Part Three: Dead Ringer
Chapter 7
Hallie glanced at the clock hanging over her bed. It was barely past six in the afternoon; Rend wouldn't arrive at the coordinates she had dispatched him to for at least another two hours.
She had turned her quarters into a makeshift workstation while repairs began on the command center. It felt strange; she had grown accustomed to chatting with her team, throwing ideas off each other. Here, she was alone. Most of the intelligence operatives who had survived Vandal Pike's attack were still recuperating, and the ones that had come out unscathed had been similarly relocated for now.
Then, there were the ones that didn't …
It took her a few hours before the realization finally hit home that she would never see those men and women again. Understanding came like a sucker punch to the gut; she had been half-heartedly attempting to eat a meal when she felt a sudden urge to vomit overtake her. She had to race out of the dining area to keep from emptying her stomach all over the floor.
She wanted to weep, but didn't want anyone to know or see. It made her feel even more alone.
Revenge was her only recourse. They - she and Tosin - would make the bounty hunter pay. There would be time for tears later.
But for now, Hallie could do nothing but wait. She had nothing but her thoughts with which to occupy her mind. Not wanting to succumb to grief, she turned to another mystery that demanded unveiling.
Vandal Pike's words reverberated in her mind. "You can't trust Siphon. You have to know that."
Hallie did not really trust her Sith employer; she made it a point of not trusting anything she couldn't look square in the eye, something impossible to do given the golden mask Siphon wore at all times. It was also why she found Vandal Pike's words to be highly suspect; she had never gotten a good look at his face either.
No, Hallie offered her loyalty to the Darth not because Siphon had given her reason to do so; this job was supposed to be a stepping stone to greater things - and if Siphon were to ascend to the Dark Council, Hallie would rise along with her patron, a Sith wise enough to recognize talent. Trust didn't enter into the equation. It wasn't necessary.
The more she learned about the Sith, however, the more Hallie's own curiosity spurred her to find more. There were so many questions to ask, so many truths that could be unveiled if she just spent the effort.
Before her, laid out in neat stacks on her desk, a dozen holopads waited for her perusal. They contained everything she could find on Darth Siphon and Orthas' apprentice. Somewhere in these records, there had to be a key … or at least, a clue.
Hallie wondered briefly if the Republic bureaucracy filled itself with as much politics and intrigue as the Empire's … and then considered what would happen if Siphon found out what she was doing. Would it be considered disloyalty to investigate her own employer?
After a moment, she shook her head and returned her attention to the holopads. She didn't want to dwell on the thought.
Rend stepped out of the shuttle, arriving once more at the outskirts of Langxi. Hallie's coordinates had directed him here; Rend supposed it made sense that this city might be harboring his quarry.
"I've arrived, Hallian," said Rend into his holocom. "Where to now?"
"Head to the Central Warehousing District." The woman sounded distracted.
Rend paused for a second, waiting for more information to follow, but none came. "That's all you're going to give me?" he asked.
Static overwhelmed the com signal for a second before it was restored. "Sorry about that. Pike left most of his assets to a woman named Valerie Pantire. I've ran her records through the old Imperial Intelligence databases and –"
"Let me guess. She doesn't exist."
"Actually, no, she does," replied Hallie. "She's also retired Imperial military, ninety years old, and senile. She wouldn't be able to recognize her actual family members, much less this fraud."
Rend frowned. "Taking advantage of a helpless nonagenarian? Certainly fits his bill. But it doesn't tell me why I'm heading to a warehousing district in Langxi."
"Whatever assets Valerie Pantire has are either in the custodial care of her blood family or on Dromund Kaas. Out of the blue, she inherits these storage facilities from Pike. I'm betting they'll have a clue as to where he is, or at least how he's been getting away with faking his own death."
"You make it sound like this isn't the first time he's done it …" said Rend.
"Yeah, I ran a deep data retrieval after you left. Turns out he's had numerous aliases before 'Vandal Pike.' That name's probably not even real. Verger Prince, Vega Pace, Valk Panson: all of them were bounty hunters of moderate notoriety … all of them died under questionable circumstances … and all of them left sizable credit and asset transfers to Valerie Pantire. All of them had the same MO, took jobs from the same contacts, hung with the same crowd…"
"I get the drift. So what do you think I'll find at this facility?"
"Facilities," Hallie corrected. "More than one. The manifests list them primarily as holding medical supplies and equipment, but those could easily be doctored."
"Any security?" asked Rend.
"Light, except for one. The northwestern warehouse - curiously enough - is constantly being outfitted with the latest droid security details."
Rend nodded. "You think that's where I should head?"
"Please don't tell me you're going to charge in waving your lightsaber, my lord. I'd recommend a reconnaissance sweep first."
Rend snorted. "I'm not Andora. And … you can forgo the honorifics. At least for this mission."
There was a long pause. "What should I call you then, my – er …"
"Rend is fine. Or Tosin, if you like."
Rend instantly regretted sharing his familiar name with the agent. He might have found Hallian less aggravating now than he did a few weeks ago, but Tosin was a name he had not wanted to share with anybody ever again. He wasn't sure why it had slipped out of his mouth now. It was a reminder of a time long past, a time of weakness and helplessness. Those weren't things he wanted to project while facing down as formidable a threat as Vandal Pike had proved himself to be.
Of course, it was too late. Hallie had latched onto the name and wouldn't let go. "Tosin. I like it. 'Toes in,' like you're taking the water temperature before swimming. It's funny, I've known you as 'Lord Rend' for so long, finding out you have an actual name, it's …"
Rend sighed.
" … I just mean, it's good to know there's an actual person behind all the lightning and flashing sabers once in awhile."
"Just don't start calling me 'Toes in' and we'll be fine."
"No guarantees. Anyway, head out while I run a few more diagnostics." Hallie's rebellious spirit could easily be seen in her smirk just before she terminated the connection.
He would've felt aggravated by that a few days ago. Annoyed. But since the attack on Twinspire, he had come to feel a reluctant respect for Agent Hallian Quen. She had handled herself well in battle - had lasted just as long if not longer against Pike on her own as Rend and Andora had … and she had likely saved Lethe from being killed. Rend could see why Darth Siphon was fond of her.
She was every bit as capable as he had ever heard.
Rend debated letting her know that for a moment the next time they spoke before deciding that focusing on their mission would probably be more productive.
He arrived at the coordinates Hallie had given him just before sundown. The buildings here were closely packed, with walls so close that only a few of the alleys between the warehouses could be traversed comfortably by an adult-sized human. The block of warehousing that been left to Valerie Pantire was no different, nestled together like bricks. They reminded Tosin of his old home, the way that –
No. It wasn't the time to dwell. He had a mission to complete.
Rend did a quick sweep of the perimeter. The specific structure Hallie had referenced was easy enough to distinguish with its regular patrols of security droids and rotating camera heads. The remaining buildings were only moderately defended by guards that had clearly never seen any action; most of them carried bellies that slung around their waists morosely, giving them the appearance of being pregnant.
Rend's immediate objectives were two-fold: determine if Vandal Pike was nearby or within his warehouse and if so, execute him on Darth Siphon's behalf; if not, then they would have to see if there was anything within the buildings that they could use to lure out or as a weapon against the bounty hunter.
He ducked into a tight alley and activated his personal holocom once more. "Hallie. I'm at Pantire's block. Security's like you said - heavy on the northwestern warehouse, but conspicuously light otherwise."
"Yeah, like that's not a flashing red sign that says 'herring,' right there."
Rend frowned curiously. "If not the northwestern warehouse, then where?"
"I've downloaded a schematic of the floor plans. It looks like the buildings are all connected through underground passageways. If you can bust your way into one, you should be able to reach the others - provided you're not detected of course."
"Yeah, that didn't answer my question," said Rend restlessly, poking his head out of the alley to make sure no one was onto his trail.
"I know, I know," came the reply. "I need eyes inside before I can even begin to run a conclusive analysis though. There should be a ventilation shaft on the roof of the nearest building; it'll lead into what looks like a lavatory. You think you can get to it?"
Rend nodded. "I'll contact you once I'm inside."
Moments later, he ran towards the Pantire's closest warehouse, dodging the nearest guards still enrapt in idle chatter; if they heard the fluttering of his robes or light pads of his steps, they made no sign that they would react. Out of their line of sight, he bounded up the side of the walls, vaulting himself over the edge.
The roof was empty, clear of any sign of movement or motion. The ventilation shaft Hallie had mentioned was unobstructed and unguarded; Rend had only to pull and the rusted metal grate covering the opening wrenched loose with a tired creak. After poking his head back over the edge to confirm he hadn't alerted any of the guards to his presence, he discarded the grate and jumped into the shaft, buffered by the Force. Dropping into a crouch as he landed, he began the slow process of crawling his way through the interior of the building.
It took him a few more minutes before he finally managed to reach the lavatory; the air smelled stale and musty.
Kicking open the grate, Rend pulled himself out of the air duct with a quiet groan. This was not his area of expertise. He preferred open combat to sneaking around in vents. At least this part was over…
"I'm in Hallie," he whispered into his com.
"Access the nearest computer terminal and use the data spike I gave you."
"One moment."
He peaked his head out of the bathroom. The light was dim, and Rend could just barely discern shapes and structures. He was on the highest level of the warehouse, with only catwalks to connect the lavatories to what appeared to be small offices suspended from the ceiling. Below him, crates and cargo containers of varying sizes had been organized neatly into compact stacks. It was impossible to tell from his vantage point what they contained.
There was no sign of any security at all. Somehow, that made him even more nervous.
Careful to be as quiet as possible, Rend darted across the walkway to the nearest office. The door was locked, but he was ready. Glancing around one last time to make sure he had not been detected, he carved a small hole through the door with his lightsaber and wriggled himself through.
He half-expected Vandal Pike to burst into an attack the minute he stepped foot into the office, but this room too was empty, save for a computer console and a small shelf stacked from top to bottom with datapads. Rend strode forward and did as Hallie had instructed. The computer whirred with disjointed beeps and boops as the spike did its work.
A minute passed. "Hallie? Are you there?" he asked.
"Hmm? Oh. You've done it." said Hallie in his ear. "Slicing the terminal now."
"Speed would be appreciated," Rend said, feeling more anxious by the minute. Something felt … wrong. This was too easy.
"Yeah, don't worry. Just need a few minutes to breach the network's defenses and cover our tracks…"
He could hear Hallie's fingers dancing over her own terminal now with practiced agility, but somehow they seemed to be not fast enough. " … are you going to fix the door to this office too? Because my lightsaber left a rather large hole."
"Yeah, even still," insisted Hallie. "It's worth it. Better that Pike not know what we got access to, even if he finds out we were here."
He couldn't really argue with that logic. "You don't need me here, right? I'm going scout out the rest of this warehouse."
"I've got things handled. Just be careful."
Rend left Hallie and her computer spike to their work, dashing out the office. Once more, he spent a few moments taking in the entire warehouse; no sign of movement, no sign that they had tripped any alarms or security measures. Everything was clear …
The stairs up to the catwalks circled the entire perimeter of the interior, but he didn't have time for a leisurely stroll. Several containers reached just close enough that he could use them as stepping stones downwards. Buttressed by the Force, he jumped atop one stack of crates to another, and then another, before finally reaching the ground floor.
The crates themselves were all painted with Czerka Corporation's distinctive logos, and their labels all marked them as holding medical supplies and rations. Rend pulled a lid of one of the containers off as quietly as he could. Peering in, he found large metallic canisters, all labeled with the same information: Tibanna gas.
That in itself didn't surprise Rend. Tibanna gas was required component for carbonite freezing, something any reasonable person might expect to find in a bounty hunter's stash of equipment. What was unusual, however, were the sheer number of containers that also held the gas. And all of their gauges read empty.
Either Vandal Pike had just set the record for most bounties ever captured in the entire galaxy … or he was using the gas for something else.
He activated his com again. "Agent, you there? Pike's got a massive stash of empty tibanna cannisters here. Any idea what he might be using them for?"
"Well, I'd say he's getting ready to put people on the freeze, but that's the obvious answer. Without more data, I'd hesitate to even speculate."
With Pike, 'it seemed obvious,' was too often anything but.
"What about Pike's whereabouts? How's the slice coming?"
"Just need a little bit more time. Sit tight."
Rend deactivated his com and sighed. He couldn't shake the feeling that they had overlooked something, that they were at that very moment underestimating Vandal Pike once more. Still, there was little he could think to do, other than to wait for Hallie to complete her work. He bottled his frustration for the moment; he would need to channel it into rage should another encounter with Pike be looming. For now, he would have to be patient.
He hated waiting.