Audenhoen studied the high-resolution cam angles on the massive screens as the acquiescent trooper, ‘Silas,’ panned slowly at his command through the debris, the blazing fires extinguished for the most part. “Stop. Close in on the marking there.” He asked, as he closed the distance to the left panel and focused intently on the scorched remains of a nonstandard issue trooper chest plate, its original coloration lost to fire and blaster burns. Silas did as instructed, lowering his body toward the ground, and sifting the dusting of rubble and fire suppressant foams from the armor’s surface. “DT….numeric designation nondescript.” Silas informed him, although he could see for himself. “Upward arrow and outline of a fist I believe sir.” Silas continued, Audenhoen impressed with the trooper’s visual acuity. “437th?”
“I believe so Silas. Grand Admiral Tethys would be interested to know one of her Death Troopers suffered an incendiary fate alongside a TIE L/N from the Seventh fleet which hasn’t been seen in over eight months.”
“Decoy Sir?” Areti asked, appearing over his shoulder.
With a finger massaging his temple, Audenhoen turned toward her, his eyes remaining on the video feed. “Most likely, insurgent groups have been taking advantage of our own protocols with alarming frequency.” He paused for a moment as he let the statement sink in, “Look at the debris Areti, what do you see?”
She took his cue and turned her gaze to the screen before them both, one hand firmly planted on her hip, the other cupping her chin, “Overturned mag lev’s, feed basins, leather tac. It was a farming settlement Sir.”
“Very good Areti.” Audenhoen felt a surge of pride as she cited her response, “and why is that relevant?”
She scanned the viewer from top to bottom, corner to corner. Along with the view Silas was providing there were other live feeds featured within the viewer. “I don’t see any storehouse structures Sir. They weren’t farming for themselves.”
“Exactly.” Audenhoen said, turning to her fully. “The Empire isn’t exclusive in needing to feed it’s armies.”
“Seems an elaborate way to cover up what we were able to discern in minutes.”
Audenhoen gave a non-committal sound of agreement but added, “effective in most cases I would wager Areti, but remember, our actions were based off your insistence that we come here. They could not have known about that.”
Areti grumbled under her breath, “So this was carried out hurriedly and sloppy by your estimation?”
“Indeed. For them, quite sloppy, but I digress. We are here after all aren’t we, chewing mindlessly at the bait left for us. Left to ponder the relevance of starfighter wreckage from a lost fleet in the same pile of debris with armor belonging to something else entirely.” He brought his other hand up to mirror his left-hand actions as he turned to face Sylde. “Captain, does Tagata Taia manage all instances of ground detail?”
“Exclusively unless Hung is preoccupied, in which case we dispatch ‘Broocal.’
Audenhoen raised an eyebrow slightly at the mention of ‘we’ but decided to keep it to himself for the time being. “I see, would it be possible for my assistant and I to take up residence with Captain Hung? We tend to work much better with our boots on the ground, and I prefer to see things with my own eyes. No offense of course.”
Sylde adopted an understanding expression as he creased his mouth into a knowing smile, “Of course Deputy Director.” He swung to his comms officer, “Bev, please have a shuttle dispatched from Tagata Taia soonest.”
“Straight away Sir.” She said, already tapping her earpiece.
“I make only one request Deputy Director…” Sylde said, turning back toward Audenhoen.
“Audy.”
“Audy then.” Sylde said with a slight bow at the waist, “when conducting field work, would you mind donning a cam for our collective. More eyes and all.”
Audenhoen chuckled mildly, “of course not.” He finished with a smile, giving Areti a short tug at her elbow before turning a final time toward the viewer then headed off toward their shared cabin, Areti in tow.
“What is it Sir….Audy, sorry.” Areti asked as they walked through their cabin doorway, “I know that look.”
Audenhoen spun around and eyed her under his gaze, “Trunion.” Was all he said before spinning back around and picking up his gear from the bunk, beginning to toss it into the pack on the floor.
“What of it?” Areti asked, remaining where she had stood, skewing her eyebrows into her forehead.
“The grave Areti, or the exhumed grave rather. That Lieutenant was assigned to the ‘Tangible’...ring any bells?” He said, stuffing his hiking boots into the pack.
Areti slapped her forehead, “The display and feed from Arlen’s cam…”
“I was beginning to think you had missed it.”
Areti walked over to the small worktable, snapping up her devices and diving them into various pockets, “Ever vigilant Audy.”
“I will say I am impressed with their gear Areti, although Sylde didn’t mention it, I am sure it did not escape his notice that the carbon scoring on the uniform sample was caused by a modified SR, a fourteen ‘R’ within eighty seven percent accuracy.” Audenhoen said, turning to sit on the bunk, “having access to forensics that quickly is quite impressive indeed.” He cast his eyes on the floor before continuing, “First, your instinct was right on target Areti, and I want you to know I am proud of you. Your insistence to set course straight away from Coruscant is what befouled the sabotaging attempts of those in that farming settlement as well.” He looked up at her, seeing her smile broadening, “The proverbial twofer.” He added with a wink.
“Deputy Director Audenhoen, your shuttle has arrived.” The comm in their cabin crackled.
“That was fast.” Areti commented stowing the remainder of her clothing and personal items into the pack they shared.
Audenhoen laughed slightly as beads of sweat ran down his cheeks, “Imperial efficiency at its finest.” He said getting up to look about the diminutive cabin, making sure they had grabbed everything, “Shall we?”
✦
In his command center, Sylde squinted his eyes in thought, hands folded over one another behind his back. The Deputy Director’s request was both appropriate and timely he thought, coming after his brief sideward glances toward the center screen. Sylde knew the Empire was as likely to inter it’s dead in the manner displayed as it was to yield its autocracy to full-fledged democracy. How did that detail tie in with ‘Trunion’? How do either instance of insurgent activity on Raada relate, if at all? ‘If at all….’ He scoffed, drawing Bev’s attention. Waving a dismissive hand in her direction and shaking the thought loose in his head he reevaluated his train of thought, ‘everything is related.’ Looking up toward the center screen again, he noted the small line of text in the bottom left corner, knowing full well it is what had garnered the Deputy Director’s attention. “‘Tangible,’ lost over Trunion moon three, suspected insurgents.” There were three names he would add without delay to the list of ‘suspected insurgents’ but knew including emotion in his assessment would cloud his overall judgment. “Seven, new window. Tangible, Trunion, N’dali Fardi.” He looked up to see the small lines of text appear in the cadenced order in the upper right corner of the far-right screen. ‘Where is your ‘Shadow Hunter’ I wonder,’ he thought, knowing full well the final addition to the list was both emotional and accurate.
“Sir?” Arlen’s voice tagged his consciousness, “Our findings suggest multiple vessels heading in at least five different directions orbital, jump points scattered.”
Scratching his head, Sylde weighed his options, “Bev, get Hung.” He waited five seconds before speaking directly to his Captain, “I would like to get probes to the location’s trooper Arlen provides. We need headings, possible egress.”
“Sir.” Hung’s crackling voice responded immediately.
✦
Giving the laces a good tug, Audenhoen tested the hikers with an audible stamp on the shuttle’s deck plate as he and Areti buckled in their respective seats.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that transfer.” Areti said, Audenhoen glancing over to see the color returning to her face.
He chuckled warmly, “going forward, you shouldn’t have to.” He said jovially, feeling waves of refreshment pulse through him the further removed from the IGV they became. Within minutes the two were unfastening their lap belts as the shuttle’s audible reports changed from that of a whirring siren to a deep rumble.
Alone in the cabin, Areti nonetheless leaned in closer to Audenhoen, “Audy, there is something happening to my data pad. Notable glitches, reduced loading times. And, at times, the screen skews perceptibly.”
Audenhoen looked at the proffered data pad, myriad thoughts running through his mind. “Yes, I have had it with me the entire time.” She added, knowing it would be his first question.
An audible ping begged for their attention as they both turned toward the green indicator lights on either side of the shuttle’s loading ramp. “We’ll come back to that Areti, for now don’t let it out of your sight.” He said, rising to grab for the stabilizer handle above his seat. “We’re here.”
Venting jets releasing hot gases framed the ramp before them as it hissed itself open upon landing. The familiar face of trooper Arlen, waiting to greet them both with an eager grin stood on the hard rocky outcropping the shuttle had landed on. “Hell of a storm passed through here before our arrival.” Arlen said as Audenhoen’s gaze fell on the trooper’s muddied boots.
‘Even the subordinates are overly perceptive,’ Audenhoen thought to himself, his own eyes staring out at the mud. He could see several other troopers marking sunken pits in the muddy ground.
“Clearing out the area around the late Lieutenant was a challenge Sir.” Arlen added, Audenhoen could understand why. “Our orders are to leave the other graves intact upon your orders.”
Audenhoen was surprised at that, “Thank you Arlen.” Grimacing in hesitation he plunged his hiker into the soggy ground, feeling it ooze around the sole of the boot. “Areti?” He looked back to see her own displeasure with the task but smiled inwardly as she placed her own boots in the quagmire. Methodically the trio made their way to the exhumed grave, Arlen removing the shovel from his pack to scrape back the mud from the body. Audenhoen fished in his pants pocket for his scanner, leaning closer to the dead man’s face, the device positively identified Lieutenant Chom Devitts, assigned to LC ‘Tangible.’ Scanning the burned hole in the man’s chest, he noticed something he hadn’t on Sylde’s ship. The chest wound featured almost nondescript chunks of scorched flesh and muscle protruding outward. It was an exit wound. The device chirping its findings in his hand, positively identifying the carbon discharge on the uniform material as that of a fourteen ‘R’ with ninety four percent accuracy. He snapped the device closed in his hand as he got up from his crouched position, turning to Areti.
“Falls in line with both Protocol and Directive Audy. However, that signifies that an officer aboard a ship responding to the same, was effectively killed from behind by a fellow officer before their ship was destroyed.” She said without missing a beat.
Audenhoen kept his pride inward as he turned his gaze toward the other graves, “it also means one or more of them would have fallen to self-inflicted wounds.”
“Do you require us to exhume further Deputy Director?” Arlen asked over his shoulder.
Audenhoen thought that through for a moment, not seeing the point, “I don’t think that is necessary trooper, unless Sylde deems otherwise.”
“Very good Sir.”
Audenhoen cast his view toward the trio of speeder bikes belonging to the troopers, “Would you mind if we borrowed two of those? I would like to trace this site to the settlement by land. You are more than welcome to meet us there once your business is concluded via the shuttle.” He asked without taking his eyes off the bikes.
“By all means Sir.” Arlen responded.
“Areti.” Audenhoen said, motioning toward the bikes, “let’s go.”
They began trudging through the brackish mud, already hardening at its edges by the warm dry air. “Sir, I’ve never operated a seven four...well, any model for that matter.” Areti spoke up hesitantly.
“Your just full of firsts today aren’t you Areti.” He said mockingly as they reached the bikes, “I’ll show you, it’s fairly straightforward and we won’t be going very fast.”
✦
Subconscious emissions forced their way into N’dali Fardi’s notice as her implant accessed the incoming data that had met her self-appointed parameters. Although hesitant to actively approach her wormed intrusion into the Imperial network, it had remained subconsciously on standby, accumulating data streams, encryption methods and scope since she planted it successfully. It would remain harmless until such time as she actively utilized it once more, but was also hesitant to do so, fearing a return trace. The Chalactan, however, was beginning to force her hand. “Spectre five?” She addressed her comm.
“Go ahead N’dali.” Came the voice of Sabine Wren.
“I am receiving base feedback on several data entries; the signals are faint at best. Since Lothal is minus a comm tower and has yet to regress from atmospheric interference, I am going to Garel. Probably best in any event, should I have to access my intrusion. I don’t want to endanger Lothal at all.”
“Copy N’dali. Let us know if there is anything we can do.” Sabine replied, her voice spry and uncharacteristically elated, N’dali sure what that implied.
“Soon, yes?”
“Very…..” Sabine’s voice was drowned out by a wailing cry of pain and the clatter of metal on metal. “…..thankfully.” She finished in a hushed tone, “She’s tearing up the room.”
“Perhaps I should be asking you if you need anything.” N’dali responded in her informal deadpan.
Sabine’s chuckle in response spoke to her understanding of N’dali’s sense of humor, “Go to Garel N’dali, we’ll be fine.”
“Give her my best Sabine, I won’t be long.” N’dali said as she ended the transmission and punched in Garel’s coordinates in her navicomputer.
‘Keno. More importantly, Aborah.’ She thought, finally able to cross reference the data cylinder Kowani had given her months prior with another source. Keno was a subject she could speak on in detail with the Chalactan assistant, perhaps Aborah was something they could ascertain collectively. She would have to explore that possibility she thought as she pinged the assistant’s data pad again just before throttling the Gozanti’s hyperdrive accelerator forward.
✦
‘Why have I never done this before!’ Areti thought in ecstasy, throttling her bike the way Audy had shown her but wanting nothing more than to open it all the way. She kept at his side however, watching as he swept his head from side to side, a keen eye on trying to locate the next detail his mind needed. She felt a vibration at her waist and instinctively closed the distance between both hands on the control yokes, pulling backward with a smooth motion. The bike decelerated with audible protest, as if it wanted nothing more than to fulfil her own desires and spew contrails of dust in its wake. She reached a hand down to pull her data pad from its clip. The usual flash of background color skewing again as it had previously before returning to its normalized wait screen. I solid blue line moving slowly from top to bottom as it refreshed its resolution.
“Again?” She heard Audenhoen call to her, realizing only then that she had pulled to a full stop and he had circled back to her side.
“Audy, this isn’t accidental, it is deliberate.” She said without moving her gaze from the screen’s display.
“Perhaps it is updating itself or it’s receiving feedback on some level? Either way, I’ve never seen you this concerned for it before.”
“Audy, there is nothing I own closer to my own heart. I live through this.” She said, turning to face him, giving the device a slight shake for effect. “More to the point, I know my data pad. This interference, for lack of a better term, is externally sourced, I am sure of it.”
“Ok, what would be the point of said interference Areti? Is it prompting you in any direction?” He asked.
Areti wasn’t sure how to respond. The easy answer was, ‘no,’ but she didn’t feel it was that simple. “Sir….gahhh...Audy, it only began after we had arrived aboard the ‘Sidious,’ when I had started running into obstacles while looking into a few classified items.”
Audenhoen switched off his bike as he sat atop it, pushing himself back in the saddle, “Which items. Specifically.”
Areti switched her bike off as well, understanding through his actions that this conversation was going to take place here and now. “Keno. Aborah.” She said, mimicking his relaxed position. “Aborah is admittedly a mystery, but Keno. Keno makes no sense to me. Whatever it was, or is, officially or non, I don’t understand why it would be classified beyond our reach. If it was, in fact, destroyed by Rebel insurgents, then why is it not being fed into the Imperial propaganda machine?”
Audenhoen didn’t have a specific answer to the question, only a raised eyebrow in response.
“Audy, I am fully aware that you don’t buy into that garbage anymore, or less for that matter, than I do.” She said with a forced sense of urgency, liberating even.
“I don’t Areti. It is just a surprise to hear you speak on the matter.” He blew out a breath as he turned to stare out toward the ruined settlement several kliks away, wafting gray smoke lining the sky above it. He kicked his leg around the body of the bike to face Areti fully, “Areti, please just share your suspicion. You would not bring it to my attention unless you already have a working theory. We’ve worked together far too long to play at supposition.”
She felt a gentle wash of embarrassment flow through her. He was right of course, but she knew he didn’t care about being right, only that the truth was revealed one way or another. Areti closed her eyes, blowing out her own breath, “This is going to sound crazy.”
Audenhoen did a horrible job stifling a laugh, “Any statement beginning like that better be.” He let the comment hang between them for a moment then continued, “Out with-it Areti.”
“I believe everything we’ve experienced since identifying the signal interruption is related to the interruption itself.” She opened her eyes looking directly into his. “The anomaly is the current source of the oddities within the data pad. Whomever is behind it is trying to either tell us something or hide something from us.” She felt better getting that off her chest. “My bet would lie with the former.”
Audenhoen considered it, “And why is that?”
Areti turned her head to view the settlement, eyeing the trails of smoke from fires that had yet to be extinguished fully, “Because I think Sylde is responsible for the latter.”
Audenhoen stiffened slightly but Areti noticed the action regardless, “That is borderline treason Agent.” He uttered with a stern deep voice.
She spun to face him quickly, mildly disorienting herself in the process. “It is, Sir.” She felt the weight of his glare press down upon her with more force than she could have imagined, not for lack of sincerity, but for the feeling of shame consuming her upon hearing them from the man. She turned her gaze to the ground, focusing on a small waving blade of grass bending gently in the same breeze playing at the tips of her hair as they traced small tickling lines across her forehead. She felt distraught, disengaged and…. ‘is he laughing?’
“By the stars Areti…” he paused only to catch his breath, the laughter impeding his speech momentarily, “It is about time you caught up.” He said upon regaining some composure. Staring through her look of absolute confusion, the laughter exhausted itself, “Why do you think I got us off that flying hot box?”
The comment did nothing to waylay the confused expression, her eyes scrunched up and mouth hanging agape, yet did quite a bit to settle her inner contempt.
“I too have my suspicions Areti, the events since our amalgamation have been far to orchestrated for my liking.” He said adopting a comforting expression of his own, his deep-set eyes wide with alleviation as he pulled the corners of his lips up in a genuine smile. “It is time we take matters into our own hands.”
Areti felt an absolution of relief embracing her from the inside out. “I am with you Audy.”
He smiled again briefly, “Good, the Empire doesn’t take kindly to treason so we’re in this together.”
“What about your promotion Audy?” Areti asked, shaking her head after the words hit the air before her.
He laughed heartily, “That my dear Areti, is a position that will never see the light of day.” He swung his leg back over the bike and engaged the forward drive repulsor amplifier, bringing the vehicle a few more centimeters off the ground.
She copied his actions, gripping the throttle and brake.
“Let’s continue the charade for a little longer, and while we still have access to the network I might add.” He said, engaging the amplifier fully and pulling away.
Areti stared after him for a long moment, all preconceptions she had formed over the years about the man lost in a matter of minutes. She felt anger, resentment, and an inexplicable loneliness as he swiveled his head from side to side, ‘continuing his charade.’ However, she knew better, preconceptions be damned. She exhaled her wild theory knowing it was foolhardy at best, and yes, treasonous at worst. But she did so out of trust. And he had just returned that trust to her tenfold. She smiled as the realization clutched at her mind and brought light down upon her soul. A thought sprang into her chaotic psyche as she scrambled the data pad back into her lap. “The distortion….” she said aloud as she quickly tagged her comm menu and tapped her right thumb over ‘ping location.’ She clipped the pad back on her belt with a satisfied grin and revved the bikes warming repulsors to life, his comment regarding the promotion stewing in her forethoughts, “Wait, what does that mean?” She mumbled to herself as she shot forward, the blade of grass ripped from its roots and cast unceremoniously onto the hot caking ground from where it came.
✦
Minutes after engaging her hyperdrive, N’dali was already on the yoke pulling herself out of it, the swirling blues and greens of Garel front and center through her view ahead. She quickly powered down all non-essential systems to diminish her signature, although any scans would simply suggest that the ship was a food stuffs merchant vessel. Securing a location in high orbit, she set about to place the remainder of the systems on standby as she routed most of the ships power toward the aft cargo hold. A staccato of sharp, high-pitched bursts rang through her subconscious, ‘another data hit,’ she thought as she accessed her neural link to locate the source. ‘The data pad again,’ she recognized the signature but had yet to perceive the percentages associated with a response so soon. She halted mid stride in the central corridor of the Gozanti, rolling her eyes back to dull her visual acuity, and dove into her mental link to the neural ‘ocean’ that was her realm alone. Tracing the signal to its source, like hiking a little used trail by foot, could lead her down neural paths she would find difficult to escape from, but this one was different. The Chalactan was incredibly open minded it seemed. With a rare smile, N’dali refocused her eyes on the corridor before her and shot for the command center without a second thought.
“Raada.” N’dali said a few moments later, her implant linked via tethered cable to the main computer core as she lay half inclined on the table she had constructed. A single blue light with a housing plate at its center illuminated the entirety of the ceiling of the work area and nothing more, her eyes remaining closed for much of the time she was in this state. She could feel the myriad links the Chalactan’s data pad contained as if they were strings on an instrument, each one creating a path in real time from directive to data source. Some were old links, old strings. Others were new, Keno and Aborah for example. Bypassing the queries themselves, N’dali followed the path the data stream provided without enabling her worm intrusion, sensing familiarity within its conduit. She had traveled this path before, these same data streams. Although the Empire had taken the Force from her, she had retaken something else entirely, become something else entirely. This path, here and now, had played host to one of her greatest rivals. The familiarity reached another height, another level, when she recognized her own signature placed deep within the central computer core of the Tagata Taia. It was one thing to copy the ships transponder algorithm, but another altogether to leave her own so deeply embedded in that very signal. One she could utilize at her leisure from anywhere in the galaxy. Ever wary, she continued her own passive intrusion, bypassing the playful Monnok she had left for her adversary months ago. She recognized several other paths branching from her digital nest. Points of action on the planet’s surface all centralized here, in Tagata Taia’s central core. “The settlement?” N’dali was sure she said out loud. She accessed any live feeds, whether they be text only, video, or simple binary command, finding that there was an incredible amount of Imperial activity between where her friends had been and the settlement not far away. Except her friends had never approached the settlement. A deeper dive through the intricacies of the algorithms involved told N’dali that an investigation was ongoing, that the settlement itself was obliterated. “Ani?” She thought, uncharacteristically within the confines of her endeavor, knowing the answer before the thought could take on form. ‘She is with Ashla and Rex aboard the ‘Liberator.’’ The answer was outside of her knowledge as it was outside of the Tagata Taia’s. She paused to retrace, letting her neural link follow the macro programming she had embedded several times over to establish a baseline for her query. N’dali knew Sylde would be thorough but would also utilize all assets available to hasten the activities planet side. She also knew the Captain from Mykapo would follow all orders implicitly. If she was going to communicate with this Chalactan, she was already running out of time.