Security seemed higher than usual when Xanin and Zevon arrived on Coruscant again. After a long wait at the security check they both managed to get to the apartments across the street from the Hotel Reesbon. Zevon set up the equipment while Xanin passed their location to a messenger who was to take the information to Akarnah at the Reesbon. Shortly after, Akarnah contacted their temporary base with a report.Br>
"So Tyker said she was watching you carefully when you were observing her room." Xanin said, questioningly.
"Yeah, she seemed to know that I was more than I appeared to be. She had a question for every action I took." Akarnah replied. Xanin could hear the frustration in her voice.
"Where is she now?" Xanin asked to move on.
"When I checked a few moments ago she was still in her room. I say she'll come out soon for supper though. It's been a while since she ate last." Akarnah answered.
"Alright. When she does leave see if you can investigate a little bit. She if her datapad is connected to the central system. Zevon is working on hacking into that database now," Xanin instructed. He didn't wait for Akarnah to reply, knowing she understood what to do, and turned off his comlink. Xanin turned to see how Zevon was progressing.
"Xanin, I got into the database." Zevon slid the datapad over to Xanin " She must have her datapad hooked up because I was able to access her message archives. There's a list of messages sent and received through this datapad in the past month."
Xanin began looking through the messages for some clue to what Katha's mission was and where she might be going. Most of the messages were about Imperial meetings and various memos. One message stuck out; an invitation to a governor's private party. "Zevon, come look at this."
Zevon swung his chair around to see. "It's a party invitation . . . What about it?"
"I think this is why she's here. Can you track the source and get a list of everyone these were sent to?"
"Sure. I can try at least" Zevon shrugged and pulled the datapad in front of him.
"Good, when you find it try to get us into that party."
Zevon looked at him. "Why?"
"Because I have a plan." Xanin picked up a drink and left to another room to contact Eagle.
Eagle was enjoying his dinner when one of his officers entered the room.
"Sorry to disturb you, Sir, but you have an urgent message." Eagle turned toward his holoreceiver. He noticed the officer was still standing at the door.
"Thank you, Aaron, dismissed." Aaron saluted and left. Eagle keyed the message. Xanin's hologram appeared. "What is it, Xanin?" He saw Xanin smirk at his agitation.
"So sorry to disturb you." Xanin said with an edge of sarcasm, "but it was necessary to tell you my plan." Eagle waited for him to continue, "Here's what we're going to do . . ."
As soon as Xanin finished talking to Eagle he went back to see if Zevon had found anything. When he walked into the room, Zevon was relaxing in a chair and grinning widely to himself. Xanin intentionally coughed and silently laughed when Zevon sat up straight immediately.
"I'm finished," he said handing the datapad to Xanin and still beaming. Xanin looked down the list to make sure Katha was still on there. "Oh, I searched the backgrounds of some of the less prominent people on the list. These two looked sufficient," Zevon said. He reached past Xanin to press a key on the datapad. Two pictures with information under them popped up. Zevon pointed to the one on the left. "This is Jandar Pelkalin. He is a small businessman from Corellia."
Xanin stared at the holograph. " Good . . . very good. Where is he staying?"
"Uh . . ." Zevon scrolled through the man's information "he is staying at the Talon's Claw and so is this other guy, Erbin Senacke. That makes our task a lot easier to achieve."
"Yes, now let's get started."
Eagle contacted Oridin and Perin as soon as he finished talking to Xanin again. "Tikeris here." Perin's voice answered.
"Perin, this is Eagle, can you both hear me?" Eagle asked.
Perin paused a moment, apparently switching the comlink "Yeah, go ahead."
"Alright, I've talked to Xanin again. I told you what the plan is already. He wants your help in getting into the Governor's party. Both of you will pair off with one of them. I think it would be best if you team with Xanin, Perin. You will both capture a man they have chosen to replace at the party. Make sure your weapons are on stun and if anything feels odd to you get out of there immediately. Now let me talk to Oridin, Perin." There was another pause as Oridin took the comlink and switched it back.
"Yeah?"
"Oridin, I want you to stick close to Zevon and find out everything you possibly can about what they want with Katha. I've sent you some information about her to help you separate fact from fiction. If you find out anything important contact me immediately." Eagle waited for an acknowledgement.
"Ok. Don't worry Eags. I'll make sure little miss Imp doesn't get into any trouble." Oridin assured him.
"I was afraid you would say that" Eagle sighed.
Akarnah slipped into Katha's room when she finally left for supper late in the evening. She quickly surveyed the area. No recording devices, she thought. She walked around, careful to avoid disturbing anything. In the bedroom she noticed the drawer where Katha had stuffed everything before was cracked open. Akarnah slowly opened the drawer and examined the contents. Several disks and a vibroblade were among the supplies in the drawer. Katha's lightsaber was no where to be seen. The girl must have taken her weapon with her, Akarnah concluded. Akarnah carefully shut the drawer again, not noticing that it hit something which caused it to remain more open than Katha had left it.
Katha returned to her room with a meager dinner. This was her only chance to eat really good food for awhile and all she felt like getting was mush. She noticed something was different as soon as she stepped into the bedroom. The drawer! It seemed to be more cracked than it had been when she left. Quickly she dropped to the floor and removed the drawer from its casement. Luckily her secret box was still there. Even so she pulled it out to check, opening the box carefully. Her lightsaber laid safely inside. Katha sighed with relief and returned the box and the drawer to their places.
After finishing her dinner, Katha reviewed her mission files for the party. Her alias was Lady Brigit Nashira Darkfyre, a lady from Epona. This will be an easy part to portray, she thought. Her mother was Eponian and had taught her and her older sister all of the customs and traditions of Epona. She looked over her files on Epona to refresh her early education. The hardest part would be perfecting the proper diplomatic hairstyle on her own. While Katha's hair was quite long compared to the other women she knew in the Empire, it only fell to mid back, where most noble Eponians her age had much longer hair. The proper hairstyle for such an appearance as the Governor's party would be hard to make without enough hair. I'll just have to select an appropriate hairstyle that is doable, she decided.
When she finished her research, it was very late and Katha decided to get some rest. She changed her clothes and unwound her hair. Before she even combed her hair out she was falling asleep.
The next morning Oridin and Perin arrived early at a building near the Talon's Claw where they were to meet Xanin and Zevon. Oridin surveyed the area and turned to Perin "Remember what Eagle said. Keep your blaster on stun and get out if anything seems odd."
"Don't worry, Oridin. This will be the easiest mission we've had in a while.
"I'm not worried, just - " Oridin cut himself off as he felt a presence approach. "They're here." He whispered to Perin. Perin nodded back as Xanin and Zevon walked into the room. Oridin assessed the two men. Xanin was a good bit shorter than him but his dark hair and features gave him an intimidating aire. Zevon, on the other hand had the same shaggy blond hair and hazel eyes as Perin. They looked so much alike, even Oridin was having a hard time telling them apart. Luckily, Zevon was wearing darker clothes than Perin. Finally Xanin spoke.
"We can't all enter Talon's Claw the same way, so I will take one of you through the back entrance."
All present nodded and Oridin moved toward Zevon showing he had made his choice. Xanin looked at Zevon before he and Perin headed for the back entrance. Oridin followed Zevon as they made their way to the roof of their meeting building. He saw a small, but seemingly sturdy plank connected the two towering buildings. He allowed Zevon to cross the plank before him, then they both walked to the middle of the roof. Skylights were scattered over ever corridor. Zevon signaled Oridin toward one of them. They worked together to pry the transparisteel open and jumped through to the hallway below. Zevon pulled out his blaster and Oridin did the same. They paused at the corner to see if anyone was in the hallway. Then they slipped to the door of Jandar Pelkalin's room. Not wanting to draw attention to themselves by using blasters to get in, Zevon used a dagger to break the locking mechanism on the door open. When they burst into the room, a man Oridin recognized as Jandar Pelkalin jumped out of his seat in surprise. Oridin darted to the other side of the entranceway as he sensed Jandar drawing his blaster and firing a quick shot. The shot whizzed past Zevon and he reflexively fired back, stunning the man with a single blue bolt. Oridin picked the limp man up under his arms and hauled him to the lift at the opposite end of the hallway. Zevon watched as they went for unsuspecting passerbyers to make certain there were no unnecessary witnesses to take care of later. By time the lift reached the roof, Zevon had already contacted a pilot to pick them up. Oridin signaled for Zevon to help him and they both lifted Pelkalin into the craft. Then they both boarded and the pilot sped away.
Meanwhile Xanin and Perin had entered the Talon's Claw through a back entrance. They took the service lift to the floor where Erbin Senacke was staying. Xanin used a special cutting device to silently unlock and open the room's door. Perin and he both lifted their blasters as they entered the businessman's room. When they burst inside, Erbin, caught by surprise, lunged for his nearby blaster. Xanin reacted quickly and slammed Erbin's hand against the wall with the butt of his blaster. The man grabbed his hand in pain and Perin took the opportunity to hit him with a stun blast. He walked over to help Xanin lift the man up. They hid him in a laundry cart they found sitting in the hall and headed for the lift. As they were pushing the cart into the lift Xanin heard a faint blaster shot. I hope they aren't running into any problems up there, he thought as he glanced to see Perin's reaction to the shot. He seemed not to hear it. Oh well, no time to find out. They took the lift down to the back entrance. A speeder was waiting for them. Xanin helped Perin put Erbin into the speeder and discarded the laundry cart. They both climbed into the speeder and sped off.
