Hello guys! For those interested, I started my 1980s CART Indycar series story - the Fastest of the Prancing Horses - over on fictionpress and AO3. Check that out if interested. It'll update on the off weeks for this story, no changes in scheduling.
Anyway, here's chapter nine.
Secrets of the Outer Rim II.
Act I.
The Edge of the Galaxy.
Chapter IX.
Beyond the Galactic Border.
Schweva took a deep breath, walking into a narrow tower in New Taaszon - the cloud shrouded mountains by now becoming familiar to me. I followed her into the structure, seeing her clench her fists and tense slightly, likely the first sign that she felt my presence. She didn't comment on it though, continuing on, only stopping when she spotted a figure familiar to her - and one she seemingly had no interest in seeing.
"Schweva? What are you doing here?" it wasn't an accusation, it seemed to just be innocent confusion coming from the violet-eyed, red-skinned near-human, but the irritation coming off of Schweva was obvious to me.
"I could ask the same of you." the blue-skinned woman shot back, trying to cover up.
"I was demonstrating for the assassins-in-training." she answered, gesturing to the long, featureless tube on the hip of her robes. Consciously or not, through the Force bond - or whatever this connection is - I knew that tube was the red-skinned woman's lightsaber. A double-bladed weapon in a deliberately vague form, designed to make a large weapon at least somewhat concealable. Another tidbit that she implicitly shared was that the assassins - Sith Assassins, to be specific - were a type of Force user trained by the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, one that, amongst other things, tended to use double-bladed lightsabers. The red-skinned woman was a practitioner with such a woman, clearly had some experience under her belt, and was demonstrating to what was presumably going to be the next class of Sith Assassins. I didn't need a bond to know that was both a true alibi and one that was going to be better than any fake one Schweva could come up with.
"I need to see Vaalthoor." Schweva eventually shared.
"Oh," the red-skinned woman cringed "Phanza's business?"
"Perhaps," Schweva replied unconvincingly, but maybe the red-skinned woman was naive, since she seemed to buy it.
"I keep telling her she doesn't need to hide these things from me," she sighed, meaning there was some context I was missing that meant that was a lie Schweva's counterpart was likely to believe.
"Hmm, I wonder why she wouldn't tell you everything Zaliza." Schweva snarked. Yes, definitely some information I was missing here, but Schweva wasn't giving up much information, neither consciously nor unconsciously. She did give up a name though, Zaliza.
"I've been here long enough that I understand there are...unfortunate necessities." Zaliza argued.
"The fact you call them by such a clunky euphemism makes me doubt that." Schweva responded dryly. To give her credit, she used her knowledge of legitimate grievances to throw Zaliza off the scent, now taking power over the conversation with the fact that Zaliza, for whatever reason, didn't seem to have the stomach for some of the Grand Duchy's darker operations...presumably the kind of ones that would justify the existence of a whole bureau of assassins in their capital city.
"Alright, alright." Zaliza sighed, clearly having heard these types of barbs from Schweva over and over again, defusing the argument "Whatever it is, I hope it goes well. She worries about you, you know."
"About me?" Schweva asked. Ugh, this was a problem. She had almost worked her way past her friend - someone who, as far as I can tell, saw Schweva in a place she wasn't meant to be without a real reason for being there, implying that whatever Schweva was trying to do here wasn't exactly sanctioned - but with just that little nugget of worry, Zaliza managed to trap Schweva into the conversation. I knew Schweva was masterfully powerful in the Force, and this conversation was marking her out as a decent quick thinker though, but Zaliza seemed to be a problem for her. These two were both serious Force users, as I could tell Zaliza was strong enough for Schweva to give her a modicum of respect, but they both knew each other well. Schweva was able to use real concerns and arguments to throw Zaliza off, but just as equally, it seems that Zaliza can play on Schweva's doubts and insecurities. I wouldn't have even imagined her having doubts and insecurities when I saw what she could do on the Taaszon mining station, but here it's clear to see.
"Yes, you." Zaliza rolled her eyes but with a hint of a smile on her lips, like this was something that she had explained over and over and over again "She says something's been troubling you, and she thinks you haven't been entirely honest with her."
"Well, I have." Schweva huffed in a way that was neither dignified nor convincing. I gave Schweva a lot of credit earlier in this conversation, but Zaliza now seems to be maneuvering the conversation exactly how she wants to.
"Still, if you ever need to talk about it, know I'm an option." Zaliza responded with an amount of earnestness I would've never imagined seeing from someone associated with Schweva. Zaliza looked like she wanted to say more, but ultimately gave up, settled for a pat on the shoulder, and then started to leave as the blue-skinned alien stood there, totally outmaneuvered and embarrassed about it. All of this was until...
"How did you know you were bonded with Lady Attam?" Schweva barked out, an impulse decision.
"What?" Zaliza's eyes widened, cheeks deepening in color.
"The Force Bond - how did it form? What was it like?" Schweva demanded, and I watched Zaliza relax as she spoke...okay, there was definitely a context I was missing there. I had no idea whether or not this information would prove useful one day, but I'd try to remember it anyway: with the amount of people currently trying to scheme around me or control my life, it would be nice to have some leverage over someone else for awhile.
"Oh, that." Zaliza was practically smiling with ease after that near-panic a moment ago "Well, my situation was different. Phanza didn't create the bond, but once she felt it, she started to make contact with me, using that to try and lay some seeds of doubt in me - doubting the Jedi, doubting Palpatine, doubting myself - but she thought she was taking advantage of a natural opportunity. Later on we'd both learn that Voytana formed the bond for us, doing what even Phanza wasn't willing to do."
"So it would take someone as powerful as Voytana to create one of these Force bonds?" she asked.
"I-I really think Phanza would be better at answering these questions." Zaliza backed off, in no position to know that answer right now. She did, however, narrow her eyes a moment later "Why are you asking about this though? What happened?"
"Don't worry about it." Schweva spat back. She allowed herself a moment of vulnerability, indulging in her curiosity for a moment, but now it was getting dangerous to say anything more "I have business to attend to."
"Who are you bonded to?" Schweva started walking away, but when Zaliza asked that question, she stopped in her tracks. So much for trying to put those walls back up.
"I...I don't know." she was going to argue, but she knew she was caught, so she ultimately decided to acquiesce. Schweva didn't like it, but it sounded like Zaliza was the best source of information she had.
"What do you mean?" Zaliza asked, sounding concerned.
"They can see me, contact me, but when I try...it's fuzzy, blurry, lacking in detail. Whoever they are, they're masking their presence." Schweva admitted.
"Or you're seeing through the eyes of a novice." Zaliza hypothesized.
"Impossible," Schweva scoffed "A novice couldn't forge a connection with me - even you're not absurd enough to believe that."
"But who could be out there that's strong enough to create a Force bond with you out of thin air, mask their presence, and go completely undetected by us?" Zaliza proposed, breaking down the absurdity of Schweva's idea.
"That's what I'm trying to find out." Schweva sighed, showing her frustration. She then properly turned back to Zaliza, her solid red eyes meeting her companion's purple pupils "Don't you dare say a word of this to Lady Attam."
"It be better for everyone if you told her everything yourself." Zaliza proposed, earning a glare from Schweva "But...if not, then it's not my place to tell."
"Good." Schweva practically growled before stalking off.
"Be careful." Zaliza called out as her fellow apprentice walked off, but Schweva ignored it.
"I don't know who you are, our how strong you may be, once I get the chance...I will find you." Schweva spoke to me directly now, and the sudden surprise of that was enough to scare me away and break the vision. She was angry enough at my intrusions - not that I had any control of when I see them or what I see - and getting increasingly frustrated by how little she was able to figure out. This though? This was a new type of venom. Schweva had failed, she slipped up and said too much to her fellow apprentice...her chief rival for Lady Attam's favor, and that brought out all her anger and self-hatred. All of that was aimed at me right now. The fact that I was here, the fact that Schweva couldn't figure out this bond on her own...it was destroying her.
I woke up thinking about how this was the woman I was supposed to approach. The whole point of all of this was to bring her over to the Empire, let them use her as a weapon against the Shahak'Tur invasion...how can that possibly go well? Effortless power but the more I see, the more I realize it's tied up in self-doubts, a need for approval, and the struggle between that and her increasingly divergent strategies for dealing with the Grand Duchy's enemies. This is a woman who simultaneously believes that the Grand Duchy needs to do more against the Shahak'Tur and that her whole value is tied to her master. It's a recipe for disaster, and I honestly don't know what would happen if we get her out of the environment. For all we know, she'll immediately tear her way through the Empire to get back to her master...or she'll devote all her energy towards submitting the Empire to her own whims. I don't know.
I don't know what she'll do, I don't know how powerful she is compared to Vader, the Emperor, and the Inquisitors, and I don't know if she'll even do us any good against the Shahak'Tur. My encounter with the Shahak'Tri girl on Zletino, Harana'shetton'tringalam...there is only so much experience and strategy can do against these guys. According to Esztreochtz, the Jagahn'Or have been fighting the Shahak'Tur for basically their whole history as a species. We're talking about an entire civilization forged in war with a complex that makes them truly believe that they will be conquered and enslaved the moment they stop conquering and enslaving others. That leaves no room for negotiation, no room for peace. The Shahak'Tur and the Empire will fight each other until someone wins and how can we win against an Empire that even Schweva and the Grand Duchy barely understands?
The outer reaches of the galaxy are being overrun, an increasing number of Imperial factions are trying to turn me into their asset specifically, and all of this just so we can go on a wild goose chase for a woman who might be halfway into a mental breakdown by the time we get to her. Needless to say, I'm not particularly confident in any of this at this point. I will say one thing though, between Grand Moff Kordoth and the Twelfth Sister, I have options amongst the Empire. I need to maintain as many open links as possible to maximize my chances of getting out of this in one piece.
"Zaverra?" I was woken up a few hours later when Agent Cerses knocked on my door. I didn't sleep much and I didn't sleep particularly well either.
"Coming," I responded. I quickly threw on some pants, boots, a belt, and a tank top, and a brown leather jacket. Throwing on a bandolier fixed at the left shoulder by a pauldron, I was dressed and ready for whatever action awaited us today. The blast doors slid open to reveal Arrya in a similar outfit, with two of the usual exceptions: one was the black and white Imperial color palette, and the second was red and blue markings to match. An Imperial agent, ISB credentials and all, specifically assigned to a Grand Moff. With regards to how that worked, I had to assume that there was some tension between the ISB and Kordoth over who she ultimately answered to, since by right, she's an ISB agent simply attached to the Moff, but in practice? Everyone knew her loyalty was ultimately to Kordoth. I didn't doubt in the slightest that Kordoth arranged for the situation to be exactly like this, meaning that Arrya was not only a trusted asset, but a connection to the Imperial Security Bureau.
The New Territories were the newest and smallest divisions of the Empire, and Kordoth was the most junior of the Grand Moffs to boot. At the same time, the Empire was the kind of place where infighting was merely a political reality. So long as it happened behind closed doors and didn't hurt the Empire overall, Palpatine actually preferred to see his underlings squabbling with one another. Everyone too busy trying to cut each other down so nobody can focus on cutting down the Emperor. It was exactly what the Twelfth Sister had said about the Inquisitors, only on a galactic scale with slightly more of a facade of civility around it. Kordoth was in the dangerous position of being one of the highest-ranking men in the Empire but being the weakest of those high-ranking men. The most vulnerable target for an ambitious Imperial to make the step up. Therefore, Kordoth is interested in furthering his position. Crushing the Shahak'Tur crisis thus enters the picture: not only is it a sheer necessity because the Shahak'Tur invasion weakens Kordoth, but the fame and prestige from being the one to defeat the Shahak'Tur would propel Kordoth in power.
So then, does the same thing ultimately happen to me? Knowing that Kordoth is ultimately just as self-interested as all the rest, he will do everything he can to make me his asset. That means, as Agent Cerses has always said, that Kordoth would award me some liberties and luxuries, giving me a better life than most of the options available to me, but it's also completely possible that, just like Arrya is ultimately a bridge to the ISB, Kordoth may see fit to make me become a bridge to the Inquisitorius. If it becomes apparent that having me all to himself is impossible, he might just decide the best course of action for him would be to share me between himself and the Inquisitors. Needless to say, this isn't an appealing course of action for me, and the fact that I could imagine this happening makes me question if Kordoth wouldn't actually be the best option after all. As unclear as her plan seems to be and as much as I don't want to believe in her, the Twelfth Sister is also an option. But how am I supposed to trust her when I can't get anything out of her? Not even a name!
"You feeling okay?" Cerses asked, the blonde Imperial sounding concerned as she lightly shook my shoulder, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"I'm fine," I answered quickly, clearly doing nothing to convince her. I sighed "I didn't get a good night's sleep."
"Imperius Prime?" she asked.
"Yeah," I took the opening she gave me, putting a layer of truth into my words to help sell the lie "The Twelfth Sister has some kind of plan for me, something independent of the other Inquisitors, and I feel like Imperius Prime was the first step in that. The temple down there...we're dealing with something dark and ancient here...for gods' sake I was a petty merc a few weeks ago, now I'm dealing with this shit?"
"Kordoth will do what he can to protect you. Here or with the Inquisitors, you'll be working for the Empire either way, so as far as I'm concerned, it can't matter to Palpatine that much." Arrya reasoned, having next to no idea how little comfort those words brought me.
"Joy." was my simple, dry response as the next set of blast doors opened and we arrived in Kordoth's office...to find the Grand Moff and the Eleventh Brother already there, tension thick between the two men, neither forgetting how their last encounter in here went. Kordoth undermined in his own space station, and the Eleventh Brother ultimately doing little more than embarrassing himself as the Twelfth Sister started her next scheme. The Sister got me exactly where she wants me, Kordoth got his asset for the Schweva plan, and the Brother? He's the only one that got nothing out of our impromptu deal. Now with what happened coming out of the temple on Imperius Prime, the Twelfth Sister outmaneuvered him yet again. He was supposed to finally catch her in a treasonous act and be done with her, instead, he gave her the opportunity to present Vader with an ancient piece of technology, infused with the Force, and capable of acting as a self-sufficient power source. No one will believe her intentions, sure, but nobody will be able to prove what game she's actually playing at either. The Twelfth Sister and Grand Moff Kordoth have repeatedly demonstrated the limits to the Eleventh Brother's power, and I'd be a fool to think that had nothing to do with his presence here.
"Zaverra, Arrya," Kordoth greeted matter-of-factly as we entered, too focused on his Inquisitorial counterpart to offer much better than that right now "Poan Skrom and I have checked the files over and over again. The furthest any of us have been able to get on Copero is a physical banking transfer in a bank in the capital city. If we want to get any further, we need to get into the bank and investigate it ourselves...all while dealing with the Chiss and ostensibly going after one of their own." Kordoth took a side glance to the Eleventh Brother before following up with a nugget specifically aimed at the Chagrian former Jedi "Needless to say, this is a delicate operation and discretion will be required. To that end, I've found a friend of a friend planetside who can be of assistance - Eli Vanto."
"Ivant - the Imperial Plenipotentiary to the Chiss." Arrya identified.
"Correct." Kordoth held a slight smile for just a moment, pleased with his protege, before continuing "Ivant will allow you to bypass Chiss customs and get you access to the bank, find out where this trail leads next."
"I will accompany you." the Eleventh Brother finally stepped up "It has become apparent that this search for the Grand Duchy's Force user is taking entirely too long. I will expedite matters myself."
"The Eleventh Brother was very insistent." Kordoth added, his displeasure clear in his voice. Right, I had little doubt that this was about the Twelfth Sister taking me to Imperius Prime. The Eleventh Brother has been repeatedly embarrassed and shown the limits to his power - the Twelfth Sister complained about being attached to him and under his watch, but I imagine he was burdened by being attached to her as well, unable to shine on his own, unremarkable as an individual, used only as part of a pair - so now he's inserting himself into this. I doubt his presence will actually do anything to quicken our search for Schweva, but he'll be there to remind us of the power he has over us, and to remind me specifically that it's the Empire's intention to turn me into an Inquisitor, just like him. In a way, it's the only move he has left: shows of force and implicit intimidation in an attempt to bring me into line. All the while the Twelfth Sister is probably presenting the device to Lord Vader right now, outshining the Eleventh Brother even if it's also putting her more under Vader's scrutiny.
"Understood," Arrya simply nodded, accepting our inconvenient companion "I'll prep the Saboteur."
"Good - and good luck." Kordoth dismissed us. I walked out of the office, took a glance at Cerses heading down to the hangar, and then glanced back towards my room, heading there for a little more rest before we depart. At least, that was my intention until the Eleventh Brother stopped him, grabbing my arm as he growled:
"The Twelfth Sister may think she outmaneuvered me down on the surface, but I am watching that wretch - and now I'm watching you. Whatever the two of you have planned, I will figure it out." he then released me with a shove, following Arrya to the hangar. I waited until he rounded the corner before grabbing my arm and rubbing it. It hurt, but he wouldn't have the satisfaction of knowing that. Fundamentally, the Twelfth Sister is right about him: he's nothing exceptional. He has the Force and the lightsaber, the same tools as any other disposal Inquisitor. The fact that the Twelfth Sister has ambitions of her own makes her a threat, someone to be watched, but it also makes her something more than the other Inquisitors - that's why she gave Vader the device. Vader won't believe her intentions, but Vader doesn't trust her anyway, so the only way she can move forward is if she continually demonstrates that she's more useful to the Empire than the dull weapon that is the Eleventh Brother. So that's why each member of the duo is where they are now: the Twelfth Sister in places of power with Vader, the Eleventh Brother all the way out here on the fringes of the galaxy taking his impotent anger out on a common alien mercenary who he can't even turn into an Inquisitor yet.
"What's with the Inquisitors and the helmets anyway?" I whispered to Arrya as we sat in the cockpit, on route to Copero. The Inquisitor opted to turn the body of the ship into his private meditation chamber, which relegated us up into the cockpit. Figuring he was deep enough in the meditation that we could talk, I asked Arrya about the helmets, remembering that the whole Imperius Prime debacle was the first time I saw either of them without a helmet, and in the end, the Twelfth Sister was even chastised for not wearing one.
"Their rules say they always have to be helmeted and covered up." Arrya answered "There's a few theories as to why. Some say it's as simple as the fact that a lot of the Inquisitors are aliens and they're masked to avoid any of the Empire's xenophobic policies. Of course if you have a Togruta like yourself, or a Chagrian like him, covering your face isn't exactly hiding your species, so I never bought that explanation. Others say that it's to keep the Inquisitors down, dehumanize them and prevent them from building any solid support base. Some suggest there are trackers and even bombs in the helmets to keep the Inquisitors in line. If you ask me? It's probably some combination of things, making them faceless servants of the Empire with no identity of their own, easily replaceable too."
"That would support some of the things I've heard from the Twelfth Sister. They obscure how many Inquisitors there really are, how many might respond to each report of a Jedi. Some work alone, others work in pairs, and they're all out for each other's throats. Constantly moving, constantly fighting, who they are and the power they have makes them strong, but they're kept only as strong as they need to be." I filled in the information I had, a combination of things I learned on Imperius Prime and my own observations of the two Inquisitors I've seen thus far.
"Strong enough to push around us mere mortals, too weak to actually be a threat." Arrya sighed "I really do hope that Kordoth can keep you from becoming one of them."
"Me too," I admitted. Part of me felt like sharing my concerns that Kordoth may cut his losses if he can't keep me out of the Inquisitorius completely and turn me into a go-between of sorts, but I held my tongue for now. Arrya doesn't seem to want that, and I saw for myself in the office that Kordoth is as close to her as she is to him, so if the time comes, I hope she can influence him to fight a little harder for me. She's shown concern and she and I have developed a working relationship at least, which is more than can be said about anyone else in the Empire. Even the Twelfth Sister, who had an effect on me on Imperius Prime, seems to mostly be offering me freedom because that's what she wants for herself, and she needs my help to do it. She's self-interested for sure, but on the other hand, I still have that second device on me...so I'm definitely going forward with her plan, at least for now. I guess for now I'm just keeping my options open. So long as the Shahak'Tur crisis and the hunt for Schweva is going on, it seems like I'm going to stay in this status quo, so I need to be ready for when the status quo breaks.
Hushed alien whispers followed us as we walked through the streets of Copero's capital city. Built into a valley on the cold, mountainous planet, hot springs warmed the city itself. In fact, the exotic plants built around the warm pools with the backdrop of snow-covered mountains made for an image that wasn't all that different from Imperius Prime. The reception, however, was chilly, and the Eleventh Brother was responsible. An Imperial human and her alien companion weren't all that unusual given that the Empire now had diplomatic relations with the Chiss, but a Force user clad in black armor? That was definitely raising some questions. The Chagrian Inquisitor wasn't doing anything to help that though, as he glared down those who dared whisper about him, practically challenging someone to intervene. Needless to say, Arrya and I were trying to get to Ivant's office as quickly as possible.
"You're searching for a Chiss Sith? These aliens are Force blind." the Eleventh Brother questioned when we did finally enter the walls of the Imperial embassy, heading to the elevator up to Vanto's office.
"Force blind?" I dared ask.
"A city this large on a planet that the Jedi didn't have access to and the Emperor is only just learning about? There should be Force-sensitives here, and there are not." the Eleventh Brother explained. His tone was its usual hostile and clipped, but with a hint that he was on edge here, uncomfortable. I closed my eyes and tried to reach out for myself on the elevator ride, and while I'm not nearly as experienced as the Inquisitor...everything felt dull. Even on Kordoth's station, where I'm the only Force-sensitive, there's more going on, but here? Life feels muted. There are so many people here, bustling streets and a proper spaceport - this is the capital of a galactic civilization and their only planet open to the rest of the galaxy, and yet...it feels like no more alive than a village. For someone like the Eleventh Brother that travels the galaxy and hunts Force-sensitives wherever they may be...yeah, I could see how this was disconcerting.
"I don't feel anything either." I voiced my concerns.
"Of course you wouldn't." the Eleventh Brother scoffed, as if it was ridiculous that a novice like me would even have to double-check his work. Before I could respond to him, the elevator doors opened, and we entered Vanto's office. A brown-haired, young human in an Imperial military uniform - modified slightly with a white and blue cape over his right shoulder, showing the symbols of the Chiss Ascendancy - sat at his desk, playing some sort of board game against a computerized component. I glanced at a geometrical blue art piece on the wall while we walked up to the desk, seeing him lift a piece and, in one move, claim three virtual opponents, saving one of his own vulnerable pieces in the process.
"Berrha'arnta'ra, it's a Chiss game of strategy." he explained before standing up "Commander Eli N. Vanto, Imperial Plenipotentiary to the Chiss Ascendancy, at your service."
"Thank you for seeing us Commander Ivant, how much has Kordoth told you?" Agent Cerses asked, leading the conversation. I took a glance at the Eleventh Brother, but I couldn't tell anything from his featureless black mask, so I turned my attention back forward.
"The Shahak'Tur crisis has necessitated that the Grand Moff hunt down a certain Chiss woman in possession of critical information. You have already found a paper trail of hers leading to the Chiss Central Bank here on Copero, and you need to investigate in person to find where the trail leads." Ivant revealed. He gave the Plenipotentiary the critical information and the broad reasoning behind it, but he kept the Force aspects out of it, in addition, he didn't see a need to explain my role in all of this. Kordoth considered this man an old friend, someone he could trust, but he was keeping some degree of caution regardless. I wasn't sure if that meant there was something untrustworthy about Ivant, or if Kordoth was only being careful. I didn't trust The Twelfth Sister entirely either, but I did remember what she said about Kordoth, that he had to be careful with the Shahak'Tur crisis because, as much as the Inquisitors are cutthroat and competitive with each other, the same is broadly true about the Empire as a whole. Kordoth needs Ivant's help to defeat the Shahak'Tur, but he doesn't want to publicly reveal that he's looking for a Sith Lord - a member of the enemy Grand Duchy of Taaszon no less - to use as the brains to compliment the Empire's brawn.
"Correct," Agent Cerses responded "The funds seem to go through a physical transfer at the Central Bank, we need to figure out where to."
"Your target has hidden her tracks well then. The Central Bank does not deal in outside transactions, so to get that far, she must have transferred the funds into the Chiss banking system elsewhere, and eventually worked them into the central banking system. To then go through the additional trouble of taking the funds out of the system entirely and presumably putting them back in elsewhere? You won't have an easy time." so it seems that Kordoth and Poan Skrom must have powered through and translated some of the Chiss transactions to get this far. I doubt that was easy for them to do, most wouldn't have made it that far, and the fact that the Grand Duchy protects their accounts even beyond that shows a level of prepared paranoia that gives us few good moves. Almost anyone wouldn't make it this far, and for those of us who followed the paper trail this far? I have to imagine they'll know that we've been snooping around. If they haven't already figured things out from Kordoth and Skrom following the money, they'll definitely know once we go searching the bank itself.
"Difficulty won't stop us. Get us access to the bank." the Eleventh Brother snapped, having no patience for Ivant's musings.
"The bank is closed today for a private event." Ivant answered and the Eleventh Brother's hands began to twitch, as if he was about to lash out with the Force, but Commander Ivant didn't give him the chance "However, I've been able to get you access to the transfers department. Be as discrete as you can, the Chiss are distrustful of outsiders, particularly those they would label mystics.
"I care little for alien stares and labels." the Eleventh Brother dismissed his warning and turned and left. I shared a glance with Arrya before the two of us left and followed the Eleventh Brother, not wanting to leave him out of our site when he was already getting outraged. The search wasn't going to be easy, and now on top of everything, the Eleventh Brother was here disrupting everything, but we finally had something to work off of. Poan Skrom and the Coruscant lead gave us the Grand Duchy's paper trail, and that lead us all the way here to Copero, well beyond the borders of known space. Now we're about to find out whether or not all of this was worth it.
"I got a bad feeling about this," Arrya spoke as we were about to enter the bank.
"Why? What's up?" I asked, hovering my hand over my holster, not quite reaching for my blaster pistol, but being ready to grab for it if need be.
"I scanned the bank before entering, there's no tellers or staff here at all. It's closed for a private event but I'm only getting one heat signature in the building at all...it feels like a trap."
"One person isn't enough to stop us, now come on." the Eleventh Brother dismissed her concerns, and we entered the bank. The main lobby was directly ahead, where common customers came up for their transactions, but instead of going there, we turned right and followed the curved hallway around the edge of the building, curving around to the back rooms where we'd find the transfers room and the records to go over the physical transfers. As far as I was able to tell, here, the Grand Duchy pulled their money out of the electronic banking system entirely, turning it back into credits, and then presumably deposited those credits back into the banking system somewhere else. With any luck, they'd consider the physical transfer to have been enough to throw off any searches, but somehow, I couldn't rule out the possibility that the credits were going to be spread across multiple different accounts and the whole hunt would begin again. Washing the money over and over again, more obscurities of the Chiss banking system to contend with - why doesn't the Central Bank deal with outside transfers? - and so much more work to do before finding where the Grand Duchy actually is. It was insane paranoia but given how easily Skrom folded and the fact that we're here, maybe it would be justified if this was only the beginning. Still though, the Grand Duchy is producing war droids and needed the components from Skrom, so no matter how difficult it is, their credits had to come from somewhere. After a moment, a tense Eleventh Brother turned to us "You said there was one lifesign inside?"
"Yes...still reading as such. Why?" Arrya asked, narrowing her eyes at his question.
"I don't sense anyone." the Eleventh Brother revealed, by now holding his lightsaber in his hand. Okay, this clearly wasn't a good sign at all. Empty bank, bad feelings all around, and an enemy that we've thoroughly seen is paranoid. I grabbed my own blaster pistol.
"Force blind, maybe?" I asked, wishfully thinking that maybe the lifesign is from a Chiss that is just particularly blind to the Force.
"Maybe," the Eleventh Brother responded, not sounding convinced in the slightest. I couldn't blame him, because I didn't believe it for myself - and things only got worse when I started seeing flashes through the Force bond with Schweva, memories of a conversation I feared I was about to come face-to-face with.
"I was told you take the title of Sith Assassin to its literal extreme." that was Schweva.
"There will always be Sith who call upon my talents." a male voice responded. I tried to visualize his face, but all I could see was the hallway around me, at least until I saw the next flash...with no idea how much further along in the conversation I was now, but I could tell that I definitely missed a number of critical details.
"Be aware, I'm asking you to sit and wait for a powerful Force user to show themselves." Schweva warned.
"Are you so sure that those searching for you are strong?" the man asked, echoing the thoughts of Phanza and Zaliza, the very same suggestion that Schweva seemed unwilling to accept, as if the mere thought that I could've formed a bond with her was an indictment against her.
"Whoever they are, they formed a bond with me instantly and they've tracked our accounts to Copero. They are dangerous, and I won't be questioned again." Schweva put her foot down...and I suppose she did have a point in that regard. The Shahak'Tur are a common enemy and I'm supposed to use that fact - and her own dissatisfaction with Lady Attam's methods - to bring her over to the Imperial cause, but I'm not naive enough to think it'll be that easy. Schweva sees the Empire as just as much of an enemy, because, as Lady Attam once pointed out, both the Empire and the Shahak'Tur have taken a home planet from her, so no, capturing her and using her for our own ends isn't going to be easy. I may not be a powerful Force user like she fears, but I have been conscripted into the Empire to hunt her down, so yeah, we are indeed dangerous as far as she's concerned.
"I understand, Lady Schweva." the Assassin relented.
"Good - do not fail me, Vaalthoor." Schweva said as the flashes concluded and the three of us stopped in front of a closed door. I stumbled and grabbed my head, recovering from all the visions that just went through my head.
"You okay?" Agent Cerses whispered, concerned for me but equally concerned about the solitary lifesign on the other side of the blast door. As far as the scanner was showing, the lifesign was just a blob of orange heat knelt in the center of the next room, patiently waiting for us to arrive. I could already tell that the sight of that, combined with the lack of feeling through the Force, was putting the Eleventh Brother on edge. That wasn't a good sign, especially since it matched up with the visions that just flashed before me...if the pieces really were coming together like this, then we were about to encounter the biggest threat we've faced all hunt long.
"I'm fine, I was just trying to sense beyond the door...be ready to open fire." I said as much as I could, but seeing as my companions were both already quite paranoid about the situation, neither of them questioned it. I might have a better idea of what's on the other side of these doors than the other two, but all of us are aware that it's nothing good, so everyone is treating this with deadly seriousness. Arrya Cerses took cover on one side of the door, and I mirrored her on the other, blaster pistols in hand, ready to open fire from cover. The Eleventh Brother meanwhile, stood in front of the door, unignited lightsaber in hand as he reached out with the Force and pulled the doors open, expecting the worst.
A pale human male knelt in the center of the room, dressed in robes. As soon as the doors opened, his head darted up almost mechanically, and his eyes opened. Yellowed eyes with red pupils, thick red lines crying down from his eyes like trails of blood, and a full set of black Sith robes marked him as Vaalthoor. The handle of a double-bladed lightsaber in his lap illustrated how deadly serious this threat was.
"Shall we begin?" Vaalthoor asked, smiling creepily at us, almost tauntingly so, all the while.
Cliffhanger!
Ciao everyone!