Chapter 8: The Safe House

"Targo Sei is on F'Hob. I…I think he brought his prisoners there."

Jas smiled, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"We are heading there now."

The hologram shimmered, the signal not as strong as it normally was, or maybe it was just the hyper-comm in his quarters.

His friend and fellow Jedi shifted where he stood, his long green ears rising slightly.

"Excited, you seem, Jas Dar Bynn."

Mondar nodded, even from here, Jas could sense him reaching out through the Force, seeking to aid his friend and ally, or perhaps simply to make sure that Jas was not jumping too fast on this lead.

"Long has this hunt been, for you. Ready to end it, you are?"

The little green Jedi's calm determination served him well here, Jas was excited, almost overly so.

Feeling that, his friend's sense of control, it was a reminder of who he was, and helped him center himself anew.

Jas took a deep breath, and started again, he was calmer this time.

"I'm ready to save the hostages, and make sure that no one threatens them again."

Because that was what this was all about, first and foremost, Val and Vess.

Their safety, and seeing them home safe. It was all that mattered.

It had taken all of his self-control to just slow down and make this call, he had not wanted to wait, but his Jedi training took over. If something went wrong, he wanted to make sure that someone else, beside his crew, knew about this place, so…if they failed…

…there would still be a chance to finish what he was about to start…

…There would still be a lead that someone could follow and save the two women.

He had just finished going through the Claw's star maps, comparing them with the information he had gotten from Agent Garza.

The locations seemed to match up, you could say what you wanted about Republic SIS, but they were most thorough.

Yes, this latest lead looked promising, but it was more than that. It felt right, through the Force!

Jas tried not to seem over eager, but he couldn't help it.

What if it was right?

What if he had finally managed to out think his old adversary? Targo had been a step or two ahead of them for so long.

What if he finally knew where Targo was hiding?

The Jedi Shadow was more cautious, but that was part of his job. He was an investigator by trade, and understood how easy it was to get over excited by a lead, and what happened when it didn't pan out.

But it has to pan out, Jas thought.

I have to save them!

He took a deep breath, trying to center himself.

It was not good to get too excited.

"Hm," Mondar said nodding, his long green ears lowering slightly as if in deep thought.

"F'Hob, you say? Make sense that does."

"Yes," Jas agreed, "I've just finished checking out its location. It is close enough to the trade routes without being too close. The perfect place for a group seeking to harm Republic interests and yet keep a low profile."

"And there, the bounty hunter is," the Jedi shadow said nodding, "Certain of this are you?"

Jas shifted uncomfortably.

That was a good question.

IOI

Agent Garza and her fellow agents had been busy, in a short period of time, they had managed to mine much out of the Collective Captain's files.

According to Republic records, Captain Remn, the skipper of the Mannanter, was a respected officer and member of the Republic navy. He had served on vessels all over Republic space and had received many commendations for both bravery and service.

The man's profile didn't suggest that he would ever turn traitor, but that was the point, and why he had been chosen.

Jas had shaken his head when he read that part.

The Collective were sneaky, he knew that, but this…this…

It went beyond a mere sense of cunning.

According to the Republic SIS, the man skippering the freighter was NOT the real Captain Remn. The man was an impostor. The intelligence officers had discovered evidence of computer tampering in the navy's personnel files, hologrammic overlays in the man's service record. Someone had sliced the real Captain Remn's files and replaced his data with the man who had taken over the Mannanter.

There was no record of what had happened to the real Remn, only an add-on in the report to start back tracking, find out when and where the man had been replaced.

Jas might not have liked the collective, but you had to give it to whoever was doing their planning.

Smart, he had to acknowledge, and cunning, but that didn't surprise him.

The Collective knew quite a bit about infiltration, they had first proved that on Kuat.

Replacing a Republic officer didn't seem that hard; given how that scheme had played out.

No one on the freighter had ever served with Remn before, which meant there was no chance of someone recognizing him. The route the ship ran kept them in space for months at a time, little or no contact with people outside of the navy. As for the real Remn, there was nothing in the files to suggest what happened to him; he was almost a ghost. The man had never been married, and had no living relatives to speak of.

In short, he had been the perfect candidate for this type of replacement.

He had been serving on Mannanter for the last year and a half. During that time, he had arranged several transfers to his vessel. No one had questioned those requests, given his service record. He had handled the whole matter slowly, and carefully. He had set this up, one collective agent at a time.

It had almost been a perfect set up for a collective attack…

…almost.

The man was good, but like most he had his share of flaws. The captain had been extremely confident in his coming success, he had put down much about their plans in his log. Arrogance on his part, perhaps, but at the same time…

If everything had gone as planned there would have been no evidence of what truly happened. The freighter would have been destroyed utterly, and his computer and all its files would have been lost.

At least, that is what the log entries had suggested.

Fortunately, for the Republic crew, Jas' hunt had prevented that. The Collective agents were in custody, with little chance of escaping into death.

Hopefully, their capture would serve the Republic well, finally start waking people up to the threat the cult posed to the Republic and its holdings.

Hopefully, he and Mondar would no longer be hunting for these people alone.

Not that the false Remn had been stupid, he was smart enough not to name any names in his logs. Yet, even then…it was possible to get some idea of what had been going on.

He had just arranged the transfer of four new sailors to the Mannanter, more collective agents no doubt. His files mentioned the upcoming mission, not the details, but the date. From the way the man was talking, it was clear that he had not expected to survive beyond that mission. The collective had been setting up for another suicide run. According to Agent Garza's report, the SIS had managed to identify the target of the attack, and that reinforcements would be detached to the area as a routine precaution, just in case the Mannanter crew had not been planning to act alone.

There had been no mention of where that target was, or what the collective had planned, but that was fine.

It was not the attack that interested Jas, it was several references in the Captain's personal files. References to a safe house, and someone he referred to only as "hunter."

Jas was pretty sure he knew just which hunter the man had been referring too.

There had been several entries mentioning hunter and his movements. He had stopped several times at the safe house, that he used it as a place to prepare before striking out on major jobs.

That doesn't mean that this is Targo, Jas' sense of caution warned. Targo isn't the only bounty hunter in the galaxy after all.

True, he acknowledged, but it was worth checking out, especially after the last two entries that mentioned the hunter. The first entry was dated two days after the Righteous incident.

Heard from safe house today, hunter arrived, and seemed to be settling in for a long wait. Abbot informs me that he has given no time table of when he will strike out again.

Once again, Jas recognized that it could have been a coincidence, after all, who knew how many hunters that the collective used, but then…he read the entry from three days before Mannanter had picked him up, that had been the one that got his attention.

Heard from Abbot again, Hunter remains. Has used hyper comm several times, contacting unknown beings. Probably to do with the two containers he brought with him. Abbot hopes that they will be removed soon, stasis pods causing a power drain on several key systems…

It had been the mention of stasis pods that had gotten Jas' attention, two of them.

He had checked the dates of when the Captain claimed to have visited the safe house himself, where the Mannanter had been when he had gone to it.

Fortunately, there had been only two possibilities, the first being a Republic military outpost, unlikely to be the site of a Collective safehouse, and one other…

…the second moon of the planet F'Hob.

There you are, Jas had thought when he found the name.

Gotcha!

IOI

He looked up at Mondar, he could sense his friend's concern, but it was not necessary, really.

He was in control.

He was fine.

"Certain?" Jas admitted, "No. Yet, a collective employed hunter has been there recently. The files that were discovered aboard the Mannanter suggest that this hunter has spent time on F'Hob, and may have left the two hostages there, or at the very least two large stasis pods."

Jas shook his head.

"It could be Targo Sei, the timing is right. So, I'm going in. It is a chance that I can't pass up."

Again, the little shadow nodded.

"If a chance there is to save innocents, then hesitate, you must not."

Jas nodded; in this they were in agreement.

Mondar sighed.

"But, enter into this search calmly, you must. Lives at stake, there are. Be over eager, you…must not."

Jas nodded, but a small part of him chafed under the shadow's comment.

He doesn't think that I can handle this.

He thinks I'm rushing in, and not thinking!

He was wrong.

"If the lead I discovered is correct, then Targo Sei was on F'Hob only a few days ago, and evidence suggests that he has two stasis pods with him, likely storage for the unconscious hostages."

Jas shook his head.

"I can't afford to wait, as soon as the Collective realizes that something happened aboard the Mannanter, they will flee, which means that Targo will flee, and I could lose my first real shot at rescuing the prisoners."

"Hm," Mondar said nodding.

Again, Jas felt that his friend was being condescending again.

I wouldn't expect him to understand.

Not given the Jedi's belief in the denial of attachments.

Jas was suddenly overcome with a sense of defensiveness, he wanted to lash out at the shadow for not being more supportive. He…

Whoa there.

Jas shook his head, realizing what exactly he had been thinking, and the direction those thoughts were leading him.

That place…it was not pretty.

You do need to slow down, his conscience chided, once again speaking in his master's voice.

Rushing in blindly will not help you save Val and Vess. Move swiftly, but carefully, it is the only way to make sure that both women make it out of this in one piece.

Yeah, Jas acknowledged, but it wasn't easy.

Such self-control was never easy.

Again, Jas took a deep breath, and remembered his training. He tried to focus, not a simple task, not after so many months of chasing shadows.

He looked at the holo of his friend.

"Aren't you going to say it?" he asked.

"Say what," Mondar asked.

"Aren't you going to warn me about the dangers of attachment, how I need to remember my Jedi calm if I'm to be successful?"

Mondar smiled, he cackled to himself.

"Already know, you do, what I was going to say. No reason to repeat it, I have."

The shadow shook his head.

"Careful, you must be, Jas Dar Bynn. Do you credit, your emotions do, but surrounds the Collective, the Darkside of the Force does."

Mondar gave him a cool and determined look.

"Wish to see you get lost, I do not. Wish to see you follow the path of Xarcce Thatch, I do not."

Hearing the Tunroth's name definitely gave him pause.

Yes, he thought with a grim nod.

I should definitely try to avoid that.

Xarcce Thatch, also known as the Hand of the Faith of the Sunset Collective had been a Jedi once. Jas was not sure what had pushed the Tunroth out of the light, but her story served as a cautionary tales if nothing else.

Whatever Thatch had been, she was an enemy of the Republic now. Jas had fought her once on Alderaan, and nearly lost Val to her.

The memory of that fight burned in his gut.

He still owed the Lady Hand for that, he had taken a few of her fingers during that fight, but it was not enough, not by far, in his mind.

Next time, he would take something more…important, something the Tunroth would miss.

Mondar continued to watch him, his expression was one of concern, concern that radiated out through the Force.

"Tread lightly you must, my friend," he warned, "Underestimate the power of the dark side, you must not."

Jas nodded again.

"I appreciate your concern, master, but have no fear."

He tried to put on a brave face, to hide any thoughts of revenge, thoughts that he hoped he was strong enough to resist.

I can do this, he thought.

I'm fine.

IOI

The planet F'Hob was not a pretty place by any estimation, from space it appeared to be a large grey rock orbiting a single small blue star. One of four planets in the system, it sustained one of only two moons capable of sustaining oxygen breathing organic life.

Called the green moon by the locals, it was one of the few planets in the system that had been affected by the Republic's growing expansion. The settlement itself was small, a colony of Ugnaught workers that had moved to the system to take advantage of the rocky surface of the planet of which the green moon orbited. According to the files that Jas was able to dig up, the colony boasted only one main industry, a permacrete factory owned and maintained by colonists. A hundred years ago, it had been an extremely profitable business, colonization efforts in nearby sectors had made the Ugnaught bosses very wealthy. Alas, nothing lasts forever.

The Colonization efforts had moved into other sectors, and improvement in duracrete production had made the product here…a little obsolete, still profitable, but not the booming business it had once been.

Given the needs of the collective, what they were trying to accomplish, and a few clues from the SIS files. Jas Dar Bynn had come to believe that the old factory was the Collective safehouse. Its structures easily adapted to serve as defensive positions, but at the same time was distant enough to discourage prying eyes.

This is it, Jas thought as he read about the factory, the Force seemed to be almost humming in his ears.

Yeah, this is the place.

The Gilded Claw approached the planet while the factory was still on the night side of the moon. Rior brought them down far enough away to avoid standard detection methods. Once they had reached the surface, the crew had reached out to the Ugnaught colony, hoping to find a bit more useful information about the place, and to make sure that they were not wasting their time.

What they heard back from the locals was…promising.

They had been contacted by King Bozz, the foreman and leader of the colony. He had apologized to them immediately, informing them that if they wished to purchase permacrete, the colony would not be able to meet their order. All production had stopped.

Outsiders had moved into the plant.

Jas took that as a good sign.

He doubted that the collective would care much about the Ugnaughts making money with their factory.

According to the King, the outsiders paid well enough to maintain their presence within the plant, but not enough to match the profits that the colonists had made in the beginning. The funds the outsiders offered was enough to keep the small colony viable. Yet not enough for the Ugnaught population to prosper as they once had.

He could sense the resentment when the King talked about the outsiders, a view shared by his advisors and underlings.

Clearly, the Ugnaughts would not mind if the new arrivals decided to leave, or were forced to move on.

Jas thought that he and his allies might be able to help them with that.

Yet, he still had to ask, were the people inside the plant the ones they were looking for, was this indeed the Collective's safehouse?

The Ugnaughts didn't recognize the name when Jas mentioned it. To them, the people in the plant were simply off-worlders that showed little respect. That didn't mean that they were collective, but again, Jas' suspicion was leaning strongly that way.

He used his connection within the Cooper/Halcyon organization to reach an agreement with the Ugnaughts, despite their guests continued pay, the little creatures did want their plant back. Now that they had settled in, the new arrivals had stopped all business on the Green Moon. The outsiders allowed no permacrete production, and had responded with harsh words and veiled threats in the last few months every time the Ugnaughts broached the issue.

The creatures were laborers by nature, they were only happy when they were working, the idleness of their colony did not sit well with them, not to mention the fact that they were no longer allowed inside the plant; a plant that they had relied on for generations.

King Bozz had considered several times asking the Republic for help, but the locals allowed no long-range communication, they had placed jammers within the factory, and controlled the only long range hyper comm buoy in the system.

In other words, they had control over all forms of communication, and likely did everything within their power to make sure that, to the uninterested, everything was fine and normal on the Green Moon.

They had hoped that trouble would not notice them, well…they were about to get a wakeup call.

Trouble had found them at long last, and its name was Jas Dar Bynn.

He was eager to see just what he could stir up.

Jas had asked the king if there was any way into the old factory, a means to enter…undetected by the outsiders.

The king informed him that there was, he even offered them the use of a guide; promising that they would be able to go tomorrow evening; if Jas and company wished.

Jas had smiled when he heard that, but…he didn't wish to wait that long.

The sun had already set when they first met with the Ugnaughts, he preferred to go in now.

That way, there was less chance of any collective agents hidden among the local populace alerting the cult that Jas and his allies were on their way.

Speed was their best ally now.

The collective, if they were inside the plant, would never know what hit them.

To seal the deal, Jas had offered the king double the payment, and the promise that they would restore the plant to his control.

The king seemed hesitant, not wishing to anger the outsiders in the plant, or maybe just out of fear of them, but…he agreed.

Jas and his allies would go in now. The king summoned their guide.

They would leave…immediately.

Again, Jas felt a slight tingle through the Force, a sense of something approaching.

Whether that was for good or ill, he couldn't say.

His crew, especially the two Mandalorians, seemed more than ready to get moving.

Okay, Jas thought as their guide arrived and motioned for them to follow.

Let's do this.

IOI

The access point that King Bozz had described was a drainage pipe that fed from a small stream directly into the plant itself. According to the Ugnaught, there was no security devices placed on this system, there had never been any need. Few aggressive animals lived on the world, and those that did were not large enough to harm an Ugnaught.

Jas didn't take any chances.

Hylla kept a hand scanner handy, checking for anything that the collective might have put in themselves, while he, Fallenstar, and V'Lek kept track of things through the Force.

Their guide, a polite, gray haired Ugnaught name Tepp, showed them the quickest way into the facility. Twice they had to stop as the drainage system made their journey difficult, but not enough to halt their advance.

Jas felt a sense of trepidation from Fallenstar. Miri was likely thinking about her encounter with a the dianoga back on the Wreck.

He reached out with the Force, to reassure his companion.

She had nodded gratefully, feeling his gentle touch.

Again, Jas felt a sense of warmth and attraction from the bounty hunter, still wishing perhaps that he had taken her up on what she had offered him back on the Wreck.

Jas tried not to think about that right now.

He was trying to avoid distractions.

Their guide took them right up to the final junction, the one that emptied out into the factory proper. This was as far as he could go, he informed them, if something went wrong, he would rather his people not be blamed by the outsiders for this intrusion.

Jas had given him a handful of credits, and his thanks. Tepp left them then, asking only that they be careful.

He doesn't need to worry, Jas thought.

If these people are Collective members, they would not be around long enough to cause any problems for the colonist. He would make sure of that.

Even if Targo wasn't here, he wasn't planning on leaving this collective safehouse functioning.

Yet, he could understand the creature's concern for his people. Jas would do what he could to minimize any blow back that the Ugnaughts might face.

They waited two minutes after the guide left, making sure that nothing was amiss. Jas had sensed no deception in the creature, but why take chances.

Feeling no sense of impending dread or danger, Jas and V'Lek cut through the final grate with their lightsabers, using the Force to make sure that it fell slowly and silently.

As one, the group entered the facility. Jas, Miri and V'Lek, followed closely by Burr and the two Mandalorians, covering Shusk.

They emerged in a small drainage control room, only a single technician working, monitoring the flow of the drainage system, or that is what he should have been doing.

He had been watching a holo vid, some Twi'lek dancer prancing around in nothing but five tiny veils.

V'Lek seized the man before he had had time to react, he didn't kill him, but he did render him unconscious, squeezing his neck with one large furry arm.

Jas inspected the body as it lay on the ground, no markings or rank insignias that he could see, but…

Jas smiled.

The man's tunic was a familiar purple color, with rainbow trim.

A collective acolyte's tunic.

Yes, he thought eagerly.

If he had had doubts, they were now put to rest.

They had found the safehouse.

He reached out with the Force, carefully, not wishing to draw attention, should any of the cult's Force sensitive members be there. He didn't sense any on the way in, but that didn't mean much.

He had not sensed the Hand of the Faith back on Alderaan, either. Not until it was almost too late.

He sensed…danger, but that was unsurprising, considering who they were dealing with. The usual sense of menace from other collective bases wasn't there, but that was not surprising.

The collective bases that he and Mondar had located in the past had been staging grounds for their various terrorist raids, this was a safehouse, a place that they could hide their numbers. What was done here was different from some hideaway they set up to ready their pawns to sacrifice themselves for the cause.

Jas frowned.

He tried to remember how Targo had felt in the Force, tried to sense the bounty hunter's presence. Sadly, he didn't really know what he was looking for after all these years, and what was worse…

…he got no sense of either Val or Vess…

…not a good sign.

"I have a computer terminal here," Shusk called out, "Trying to slice us access now."

Jas turned, his old ally's words bringing him back to the now.

"Try bringing up a floor plan for this place, Shusk. Also, see if you can detect any power drains, if any of the equipment here is drawing far more energy than anything else."

The Chadra Fan nodded as he plugged in his data pad. Quire and Burr stood guard near the door, just in case they had any unexpected visitors.

So far, it didn't seem that the collective knew they were here.

Jas wanted to keep it that way, at least until they knew what was truly going on here.

He watched as the little engineer worked, fighting down the urge to start searching the halls. The message about two stasis pods remained first in his thoughts.

Are we too late, he feared?

Am I too late?

"Got the floor plan," Shusk murmured pressing a button on his data pad, projecting the layout of the factory.

Jas regarded it coolly.

Damn, he thought, this place was a maze of halls and production rooms, only the main floor of the factory was open.

It would take time searching this place, doing it quietly, even more so. He…

Shusk's whiskers twitched, his eyes widened slightly.

"Got something," he squeaked, "Sub basement one, power drain in that area, no holo-cams in that area, but…it is drawing a lot of juice."

He looked at Jas.

"Could be the stasis pods you are looking for."

Jas nodded.

It was worth the risk to check.

"Everyone move out," he ordered, "Slow and easy, I don't want to alert our quarry, just yet."

Quire leaned in, his T-Visored helmet reflecting the green light of the hologram.

"Do you think Targo is here, brother?"

"Can't say for sure," Jas said, "The Force reveals little or nothing about this place, but if he is here, we must be ready.

"We are ready," the young warrior said, drawing his blaster rifle.

Yeah," Jas agreed, gently touching the lightsaber on his belt.

We are.

IOI

They met little resistance as they made their way down to the first level sub-basement. The few guards they encountered were easily avoided, Jas used the Force to draw their attention away with simple noises; the group slipped past with no resistance.

He felt his eagerness growing, but did his best to restrain it. He tried to steel himself against possible disappointment, he still felt nothing of the two women, and got no impression that Targo Sei was here.

He should have sensed the menace of the man, if he was here.

Again, he started to feel daunted.

They might have been too late.

Shusk had already downloaded the communication logs, the system here had little or no security, unsurprising considering this place was designed with secrecy as its main defense. Those logs were encrypted however, it would take time for him to break them, probably after they had finished their search.

This can't have been all for nothing, Jas thought, his anger growing.

IT CAN'T!

He felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Miri, her expression one of both concern and support.

Despite the awkwardness between them lately, he smiled.

You don't have to worry, he thought.

I'm fine.

They continued their journey down, the factory was mostly untouched, they saw evidence of some rooms being turned into sleeping quarters, but that was it, they encountered no one in those rooms.

The biggest change they had seen on the way down was the chapel that had been built on the main floor, it reminded Jas a bit of the one the collective had set up on the Nuna ship on the way to Kuat years ago.

They still met with little resistance; they bypassed the few guards they had seen without trouble…

…and that…was starting to worry him.

Had the collective already left? Had Targo perhaps outplayed him again, maybe the man had planned for Jas to go searching for…

Stop it.

Jas shook his head.

Targo Sei is no precog, he can be caught off guard. The collective can be caught off guard; you proved that aboard the Republic freighter.

Not everything that happens is part of the hunter's master revenge plot.

Jas acknowledged that.

Overestimating an enemy could be just as dangerous as underestimating him, it could paralyze you at the worse possible moment.

He could not afford to do that.

Lives were at stake.

They reached the sub-basement without trouble, the group could now hear mechanical humming, the sound of power being drawn, a lot of it.

And also…voices.

The group slid to a stop.

It seemed they had company up ahead.

"He didn't even wait for me," the distant voice said irritably, "He contacts me, tells me to come all the way out here, and now he isn't even here to see me?"

They heard the sound of something heavy being struck, perhaps a box or a crate being kicked; that and the sound of an angry hiss.

"I'm not some nursemaid, you know. Why should I have to play babysitter, it is not like your drones couldn't handle the matter."

Jas' eyes narrowed. He felt his temper start to rise again.

That voice…

…He knew that voice.

He had an intense dislike for that voice. A dislike that was growing by the minute, Jas's hand moved closer and closer to his weapon.

I should have known, he thought.

Of course, Targo would not be acting alone.

"You are not even going to respond, are you?" the voice added, "What? You take a vow of silence or some such priest? Is that it?"

Jas had heard enough, he rose from his hiding place and started walking.

"Jas," Miri hissed.

"What are you doing?!"

He didn't acknowledge her.

He had heard enough, and he had had enough.

He used the Force to shatter all the lights in the hallway, he approached the room where the voices were coming from.

He felt a brief sense of surprise and fear, the ones inside next room were surprised by the sudden darkness.

"What is that?" the voice they had heard call out, "Is someone out there?!"

Jas stood in the center of the hallway; gathering his power.

He was ready.

The speaker they were hearing stepped into view, Jas sneered at the sight.

I should have known.

A Togarian, as he had expected; one wearing Mandalorian armor, very poorly kept Mandalorian armor.

Jas shook his head.

The years had not been kind to his old clan mate.

"Kelek Bobb," he called out, his voice echoing coldly off the stone corridor.

Kelek Bobb, Targo's old apprentice raised his rifle.

"Who is there? Identify yourself?"

Jas did just that.

He ignited his lightsaber, let the violet hue illuminate the shadows.

"Hello Bobb," he called out.

"Been awhile."

The Togorian's yellow eyes widened. Realization swept over his face, as his feline eyes widened with fear.

"Oh Kark!" he gasped raising his weapon into firing position.

Jas dashed forward as blasterfire lit the darkness.

All hell broke loose.

Jas didn't care.

He had been tired of waiting and sneaking around.

Finally…

…it was time.