Nora stood in the dimly lit living room of her safehouse, staring at the remains of her latest assignment.
Laid out on her square coffee table were files she had been tracking for weeks.
Unknown to most folks in the Brotherhood, Nora was tasked with a top secret mission from the Dread Lord herself. Her departure from leadership and Clan Plagueis as a whole was shocking, but necessary for the protection of the mission and her cover.
Having spent months incognito, Nora was finally getting closer to solving her mission, especially after gathering some much needed evidence and loot from her latest stake out encounter.
She was one step closer to completing her mission!
A chiming ding on her personal hologram piqued her interest. Only a select few knew about her mission and had access to contact her on the device. Who could it be? She thought
Walking closer to the hologram, she noticed the familiar frame of her former Master, Alaris Jinn, flickering on screen. Shaking her head in frustration, Nora weighed her options on answering the call.
Alaris was one of the select few who knew about her expedition. Him contacting her must have been important. However, the thought of jeopardizing her work after months of progress made her pause and consider answering the call.
She had cut ties, worked her way up from the ground to get where she was, yet this one call could change everything she worked so hard to build. Months of work. What could be so important that her former Master would reach out?
Cursing under her breath, Nora pinched the bridge of her nose. It didn’t matter. Nora knew. Regardless of what progress she started here, Nora knew she had to answer. He wouldn’t be contacting her unless the situation was dire.
Touching the hologram, she accepted the call. “What is it, Jinn?” She questioned, annoyance weighted heavily in her voice.
TuQ paced back and forth nervously across the deck of the hangar as he watched the approaching shuttle bearing his Plagueian compatriots. He wasn’t afraid of the conversation to come per se, just disappointed that he had to call in the big guns to help rectify the situation. He had an immense amount of respect for Alaris–and though he wouldn’t say it to her face–and Nora as well. They were some of the most well respected and highly decorated members of the clan, if anyone could help clean up this mess, it was them.
As the boarding ramp of the shuttle descended, TuQ took a deep breath and composed himself, pulling the hem of his jacket down tight and straightening his hat. It wouldn’t help the situation for them to see him in a state of disarray. A strong wave of Dark Side energy emanated from the shuttle, so powerful even as a non-Force user TuQ himself could feel its oppressive weight. Silence fell over the room and Khrish, standing behind the Kel Dor gripped the datapad in her hands tightly as a pair of slow, deliberate footsteps descended the boarding ramp. Alaris led the pair over to the waiting Kel Dor and crossed his arms across his chest. Nora’s cold emerald eyes seemed to pierce straight into TuQ’s soul.
“Uh, thanks for coming.” TuQ nodded. “I think we should find somewhere a little more…private.”
TuQ gestured for the Chiss cadet to lead the trio of di Plagia from the room.
A lone Lambda-class shuttle blinked into existence from hyperspace. Kamjin grimaced at the sight of the Lucrehulk-class battleship. “I’ll never understand Selika’s fascination with these relics of the Clone Wars,” Kamjin muttered under his breath.
“What was that, Sir?” the pilot asked, turning her helmeted head to look at the Justicar.
“Nothing. Transmit our clearance override and land in the starboard docking bay,” Kamjin replied, as the crescent shaped ship began to fill more of the viewscreen.
As the ship began it’s docking procedure he pulled his hood up and migrated to the landing ramp. Whatever this was all about he didn’t want to spend anymore time on it than necessary. Kamjin was already halfway down the ramp as it gave it’s final hiss of depressurization and hit the deck.
“S-sir, it’s an honor to have you join us. We weren’t informed…Sir?” A young Chiss cadet stood in shock as Kamjin descended the ramp and walked right past her. “S-sir, I’d be happy to escort you if you tell me who you’re here to meet.”
Kamjin turned and headed towards the lifts. He tilted his head and smirked. “Some of them already know I’m here.” His cloak spun as he turned into a waiting lift. “I know the way,” he said as the lift closed on the dumbfounded face of the young cadet.
Kamjin stared out into the void of space. Flights of TIE fighters patrolled around the Tartarus containment station, his new home as Justicar.
He smirked as he turned to run his hands along the pristine desk in his office. I’d like to see those hoodrats steal this one, he thought gleefully to himself. So far his tenure had been free from the drama of his predecessor. The Children of Mortis seemed to be in retreat and all was well within the Brotherhood.
It was with this air of confidence that he continued his self-satisfied smirk when he comm beeped. As he casually flicked the comm on and saw the holographic portrait of his Right Hand of Justice he continued to smirk. A routine report awaited him.
“Kam, we have a problem. I’ve gotten reports that a group of Plagueians have come into possession of an object that is of critical importance to the Grand Master.”
Kamjin’s smirk failed as he leaned in closure. “What do they have?”
“Unknown. But you’ve been ordered, personally, to find them and acquire the object.”
“Fine, who’s the target?” Kamjin asked, pinching his nose. The hologram shimmered as a humanoid with a massive hat appeared. Kamjin sighed. This is going to be annoying…
Curses, shouts and the sounds of objects being thrown echoed down the halls of the Ascendancy outside the rooms generally assigned for high ranking members of Plagueis traveling aboard the clan’s flagship. A group of nervous young cadets assigned to see to the needs of visitors stood outside the Dread Lord’s Wrath’s room, each with a thin stick in hand. A young female Chiss looked down at the notably shorter stick in her hand and gulped.
“Sorry Khrish,” one of the other cadets whispered as they locked eyes. The loud thud of an object smacking the door caused the group to jump. Khrish took a deep breath before opening the door.
Inside was a scene of complete and utter chaos, a one man tornado had torn through the room, ripping it apart piece by piece leaving a trail of complete destruction. No corner of the room had been left untouched, storage crates were overturned and emptied, drawers had been fully removed from the desk and their contents dumped on the floor, even the mattress on the bed had been overturned and thrown up against the wall. The Plagueian Proconsul let out a loud expletive that made Khrish blush as he swept his hand across the desktop in anger, throwing a pile of papers into the air.
“Where the frak is it?!” he mumbled to himself, turning to see the cadet in his room for the first time.
“Uhh, sir?” she asked, doing her best to keep the nervousness from her voice. “ Can I help you find something?”
A deep sigh rattled through TuQ’s anti-ox mask as he removed his hat and wiped his brow.
“Send a priority transmission to Alaris Jinn, encode it using authorization code Eta, Alpha, Tau. Tell him I need his assistance immediately.” This conversation was not going to go well. “And tell him, I can’t believe I am about to say this, we’ll need Nora on this one too…”
Ding
Not the instant he finally leaned back in his chair and looked out over the Aliso landscape with a glass of whiskey and his steak dinner did his computer chime. There were a small handful of individuals who had this kind of access to Alaris Jinn.
EAT
“I’m trying to,” he sneered aloud.
Biometrics were too easily come back in the world of backstabbing and murder, so he keyed in his passcode and the face of a nervous cadet came across the screen. The two stared at each other for much longer than Alaris had a patience for. “Well?”
“Oh, sorry, Master Jinn. The Proconsul has requested your presence on the Ascendancy.”
Alaris took a long drink and then responded. “I’m sure he has. What has he lost this time?” The Twi'lek wasn’t aware how accurate his question was.
The young Chiss stumbled around her words. “I… don’t know, but he felt it was important enough to disturb you.”
The Twi'lek smiled. She had been coached about what to say if she ever spoke to him. “Inform the Proconsul that I shall be there with utmost haste. Does he need me to bring anything along?”
She nodded and spoke matter of factly, “Nora Olen.”
“The question was rhetorical, cadet, but consider it noted.”
“What do you mean gone?!”
Private or not, there was little chance the B2 Battledroids standing guard didn’t hear Alaris’s exclamation from inside the Proconsul’s office. “Or did I mishear what you said behind that stupid mask?” The Twi'lek knew full well why TuQ'uan had to wear the mask, but he was actively finding reasons to be hostile.
“And now, not only have you added that little bit of embarrassment to your short reign, you’ve pulled me into it. And you know full well that he will put the blame on all of us.” Alaris paced back and forth in the sizable chamber. The other two were silent while the diminuitive Twi'lek’s fury raged.
Eventually the silence was broken. “Who is ‘he’”? Nora asked.
As if her words were harbingers, the doors slid open to reveal a stately man clad in red, black, and gold. “Nora Olen, may I introduce the Justicar, Kamjin Lap'lamiz.”
“The Justicar is involved?” Nora questioned, dumbfounded. Although Nora had heard about Kamjin, she had never had the pleasure of meeting him until this very moment. Glancing at the Justicar as he stood in the doorway, Nora gave him a polite nod in response before turning back to TuQ.
TuQ froze, eyes still locked on Alaris. He had been prepared for the furious tirade from the Twi’lek, in fact, he had been patiently allowing him to vent his frustrations and get it out of his system. TuQ knew that despite whatever frustrations Alaris had about the situation and misgivings about TuQ as Proconsul, he would always step up and do what was needed for the clan. What he hadn’t been prepared for was the latest arrival to their little party. TuQ removed his hat and slowly turned to greet the Justicar. This situation had quickly gone from complicated to messy.
“My lord Justiceness…Justicey…uhh, your Honour. Sir.” TuQ was a little thrown off by the man standing before him. They hadn’t met in person, but based on the rumours he had been hearing, he expected the Justicar to look a little more…well, Hutty. “Sorry for the mess, if I had known you were coming to visit I would have cleaned up a bit more.
TuQ gestured towards the still chaotic mess of papers and crates strewn around the room.
Kamjin stepped silently across the threshold. The metallic whoosh of the doors closing behind him had a finality about them that chilled the room. He took in the chaotic scene of bric-a-brac strewn about the room.
Casually he reached over and picked up one of the papers. A generic report on droid battery life-cycles and recharge rates. He smirked, Scholae Palatinae could have sold them better batteries if they would have the courage to stop buying from Arx.
He could feel their eyes upon him. Their fear. Their anxiety. Even their…hope? Yes, that was it. Perhaps the three of them could take him if it came to it.
Better to head this off before it became more than what it needed to be. “I’m not in the habit of announcing my visits for situations like this,” Kamjin said, brushing aside a pile of data pads, papers, and a very strange looking crate before leaning back against the desk.
“The fact that you’re all gathered here together tells me you know why I’m here. Give it to me and I’ll be on my way.”
“The Justicar is here for…. The thing.” Nora proclaimed loudly, elbowing TuQ.
The sudden jab to his side startled the Kel Dor and after a moments hesitation he realized what was happening.
“Right, yeah…the thing.” He glanced around the room, briefly locking eyes with Alaris, an obviously pleading look in his eyes despite the goggles. “It’s around here somewhere.”
The Twi'lek raised his eyebrows incredulously and held back a sneer. “I was hoping an opportunity to see it myself, so I had one of my entourage take it my ship until you arrived. I was just going to head back there when you arrived.”
He motioned to TuQ'uan and Nora to follow him.
“If you’d like to remain here, your honor, we’ll have hospitality take care of you in the meantime.”
“I don’t have time for niceties. If it’s on your ship then we shall go now,” Kamjin sneered at the delay. “All of us.”
With a gesture of his fingers the door slid open and he gestured for them to walk ahead of him.
TuQ put his hat back where it belonged, on his head, and brought up the rear of the trio, glancing not so subtly over his shoulder at the Justicar following behind.
“I think you’ll be quite satisfied once we show you the item,” he called back. It wasn’t really a lie, plus, he didn’t want to add lying to the Justicar to his wrap sheet right now. He crowded close to Nora and Alaris, lowering his voice. “Look, I’m sorry I misplaced this thing, but it can’t have gotten far. We just need to find a way to distract him long enough to figure out where it is and get it back. He doesn’t need to know all the details.”
TuQ turned to face Kamjin while walking backwards and laughed nervously.
“Sorry for the poor planning, they really should have put my office closer to the shuttle hangars, right?”
“Not gotten far?” Whispering was becoming more of an issue, and while he had already covered for TuQ by lying he was just about to give up. “The turbolifts up here will take us right to the-”
“Meow?”
The entire entourage stopped, wondering if what they had heard was correct.
“Meow!”
Slowly, they all turned around to see from where the pronouncement was declared. With its ears perked up and its head tilted a fluffy being with a mouth that seemed twisted in a mischievous grin, it darted its head back and forth between the three Sith and the Proconsul. In front of it lay a leather holding pouch, about the length of a torch.
“TuQ'uan.” Alaris spoke deliberately. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Meow!” With one swift motion, the loth-cat grabbed the pouch and darted off down the corridor.
Although Nora wasn’t the one to lie directly to the Justicar, she was still somehow wrapped up in the scheme.
Now we were ALL in big trouble Nora thought to herself, as she saw the cat dart around the corridor. How were we going to explain this one? Hey… it was in the ship I guess a loth cat jumped in and… stole it? Who even had a damn Loth Cat running around? She’d leave it to TuQ to figure out something and explain.
“Damn it!” Nora cursed. “After that cat!” She declared before chasing after it.
TuQ watched the Loth Cat bound down the hall, the strap of the leather pouch gripped in its teeth. Damn Loth Cat, who even let you on this ship? New rule, no animals on board. He lifted his blaster and fired off a shot. Whizzing past the pursuing Zeltron, the bolt hit the ground just to the left of the animal forcing it to dodge down a corridor to the right.
TuQ took off at a run, blaster still in hand, next time he wouldn’t miss. As he rounded the corner he glanced down at the scorch mark across the durasteel floor, someone else could clean that up, he had another mess to deal with right now.
Kamjin shook his head. How in the world were these people able to coordinate the Canto Bight accords. They’re mad, he thought as he took off chasing the three Plagueians. The rounded corridors of the ship made it challenging to keep sight of the feline and avoid bumping into unsuspecting crew members.
“You realize chasing it is only going to make it keep running,” Kamjin said to the backs of the three fools he had been cursed to deal with. He slid to a halt and looked at the markings on the corridor. It had been a while since he had to remember the layout for relics like this.
He rubbed the beard on his chin as he searched his memory. With a snap of his fingers he pulled open an access hatch and began to crawl.
The three Plagueians huffed, no longer able to keep up their complaints as they raced around the hulking ship. As they rounded the corner, Kamjin was standing in the middle of the corridor the Loth-cat resting in his arms as he casually stroked it.
“While I appreciate the exercise; why is this animal important to the matter at hand?” Kamjin asked, his eyes piercing into the three exhausted Plagueians.
TuQ skidded to a halt and eyed the Loth Cat nuzzling in the arms of the Justicar, his finger eagerly hovering over the trigger of his blaster. He slowly holstered the blaster, aiming a blaster at Kamjin, or at least the evil creature taunting him from the safety of Kam’s arms, would most certainly not go over well. While the Loth Cat had been captured, the case it had stolen was no where to be seen. Damn!
“Well, uhhh you see, it’s a very serious breach of protocol.” TuQ’s mind raced searching for an explanation. He slowly inched his way forward, his eyes darting around looking for any sign of the item. “Because of…the potential damage they can wreak on the ships systems, and…allergies…yeah, the crew have allergies. So, you see the all animals are banned aboard this ship and both it and the crewman responsible for it must be taken care of swiftly…for the good of the ship and its crew. As someone charged with enforcing the law, I thought you of all people would understand the need for quick action required to keep us all safe.”
Kamjin raised an eyebrow as he stared at the Kel-dor.
“Serious breach of protocol.” Alaris muttered mockingly under his breath. “It had the torch.”
A silence simmered other than a single mouse droid zipping through the corridor. The other two Plagueians stared at him. “What?! Are you going to tell me that leather package in the conspicuous shape of a torch wasn’t the fierfeking torch?!”
The Twi'lek raised his hands slightly in defeat and approached the Justicar and his new pet. “Where did you find this bundle of joy?”
“Here, near the galley,” Kamjin said, scratching the creature under its chin.
TuQ’uan glared at the Twi’lek, as much for telling Kamjin the truth as for calling that little monstrosity a, quote ‘bundle of joy’.
The Twi'lek strode down the hallway toward the galley. “Then it must have left it somewhere over there.”
Nora crossed her arms, staring at the mess in front of her. TuQ was trying to work his way out of it, while Alaris walked away towards the galley, no doubt looking for the torch. What had she gotten herself into? Shaking her head, she followed Alaris towards the galley.
Kamjin echoed Nora’s exacerbated expression as he followed the three Plagueians into the galley. This was becoming more challenging with each passing moment.
“Could we wrap this up before I have to supervise the election of the next Grandmaster,” Kamjin sighed.
“I wasn’t aware there was another election coming up,” TuQ commented as he entered the galley. His eyes darting back and forth looking for any sign of the torch case. “Jeez, it feels like Lord Dacien just took the throne.”
“Let me put it this way. He wants this item back…now. After all I’ve done I’m not going to end up dead because of you all and I would hate to kill another Grand Master,” Kamjin sneered, still stroking the Loth-Cat.
“Definitely don’t want that,” Nora muttered back in response. Her eyes scanned the galley for any sign of the torch.
TuQ walked the perimeter of the galley, eyes peeled for any sign of the torch. It’s gotta be around here somewhere, he thought to himself, how the frak had he gotten himself into this situation?
As he reached the far side of the room he heard his name mentioned as well as what sounded like the word imbecile, or incompetent. Or maybe it was both. Glancing back he saw Alaris talking with Kamjin, both of them glaring in his direction. The Justicar’s face was turning a shade of red that nearly matched TuQ’s, his eyes staring daggers at him. The fury was palpable. TuQ looked away quickly, best keep searching for the torch…
Leaving Alaris and Kamjin to do their thing, Nora walked closer to TuQ. “I hadn’t had a change to congratulate you TuQ.” She stated, keeping her eyes peeled at the same time for any sign of the torch or case.
“Thank you, that’s…appreciated,” he choked out. He was reluctant to say the next part. “It has been strange not having you on the summit, but I know what you’re doing is important. So…thank you for coming.”
“Who else would find the lost torch?” Nora teased back.
The Dread Lord had spent quite a lot of effort fostering a rivalry between the two of them. But beneath it all, TuQ considered themselves friends. Or, at least as close as you became in the ascendant clan. But he wouldn’t be caught saying that out loud.
“Hey now, clearly it wasn’t completely my fault. That demon in Kam’s arms deserves the majority of the blame.”
Despite their differences, Nora actually missed having TuQ around. She was used to being office neighbors, so having been separated for quite some time was an adjustment. “Who allowed that demon on board in the first place?”
“That’s what I want to know. We haven’t been to Lothal lately so it didn’t come from there. We raided a pirate vessel on the edge of Plagueian space, maybe we picked up a stowaway there.” He paused a moment and adjusted his hat. “I’m fact…that’s where we ended up grabbing this Torch.”
“Luck you did. It’s clearly valuable if the Grand Master sent the Justicar along to grab it.”
“Right, well he doesn’t seem to be the biggest fan of me at the moment, so maybe we shouldn’t count ourselves too lucky just yet.” As they continued scouring the room a thought occurred to him. “Think there will be a reward for its return?”
Nora laughed in response. “Considering we lost it in the first place? I’m not sure.”
“One can hope…” TuQ mumbled mostly to himself. They had searched almost the entire room and still no sign of the damn torch of the case that demonic animal had been playing with, TuQ was ready to give up and face his punishment.
As the pair approached their starting point a member of the kitchen staff entered the room with a refuse bin held with both hands, the Mirialan worker bowed towards Alaris and Kamjin before moving on towards a trash compactor. As she passed the Loth Cat raised its head and let out a soft mewl.
“What is that thing still doi…” TuQ head whipped around to look at the refuse bin. There, covered in discarded food and trash, sticking out of the top like a shinning golden beacon calling to him was the leather case of the torch.
“Stop that garbage!” he shouted across the galley.
Kamjin spun to look at the kitchen staffer but to late. The container had already been emptied into the garbage chute. “Was that the…” Kamjin left the sentence unfinished as he caught the expression on Tuq’s face.
Rage boiled in him. The Loth-cat hissed at him as it leapt from his arms. Kamjin stretched out his hand and the Kel-dor was lifted from the ground. As Kamjin constricted his fist the Plagueian Proconsul flew towards the Justicar.
“You will retrieve the torch for me. Now,” Kamjin seethed as he reached back with his other hand. The cover of the garbage chute flew across the galley as Kamjin pivoted and sent Tuq cascading down the garbage chute as his hat floated lazily to the ground.
Nora watched the scene unfold, her arms crossed with a look of amusement on her face. The Loth-cat ran from Kamjin’s arm, down the hall as Alaris grabbed a hold of TuQ’s hat, putting it on their head.
TuQ let out a gasp as he landed in the mess of trash and compost filling the trash compactor. It wasn’t his most graceful of exits from a room. On the bright side though, it probably wasn’t his least graceful either. Something squished beneath him as he shifted his weight, the remainder of a half eaten meiloorun fruit burst under his hand coating his hand in a sticky juice. He was lucky his mask not only filtered out oxygen but dulled scents, because the stench was overpowering even to his Kel Dor nose.
Thankfully searching for the torch didn’t take long this time. TuQ and the refuse dumped in by the kitchen staff were the only things to have come down the garbage shoot, which meant the torch hadn’t been buried far. Unfortunately, as he dug his hand into the mound of filth below he felt what started as a low hum but quickly turned to a vibration through the entire room. Someone had activated the compactor. Or was it on a timer? It didn’t matter, TuQ’s hand wrapped around the leather case of the torch and he yanked it free from its burial in the waste.
He was triumphant! The Justicar shouldn’t need to kill him, now he just needed to make sure that the compactor didn’t kill him either. The walls of the room had begun to slide inwards, pushing garbage up on either side of the room. Looking up TuQ realized he wasn’t going out the same way he came in. That left only one option, his feet began to sink into the trash as he began trudging across the roiling surface. The Kel Dor wasn’t moving particularly quickly, though the walls of the room seemed to be moving a touch slower.
There was less than two feet of space on either side of him as TuQ reached the emergency control panel at the end of the room. His fingers across the screen of the control panel as he typed his override code in. The screen flashed red DENIED. Frak! That was his Quaestor code, he had been forced to pick a new one. He tried again, typing for his life as the walls reached barely six inches from his shoulders. This time the screen went green, EMERGENCY OVERRIDE GRANTED. A grinding sound announced the halting of his impending doom. With a woosh, the access door slid open and he rushed through, prize tightly in his grip.
Kamjin felt the relief from the Kel Dor below. Finally, it was over and he’d be leaving this group of…interesting…members of the Brotherhood. He stared at the two remaining Plagueians with mild amusement of the hat now resting on Alaris’s head.
“Go and fetch the torch,” Kamjin said, then adding as they walked away. “And make sure it’s clean!”
TuQ ran into Alaris and Nora in the hallway on his way back to the Justicar. Alaris tossed a towel at the Kel Dor, well it was more of a throw, before turning and walking away. Nora had a smirk on her face.
“Clean it!” the Twi’lek called back over his shoulder.
TuQ opted to clean the case holding the Torch before cleaning himself off. He had just finished wiping the muck off of his face as he approached Kamjin. Bending down on one knee, TuQ presented the torch held in both hands to the Justicar.
“I believe this is what you came for,” he said while staring daggers at the Loth Cat.
Kamjin retrieved the case and inspected it. Why this was worth all this hassle was beyond him. With a click he snapped the case closed. “It is. Let’s hope if we ever have to cross paths again you’re prepared.”
And with that, TuQ breathed a heavy sigh of relief. That was one massive mess avoided. He looked over at his fellow Plagueians, now he just needed a way to make it up to them…and get his hat back from Alaris.