Chapter III – Down to Taris

Once in my quarters I took all of the items out of the box and spread them out on my desk. I found the videos and had Pez put one up on the large screen above my desk. The images were of the stealth droid accessing the ruins. I put it on double speed and watched as the tiny machine worked its way through the terrain. As the video played, I began to sort through the other information.

Hours passed as I studied on my holo-pad and watched the videos that Pez played. Elios had done a surprisingly good job of collecting and organizing a wide range of details. He documented terrain, the Jedi enclave floor plan, personnel details, security protocols, and even a schedule of activities. The complete database of enclave personnel, equipment, budgets, and other miscellaneous details had been downloaded from the Jedi computers. I played all the videos as I filtered through the information. The droid that went into the ruins and collected the sample sat and recorded the surroundings for several days with nothing unusual observed.

A second stealth droid sat near the entrance to the Jedi enclave and recorded a view directed toward the cordoned-off ruins. Watching that video, I could make out the pattern of personnel activity and the route that the sentry droids took on their patrols. A third stealth droid actually moved through the Jedi enclave, stopping to take long recordings of events like padawan training in the main room, sleeping routines in the living area, and work activities in the warehouse and office space. That droid was destroyed by someone who thought it to be a bug and stepped on it.

Finally, I got to the portion of data relating to the Sith ghost. The first encounter occurred during exploration of the site when the Jedi were setting up the enclave. Several padawans were exploring the ruins and complained about a sense of fear and foreboding. The area was investigated by a Jedi master, who agreed that there seemed to be a dark Force aura in the ruins. After that report, no other events were recorded until a year later when a padawan named Ashara Zavros entered the ruins and claimed that she had encountered a Sith ghost.

For several weeks after her encounter, the Jedi enclave experienced a series of strange events, people being woken in fear or surprise, sightings of a red glow drifting down hallways, and noises with no source. A Master Ocera went back into the ruins with the padawan and encountered what he called a dark Force anomaly. The padawan reported that she and her master were attacked by the Sith ghost of her ancestor Kalatosh Zavros. The master's report was vaguer, apparently because elements within the Jedi Order rejected the notion of the supernatural.

There were inquiries by the Jedi Master about Kalatosh Zavros, some of which accessed Imperial assets. I presumed this might have been how Darth Zash became aware of the Taris ghost. Lord Zavros was indeed the padawan's ancestor. He was a Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side with Darth Revan and was on Taris when the fateful bombardment took place. The Jedi records end with a statement about the padawan having an anxiety attack and imagining the Force ghost; apparently, a way to explain away what had happened.

I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the running the spy video, which was showing a nighttime image of the Jedi training room. So, the Jedi did not believe in the supernatural, and were downplaying the experiences of the padawan and her master. I had not taken much time to ponder my own experiences, but it was impossible to ignore the ghosts in my head. Could it be that I was imagining everything? That seemed unfeasible. My own ancestor, Lord Kallig, had tried to kill me in the Dark Temple, as did Darth Andru in his tomb. Those experiences were far too intense and painful to have been in my mind.

As I was thinking, the holo-pad's screen changed and I realized it was set to a slow scroll. The information displayed on the screen was a detailed report on the padawan Ashara, written by Elios. He had collected her Jedi database files and inserted them in his report. She had been raised in the Jedi Order by her parents, who were both Jedi knights. After her parents died in the siege of Coruscant, she was adopted by two Jedi Masters, Ryen and Ocera, who continued to train her in the ways of the Force.

The report was highly detailed, and I couldn't help feeling a little creeped out by the thought of Elios stalking the girl. He had videos of her sleeping and training, detailed reports about her habits and life patterns within the enclave, even a table of her training grades showing strengths and weaknesses. Some things seemed relevant, like the fact that she took walks often, or that she was struggling with the limitations that the Jedi placed on the use of the Force. Her evaluations included notes about being petulant and a little aggressive in her sparring. Other information seemed obsessive, like sleep habits and her wardrobe, or the list of friends by closeness and the possible romantic tryst with a fellow padawan.

The end of the report concluded that the padawan was the key to determining the truth about the Sith ghost. She was the only one who felt confident that it was indeed a ghost, and was the only one to whom it appeared. Elios proposed that this was due to the fact that she was related to the ghost. I wasn't so sure. Based on my own experience, it seemed like ghosts would appear to anyone who entered their haunt.

It was getting late and I needed to get some sleep, so I briefly scanned the rest of Elios' report. He had maps of the area around the Jedi enclave, the location of the Crater Command Base and its proximity to the Jedi, some basic insight into Commander Pillus and the capabilities of his forces, and finally some facts about the overall Republic and Imperial assets on Taris. While I prepared for bed I went through my plan for tomorrow. I would stop by the commander's office and get permission to drop to the surface of Taris, then I would pass by Elios' office and let him know how I would help him, which I hadn't figured out yet, and then leave the station for the surface.

I needed to sleep, so I told Pez to mount on his charging station and shut down, not liking the notion of the droid's red-eye watching me while I slept. As I crawled into bed and tried to force myself to sleep, it became hard to shut out the information I had gone over or the anticipation of what lay ahead. I was excited about the adventure, but I was worried about Force-walking and absorbing another ghost. I had some side effects from the last time, weakness and confusion mostly, which took a while to get over. Then there was the constant effort to keep the ghosts out of my thoughts. Despite my need for sleep, it took a long time to drift off.

Strange dreams disturbed my sleep. A memory of Darth Andru pushed its way into my dream, one where he fought a Chiss Force-user and almost died. The dream shifted to the planet Taris before it was destroyed, and then I found myself wandering through the ruins of the planet. Images of the Togruta ghost rose up to attack me as the planet was being bombarded and, in my dream, I ran in terror. We fought with our light-sabers, and he struck me down. Falling off the crumbled remains of dura-crete, I fell . . .

I burst awake, a twisted, sweaty mess in my sheets; my heart racing. The holo-com was chiming in irritation and a look at the clock informed me that I had overslept. I hit the com button to shut it up, and a recording of Andronikos appeared in the holo. "I've got some news on your requisition request," he stated in his monotonous voice, "wasn't sure if you were getting up any time soon. I'll be in the Conference Room."

I decided to call Andronikos, but made sure only the audio was on. "Hey," I replied when he answered, "I stayed up late reviewing the intel on the ghost. What have you come up with?"

"I pulled some strings and called in a favor, turns out Dregga knows a salvage outfit that has a support cutter. I can't find any materials for the reactor; it's military-grade and they keep tight control over the parts, but the cutter has an auxiliary generator that can tie into the station's grid and make up the power they need. The ship also has a hold large enough to bring in the other supplies. However, the salvage outfit has a dubious past and wants a no questions asked guarantee. Even then they may not agree to the deal, and it's going to cost a ton of credits."

"It sounds workable, give me a minute to freshen up and I'll be in."

"Time is ticking away, boss," Andronikos said pointedly, "we could be caught with our airlocks open any minute now."

"I know that," I snapped back. "Zash's contact is monitoring the incoming news and he has not called in a warning yet; we still have time." I hung up and hopped out of bed.

I pressed a few buttons on the wall to activate the bath facilities. Panels opened up and shifted in order to display a mirror, wash equipment, and a toilet. Taking a shower was quick and easy with a hand-held head that sprayed a fine, high-pressured water stream which evaporated before it hit the floor due to infrared projectors and dried air blown out of several vents. I sprayed aerosol shampoo into my hair and then washed it down, wringing it out and fluffing it near the dryer to remove the water. By the time I put on clothes, my hair was almost dry.

I looked in the mirror to make sure I was presentable, having chosen a long sleeve shirt and long skirt black synth-weave outfit with leather gloves and boots. I was not a fan of gloves, so stuffed them into my bag instead of putting them on. The outfit was a little tight-fitting, but I liked that it accented my athletic figure. The material was light and breathable, so I was not worried about being too hot or having restricted movement. I liked skirts, mostly because I always wore them. My master didn't like his slave girls looking like boys, so he refused to let us wear pants. My hair was acting a little bushy, so I pulled it into a ponytail.

"Pez, wake up," I ordered. The droid came to life and hovered off his charging stand with a soft bleep. "Keep quiet and follow me." I grabbed my black cloak and satchel before I headed toward the conference room.

Andronikos was sitting at the head of the table with numerous monitors on. He seemed to be speaking harshly with someone when I walked up. "No, that's not going to work. Listen, I'll call you back in a minute. Don't do anything until you hear from me."

"Problems with the requisition plan?" I asked when he cut the com.

"No," he looked at me a little awkwardly, "it's personal."

"Personal?" I asked in surprise. I glanced at the monitors and noticed economic reports from Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa, and Ziost on some of the screens. There was an Imperial news stream on another.

"Yeah," he countered defensively, "I have a life, you know."

"Okay," I replied, "anything I can help with?"

"I don't think so." He paused and seemed to consider me for a moment. "It turns out an acquaintance seems to believe she found the Sky Princess."

"I thought your crew claimed it was destroyed."

"Yeah, well it might be, or it was another lie the bastards spread to cover themselves. Anyway, I was going to look into it, see if the rumor was real."

"Sounds reasonable. What about the salvage ship, are they going to agree to terms?"

"I doubt it, the owner said half his crew won't get three light-years from an Imperial station."

"I need that ship," I stated flatly, "I'm about to ask the station commander for a favor and I need to have something to bargain with." Andronikos shrugged his shoulders. It didn't feel like he was very invested in the idea. "The ship can operate without a full crew. It only needs to get here and dock, right?"

"I don't know if he will let it fly without a full complement, and you still need a captain . . ."

"I think you can sell this plan to them," I interrupted, "what's stopping you?"

He gave me an unsure look for a moment. "Look, I get what you are trying to do, and I think it's a good idea, but you really have no control over any outcomes here, and these are my friends. I've spent the last five years building a report with these guys. Things can go south fifty different ways, and if they do, I'm going to get the blame. My reputation is all I've got left."

"Just be honest with them," I countered. "I'm sure we are paying a lot for their services. They should understand the risks. You can blame me if you want to, I've got no reputation to lose." He stared back at me skeptically. "Are we okay, here? Because it seems like you are holding back."

"We're way out on a limb, boss," he complained, "and things don't look good. I don't like being docked to a military station that can lock us down at a moment's notice, and we have no idea how long your anonymity will last before Thanaton's hammer falls. I wanna bug out of here and you're trying to get me to bring in my friends."

"Now you're starting to sound like Zash's intel agent."

"Well, maybe he's got a point."

I looked into Andronikos' eyes and saw a lot of doubt. It frustrated me. "I'm in this and I have to see it finished. Are you with me?"

"Maybe we should leave the sector and find a different ghost?"

"There is no other ghost!" I snapped before I could control my emotions. I took a breath to try to calm down. "Look, I don't like this either, but this is my only lead, and I'm going to pursue it. I need you, Captain, now is not the time to bail on me."

He continued to eye me. "Okay, I'll see what I can do, but you understand my position on this. The sooner we can get away from this close scrutiny the better."

"I agree with you on that. We are already behind my timeline. I plan on being back to the ship within the hour and I want to get down to the planet."

"I'll be ready," he replied.

I headed for the station to talk to the commander, Pez whooshing softly along behind me. My emotions were high from the interaction with Andronikos. We had been together for almost six months, but had mostly stuck to surface-level conversations. Neither of us were the clingy type, and he seemed to like his space, so I mostly left him alone. This was the first time that I felt he was questioning my authority, and I didn't like it, though the more I cooled down the more I understood his position. If the situation was reversed, I would likely have strong reservations too.

The station commander had a small, spartan office with an ensign sitting at a desk outside the door. He took my name and then disappeared into the commander's office. Moments later he returned and showed me in.

"Lord Kallig," The commander said as she stood up from her desk, "I hope your encounter with Elios went satisfactorily."

"He gave me what I needed," I replied. "I would like to go to the surface. I have to follow up with some of the information that he provided me."

"I've got fleet orders to limit surface access to military personnel only," she replied flatly.

"I believe I fall under that category."

She gave me a sharp look. "I'm not sure my superiors would agree. Where will you be going on the surface?"

"I'm not used to divulging Sith business, Commander."

"I understand," she sighed, "and I'm not trying to be difficult, but I am responsible, and will be held accountable if something happens."

"Nothing is going to happen," I replied confidently, "my mission is intelligence only, and I don't intend to have any contact on the surface."

She gave me a look of frustration. "I don't know . . ."

"I think I might have solved your requisition problem," I interrupted before she could make a decision. "I've got my captain working on it. It seems like we can get you a substantial portion of your request in a few days."

"Really?" she asked hopefully yet with a tinge of surprise.

"It may not come from military channels," I added, "we are looking at contractor support. It turns out most of the fleet resources are out on missions, which is why your requisition floundered."

"It will be above board, right?"

"Yes, but through Sith procurement, so we will have to work out reimbursement later. I will have Captain Andronikos contact you when arrangements are finalized."

"Okay, well, if it works out that would be a relief." She stepped back to her chair and sat down. "I won't stop you from heading to the surface," the commander added after a moment, "but I'm not putting in official permission either. You said that you wanted your mission to be Sith business, so that is how I will handle it if questioned."

"It works for me. Thank you, Commander. I will be leaving shortly."

"You can thank me for doing what you said, keeping a low profile, and not letting anything happen."

I turned and walked toward the door but stopped before I left. "It sounds like the captain is piecing together a hodgepodge of vessels to fill your requisition. I wouldn't expect them to meet military muster."

"I've dealt with contractors before," she nodded.

"Well, giving them some latitude would probably help."

"Take care," she replied before I turned and left.

Having gotten what I needed, permission to head down to the surface, my mind was speeding forward through the events ahead when Elios waved across the main concourse to get my attention. I had half a mind to keep walking and ignore him.

"Lord Kallig," he said as he walked briskly toward me on an intercept course, "you weren't planning on leaving before saying goodbye, were you?"

"Bee-whoop," Pez complained softly behind me as Elios caught up to us.

"What is it?" I snapped.

"What kind of greeting is that?" he countered. "I thought we had established a friendship after last night, or at least a working relationship."

"Elios, I'm really pressed for time . . ."

"I know, you were supposed to be working out a plan for helping me, hopefully, you didn't forget that important task."

"I didn't forget," I lied, "it's just complicated."

"Not as complicated as coming back from the dead, I presume." He stepped past me to subtly block the way to my ship. "Listen, I think you need my help."

"Oh really, and what do you think I need help with?"

"You're all dressed up in your dark, covert Sith outfit, which looks pretty sharp by the way, and you're hurrying back to your ship from a meeting with the station commander. It doesn't take a hyperspace jump computer to figure out you're headed planet-side."

"Elios," I sighed, "you did a great job with your report. It was very thorough and provided me with all the information that I need. I appreciate your effort, and I won't forget that I owe you one, but I work alone."

"In this case, I think it unwise. I've been to the surface and spent time in the forward area. I know the Jedi enclave better than anyone in the Empire, and I have training in intelligence missions. You need a reconnaissance asset to provide outside monitoring and extraction assistance - it's standard intelligence protocol."

"No."

He looked dejected. "No?" he sputtered.

"I need to do this as covert as possible. The less I expose others to my actions, the less Thanaton has to understand my plans and the less he can liquidate for helping me."

"That doesn't help me though, does it?"

"I told you I owed you, I won't forget."

"It's just that Sith are not known for keeping their word," he stated flatly.

"Look, I think you have the right idea. Head back to Watcher Three and pretend like you never met me. I hope to be on the surface for less than a day, if you can wait that long I should be able to provide you some additional compensation for your help."

"So just hang out here, exposed and waiting for a call? You really like to keep control in relationships."

"This is not a relationship," I stated flatly.

"You've got that stubborn look on your face," he continued, "so I'm not going to be able to change your foolish plans, am I?"

"I'm leaving, Elios." I went to move around his thin frame.

"In that case," he put a warding hand up, pulling it back before it touched me, "let me at least contact Commander Pillus and let him know you are coming, he doesn't like surprises."

"No, absolutely no contact with the surface."

He gave me a frown, "Okay, but don't be surprised when he greets you harshly. Here," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device, "this should come in handy."

He placed the black device in my palm. "What is it?" I asked.

"It's an EMP disruptor, very short range, and has a five-second pulse, but it should deactivate electronic devices such as cameras and sensors in a ten-meter radius. You activate it by pressing the small button on the side. I wouldn't expect it to disrupt droids or turrets, but it should get you through a standard sensor perimeter. It needs time to recover, five minutes should do, just don't expect an instant replay."

"Thank you," I replied, surprised by his sudden generosity.

"Don't forget me, Sith," he sighed, "I've got a life I want to live."

"Thanaton's not going to kill you, Elios. If all goes well, he won't even know I've been here." He gave me a look that did not seem convinced. "I'll be in touch."

He reluctantly stepped aside and let me pass. I did not look back, and my pace accelerated as I approached the airlock to my ship. It was nice to finally have the preliminaries out of the way, and I was ready to get on with the mission. Back at the ship, I greeted Andronikos who was already preparing to depart, and then went into my room to gather my things.

It took us twenty minutes to drop to the planet's surface at the insertion point I had chosen, which was an unfortunately long hike away from the Crater Command Base forward area. Elios had warned me that air traffic was being shot at in the contested area, and I did not want the Intrepid to be damaged. As we made our approach, Andronikos gave me a glance.

"Are you sure about this? There's nothing here but brush and rubble."

"This will work," I replied as I looked out the front window, "I know where the base is."

"What about the dashade?" Andronikos asked while giving me a stern look. "I still think he should go with you for back-up."

"There's nothing covert about the Khem," I countered, "I told you I want to do this quietly."

"Well, for the record, I think that's a mistake. This whole mission feels really reckless if you ask me."

"Well, I didn't ask," I countered in frustration, "and I don't see any alternatives." We stared each other down for a moment.

"Beep-duooh," Pez worried at the tension between us. I quieted him with a sharp glance.

"How do I pick you up, and what do you want me to do in the meantime?"

"I haven't sorted out all those details," I said thoughtfully. "I'm going to wait for nightfall and then move in. If all goes well, I should be out and ready for pick up before morning. It will be hard to get back to this point in the dark, so we will have to risk a closer extraction. I will contact you when I'm ready and give you coordinates."

"And what if things don't go as planned? Because they never do."

"Then we improvise."

"That's bad, because I've never been good at improvisation," Andronikos mumbled dryly.

"Put the ship in a high orbit and wait. If you don't hear from me after a day or two then move the ship somewhere safe. If plans change and I need help, I'll call."

"Okay," he grumbled, "take care.

"Goodbye, Captain, I will be in contact soon."

With that, I went to my room and grabbed the satchel I had prepared, and then headed to the airlock, Pez hissing to keep up with me. The doors swept open, outside air blew over me, and the bright morning sun made me narrow my eyes as they adjusted. I walked down the ramp and several paces away from the ship before signaling with my com that I was clear. Slowly, with engines whining, the Intrepid lifted off its heavy landing struts and defied gravity to lift vertically into the sky.

"Duooh," Pez sighed softly as he watched the ship fly away.

"Stop whining," I replied, "We'll see them again."

I watched the ship longer than I needed to, until it was a gleaming spec moving rapidly upward into the Taris sky. A brief sense of melancholy drifted over me as the Intrepid finally winked out of sight, as if I had been abandoned, and looking over at the spherical personal droid I got the sense it felt the same. I shook the feeling off and turned my attention to the surroundings.

Taris was a wrecked world, and its marred and twisted presence echoed into my Force perceptions. The sights and smells of the broken world made it difficult to focus on anything else. There were hints of beauty amongst the destruction, colorful flowers trying to live within the wreckage, and birds flitting and singing, but the sad history of the world was inescapable.

Hiking through the rubble and overgrown vegetation became cumbersome, and the image of Elios' smug face telling me I would get my pretty boots dirty kept popping up in my mind's eye. I had hoped to approach the Jedi enclave by late morning so that I could spend most of the day observing the defenses, but an hour of progress dispelled me of that hope. I realized that I needed to pick up my pace in order to get there even by mid-afternoon.

I stopped a moment and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. The shade from the sun was helpful, but their real purpose was to double as a heads-up display. With them, I could see video and hear audio through Pez' instruments.

"Go in that direction," I told the droid as I pointed to where I expected the Jedi enclave to be, "and find me the easiest route through the landscape. Stay quiet and don't go more than a hundred yards from me."

With a tweep, the droid buzzed off in the direction I sent it. I watched the video feed as it lofted higher to get a bird's eye view. With Pez scouting ahead, my pace picked up again. Every now and then, the droid would pop up over brush or landscape blocking our line of site to set his bearings on me, and while doing so I noticed that a large bird flew by between us. There was wildlife on Taris, mostly birds and the occasional lizard or small mammal. If there were larger animals then they were keeping their distance from me.

The smells of the planet were strange, twisting from gentle floral or arboreal scents one moment to foul chemical gases or decaying matter the next. Then there were the unnerving groaning noises that echoed through the landscape occasionally, which left me worried about the ground beneath my feet. There was a sad sense of death in the aura of the planet. Something horrific about its past was inescapable.

Progress was steady but aggravating, and I reached the point where frustration was clouding my focus. It was not that I minded physical exertion. I enjoyed athletics and keeping fit, but I detested unnecessary toil, and my hike felt highly unnecessary at the moment. Also, there was a part of me that was keenly aware of the amount of time it was taking to get anything accomplished on Taris, time that I did not have to spare.

I pressed on, and hours later the sun had shifted into its afternoon faze. I was starting to feel hot from my efforts, so I stopped under some shade to eat a quick snack. In that quiet moment, I heard a rumbling boom that was different from the eerie groanings the planet made. A second boom confirmed my initial thought that it was an explosion. Several more rumbles drifted through the sparse trees I was sitting in, and I sensed that someone was exchanging mortar fire not too distant from me.

"Beep-duooh," Pez annunciated in a worried tone as he whooshed up to where I was sitting from his scouting position ahead.

"I heard it," I replied as I scanned the horizon for smoke.

"Chirp-dweep-beep-beep?" Pez followed my gaze with his red eye.

"Yes, someone's shooting at something."

"Beep-duooh," he added as his eye turned to me.

"Stay close," I ordered as I stood up, "I don't want you scouting ahead and getting blown up."

"Tweep," he replied in agreement, taking his normal position behind me.

Cautiously, I moved out in the direction of the combat sounds. Not long afterward the sounds of patrol craft echoed through the sparsely wooded area I was in. We took cover just in time to avoid a Republic recon team sweeping through on speeder bikes. I had to evade several other ground or air sweeps as I sought to get closer to the Republic zone, making me a little more accepting of Elios' recommendation to not fly directly to Crater Command Bunker.

The sounds of combat grew louder as I approached. I could hear the occasional sound of distant blaster fire mixed in with the rumbling artillery booms. The sounds were not indicative of an open battle, but rather a skirmish or probing fire, as if the sides were testing each other's strengths. I grew more cautious as it became apparent that I was nearing no man's land between the opposing forces.

I wondered briefly if I should meet with Commander Pillus. My plan was to bypass the base and head right to the Jedi enclave. I had told the station commander that I would not make any contacts, and I was intent on keeping a low profile. Still, Elios had spoken highly of the commander, and picking his brain for information might cut out a lot of prep work. While I was pondering that option, Imperial blaster bolts shrieked through the air from my left, whizzing close by where I stood, one bursting into a tree in front of me.

Pez let out an electronic cry and I reflexively ducked into cover and waited. Within moments two patrol speeders sped from the trees and encircled me. The Imperial soldiers had their guns trained on me but did not fire. Pez made a clicking sound, and I saw his miniature defensive blaster fold out of the side of his sphere. One of the speeder pilots lifted up his visor. It was clear that he was assessing me and quickly came to the conclusion that I was Sith.

"ID yourself." He stated flatly, easing his grip on his blaster but keeping it trained on me.

Pez shifted back and forth with sharp hisses from his thrusters, trying to appear menacing. "Stop it!" I ordered. "Stand down, Pez. Their friendly." I watched as the droid reluctantly retracted his mini-blaster. I was irritated that in my moment of pondering about Elios and Commander Pillus I had dropped my guard and gotten caught unaware. "Efficient work, Ensign." I replied as I stood, "I am Lord Kallig . . ."

"It's Lieutenant, and what the hell are you doing wandering around in a war zone?"

"I don't answer to you, Lieutenant," I replied sharply, "and stop pointing your guns at me." I lifted my hand out, wanting to force pull the gun out of his hand, but resisted the impulse.

The soldier looked nervously at his companion. "I don't care who you are. You don't just come wandering through my perimeter without authorization." He sounded confident, and I admired that.

"Okay, Lieutenant, you are doing a commendable job. So, what happens now, am I to be summarily shot?"

"Hold a moment," he directed as he opened his com-link. "Sir, I've come in contact with a Sith Lord on the perimeter . . . No sir, I do not recognize the name . . . no ID." I could not hear the lieutenant's superior on the other end, but the gist of the conversation did not appear beneficial to me. "You need to provide a base ID," the lieutenant looked over at me, "this is a restricted zone, my superior said no unauthorized personnel."

I paused a moment to consider if it was worth creating a scene but realized that making enemies with the local imperial assets would only make things worse. "I don't have an ID, Lieutenant, nor do I have written authorization for being here. This is a covert operation directed by intelligence on Dromund Kaas. I am not authorized to divulge anything further. However, I am authorized and quite likely to divulge any lack of cooperation from Imperial resources in the field."

The lieutenant gave me a desperate look and then whispered into his headset. There was an awkward pause as we all stood looking at each other. "I have been directed to escort you to the command bunker," he stated with a look of relief.

"Very well, Lieutenant, lead on."

"You can't have that defense droid active within the base."

I was going to argue with him about Pez, that he was not really a defense droid and his bark was much worse than his bite, but the soldiers were on edge and I did not want to press my luck. Pez was unhappy, but I plucked him out of the air, deactivated him, and slipped him into my satchel.