Ellri & Fallen | Various NPCs (Rin Eris, Jessa Fallon, Leith & Janali Raptis, Moda Cath & Tyria Lanith)

The treaty of Coruscant had been a pretty hard blow to the republic, that much Leith Raptis sure felt. However, seeing that he was deep undercover in the Sith Empire on behalf of the SIS, he could not exactly show it. The mood in the empire was pretty mixed, he gathered. Some were relieved and pleased at having tricked the republic so thoroughly. Others did not want the war to end. It was hard to figure out what he could and could not report back. Even harder was the fact that he had to be extra-careful about when to report.

He stepped out of his office, walking casually back into the kitchen of his home in Kaas city. It wasn’t a bad life, infiltrating the Empire. Sure was a step up from his hovel back on Coruscant. But nothing could shake his loyalty to the republic. He had joined the SIS to get out of the lower levels of Coruscant. Better them than the army. It had never been hard for him to assume roles, but no one was infallible, which was the reason the SIS had caught him in the first place. He’d been an expert con-artist, doing jobs for all sorts of low-lives. When they offered him the choice of ‘serve or die’ after they caught him trying to mimic a republic army quartermaster to steal a shipment of assault weaponry, he didn’t have much of a choice. Seeing as he was human and an expert actor, he was one of pretty few agents capable of reliably infiltrating the capital of the Empire. They sent him through three months worth of lessons just to get the imperial accent right, as well as a number of other classes, then sent him on his way with no more than a ‘good luck’.

Hearing movement behind him, he looked up, spotting his wife, Janali, entering the room. Unlike him, she was a true imperial. She had no idea about his origins, his double role. It was at times difficult to maintain the illusion, but then, she was a beautiful woman. He dreaded what would happen should their partnership result in a force-sensitive child. He had been taught all about what the Sith did to those. At the same time, he could not deny that he loved her. If it helped maintain his cover, he’d do anything. That’s what had made him so suitable for this mission, his willingness to go to any lengths to complete it.

She held out a datapad to him. “What’s this?” Leith asked, curious. She smiled fondly at him. “Looks like one of the Sith has managed to collect quite a few Jedi prisoners. Darth Nyiss, her name is. She’s famous for successfully turning dozens of Jedi into proper Sith. Isn’t that wonderful news?” Leith nodded on instinct, his thoughts churning. He had to report this. Had to. He grabbed the offered datapad, quickly reading through the displayed imperial notice.

[hider=Imperial notice]
[b]Sith.[/b]

Yes, I’m talking to you, Sith. I could not care less if you are a Sith Lord, an apprentice or a mere Initiate. If you think you have what it takes to serve me, then you will be in orbit above the planet Teth awaiting my arrival in one week. If I deem you useful, you might live. If I deem you worthy, I will take you under my wing and you will rise high.

The Great galactic war is over. There is peace in the galaxy. Or so some say. You and I know better. Peace is a lie.
I have recently come into possession of a number of Jedi. You will help me make proper Sith out of them. So long as you do not kill or maim them, I will let you decide how to proceed. If you do either of those two, I will kill you. I have not decided how, but you will not enjoy it, though I will.

With these Jedi turned into proper Sith, the republic will stand no chance when the war breaks out again. That is how I know that you will serve me. If you will not, then you will explain to the Dark Council why you will not serve the cause of the Empire. They might be merciful. They might even grant you a quick death.

Darth Nyiss
[/hider]

“Huh. Fancy that. I guess those prisoners won’t remain Jedi long if her reputation is as you described it.” Just then, the wall terminal chirped, reminding him that it was time to get to work in the imperial communications center. He got up, gave his wife a kiss, then left. He’d find some way to transmit the message to the right personnel from work.

~| Some time later, SIS headquarters |~

Moda Cath looked up from the terminal he was working on. “Sir. There’s a report from Agent Leith Raptis on Dromund Kaas here. Apparently some Sith is on the move with a number of Jedi prisoners, and they’re going to be at Teth in a short time. What should we do with this report?” 

Tyria Lanith, his superior, walked over and read over the report quickly before answering. “I may not like the Jedi much after the mess with Coruscant, but nobody deserves to be in the hands of the Sith long if it can be avoided. Forward it to the Jedi & include a list of available assets nearby. There’s some Jedi that have been searching for a prison ship for a while now. Maybe this is it.”

~|~

Rin had been looking over the information received, namely the details about the ship his once Master and himself had been tracking. He inhaled when his eyes gleamed over the words for what felt like the hundredth time but something, a natural knack and instinct, kept bothering him about it. At first glance it was merely sightings where the ship had passed, followed by a reported sighting of it’s landing and a missing Jedi from his post. Something that was very strange as the Jedi himself was known to be reliable when it come to his duty. Rin’s hand thrummed upon the console while his body settled backwards into his seat, his mind fixed upon the old information. His two different color eyes closed for a moment breaking the stress they felt after being sucked into the screen for too long. 

Beep...beep. His best eye opened to spot the blinking red light, his body leaned forward and clicked it with a flick of his finger. A message had emerged across the holoscreen before him. His eyes narrowed as his body tensed, his attention increased with longer he read before his voice called for Master Fallon. “Mas-” He stopped himself, then corrected his address when he had a brief lapse in remembering he had made Knight long ago. Appeared some habits died hard despite how much time passed. “Jedi Master Fallon, there’s a message from SIS. It’s about the the ship we were tracking, the Hask, and something new. It seems to have Jedi prisoners on board and it seems a Sith, a Darth Nyiss is also there.” 

When her former apprentice called, Jedi Master Jessa Fallon was a bit surprised. Ever since starting the investigation into this mystery ship [i]Hâsk[/i], they had had little success. Even knowing the trajectory, the ship had moved oddly. It was almost as if the Sith had equipped it with an extremely underpowered hyperdrive. The Ship had been spotted by the SIS above Tatooine, but there had been no reliable evidence of any Jedi prisoners on board. The single Sith trooper the SIS had captured and interrogated swore that there was no such thing as Jedi prisoners on board. Having some idea about the methods the SIS used, she doubted the trooper lied. She might not approve of the methods, but in times of war, sometimes you had to make sacrifices. 

“Yes, Rin?” she answered. “What is it?” She listened to his explanation, not commenting anything until he was done. “Curious. Darth Nyiss. That is not a name I am familiar with. Not one of the Sith involved much in the war, then.” She thought on the fact that the Sith claimed to have a number of Jedi prisoners. Using a computer, she quickly calculated out that if one were to use the same speed as the ship had used from Coruscant to Tatooine, then used the same for the journey from Tatooine to Teth, then it could very well mean it was the same ship. “Very curious…” she murmured. She turned back to her former apprentice. “There is no choice. We have to try to rescue the prisoners before it is too late. If they get to Korriban, then there is no chance of a successful rescue operation. At least Teth is neither Imperial nor Republic. The treaty will not be broken if the strike force is small enough. The Republic and our Order has plausible deniability with such a strike force.”

“Since this Darth Nyiss isn’t involved in the war aspects, what other possibilities could there be? Mainly what might require a vast number of prisoners. At least if we assume the number the SIS delivered for missing bodies equal the prisoners and this ship came from the attack. Though I doubt the younglings would be there. They would’ve been likely taken to their destination and not waste much time, unlike those much older to be Padawans and Knights, even Masters.” 

Rin paused for a moment. “Most the bodies missing where Padawans and Knights, wasn’t it?”

His fingers then clicked upon the keyboard in front of him as he pulled up the documents which had been sent soon after the clean up was underway. Often it was updated with new information about either more bodies discovered under the rubble or listed missing still. His good eyes shifted to note the names and their Jedi ranks in order to confirm his current thoughts, one he was hopeful weren’t correct. Namely that all the prisoners might’ve considered easily turned compared to a Master Jedi. His eyes darted towards Fallon for a moment, a slight worry in his expression that quickly melted away when the last of the data was pulled up. Rin lacked his combat skills after losing his eyes but his mind was still sharp as ever. 

“Alas, there were a considerable number of younglings among the missing. Though it hurts to say so, I sincerely hope they were incinerated when the Sith blew up the temple, for if the Sith took them, then I fear they stand little chance of resisting the foul teachings of the Sith. I shudder at the thought of what they are putting our captured brethren through.” Fallon sincerely hoped that the missing younglings were on board this ‘[i]Hâsk[/i]’ and that a rescue operation would be successful.

Rin didn’t say anything. In reality, he couldn’t because his thought trailed where he knew they would and shouldn’t. Back to his twin sisters and younger brother, all three force sensitive and young younglings from the Temple. His mouth felt dry as his tongue seemed to stick to the inside and instead, he stared straight ahead. However his hand tightened against his modest robes in reaction. There wasn’t a point in the regret he felt, but it didn’t stop him from feeling though he could mediate it away later. 

“Saving some Jedi is better than knowing and condoning it.” Rin’s mouth forced out, easing the stickiness and bring a slightly ease to his inner pain. “Who shall I notify, Fallon?” 

His fingers readied at the keys once again, waited for her reply before he started to contact the Jedi requested. She after all had mentioned a small strike force and he only hoped she knew who would be the best suited for the situation. 

Fallon read over the SIS message, in particular the addendum on the bottom about available forces. “There is a Thranta class vessel available in the region. All we need to do is get a small crew of Jedi to send along. I would have preferred to have a squad from Republic Special Forces, but there’s no way we can get away with their going on such a mission. There’s no chance any such squad would go anywhere without being ordered to. We’ll have to make do with whatever troopers and crew are on board, as well as a few Jedi to bolster their strength.” She did not know how much of a chance the strike would have, but a small chance is better than abandoning the prisoners altogether. “We’ll have to hurry if we’re to get the strike team there in time.”

“Yes, if you would get the ship ready, I’ll finish out this message and meet you there.” Rin answered, his fingers quickened their pace along the surface until he finished. His body already shifted upright and shoved the chair into the slot, his eyes had spotted his lightsaber not far. For a moment he hesitated. Despite the danger, he had little time to adjust to his current condition or he would’ve been on the front lines right now. Instead of his face slightly scarred and lost dimension in his one eye which affected his ability to fight well. He stared a moment longer and casted off his worry, his hand reached to snatch it off it’s resting place and latched back to its rightful place upon his belt. In a few hastened steps he was following in Fallon’s wake into the ship.