"Xanin they instructed us to stay in the ship till they come get us. I really don't think it would be wise to test their patience." Zevon pleaded, trying to black Xanin from opening the hatch.
"Fine, but I need to contact Tyker!" Xanin said impatiently.
" Just wait Xanin, you don't want to blow our cover by revealing our plan."
"Ok, I'll just check in so they won't send a search party after us." Xanin agredd reluctantly. He was about to contact Tyker when a voice crackled over the ship's comm unit.
"Royal Savage, your crew is cleared to proceed out of your ship. Officers will escort you to Eagle."
"Acknowledged." Zevon said into the comm. They opened the hatchway and walked down the ramp. A group of officers were lined up ready to escort them. Xanin and Zevon followed without speaking. They left the docking bay area and walked through the corridors of the ship to a meeting room. Zevon looked about the room. It's décor wasn't like anything he had seen in an Imperial made ship. It was slightly brighter. He looked over toward Xanin as their escorts stopped at the door and ordered them to go in. The door automatically shut behind them and the noise made both Zevon and Xanin jump.
There seemed to be no one in the room but a voice said, "Please, be seated." Xanin did not start like Zevon did, he sat down calmly, so Zevon did the same. A man seemed to appear at the other end of the room at the other end of the room, but Zevon saw that his chair had just blended into the wall. " I understand from my old friend, Cauley, that you are in need of my services. He didn't make clear what exactly you had in mind." Eagle said, flexing his fingers. He stared solemnly waiting for an answer.
"Well . . ." Xanin swallowed nervously " There's this man from my home planet who wants me to fetch his daughter and return her to him." Eagle raised an eyebrow at them.
"You want me to help you take some man's daughter home? I've never heard such a crazy idea. This is a free galaxy know, well for the most part anyway. Besides why would you need my help? She's just some little rich girl right?" Eagle asked. Zevon glanced at Xanin then answered quickly, afraid Xanin would say too much.
"She's not just some rich girl exactly, she's an Imperial."
"Whoa wait." Eagle said quickly, "Before I involve myself in kidnapping an Imperial outside of the battle field, tell me exactly who this girl is."
"Katha Sagara." Xanin replied, despite Zevon's covert objections. Eagle sat forward quickly as if he had just received a frightening surprise. Yet he was almost laughing when he spoke.
"Katha?! Hah! No wonder you didn't give Cauley any details. But . . . uh I still don't see why she needs to go back or why I need to help you."
"We have reason to believe that she is a threat to the New Republic." Xanin replied.
" Katha? . . . I mean she does her job well and everything but she's never openly threatened anyone unless she had to. The whole Empire is a threat to the Republic, why would she make a difference?" Xanin gestured to Zevon, who pulled out a datapad. He plugged it into the table's projection system and an image appeared before them. Xanin took the data pad and typed in a code.
"As you can see from this profile, Katha is moving up fast is the chain of command of her order. She is bound to have tons of support because the roster is full." Xanin said highlighting parts of the image.
"How can that mean she's gaining support. Look at the activity charts to order is almost dead." Eagle pointed out.
"True, but it's regained some activity since she became XO. Also there's information the Imperial Databanks didn't show. Stuff that Katha apparently hasn't told her superiors. Before joining the Empire Katha briefly ran around with some Ghost Legion pirates. She gained most of her training from them, which adds to her ruthless nature." Xanin continued.
"Ruthless nature? I don't know where you're getting all of this garbage from. Katha doesn't have a ruthless nature." Eagle scoffed.
"On the contrary, Eagle. She is known for her betrayal," Xanin insisted, emphasizing betrayal, "I know she will betray again."
"Unless you can prove all of this I have no reason to believe you." Eagle replied.
"Of course I can prove it." Xanin said with a smirk. Then he opened a file on the datapad and play an audio recording.
"It had to be this way. If I left no one would notice anyway. And maybe . . . I'll get some money out of it too . . . I dealt with some pirates, and now I'm working near here -" Xanin cut the recording off. Then he looked at Eagle for his reaction. Eagle flexed his fingers and concentrated on some unseen spot on the table.
"So she's going to betray the Imperials," Eagle pause "but . . . why would I care if she does that? It would just hurt the Empire, not the Republic."
"On, but it will, my friend." Xanin said, forcing himself not to smile, "Katha made a deal to betray the Imps with a Rebel. This Rebel is going to provide a payment for her. At the same time, she is working a double cross against the Republic."
"I see . . . " Eagle said. He drummed his fingers on the table. "I can spare a small force of men, but you will have to set up everything yourself. I will only provide minimal assistance."
"Very well. That will not be a problem." Xanin replied. He signaled to Zevon, who began packing up the datacards and datapad. "Now, we know that Katha is going to Coruscant, so Zevon and I are going to return there. As soon as we find out exactly where she is then I will contact you with how we are going to proceed. Can you have a team ready and on Coruscant by tomorrow?"
"Yes, I already have some people in mind." Eagle answered.
"Good, and I already have access to a few ysalamiri, so we will be able to use them if we need to." Xanin commented.
"Here is a contact number." Eagle said, handing Xanin a datacard, "Now, how is Cauley going to get the rest of his payment?"
"I can wire it to an account for him." Xanin replied. Eagle directed him to a datapad and Xanin made the transaction. He and Zevon were immediately escorted back to their ship. They left the docking bay as soon as they could and headed back towards Coruscant.
Tyker jumped when the comm beeped suddenly. He once again picked up the unit and said "Spince here."
"Spince, this is Kintara. How is the weather?" Xanin's voice asked, carefully emphasizing the code words. Tyker pause a brief moment to make certain the line was clear.
"Bright and sunny, Xanin." he signaled back.
"Good, what can you tell me?" Xanin asked vaguely.
"The Kat is in the golden city." Tyker replied in their careful, but quite ridiculous code.
"Where?" Xanin asked.
"nobseeR east." Tyker returned, carefully pronouncing the word nobeeR, "Be careful, the Kat was watching Chu'dak closely."
"Thank you" Xanin said and cut off the comm. Tyker immediately turned to contact Akarnah for an update.
"So what did Tyker have for you?" Zevon asked as Xanin replaced the comm unit.
"She's on Coruscant as we speak, at the Hotel Reesbon." Xanin replied, entering something into his datapad. "The Imps must have her there for some undercover op., because these records Tyker sent have no one under her name listed." He handed Zevon the datapad. Zevon tried a few searches.
"Maybe she's listed under a code name. We could search the rooms for a list of people fitting her profile." He said as he typed in some keywords. What wing did Tyker say she was in?"
"East" Xanin answered absently. Zevon fiddled with the search fields some more, a look of concentration etched on his face.
"Ah, there! I knew that would be easier. Not that it really matters, but her alias is Lady Brigit Nashira Darkfyre." Zevon showed Xanin the datapad screen.
"Great. When we land and get to our headquarters I want you to hack into the Reesbon's database." Xanin instructed, "I'm pretty sure they require guests to plug their datapads in to receive messages by since it saves the hotel money on communications and security equipment."
Eagle had called together a mission team. Oridin noticed that this one was very small. He looked over at Perin as the last few members arrived. Only he and Perin were still wondering what they were doing. The other members had separated into their respective groups to receive the final briefing. Oridin turned his attention toward Eagle as the last person took his seat.
"All right does everyone whose received their assignments know exactly what's required of them?" Eagle said, calling the group to order. A few people mumbled yes's while others just nodded. Oridin glanced at Perin again. Perin just sat patiently awaiting his orders. "Good," Eagle replied, "Now, Oridin and Perin, you have the most demanding tasks to fulfill. You two, along with the planetside group," He indicated a small group of three, "will actually be on Coruscant. Oridin, only you and Perin are working directly with the contacts. The rest of you group will serve as transportation and emergency backup should you need it. - Is that sufficient?"
"Sure, Perin and I can handle everything else." Oridin replied.
"Good, let's go." Eagle said, closing his file. Oridin signaled to Perin and they both went over to Eagle.
"So…Eags, what exactly are we doing with these contacts on Coruscant?" Oridin asked.
"I haven't been informed yet, but something is so strange about their plan I really need you two to investigate. However, Oridin, you'll do most the deep searching." Eagle replied, "One of the contacts in Zevon." He looked over at Perin. Oridin exchanged a glance with Perin. Then finally Perin broke the silence.
"I haven't seen my brother in years, sir, but I will make sure he does not become a problem to our mission."
"I'm glad to hear that, Perin." Eagle sighed," Both of you tread carefully. I really sense something strange about this Xanin guy."
