"Omen of Durace"
Documentarian: Arun Melor
Exerpt: EXCLUSIVES - PART 45
Release: Fall, 903 ABY
After a long run of dangerous, long-winded spaceport exchanges, I finally found my way to the only known Khanate Headquarters in the Deep Core, and as much as I thank their welcoming acceptance, I still begrudge the fact it meant I would have to carry my luggage up to the supposed embassy's supposed guest quarters. Better than I had expected, but with plenty of the civilised sort seen working there, I would find myself reminded of the difference in the standard of living to that of Imperial expectations - though I'll admit they had good showerhead pressure for the room I was offered.
Not bad for a glorified recruitment office.
Not bad for a horde of nomad mercenaries.
Satisfied for a while, even with the standard of Holonet terminal affixed in my room, (though something tells me this was stolen or plundered along the way-) I was finally able to rest properly. For the first time in weeks by then, and by the time I awoke, I would be welcomed with news of their Khan, echoing his acceptance of terms for the following interview, though I'll admit it all seemed far too streamlined to be the first phases of endearment at the time. Seemed altogether more ominous than that, like I was being led politely to my own execution, but I would find myself surprised throughout this part of my trip to the Deep Core.
Melor: Glad we could find time to meet for this interview-
Barran: Could be worse, but the weather here certainly helps to that effect. Look around us, you've got sunshine, rolling hillsides in the backdrop, and all on a planet that recovers quite quickly.... You did well to find me on Empress Teta - all things considered.
It was here, in this very moment that I realised this was not at all the Bloodhound Khan as Carlac knew him, not at all as the Regent had either. Neither in appearance, nor in the way Barran so casually validated my entire journey, but I couldn't drop my guard, not if my own journalistic integrity was to be put on the line with this interview-piece, though I apologise preemptively, knowing I can sometimes stray off-track. There's something about that Woad, and I hope for my own sake that you get to see exactly as I saw the man himself.
Melor: Yes, and with an Imperial quarter already showing signs of settlement, it makes my mind all the more compelled to remember that you, also, were once an Imperial, but of an older, Defiant sort.
Barran: Heh! Cheeky wee-
Melor: All the easier, if you don't mind me saying, when I see you now, the great Bloodhound Khan in civilised clothes - among civilised Imperials.... I can see the Imperial residing in the nomad, he's in there still.
Barran: HA!! Maybe once upon a time, aye, but that Defiant self was torched to a crisp on Ziost. Being perfectly honest, very little remains of that Imperial.... Though I'm quite sure my former self would fare all the worse in a duel against the Tattered Regent, it is what it is.
This one would be a tough nut to crack, I could tell from the offset, and so I would work to delegate from there; as it wasn't just the responses, but the the genuine, hearty mirth that implied he might have been letting his guard down, or an expressed comfort in my presence at the very least. It was difficult to say in such a public setting, leaving me unsure as to whether I was lining myself up for the chopping-block or not, and hoping more than ever that the Mawsworn still viewed Imperials as allies.I would've been a fool to assume I wasn't toeing a fine line between curiosity and shameless prying, but all the worse for me in these moments - my thoughts were constantly assailed by the likelihood the Khan was also aware of this fact.
Especially in the following moments of this segment.
Melor: Huh? Let me get this straight; your brother, from this former-self of yours, almost kills you, cuffs you in zap-fetters, hands you over to Bounty Hunters, who then drop you on Kolene of all places.... And still,"It is what it is", and you expect me to believe that? From the man who slew his own fath-Barran: Careful, my young friend. You may pry, but only in respectful increments.... Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're comfortable enough to speak out; but in such cases, as I'm sure you'll know by now - there is such a thing as too comfortable.... An' you're drawing remarkably close to making that mistake.
Melor: Alright, duly noted.... My apologies for poor manners-Barran: Its fine, I appreciate the bravery it took to say that, an' right t'my face at that! Ha! Wild! I've got subordinates who wouldn't even dream o' talkin' that way in my presence.... Heh! Ya know what, I think I'll reward it.
The ends justified the means here, perserverence paid off for me, but I did not know then what this would mean for the rest of the interview, the true rarity among segments of it's sort. From a normal feature to an exclusive, as if by a flash, gifted a payoff for my gambled career, and I didn't even know the half of it by then. If it had not been the case that I partake in Open-Source Intel scrolling on the Holonet, I dare say I may have missed much of the Khan's surreptitious references, though I know not if I still missed some along the way.
I'll let the audience be the worthy judges of that.
Melor: While I appreciate the good grace shown in response, I fear this may yet be the first of numerous questions that scrape close to the bone, so to speak. Especially in my daring attempt to mention Kolene in particular, as it pertains to the Regent specifically.
Barran: Oh, let me guess.... You want to know if ever Khan and Regent conspired together, don't you?
Melor: Yes, exactly.
Barran: Well, I don't want to rain on your parade or anything, but we were kept in entirely-different buildings this time.... The Warden on Kolene was apparently learning from Coruscanti mistakes, thus its just by chance alone that our plans were aligned that night, an' thats about the only thing our departures had in common; one wanted to escape, an' the other wanted to free all the prisoners, sometimes Fate would play games with supposed coincidence.
Melor: Fair enough, though I must ask, and its also just by chance that I'm supposed to ask the next, supremely-relevant question.... In what regard does the Khan view the Empire's current ruler?Barran: Kindred in the realm of incarceration, kindred in former affiliations.... To whom, I think, we both bear equalling levels of enmity.
As I asked the all-important question of affiliation, common-cause with our Regent, I did not at all expect to receive such an answer, and certainly not from a man of the Bloodhound's sort. But I felt like there was something more, something hidden beneath the surface of his reply, almost as if he wasn't speaking with me, per se, as if the message itself was directed specifically towards Lord Sularen in that moment. The Great Khan of the Mawsworn was up to something, planning another of his adventures, and it was finally up to me to find out exactly what it was.
Melor: Intriguing response, to say the least.... Leading me to, perhaps, ponder aloud - to wonder what it is that hides within the mind of the Khan as he speaks this way. So let me frame it, at least, in a way that can warrant an open-ended answer of your choice-Barran: Spit it out, please.
Melor: Alright... Alright.... When I conjure the words,"What next", what answer is it that rests within the darkest depths of the mind?
For the first time since we first shook hands, I found the Bloodhound in complete silence, though it wasn't in any sense of dumbfounded loss for words, not by any stretch of the imagination. But when his attention drew toward my recording-droid, drawing the widest, most-devious grin across his lips, I knew then that the Khan was no longer addressing his documentarian, he was speaking to someone else entirely. I only document what I am told, and research as well as any one person can, but I would have been a fool not to notice, for that smile had more than mere ambition showing.
Barran: A pretty, near-mythically rare flower.... An' a freedom I fear I am still yet to experience.Melor: Huh? Wait a minute, are you saying-
Barran: The Corellian Cordon, what did you think it was? Just some zone you cannot enter sometimes? No, its a fething cordon - AN OPEN-AIR PRISON FOR IMPERIALS AN' MAWSWORN ALIKE!!!!
I admit I know not of what he means by the flower, but I do know what his intentions might mean instead, though I must leave it to the scholars of the realm to discern it with more accuracy, for I, as a creative soul, haven't the heart to imagine too far beyond or too shy of the truth. This I leave in capable hands, for even I know when I am stepping above my paygrade, thus partnership to the Trilunar propagandists I regret were an appeasement, mostly to assure I would not edit nor depict the Great Khan in an unflattering light.It was the only way to assure continuation with my head still firmly on it's shoulders, for I had overstepped far beyond the point of safe-return without it, please understand my decisions as a desire to get this into the right hands. The ISB can act as according to their assessment of the presentation, but as far the Mawsworn segments go, this would be my first and last of the series. Tapping out, knowing my limits, and thats just how its going to stay until such a time the Mawsworn are more open to a media presence.
They are welcoming to Imperials in general, but do not cross them with ill-intentions - they will kill you for it.
SECOND SEGMENT AIRS NEXT WEEK
THE GALAXY BURNS ONCE MORE....
ENGULFED IN THE FIRES OF THE DEEPEST ENMITIES,
BUT YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
NOT WITH MARAUDERS THERE TO AID YOU!
THE FIGHT IS ALL WE NEED!
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