The words played through her head as she spiraled her way through the nexus of hyperspace, “you misunderstand, I have no control of the ship.” Her final claim to truth said to Tagata Taia hangar command. “I have no control of this ship.” Areti said aloud for the twentieth time. Assessing the controls had done nothing to assuage her fears as they told her the ship was resting firmly on the durasteel braids of the hangar deck aboard Tagata Taia. The navicomputer wasn’t even active to record any readings from what she had noted. Since, she had simply pressed her palms into the arms of the acceleration chair and hoped she didn’t die in whatever process was unfolding. Without warning the ship decanted out of hyperspace and into real space with a sudden lurch, a planet snapping into full view before her. Again, she assessed the controls before her, again finding them in compliance with her earlier findings. She could only watch through the canopy as the swirling browns and greens of the planet before her widened across the entire span of the transparisteel, streaks of blue denoting water sources and wispy clouds hiding features beneath them. At once the shuttle banked to the left, leaving the view of the planet to her peripheral as a smaller sphere entered her view. Desolate, featureless, and harboring every shade of gray imaginable without a trace of any others. The shuttle lurched precariously as the Ion drives were taken offline. Areti tried in vain to regain control of them with severe button smashes and calculated cursing, all without gain. She was helpless, and now adrift on momentum alone. She could see impact craters scaring the surface of the orb as the ship was getting closer. ‘Too close...and too fast’ she thought to herself as she prepared to cross her arms before her head in a futile attempt to shield herself from what would be inevitable doom. She felt a rumble which did nothing to calm her, her fears kicking in to paint her mind a gruesome demise, only to feel the ship’s momentum lurch its forward progress. ‘Repulsors.’ She acknowledged as the ship came closer to the moon’s surface and began leveling out to match the topography. Cresting the ridge of a crater she could see the tiny spec of a freighter at its center, stationary as her mind silently hoped for the incendiary death over what her imagination was coming up with. “CEC Gozanti.” Areti said to herself, allowing her analytical personality to help diminish her increasingly wild imagination.
The shuttle slowed to a staggering degree the closer she came to the Gozanti, to the point of hovering above the freighter. “At least I think it’s a freighter.” She said, acknowledging the lack of armament and larger hull design. She felt the ship lurch several times as she was rocked in the seat, thankful she had the harness secured as echoing clanks and chaotic hisses interrupted her train of thought. A final resounding, vibrating, thump shook the vessel with ferocity. Areti knew enough about shipboard logistics to understand what was happening but was loathe to leave her position. Although sound in her resolve to find the truth she was seeking, she could not stem the fear that prevented her from doing what must be done and remained sitting there, harnessed, for several long moments. She heard the minute hiss of pressurization and the creaking of seals echo throughout the ship, knowing full well that the hatch was now open in the passenger bay below. With nervous fingers she reached down to unclip the latches from the harness over her shoulders, fumbling with the device for several long seconds before they finally gave way and dropped to her sides. She closed her eyes and blew out a harsh breath as she rose from the seat and swiveled in the same motion, full expectations centered on finding an intruder, only to hear the echoes from her actions return to her ears. With cautious strides she walked to the steps leading down into the passenger bay, lowering her head to extend her gaze beyond the dull gray cladding of the hull plating. The only change was the open hatchway set into the floor, the only sound, her shuffling footsteps as she gingerly walked toward the opening. Reaching its outer edge she peered inside, not knowing what to expect, only to see more emptiness beyond and into a vacant corridor of the linked ship below. Swallowing what remained of her fear she plunked down on her backside, reached across to the adjacent edge of the opening and with a sharp exhale let herself fall into the corridor below.
Areti held herself in position, hovering over the deck plating of the corridor below her feet as she clung to the hatch’s lip and finally let go, completing the task as her boots struck the durasteel plating with a dull thud. Having only two options of travel, but having no sense of fore or aft, she left the decision to chance and proceeded the way she was facing. “Hello?” Areti chanced the greeting, hoping for some form of response. She began to hear a faint humming on the edge of her own echo the farther she moved down the corridor. Large access doorways stood another ten meters ahead of her, the humming, she realized, was getting louder the closer she came to them. As she was reaching for the doorway actuator, she heard the mechanism activate on its own. Areti took an instinctive step back as the whole of the aft cargo bay revealed itself to her, taken up entirely by a CenCom mobile command center. Numerous cables stretched from the bay’s expanse, from walls and ceiling alike, running into the command center at various, random, intervals. Areti placed a foot into the bay and was immediately encapsulated in an orange field, “Ray shield?” She said aloud.
“I find them effective. I need only ask you a question Areti Sigurn. Depending on that answer, I will either entertain the idea of further conversation or send you back to Sylde.” Areti heard over the ship wide comm, the voice measured and almost monotone.
Areti was certain she should have expected this, it is why she left the blaster on the shuttle , but how could one question decide such drastic circumstances?
“Ask.” Areti said without thinking on the matter any further.
“Why are you here?” The monotone asked.
‘Because you abducted me’ was Areti’s first thought but that was simply an effect of the cause that sent her down this path to begin with. She thought of Audy, how he would approach the question, then slapped her head in memory because he already had. “Truth is the only purpose beyond reproach.” She answered. Without hesitation the shield surrounding Areti vanished with chirping finality, the door to the command center sliding open with an eerie hiss, fog spilling from the bottom obfuscating the cargo bay decking as it roiled around and through one of the tangles of cables. Although hesitant to take that first step, she knew she had already come this far as she planted her boot into the swirling fog.
“Pull up a seat and we will discuss truth Areti Sigurn.” N’dali Fardi suggested as Areti appeared in the doorway.
Areti gasped at the sight before her, and the chill that bit deeply into the exposed flesh of her neck and face. A soft blue illumination filled the interior of the command center, sourced by recessed light bars set into the edges. The mass of cables on the exterior congealing into braided cords intertwined upon themselves, appearing as a massive web of connectivity terminating toward the head of the canted table a human was lying upon. She walked cautiously forward, her focus intent upon the ebony skinned woman lying prone before her. A black skintight body suit wrapped around her figure, layered, Areti imagined, to keep out the cold, exposed only her head. The massive web of cables terminating in a fabricated crown that encircled her head.
“I will trade you Areti Sigurn, a truth for a truth.” The woman’s voice continued to emanate through a comm device set somewhere Areti could not identify, whether the mouth moved or not she could not be sure.
‘How easy it would be to slay this woman’ Areti thought, end the suspense and complete Audy’s mission for him. But she knew he would rather fail the task then bypass an opportunity to obtain answers even his own Empire was keeping from him. Areti peeled her eyes from the prone woman and grabbed a chair that was tethered to the wall beside her. “Deal….N’dali Fardi.”
“So, we begin on equal footing.” N’dali responded.
Areti couldn’t contain the humor she found in the statement, “I doubt that highly.”
“Reasonable response.”
“N’dali, what is Keno?” Areti launched right into their agreement.
“An academy by definition, yet a prison in reality.” N’dali was straightforward. “Force sensitive younglings, children...taken from their homes, their families by force. We were subjected to behavioral...how should I phrase this….adjustments upon arrival and continuing through acquiescence.”
Areti had anticipated the truth, equating it to something more horrific than the explanation she had been handed in the past, but was stymied in her thoughts at N’dali’s considerably basic description. The fact that she had also included ‘we’ in the statement did not escape her notice.
“Those that refused to comply were terminated.” The crackling of N’dali’s voice suggested to Areti that the woman had either witnessed the stated action, or worse, had been a part of it. N’dali continued, “there were three of us that had displayed an aptitude for logistics and analytics, as I am sure there were others on Symphar and Danth, my own basis, a working knowledge stemming from practical experience overseeing my father’s books and ledgers, but that is irrelevant.” N’dali paused for a moment as she shifted her body, Areti unsure if the path of the conversation or simply comfort was the reason but waited patiently for the Thebeskan to continue. “I would describe the goings on as atrocity had I not found out what the Empire had done with our families, but that doesn’t answer your question.”
Areti mumbled something incoherent to herself then paused briefly before a thought congealed, “in fact it does Fardi. The working understanding, we had, spoke of the entire family of the Force sensitive youngling or child to have taken up residence.” She could not hide her suspicion that she was being misled.
“I have no motive beyond the truth Areti Sigurn. Rest assured that if you answered that question any differently you would currently be returning to Sylde. I do not mince words.” N’dali said, her tone deliberate and working the delicacy of her native accent.
“You are saying that was not the case?” Areti asked, ready to rise from the chair.
N’dali let a mocking chuckle escape, “Not only was that not the case, but our families were also executed for harboring unregistered children.”
Areti’s mouth dropped open in genuine shock as her mind twisted sickly images through her imagination, all of which causing her stomach to churn. She looked down at her feet briefly, “unregistered…” she mumbled.
“Yes. Unregistered. Why do you think your Empire instituted chain coding Areti?”
Areti was sure it wasn’t for the protection of the civilians of the galaxy but found it farfetched to assume the process was developed for the purposes N’dali claimed.
“Areti, Force sensitivity is a tangible equation, held in base DNA by certain proteins and enzymes. Why do you think each Code along the Chain has an M count notation? It can be measured within the smallest drops of our blood.”
Areti shook her head; the information was already too much. “It is advantageous to your agenda, I am sure, to say such things. You’ll understand if I have a challenging time believing this.”
“The choice will always be yours Areti.” N’dali said, Areti snapping her head up to gaze upon the woman on the table.
“Truth isn’t a choice.” Areti said quickly, willing to stand firm on the assertion.
N’dali was quiet for a long moment before responding, “Everything is a choice.”
Areti considered the response, coming to terms with the truth within.
“What is the Imperial focus on Ambria?” N’dali asked, alerting Areti that it was her turn for truth.
“I do not know.” Areti said honestly, “we were in the process of trying to identify that ourselves. Several ships were traced from their signatures surrounding Raada, one of which suggested an Ambrian terminus.” Areti was hesitant to continue knowing full well she had already breached several clauses within her security level. She quickly analyzed the wisdom of full disclosure, at least to the best of her knowledge, versus the fragments of reality vagueness brought with it. She had already committed treason she reminded herself, “My Director…” “Audenhoen.” N’dali interrupted to clarify.
“...Audenhoen” Areti continued, eyeing the Thebeskan more out of curiosity than surprise, “believes there was much more to the charred remains of the settlement your friends destroyed than meets the eye.”
“What friends? The settlement? I don’t understand.” N’dali felt out of place with her lack of knowledge.
Areti raised an eye in alarm, ‘she didn’t know?’ She thought to herself. The implausibility of separate entities had never entered her mind. If that were the case, how many more were out there? Of course, it would make sense that not everyone was willing to give all in sacrifice to a Rebel cause, there were cases to be made within her own Empire to that end. ‘But that is where the similarities ended’ she told herself. Her Empire reigns in the chaos by placing order as its highest priority. Then again, she thought, sometimes it did take a heavy hand to maintain that order, the revolving turnaround within Imperial High Command was proof enough of that. Could that even be related to Isard’s ploy to assert control over the whole of Imperial intelligence? She was losing her focus as her mind wandered down avenues of thought but felt compelled to heed her instinct and connect all the recent events on some level.
“I was only aware of the graves Areti; I have no knowledge of anything beyond that.” Areti heard N’dali say as her focus returned to the conversation. ‘The graves.’ “Why bury Imperial dead? I was there. It must have taken hours to dig those.” She asked.
“Because Areti, the Empire would not.” N’dali responded.
Areti knew the truth of it, they would have been purged through an airlock, perpetually suspended in the cold dead of space for eternity. She looked down at the floor again, finding increased reason, if even through this brief discussion, to despise the uniform that clung to her body. She would keep that information from N’dali for the time being of course, but kept the detail ready as they continued down this path.
“What is Aborah?” Areti asked, seizing the chance to ask the question she had no answers for at all.
N’dali smiled within, “Now we can delve into the real reason you are here Areti.” N’dali took her time before continuing, adjusting herself on the table. “For eight months I have tried finding that very information, with only answers of vintage detail yet I know the truth is something much broader.” She quickly considered arresting the neural device from its link at either side of her head but dismissed the idea just as quickly as her continued connectivity to the innumerable objectives synchronous with her current dialogue were just as vital. “Areti, Aborah ‘was’ an island land mass in the Rousaen Sea distant from Harnaidan by several hundred kilometers on Muunilinst. It was owned at one time by DeMask Holdings and frequently visited by the firm’s director Hego DeMask as the travel authority ledgers prove. The island was lost to a devastating natural event, as reported by the Muunilinst geological survey, around the same time Hego DeMask mysteriously passed away from natural causes.” N’dali finished her recitation.
Areti tore the band in her hair free, letting her straight black hair fall about her cheeks as she screwed up her face in earnest thought. “That was a little over thirty years ago.” She said aloud, for both of their benefits, although she knew N’dali would have that calculated down to the day. “I do not understand any relevance to the present it may possess.”
“Nor do I. For eight months I have been trying to find more information to no avail.” N’dali agreed. “There are common threads or links to either the business conglomerate or it’s director but never involving all three elements simultaneously, accept on Mustafar.”
Areti let her head rise in response, her features contorting into confusion at the statement. Her mind wandered directly to the reported destruction of Lord Vader’s Citadel at the hands of Rebel insurgents. “Lord Vader’s Cita….” Areti began her question but was cut off abruptly by N’dali’s severe tone.
“No. That was at Sylde’s command Areti. I was there.” N’dali said sharply, her inflections filled with passion. “I speak of the mineral extraction facilities that sprawled the entirety of the planet, all owned by DeMask Holdings.”
The admission of her presence surprised Areti, but the mention of the conglomerate proved more intriguing, “I fail to see how that relates to Aborah I am afraid.” She said, stalling for more information.
“It was at a monitoring station at one of these facilities that we were able to extract a hidden file labeled as such.” N’dali divulged. “I was able to further extract portions of a debriefing from the Jedi archives which took place in that exact location almost thirty years ago, hinting that not all is as it seems Areti.”
“Jedi archives?” Areti’s brow rose in alarm but then remembered where she was as she gazed again upon the crisscrossing cables and the motionless form of the Thebeskan on the table before her. “Your inside the Imperial networks as we speak?”
“I have been for quite some time Areti.”
Areti could only nod slightly to express her admiration and decided to remain on topic as a result, “The relation then to the file and the debriefing?”
N’dali, again smiling within, found reason to chuckle briefly, another rare turn from her otherwise normal impassive personality, “the debriefing involved both Anakin Skywalker and his apprentice at the time, Ahsoka Tano, and their collective efforts in saving Force sensitive younglings from an unknown fate. The file proved completely corrupted save several entries mentioning both Force sensitivity and children.” N’dali was speaking faster as, through speech, the connections were almost making themselves. “Keno and the like, in my estimation, were staging grounds, or initial steps, in whatever the overall objective was….or is I am afraid.”
Areti adopted the confused expression again as she slowly rose from the chair, crossing her arms before her chest and began pacing at the foot of the table. “This doesn’t make sense N’dali, or add up…..Although.” She trailed off wagging a finger in the air, “Audy mentioned something intriguing at the time I brought up the subject,” she turned to face N’dali, “he specifically said Project Aborah.” She admitted to herself as she brought a hand to her chin. “Why would any information about Keno, or Symphar for that matter, be readily available, yet nothing exists at all of Aborah outside of conjecture?”
“Areti…” N’dali began, taking time with her words, “Children weren’t being placed in those facilities, they were abducted and forcefully made to watch the executions of their families before being herded aboard transports and dumped off at those sites. Some things require public knowledge to maintain appearances. However, the truth of those facilities, to this day remain a secret.”
Areti stopped her pacing abruptly and turned to N’dali, “clearly it was no secret to your Rebels.”
“Of course it wasn’t.” N’dali almost scoffed, “the secret will never be kept from those in pursuit of truth. No. The secret is kept from within Areti.” She finished to the tune of sharp hisses and a low whining sound complimented with a gaseous suppression surrounding her head. Areti stepped back as the device around the Thebeskan’s head began to rise and the table inclined slowly before N’dali opened her eyes to look upon her for the first time. “The secret is kept from you and Imperials like you Areti Sigurn.” N’dali said as she removed a U-shaped implement from a small shelf aside the table. It was black as night, small blue butterflies imprinted on the exterior. She watched as N’dali placed the device over the small red and blue flashing lights set into the matrix at her temples and heard a chiming beep as the device came online, N’dali’s eyes rolling to the back of her head for a few seconds. Areti could only continue watching as the Thebeskan’s lips twitched slightly before her eyes returned to normal, a small smile spreading across the lips once the spasms ceased. “Every objective needs a public face Areti. Keno was exactly that, your professed knowledge of it proves me correct. You recite only what you’ve been told. Aborah is something more. It is something more sinister and….” She paused as she wiped sweat from her forehead, “It is anything but Imperial.”
Areti understood many things in the seconds that followed. She understood, as her gaze drifted to the Thebeskan’s body, that the suit wrapped around her was barely a covering at all, that the process required intense amounts of cooling to keep her body from overheating. Being in closer proximity to N’dali as she ascended from the table brought with it a notable rise in temperature. It was then that her trust in the Thebeskan was cemented, knowing few would subject themselves to such degree in the name of truth. With her sentiment in tow, she relaxed her body, the tension of nerves on edge releasing themselves in the process. N’dali’s final statement resounded through her thoughts as she moved toward the chair once again and crossed a leg underneath her as she sat down, placing an elbow upon her knee and resting her chin in her cupped hand, “If not Imperial, then what?”
“The question is too broad to quantify Areti. There is logic in gathering Force sensitive beings into a collective, but only through the lens of what I had witnessed. Certain aspects of our abilities where honed, whereas others were beaten into submission and cast away through need of survival.”
Areti returned her thought to the cue she had picked up when the topic of Keno was initially broached, “You were there...Keno I mean,” she stammered to clarify, “I should understand, then, that you are Force sensitive?”
N’dali exhausted a rare sigh as she looked to the floor, her hands crossing before her abdomen, “I was. That was taken from me when this was installed.” She replied, bringing up a hand to tap a finger on her implant. “The process escapes me, yet I do not believe the result was intended, merely an effect.”
Unsure how to respond, Areti felt both shame and a measure of compassion for the Thebeskan. “I am sorry N’dali.”
N’dali brought her gaze up to meet Areti’s, “you have no reason to be.” She said with another rarity as a slight smile creased her features. “I have been able to ascend the transgression with a pronounced ability to utilize their intentions well beyond the scope of its design.”
Areti flashed a smile of her own in response, “That, N’dali Fardi, is an understatement.” She meant it in ways words could never express as several thoughts began to intertwine in her subconscious. ‘This all began when we amalgamated our findings on Coruscant’ she thought in concert with the topic, “you have been monitoring us for quite some time haven’t you?”
“Months.” N’dali seemed pensive Areti thought and unsure why the description came to mind. “What is it?”
N’dali squinted her eyes in thought as her gaze drifted outward with no general focus intended, “the order Audenhoen is chasing. You have succeeded in completing his task, but it is the directive that forced your hands that concerns me.”
“It came from the Directors office.” Areti explained.
N’dali cast her a nonchalant eye roll and continued staring into the Chalactan’s eyes until the woman felt the ridiculousness of her statement resound through a shoulder shrug and the flush of embarrassment. “All right, I don’t believe that either. By whom then?”
“Exactly Areti, whom.” N’dali sounded like a scolding parent to her own ears as she watched Areti squirm under the weight of the question.
Areti began swimming names through her thoughts, those that she knew were above the Director’s level of command, but also those that delved into multiple spheres of influence. Most of the names her mind conjured were consumed in the fiery fate of DS1. ‘Tagge’ came to mind, “Grand General Tagge perhaps. He was present during Audenhoen’s briefing.”
“So was administrator Greejatus Areti, and Tagge has since perished.” N’dali responded.
Although Areti knew ‘how’ N’dali possessed the information, she could not help internally staggering at the depth of the seed N’dali had planted, “Tagge is dead?”
“As is Cylo, on Kuat and very recent.” N’dali offered, “by Vader’s hand.”
Areti paused at the implication and how it relayed to the current topic of conversation. “That leaves Greejatus.” She said with a hand rubbing her brow.
“Whom only answers to two individuals. Sate Pestage and Sheev Palpatine.” N’dali said.
“Your suggesting this begins with the Emperor and his cabal N’dali.” Areti said, dropping her hands to her lap in frustration.
“And ends with them if we aren’t able to discover the truth.”
Areti shot her eyes open as a thought flashed to life, “Ysanne Isard...this isn’t her ploy is it?” A statement that evolved into question.
N’dali raised her hands in submission, her palms raised, “I do not believe so, but I am one person. There is sufficient circumstance to suggest as much but obvious does not always equate truth.”
“Well, the obvious strikes me as a plausible beginning. I do not believe Director Coburn complicit, but it is quite ironic that both Audy and I are out of the picture as it were.” Areti said, sliding her hand down her face as exasperation began to take hold.
“Now you are beginning to think like a Rebel Areti Sigurn.” N’dali said with a wink. “Truth can be difficult to digest but only in its opening salvo, once it is seeded and takes root, you find every reason to cultivate it.
“Audy is in trouble.” Areti said suddenly dropping her feet to the flooring, her expression horrified.
“He is not Areti. The Empire responds openly to plausible deniability, which is why he has your data pad.” N’dali began with a simple yet gentle comfort in her tone, “they will dissect its contents, scrutinize its memory, and find no trace of my intrusions. What they will find is Sylde’s resident AI withholding information from your investigations at which point they will concede to plausible deniability once again.” She finished tapping her implant yet again. “You on the other hand…”
“Have made my choice N’dali. If I return I will be executed for treason.” She said, the horror gone from her features, replaced with sorrow. “I understand what you meant. Everything is indeed a choice.”
“The one facing you now will be your most important.” N’dali began, reaching deep within her core to resuscitate her suppressed emotion. “If you choose to return I will not impede. You will be tried for treason, yes, but the outcome may not be death.” She wanted to sound hospitable, compassionate, and sympathetic as thoughts of Ahsoka flashed through her memory. The same traits exhibited by the Togruta when N’dali herself was but a child, “If you choose to stay, we can find this truth together Areti Sigurn.”
Areti was silent for a long time as she imposed scenarios into her thoughts to glean any information she could over the outcomes and how they affected both her person and her pursuits, finding that sometimes the two were not synchronous. If she chose to stay, if she was right about Isard, then it was imperative that Audenhoen not only convince others that she was acting alone but that he challenge for the position guaranteed him by the success of his mission. If she chose to leave...she would spend the rest of her days pleading for others to pursue the opportunity she had lying before her now. “Sometimes choice leaves itself lacking viable options.”
“That is only because you have allowed the seeds of truth to take root.” N’dali responded.
“Is there any way of contacting Audy? Two things need to happen N’dali if I choose to remain with you. We need to die, and he needs to be serviced the credit for it.” Areti asked while stating the peremptory.
N’dali smiled brightly, a genuine and full retreat from her usual expressionless nature. “Killing us will be the easy part. Finding a way to communicate without implicating him will serve a challenge but one I am sure we can collaborate toward.” The smile left her features for a moment before she continued, “Areti, understand the difference between truth and trust if we are to proceed any further. To work cohesively, I will need to trust your motives, ambitions, and drive without question. That will work reciprocally.”
“I do N’dali, understand the difference.” Areti said with an honest outpouring of sincerity.
“Good.” N’dali stated, her stoic expression restored once again, “because we are going to Ambria. Our trust begins now.”