Chapter 48
The Greatest Kidnapping Ever
Part 1
The orphanage administrations office was located in a sub basement of the central Alterra government building. The door to the turbolift pinged as it opened. Footsteps echoed as a group stepped from it, however this did not cause the receptionist to look up from where she was polishing her nails while talking to someone on her comlink.
"I know Loretta is a total slut, but really…" She spoke
She broke of as her nail polish bottle and comlink lifted from in front of her to hover in front of her face. A flurry of sparks hit her comlink before both items just dropped. She jumped up from her chair with a curse and turned to face the group that entered
"Now that we have your attention, who is the senior flimsy pusher here?" A female voice spoke
The receptionist was about to swear at the group but her brain caught on before her mouth did irreparable damage. In an inverted triangle stood three figures, to the left a female in a business suit, a green gleam behind the visor perched on her nose, to the right an Alterran Ranger in medium combat armour, the helmet closed hiding her face, the central figure was the cause of most concern, a brown robed figure with the cowl of the robe covering her face. The brown robed figure turned to the Ranger
"I would not have spoken so roughly, corporal." The robed figure admonished the Ranger
"My apologies, Knight Marsden." The Ranger replied
The Knight turned her attention to the receptionist
"Please take us to the senior administrators." She spoke
"Administrator Penderak is currently taking lunch and has stated that she does not wish to be disturbed." The receptionist replied
"I am afraid her lunch will have to wait, proceed to her office." The knight firmly stated
Reaching the door the knight motioned the receptionist back to her station. The woman nearly ran back. The knight made a waving motion and the door sprung open, sparks flashing as the lock was forcefully disengaged. The woman seated behind the desk hurriedly dropped a magazine flimsy. A second motion of the hand had the magazine floating to the robed figure. She took a look before a second flash of sparks hit the flimsy shorting it out
"How disappointing, the person in charge of helpless children indulging in such filth." The robed figure spoke in a neutral tone
Penderak blanched visibly as she took in the trio in front of her as they stepped into her office. She made to speak but the robed figure lifted a hand in a clear order to stop.
"I am Knight Marsden of the Jedi, with me is corporal Levant of the Alterren Rangers and Miss Firak Satara from the Coruscant Revenue service. As of this moment your department is under investigation on the order from the Jedi Council of Assignment."
"May I ask why?" Penderak had to swallow a few times before she could speak
"You may ask, but no answers will be forthcoming at this time. You are to give access to Miss Satara to the financial records of all the orphanages under your purview." The knight ordered
"I am not certain I can authorise this." Penderak replied
"Very well, I will take it up with Premier Novar then. Just to confirm the name is Penderak and your position is senior administrator?"
The Knight turned to leave the office. Penderak jumped up from behind her desk, hurriedly adjusting her skirt.
"Wait, I believe I can accommodate your request." Penderak hastily called out
The knight turned back.
"On a second matter, there will be no movement of personell or residents from any of the facilities during my investigation into this department." The knight ordered
"We have several children that needs to be moved for their safety from unsuitable locations." Penderak tried to object
"I am aware of the proposed move and other irregularities. I will be personally investigating these facilities. Needless to say apart from sending an indefinite moratorium on movement and orders to fully comply with me or my chosen representatives there will be no further communications send from this department. I will be most displeased if I have to return here."
Penderak nodded frantically at this. The knight turned to the ranger
"Corporal please keep a close eye on Miss Satara and ensure her safety."
"At your orders. Do you also need me to monitor communications?" The Ranger replied
"No need, I already have D division on electronic monitoring duty." The knight replied
"What about physical communication, mam?" Satara asked
" Foxtrot and gamma platoons are on surveillance duty, between sixty watchers I am sure no problems will occur." The knight answered.
Penderak was stunned on hearing of the numbers of people involved, realising that there was no way to warn her friends of the shit show heading their way. Wryly she thought that luckily she was not involved in the skimming of funds or the other crimes that will come up, though knowing of them will not save her as willfull ignorance will not save her from dismissal, though being sent to a penal colony was hopefully of the Knight left the office, the woman identified as miss Satara stepped forward a data terminal in her hand. Her tail whipped back and forth behind her as she gave a friendly smile. However her luminescent green eyes did not show any friendliness, Penderak thought she detected more than a hint of sadism in it, fitting for a revenue agent
"Nya, shall we get to work?" Satara stated
Toprawa salvage and repair yards
The room was filled with the noise of workers getting ready to start a project, the usual banter, insults and dirty jokes going back and forth. A hologram sprung to life in front of the room
"Settle down you dirty apes. And Kolcuck that includes you too." The project foreman spoke
The Simian pointed a talon at himself an innocent look on his face.
"I showered this morning." He protested
"Sticking your head into the shower room does not count." A voice called from the back
"Especially since it was the female shower room, you pervert." A female voice heckled
The simian shrugged his shoulders
"How else can I know which room is which, your human signs are so confusing." He blandly stated
Good natured chuckling rippled through the room as the work force settled down for the project briefing. The project foreman took a step forward and pointed to the hologram of a medium cruiser.
"Pay attention all you degenerates, this the Hart Of Alterra, and it is our job to tear her apart. Alpha team will see to it that the fuel tanks and coaxiam tanks are fully drained and for love of the galaxy do not mix the lines." She stated
"Just how stupid do you think we are?" A worker called out
"Since you are from Corellia, Benar. I will send you the pictures later, now shush, those with brains are talking." The foreman replied "Next our demolitions crew will sweep the ship to check for any ordinance left behind, and no, you can not keep it if you find any…"
The door to the room opened and the executive manager entered the room, a robed figure following behind him. The silence was near immediate. The manager took to the front of the podium
"Sorry to interrupt, but this work order is being put on hold." He started.
Their was a shocked silence before an angry mutter started up. The robed figure walked to the podium.
"If I may address the workers, I believe an explanation is required." She stated
The manager stepped away and the robed figure took his place.
"Good afternoon to you all. First of my apologies for interrupting your work. Secondly I know a lot of you are employed on a contract basis, let me assure you that the delay will not affect you in any way."
"How can we know that?" Kolcuk asked
"Payment for five days work has been made to the company, think of the five days as paid time off. Technically eight days as it falls over a weekend and Liberation day," She spoke
All eyes swung to the executive manager, who nodded
"Knight Zhare has released the funds to us already and it will be transferred to your weekly wages shortly. So you can all leave for the day or report for overtime on one of the other salvage projects." He said
There was a ragged cheer from the group who got up and headed to the door. The knight nodded to the foreman and manager and made her way out from the room. The foreman turned the manager once the door closed
"Dad, what is going on? Why the delay?" She asked
"Seems that some Jedi assigned to the ship left something behind that the Jedi do not want to be discovered by work crews." He answered
"So why does she not just go in and get it?" She continued
"Apparently it is hidden and she needs to search for it. She will have her people go on board and start to sweep the common areas for it."
"Great, so we have unauthorised personell in a wrecking yard poking about for some Jedi's porn stash." She snorted
The manager chuckled at that
"Not that it actually cost us anything, we have already been paid for the salvage in full, so five days is not going to cost us anything especially since we were more or less bought off to look the other way for a few days."
He stopped chuckling
"The thing is she did not even comment on the price I quoted. Somehow I get the feeling it is more than just vintage copies of Senators gone wild that she is looking for."
"So we are posting extra security to keep our curious crews back?" She asked
"Already in place, though with the bonus she paid for keeping everyone of the ship most will be too drunk to care." He shrugged
Alterran department of transportation.
The department division head groaned as he received a message from the orphanage administration office. He and the other drivers assigned to the move were in no way happy in being the ones to move a bunch of kids from the only place they knew to go and dump them outside of the city. In his and the others opinion it was beyond cruel. With a sigh he opened the message. Reading it he walked out the maintenance bay where the crews were servicing the department of corrections prisoner transports they had been allocated for the movement another thing that rubbed them the wrong way. Toggling the intercom system, a harsh bleat came from it drawing attention to where he was standing. Tapping the microphone and hearing the echo before speaking
"Sorry to disturb you all, the orphanage move has been deferred till Liberation day." He informed his staff
"So we get to screw the kids over on a public holiday, are they also throwing street parties for the locals to watch the kids getting evicted?" A voice called back
Normally this would be grounds for a disciplinary action against whoever spoke. The division head just shrugged it off, fully agreeing with the statement.
"Stow the chatter, this sucks I know it, you know it. But there is nothing we can do about it except quit in protest and get blacklisted for your efforts. I don't know about you, but I can not afford to quit now. So let us make the best of a shitty situation and ensure the kids have at least a decent ride to where they are being dumped."
He clicked of the intercom and went back to his office and took a hard look at the picture of his family standing on his desk. With a sigh he sat down and sent a message back that the new movement orders have been acknowledged.
Stepping out of the building Bonita looked around before spotting a landspeeder standing in a reserved parking spot with a robed figure patiently sitting in it. Two patrol officers on swoop bikes kept shooting glares at it while a third was furiously talking to a driver of a luxury landspeeder and gesticulating at the landspeeder blocking the parking. Looking at Sukura she noticed the droop of her ears and tail.
"We are almost done, Tippy Ears. Just a few more minutes."
She walked to the landspeeder and got to attention and saluted before opening the back door for Sukura and climbing in herself. Melissa pulled away from parking spot and the luxury landspeeder moved rapidly into place, only to collide with a taxi speeder taking a chance on an open spot
Feeling Sukura's turmoil had Melissa pulling over in the first open spot she saw. She twisted in the seat and turned to the catgirl.
"How bad was it for you in there?" She asked
Sukura played with her tail before answering
"I did not expect it to be so impersonal. Not enough money for food for the kittens, just buy cheaper. Kittens go missing just write a report and close the file. Kittens get abused by foster families, just throw them back to the orphanage." Sukura stated
"I am sorry you had to go through that." Melissa answered softly
"From the way you and Bonita talked about the places I did not think it would be so bad, if anything you underplayed how bad it was."
Melissa reached over and took Sukura's hands while Bonita pulled her into a hug
"I guess it is just human nature to downplay the bad things, somehow we think by doing that it makes it easier to forget the worst." Bonita stated.
"I know it is scant reassurance now, but when we release the files those responsible will have no place to hide and you will have made it possible." Melissa added
Sukura's expression firmed on that
"Then let us get this data to the real accountants to sift through." She said
Looking around Melissa spotted a restaurant
"First dinner though. Got to have energy to finish up what we started."
They climbed from the landspeeder and walked to the restaurant. Melissa flicked the cowl of her robe back.
"I remember this place, I spent half of my first cadet paycheque here." She said, with a soft smile on her face
"The food was that good?" Sukura asked
"It was not orphanage or academy food so of course it was magnificient." Melissa replied
"I would have thought new clothing would have been the thing you went for, I know I blew my first salary on that." Bonita said
"That was the other half." Melissa admitted
Stepping into the retuarant they noticed no staff present and a man and a woman placing chairs on top of the tables. They stopped as they noticed the trio. The woman turned to the man
"Fire up the grill one last time?" She asked
"Sure why not." He answered
The woman pointed them to a table.
"If you are closing we can go somewhere else." Melissa said
"It is no problem, in fact it is fitting that our last customers will be from the orphanage I came from." She replied
"How did you know?" Bonita asked
The woman gave a smirk
"My group started the sister network, so yes I know who you are. I am now part of the senior network." She said
"Also known as the old mynocks." The man called from the kitchen
"I will show you an old mynock." She called back
"Promises, promises." He returned
Melissa gave a cough to bring the woman's attention back
"You closing down?" She asked
"Yes, we are. Being pushed out by a group taking over the building, so we decided to close down a few days earlier than planned and join the girls and boys when the sit in starts. Though I hear that is being delayed?"
"A new plan is in motion." Bonita confirmed
"Got a place for an unemployed restaurant manager and short order cook with your plan?" She asked
Melissa gave her a thoughtful look before Bonita tapped her arm an enquiring look on her face
"I can offer you both a job on Arkaxia if you are interested as well as use your help with the plan. After all a well fed army fights better." Melissa stated
Bonita wrote an address on a piece of flimsy and passed it over.
"Really think about it and if you are interested we have a large meeting at this address tomorrow."
The door chime kept screeching as whoever was operating it kept the call button depressed.
" Stop pressing the button, you dumb kriffer." The man approaching the door muttered
Reaching the contact plate by the door he slammed it open angrily
"What do you want?" He snarled
"Is this how you greet the public?" A robed female asked him
"What is it to you?" He snapped
"Take me to your supervisor." She said
"I will take you to my supervisor." He blandly stated, all anger suddenly gone.
The robed figure was followed by two women dressed in Alterran Ranger armour, the one dressed in light armour paused for a moment to pull at the pant section of the armour as if something was irritating her. They followed the man down the dingy grey passage to a door at the far end of the corridor. They passed a group of girls busy cleaning the floor. As they passed the first one she started whistling as she worked, the others picking up the tune the further they walked. The man spun around
"Stop that racket!" He screamed at them
"Keep moving, you have nothing more to say to them." The robed figure calmly stated.
Reaching the door the man pressed the chime set by the door.
"Go to your room and go to sleep, you are not to leave your room till the morning." The robed figure spoke
The man shambled away passing the still whistling girls without comment and entered a room. The door closed behind him. The trio waited for several minutes without the door opening. The robed figure made a motion with her hand and the door opened. The door remained open, smoke drifting from inside the door and sparking slightly. She moved into the room. A corpulent bronze skinned man was trying to get out of a lounging chair, he found himself slammed back into it and the back dropping without the controls being used. He tired to sit up against the pressure on him and failed to do so.
"I believe you are supposed to answer all communications within two minutes of receiving them, or did I misread the standard operating procedures stated in your department guidelines." The robed figure spoke
"Who are you?" He stated grunting in effort
"If you had bothered to read the missive from your department head you would not be asking that question, but you probably just opened and closed the message. Is that not correct, mister Idars" The figure continued to speak as if she had not been interrupted
The pressure released and he finally managed to sit upright. The figure pointed to his workstation
"I suggest you actually read your instructions."
Idars got from his chair and ambled over to the workstation. Keeping his back to them he typed in his access code. His back stiffened as he read the last message received from the department head. He spun around, face glistening with sweat as he took in the trio. The robed figure was negligently leaning against the wall, the two Rangers looked ready to engage in combat.
"Gather your staff in the meal room, I am only going to say what needs to be said once, you have two minutes." The robed figure pushed of the wall and exited the room.
A group of fifteen entered the room to see a figure standing by the lectern, the other two figures were seated in the corners of the room, blasters held in their hands on their knees. Their position gave them control of the entire room. The figure at the lectern was seemingly studying the pile of mattresses stuffed in the far corners of the rooms with two piles of luggage cases
"Mister Idars, you seem to be missing two staff members." The figure at the lectern spoke, without looking at the man
"Mister Stevens is not answering his coms and Mister Parkinson is returning from a visit with his family." Idars answered, wiping his face
"Then why do I sense the two individuals on the premises?" She responded
Idars rushed from the room, he came back in moments with another man. Idars now visibly trembling, sweat stains forming on his shirt. The second man pushed towards the podium
"I don't know who you think you are, but once I contact my family…" He started
He stopped mid stride clawing at his neck, slowly starting to turn blue. The figure at the podium held a clawed hand out. Then a flick of the hand was given and he flew back to impact the wall with a loud thud.
"Idars where is the second man?" She asked
"I cannot wake him up. I tried everything" Idars hastily stated.
The figure pointed to the chairs
"Take a seat, both of you. You will fill your man in when he wakes." She stated
The two men took a seat and the figure studied the group in front of her. After a few moments the group started to shift as the figure stared at them, not being able to see her face somehow more intimidating than expected. She stepped away from the lectern and crossed her arms across her chest, hands deep within her robe sleeves
"I will speak and you will listen. Idars is the only one I will allow to post questions. Is this understood?" She stated, no visible emotion in her voice
They nodded in acceptance, not daring to speak.
" My name is Roberta Marsden, Jedi knight.I have been sent here by the Jedi council of Assignment to investigate claims of abuse of residents, misappropriation of funding and various allegations in the orphanage system." She stated
She started walking around the room
"Now you might ask how come Coruscant is getting involved in Alterran affairs. Several months ago a former resident was arrested on Dantooine, but not before she spoke to the press about conditions here and in your system. Now normally that would not raise that much attention, as deplorable as it is. However this person survived the battle above Taris and escaped the bombing of said planet, that alone made her a person of particular interest."
"If she was arrested, why is she given so much credence?" The flung man interrupted
He stopped as he felt a phantom hand on his throat again
"I reiterate only one person is allowed to ask questions." She calmly stated
He frantically nodded and the pressure disappeared. She proceeded with her walk
"The crime she was arrested for was for fraudulent enlistment, the thing was she was three years underage. As freedom of the press is guaranteed by the Republic we could not stop the story from spreading, as you can imagine a war hero being arrested and discharged for a minor infraction caused a feeding frenzy in the sector of the press who opposes the Senate on principle or by the orders of their backers. As you should be aware we are currently locked in a war with the Sith. Normally the allegations would be send to your government for investigation, but we cannot afford more negative press so the council decided to intervene."
She stopped her pacing as she reached the podium
"That brings us to the here and now. My instructions are to clean out the rot in this system. I do not care who you are related to, I can not be bought off. I suggest if you are guilty of any misconduct that you start writing your confessions, if you try to run you will be hunted down without mercy. As of now you will have no interaction with your charges, everyone here is under lockdown both you and the residents. All communications will be intercepted and studied."
She pointed to the two Rangers
"I have been given full access to the Rangers to help me with my tasks to complete it to the satisfaction of the council. So yes, I can do all is said here as your head of department has already discovered. You will ensure that the residents have access to food and all the utilities during this period. That is all, you are dismissed."
She walked to the door and the Rangers fell into step with her. At the door she paused and turned
"Before I forget, if you try to physically harm any of the girls I will know and I will be here to show the pieces to the police in minutes." She stated
"What do you mean, show the pieces?" Idars asked
"Ask yourself what is missing from my side and you will know the answer." She answered.
Idars looked at his staff in confusion, one of the women in a cooks uniform slowly lifted her hand. Marsden nodded to the woman, giving permission to speak
"You do not have a student with you." She stated
"The term is padawan, and yes, she has been here for weeks now already. Did you think setting up an operation like this can be set in motion in a matter of a few hours?" Her voice was harshly amused, "Now I need to have a word with my padawan and you all need to return to your quarters."
With that she strode from the room, the soldiers following on her heels, leaving a shell shocked group in the dining hall as she ascended the stairs to the residents level.
It was a very diverse group of all ages and genders that gathered in the warehouse in the Toprawa industrial area. A series of chairs had been set up, but very few were seated. Most gathered in groups and chatted as they waited for the meeting to start. Despite the almost genial appearance of the groups there was a grim and resolute undertone in the air. There was bang as drum dropped to the ground. A trio was approaching from the far side of the warehouse.
"Take a seat we are about to start." A woman called out.
There was a general scuffle as the people moved to the chairs and sat down. One of the trio gave a jump and landed on a pallet held in the air by a forklift parked in front of the chairs.
"Show off." One of her companions shouted
"You are just jealous." The woman called back
There was a light round of chuckles at the exchange before silence settled on the large group. The figure waited a moment before she sat down on the pallet and looked at the group, her companions joining the general seating
"Good morning." She called out
There was general murmer as an answer, some more vocal than others. The seated woman flicked the cowl of her robe back, revealing a young face and red hair. She studied the group before her.
"First of thank you all for taking the time to be here, but before we start we have a security issue to clear first. Will the four police informants please vacate their seats and leave the area." She stated
The group looked around at each other at that, many faces expressing confusion and shock, an angry mutter started up. The girl on the pallet idly looked at her nails before addressing the group again.
"You can stand up and leave by yourself or I can pull you out of your seats one by one, this is your last chance."
Three people rapidly stood up and power walked from the warehouse not looking back at the people shouting insults at them. The girl sighed and and made a lifting movement with her hand and another woman rose in the air struggling ineffectively. She was moved above the heads of the sitting figures and put down by the door. She spat on the ground before she rushed from the warehouse. The four made it to the gate before a black delivery vehicle stopped by them and the side door opened. They looked at the rifles being pointed at them by four black clad figures in shock. One made a motion with one hand for them to get in, as they hesistated four blue pulses erupted from the weapons. The four shooters lowered their weapons and stepped from the vehicle. The four stunned informers were quickly loaded and the vehicle moved off.
In a warehouse not far from there, technicians were scurrying around to set up surveillance equiptment. No one paid attention as the main doors was opened by two black clad people and a black vehicle entered the warehouse. A loud whistle drew their attention as an elderly man surrounded by black clad figures strode into their midst
"Who is in charge here?" The man called out
A senior detective strode forward
"I am." She stated
"You were in charge, this is now under the purview of the Alterran Secret Service." The man stated handing her a datapad
"What is ASS's interest in this? This is purely a meeting of subversive civilians preparing for an illegal demonstration." She stated
"Above your paygrade. All of you are to leave all notes and recordings where they are, a transport will take you back to your precincts after you signed the necessary non disclosure agreements. Oh and feel three to take your informants with you when you sign your forms."
Another two vehicle pulled in, disgorging helmeted figures dressed in white who took over the set up equipment or set up tables and chairs laying out tablets on the tables and adding number tags to the tables. One lifted an arm once they were ready. The older man nodded in acknowledgement
"Detective let us start with you, the technician at table one will start your interview and help you with the non disclosure agreements."
One of the black clad operatives stepped forward.
"Sir, I believe I have a meeting to attend."
The man looked at the operative
"You can still step away from this assignment, no one will hold it against you if you do." He stated
"And miss the chance to take a long paid vacation, I think not, Sir."
"Good luck then. See you on the other end."
"Thank you, sir."
The muttering and noise in the warehouse stopped as the door closed behind the last of the four and the girl clapped her hands to draw their attention.
"Now that the rats are gone we have to deal with the press that infiltrated." She said, pointing to a row of chairs set up to the side
"You can take a seat over there, if you don't mind."
Three people moved to the chairs and sat down. Three bolts of blue light suddenly flashed from her hand and the three shuddered in their chairs, looking flushed.
"That should take care of any recording devices and cameras smuggled in, you can thank me later." The girl said with a grin.
She dropped from where she was seated and stood before the group in front of her.
"My name is Melissa. As you can see I am Force sensitive, more importantly I once was a resident of house two seventeen. And I am here because the kids in all the houses our groups represent is in dire need of our help."