one of their own under Cade's direction, but the longer she listened, the more she began to fear that the entire underground complex was empty.

"Cade!" she called for him, unable to filter the desperation from her voice. She heard it reverberating through the rocky chambers, but nothing new came back to her. Swiftly moving room to room, she continued asking for him, begging for a response, yet she still only met silence. Her mind raced wildly, thinking through everything she knew of the Ghost Heirs' base of operations. If he wasn't able to hear her within the cavern, was he taking refuge in the Lexcen Lake, the complex's natural protective barrier? She scrambled back to the lake's entrance, fumbling through the equipment for a quick diving expedition, but finally, another voice stopped her.

"Elena?"

She whirled around to face him, hardly pausing long enough to notice the covert agent standing beside him. "Cade! Milowi Jax is missing. The Kel Dor attacked them at their home this morning and took her."

Though she wasn't expecting much of a reaction from the stoic Heir anyway, he still gave no indication of any response, as if she had just told him that water was wet or space was cold. It wasn't news to him. "...you already knew?"

Again, he remained silent without any acknowledgment, seeming to search for something safe to say to calm her. "Your children are safe."

Briefly taken aback by his statement, she furrowed her brows, putting more strength in her voice. "I know, but we have to help Milowi, we have to find her."

He finally reacted, though it wasn't what she wanted to see or hear at all. His eyes saddened with regret as he glanced at the covert agent at his side. "We can't, Elena."

"What? What do you mean, you can't? You can't, or you won't?"

Anticipating a difficult discussion, Cade nodded to dismiss his agent, sending him away to the tunnel Elena had arrived in. She watched him leave wordlessly, but she returned to Cade with a harsher, more demanding expression; she wasn't going anywhere without answers.

Cade released a slow breath, suddenly unable to meet Elena's gaze as he carefully explained. "Milowi was Deilia's agent. She controlled everything Milowi did, from her travels, to her missions, to her every day duties. Our agents operate exclusively under only one Heir, and every agent is given a specific signal they're to use in an emergency, but...Deilia was the only one who knew Milowi's. Even if Milowi could get her signal out, wherever she is...I wouldn't know what to be looking for."

Elena blinked. "So that's it? You're not even going to try?" Again, no answer. "I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this is the same Kel Dor who tried to take the children. It can't be a coincidence that he has abducted someone with extensive knowledge of my family and our home."

Finally understanding her concern, Cade's expression lightened, and he answered with certainty that was slightly off-putting. "Milowi won't tell him anything."

"How can you be so sure?"

A strange, distant look in his eyes was hard to miss as he responded. "Because I know how she was trained." Focusing on Elena once more, he continued. "He can't break her."

Though she assumed Cade was attempting to reassure her, he had only deepened her anxiety. She couldn't bear the thought of Milowi being interrogated or even tortured to give up information about them... "What does he want with us, Cade? Why go after the children? They're so young..."

"Like I said, your children are safe."

Seemingly surprised by the inflection in his own voice, Cade looked away from her again, saying nothing more. Elena was only confused by his reaction, unsure why he would regret what he said. When the Kel Dor had first attacked at the medical center, Ri had defended her children in both hers and Koril's absence...

But the reason she hadn't been there herself was because she had remained with Dirani as she recovered from her wounds at the Academy disaster earlier that day. Dirani's room was three floors away from Mand's, and after Rech had left the room to confront Koril in the hallway, Derek and Cordira were the only ones still there.

"My children?" she repeated his emphasis, trying to earn back his attention though she could hardly hear herself. "My children are safe, but...Cordira isn't? Is she the one he wants?"

Retreating even more, Cade began to leave without a word, but Elena persisted, keeping up just behind him as he moved down the hallway. "Cade, if she's the target, if she's in danger, we need to know!" Still not getting an answer, she decided to make the play she had been withholding for years, knowing it would force Cade's hand.

"I know this doesn't have anything to do with the Prophecy!"

Frozen mid-step, Cade whirled around to face her with an intense expression. He seemed to study her for a moment, as though he were unsure if she had merely guessed or if she actually knew the remaining Prophecies. She held her ground, reciprocating his glare before he finally spoke.

"You can't know that. You're not supposed to."

His stubbornness easily rivaled hers, she knew, but with all the worry and stress this one discussion had brought up, she had to call on the Force to control her rising frustration. "The day Koril and I first met you here...you sent us to the Retreat with Deilia so she could play us a message from Koril's father. She took us to a records room, but the message wasn't there. When she left to go find it, we found...a data pad that listed the last Prophecies. Koril read it, and we've known about them all since then."

She could still hear Koril's voice clearly in her mind as he read the vague, yet still strangely specific Prophecies aloud more than five years ago. Only with the death of a Jedi friend does the fallen king return to save his sovereign...Jec will become Paneau's greatest king, Rys'tihns will descend from Black Ice, alien, soulless evil will end the longest era of peace... Visions from an ancient Jedi ancestor of the Rys'tihns had been recorded as a monstrous, ornate mosaic in one of the underwater caverns hidden within the Lexcen Lake. Rys'tihn Ghost Heirs had guarded it for centuries, and only Ghost Heirs were to know of its predictions. Within those that hadn't been realized yet, Rys'tihn heirs were only mentioned for their connection to "black ice", whatever that meant, and none made any note of ill will from some errant mercenary. Still, it left her unsatisfied.

"The Prophecy may not have considered Cordira as part of the family, but I do. She's practically a sister to Derek and Dirani, and I know Rech and Mand have cared for my children in the past just as they do for her. They may not be Rys'tihns in name, but please...Cordira deserves your protection, too, especially now while her parents are...preoccupied."

Obviously conflicted, Cade drew in a long breath as he clenched his jaw, unsettled by the choice he was having to make but also moved with compassion for the girl. Did she have to plead more, make an even stronger case for his assistance? She could even bring up the well-being of Cade's son Garran if she had to...

"You were right to bring the children to the Retreat," he finally conceded, giving her an answer of sorts. "They will all be safe there."

"Even Cordira?"

His assertive nod surprised her. "Especially Cordira."

Greatly relieved, Elena closed her eyes briefly to calm herself even more. "Thank you."

Cade nodded again and began to leave, but he stopped himself before he got far. "Elena...my agents and even some of the other Ghost Heirs are actively looking for Milowi. She's still here on Paneau, we're just...not sure where yet." He opened his mouth once more to continue, as if he were about to assure her that Milowi would be found...but unable to, he remained silent as he disappeared into a connecting tunnel, leaving Elena alone in the complex again.