Firebrand {Open to One Sith}

[Jake Daniels]

The ride back to the ship had been uneventful. No one spoke for the most part. What was there to say anyway? They hadn’t found the missing scientist. That was a let down. For Gravis, the more important issue was that he hadn’t found anything that would have allowed him an advantage when the time came to go after the Eve Foundation… or did he. The Knight stood just outside one of the ships many holding cells. His icy blues stared into the cell containing the slowly awakening young man as he stirred on a single bench.

The cell wasn’t much to look at. Steel walls on three sides and a translucent blue energy field acting as the fourth cordoned off the four by six foot holding room. A small bench and a toilet were all that was within. No bed. No television. Nothing. It wasn’t made for long term containment. That was something Gravis was going to enforce on the prisoner.

The Knight remained still, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes locked on the figure within. The oldest Gravis would have gone was seventeen; if that. Not much older than he was when he fell under the command of his Lady Silencia. Reaching over the Knight pressed a button into the cell which let out a small burst of a high pitched squeal. The boy jumped up with boy hands over his ears and glared at the Knight.

“Dude,” the young man shouted, “what’s your problem?” He gave a glance around, “And let me the hell out of here.”

“No.” Gravis replied. “You are stationed on a ship in orbit around your planet. I brought you here to be questioned. I suggest you answer any questions I ask. If you don’t I know for a fact there are other Sith who wouldn’t mind getting you to talk. Trust me when I say… I’m the diplomatic one. I ask. You answer. Others wont be asking. They'll beat you until you talk. Your call really.”

The boy glanced at Gravis, and for a moment, internally debated his options. Play nice with this Sith or take his chances with another? Fortunately for both, he made the right choice, “What do you want to know?”

“The attack, did you see it?” Gravis asked.

“No.”

“You saw nothing?”

“I saw men in heavy armor racing away. I saw a building on fire. I didn’t see what caused the building to go boom and I didn’t hear any of the big men say where they were going. I wasn’t close enough.”
Gravis believed him, “Describe the men.”

“Different heights and builds. All larger than most; even you. Most of their armor didn’t match in design.”

“Bounty hunters?” Gravis asked.

“Maybe but I don’t know many Bounty Hunters with balls to raid a Sith Planet. With how quickly they arrived and left they seemed a bit more militaristic. If anything I’d say private army. I did see several freighters with markings that looked like ones Mid Rim Pirates use.” The young man explained.

“What’s your name?” Gravis asked.

“Edgar.” He replied.

“Well Edgar, I will take what you said back to the others. Get comfy. You’re going to be here awhile.”

“What!? Why? I told you what I knew.” Edgar protested.

“I believe you. However I am not the lead Sith on this endeavor. You were caught stealing from a site were the One Sith were attacked. You raised your weapon towards Sith. The Commander of the vessel will determine your fate.” Gravis explained.

With nothing more to say, the Knight turned and went in search of Abelain and the others.

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]​

[member="Blazing Eye"]​

[member="Darth Megnentis"]​

[member="Clovis Torcularis"]​

 

[Abelain Narv'uk]

[member="Jake Daniels"] | [member="Clovis Torcularis"] | [member="Darth Megnentis"] | [member="Blazing Eye"]
The Paladin still bustled with activity the same as when they had departed. Soldiers prepared for possible assault or defense, and crewmen and women moved about their stations, reporting any new information to their captain. Abelain stepped onto the bridge of his vessel, allowing the others to pursue their own leads, but deciding to review the information on the datapad given to him by Blazing Eye himself. His fingers nimbly latched onto it's controls, applying differing amounts of pressure to them and watching as the screen lit up with information. The device screen was somewhat difficult to read due to the damage, but it had remained mostly without corruption.

The first screen appeared to be a schedule of some manner, and the Arue'tii's discerning eyes quickly located the subject of their manhunt. He had been on schedule to research the day of the attack, and it seemed likely that he had brought whatever device he was working on with him. That meant that the enemy potentially had a devastating weapon in their hands, and a scientist intelligent enough to tell them how to use the machine. He moved on to another screen, apparently some form of traffic logger. It showed the arrival of different ships of varying make and model, but the device stopped after identifying multiple freighters. There were too many to be sure which had inevitably taken the scientist, but it was a valuable lead that couldn't be put to waste. "Captain. There is a station in orbit around this planet, is there not?" He questioned, not raising his eyes from the tablet. "Yes sir, should we set a course?" The Arue'tii replied with a simple nod, and the Paladin lurched forth towards it's target once more.

He decided to check on the others, and to see whether their own leads had paid off with any new information. Abelain moved down the winding maze of corridors until coming to the prisoner cells, his blood scenting quickly locating and identifying both Gravis and the teenager that had been brought with them. They were locked in conversation, but it seemed to reach it's end as he arrived, casting a glance into the cell at the frustrated young man. "Have you learned anything of import, Gravis?" It seemed unlikely that the young fellow would withhold information that might exonerate him, and the Arue'tii had no desire to implement harsher interrogation methods on a person as young as he. He was a Sith, but that did not require cruelty. "The box that we returned with us, has it been identified?"

Something flicked on the edge of Abelain's senses, and a quick perusal through the Force identified another Sith aboard the vessel that he had previously missed. It seemed likely that he had been hiding someone, and the Arue'tii wondered for several moments whether he was an assassin of some manner. It did not matter, they would meet one another soon enough.

 

[Darth Centax]

Junior Sith acolyte here, yet a captain all the same. Kylath had spent his time debriefing the men, and then briefing them about the next mission to come. First he wanted every scrap of information they’d picked up about their location, however small. It was in debriefing you often found overlooked details, and something most non soldiers he’d met didn’t focus on, comparing the reports together. His patience wasn't holding all that well, looking ready to snap a man's neck for not answering incorrectly, all of that was drawn inward, to form a rigidity to the developing acolyte.

772nd Duty officers and data analysts worked with what they had, feeding that information to [member=Abelain Narv’uk]. Information coming from their resident Chiss Major once more, who waited with his arms behind his back, linked at the wrist as ever for the next order for their recon team.

For, [member="Jake Daniels"], Kylath had spent some time waiting outside the Darth's door if needed to assist. If not for life’s choices and fate’s hand, that boy with him might as well have been him years ago, stopping by to nod to [member="Clovis Torcularis"] on way to the bridge, flexing the armored gloves that never left his hands to feel the painful reminders of sacrifice underneath, and what drove him, or might be fueling him in the coming hard weeks and months. Battles to come.

Reporting to the bridge he joined the recon unit waiting with [member="Abelain Narv'uk"] and the Chiss Major, taking a similar shoulder width stance by the Knight's side

[member="Jake Daniels"] | [member="Abelain Narv'uk"] | [member="Clovis Torcularis"]​

 

[Blazing Eye]

[member="Darth Megnentis"] [member="Abelain Narv'uk"] [member="Jake Daniels"] [member="Clovis Torcularis"]

Blazing Eye had been following Abelain in silence the entire time, both proud of and aware of his position as the Dark One's right hand. He remained there now, ever the strong, silent sentinel. He awaited direction.

 

[Jake Daniels]

"The Boy is conflicted about what he saw." Gravis began. "He didn't see the initiation of attack. He arrived shortly before it ended. He describes heavily armed men, all wearing different armor but working cohesively. I assumed bounty hunters. That would explain the brutality of the attack, how sloppy they were in some aspects, and the overall damage left behind. The boy thought different."

"He did make mention that they fought cohesively. From my past experience with bounty hunters, even if they were working together, they wouldn't be a cohesive unit. Key example; Kylath and his men. Uniformed, Disciplined. They went in together, came out together. Bounty Hunters don't work like that." Jake turned his attention from Kylath and back towards Abelain, "He mentioned the freighters they got on had pirate markings from the mid rim. I am unfamiliar with pirates but given what I have heard from hear-say, if its a crew thats been together for awhile, they could fight like a well oiled machine which would explain the uniformity of extract the boy witnessed."

Jake let out a sigh, "He doesn't have any other knowledge. That I believe. As for the box," Jake glanced at Kylath, "any word on what your men might have found with regards to it?"

​

[member="Blazing Eye"]​

[member="Darth Megnentis"]​

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]​

[member="Clovis Torcularis"]​

 

[Abelain Narv'uk]

[member="Clovis Torcularis"] | [member="Blazing Eye"] | [member="Darth Megnentis"] | [member="Jake Daniels"]
The Arue'tii listened intently to the intelligence report given by Gravis, turning his attention towards the figure standing within the cell. It seemed highly unlikely that he was any sort of threat to them, or to their safety, but it was also against his better judgment to release an individual who might still provide information to them. It seemed that their attackers had worked cohesively, and as a team which seemed to eliminate the possibility of bounty hunters; not that Abelain had ever truly considered them. There was simply too much collateral damage for it to have been a basic bounty. If they were dealing with professional work, it was more likely that Firebrand was a band of mercenaries, or even an organized gang of pirates. Why would pirates be interested in capturing a scientist working on a remote world on a gravity project? There were simply too many unknowns to formulate any hypothesis of their plan to the madness that encapsulated all of their available information.

Gravis did not believe that the boy contained any further information, and Abelain was willing to put faith in his observational skills. "I believe that he has given you all that he remembers, but we shall hold him until this intrigue has been resolved lest he remembers further details." His blue eyes glared at the Knight before he spoke once more, "You have my word that he shall not be harmed." With that, the Arue'tii removed his piercing gaze and focused instead upon the information streaming to him from the recon corps. "772nd. Compile a list of known pirate markings and see whether our prisoner can identify any of them?" He spoke softly into the comm.

"Blazing Eye." He called for his guardian, spinning upon his heel to face the dark enforcer of his will. "There is a Sith aboard our vessel who appears to be sneaking about. Find him, and bring him to me. He may yet be an ally, so there is no need for force." He paused for a moment, considering something mentally before emitting a single chuckle beneath his breath. "If it is necessary, then I won't mind."

 

[Darth Centax]

The acolyte had just passed [member="Clovis Torcularis"] on the way, so if [member="Blazing Eye"] was looking for Clovis, they’d meet somewhere on the way as Kylath made for the bridge, still at this point in his life the picture military discipline before Coruscant had occurred. Reporting to the bridge not much more needed to be said, he took charge of the 772nds report gathering, from the pirate markings and looked to Darth Gravis to be sure he was safe to proceed. He’d be respectful of his wishes not to harm or unsettle the youth.

Either way, if a questioning was done by someone, or if they just poked around the box for long enough, the symbolism was eventually confirmed on the box and also the other emblem to be a known pirate group in the area, under a certain hutt named Foros the Hutt. Noghri in origin strangely enough, why were the usual honor bound noghri commandos pirating? Curious, perhaps more was at work. Foros was cousin to [member="Goros the Hutt"], though the two had little relation in their own dealings, often competing, Goros did however have stronger ties to the One Sith contracts and factories within OS Space. Whether this connected to the wider plot at work who could tell!

Any attempt to contact Goros would be met with a red male Zeltron bowing and giving any information they had on the group, supposedly, claiming they were some 100 strong, but due to current pressing situations he was unavailable for comment. Powergames behind the scenes! This pirate group just one rung of the ladder in a wider puzzle?

[member="Jake Daniels"] | [member="Abelain Narv'uk"] | [member="Clovis Torcularis"]​

OOC:

Spoiler

If any of that detail needs altering let me know. Only looking to add plothooks for you. Can define the groups motives to be whatever you like, might snag a few personal Noghri for yourselves!

 

[Blazing Eye]

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"] [member="Darth Centax"] [member="Jake Daniels"] [member="Clovis Torcularis"]

Blazing Eye nodded to his commander and began walking through the ship, in search of the Sith he spoke of. He passed a man who looked important on the way, but paid him no heed. He was on the trail, and would not be turned.

"Show yourself, Sith," he said outloud as he searched, certain the person could hear him, "Seek no harm, and I will give none."

 

[Jake Daniels]

Gravis glanced at Blazing Eye as the humanoid being walked off in search of the ships newest occupant. How had someone managed to sneak aboard, an apparent Sith, without any of those gathered having sensed it until this point? That in itself was an intriguing. A part of the Knight wanted to go help the servant of Abelain Narv'uk hunt; to find this stowaway. Yet Kylaths appearance had drawn the Knights attention.

What had he found?

It was odd to be shown any level of respect. The Knight had spent his life being disrespected by Lords and Knights alike, with so many showing disdain for the man whom served as protector and guardian. Yet here stood an Acolyte that showed respect. That was near frightening to the man.

So far everyone had respected Gravis' wish to not harm the boy. The boy... would be questioned again. There was something unique about him. Something that was strangely familiar.

Gravis nodded an approval to Kylath; his signal for the Acolyte to proceed with his report.

[member="Blazing Eye"]​

[member="Clovis Torcularis"]​

[member="Darth Centax"]​

[member="Abelain Narv'uk"]​