Private The Fate of the Galaxy

[Hakon Fett]

Kwenn Station,
Hutt Space

In the hustle and bustle of the black market, a Mandalorian produced an odd, wicked even, looking artifact from his utility pouch.

"No." the Arcona vendor shook his head.

"No what?" Rohak growled through the helmet's vocoder.

"That's junk."

"I beg your pardon, Sir, but this is the Holocron of the Sith'ari Darth Solipsis." Abe, the Triple Zero droid, asserted before tilting its head at Rohak, "Surely, Master Rohak, this imbecile's lack of taste and judgment can be fixed with just a tad bit of evisceration--"

The Mandalorian gestured for the droid to be quiet.

"He's right."

The Arcona sighed, turned around, and shuffled through his wares before a star-shaped artifact materialized in the alien's hand.

"You see this, kid? This was supposedly the Fell Star -- well, it wasn't. Got scammed by a friggin' Zeltron ( Yula Perl ) wench." he spat, then traced a finger on the star, "Look closely -- you could see a damn ass imprint left behind on it." Rohak could see it clearly.

"Falling for a Zeltron's con is one thing, there's no way I'm falling for a Mandalorian."

Rohak returned the holocron to Abe who swiftly slid it inside a compartment of his chassis.

The two departed back towards their ship. On their way, the lingering gaze of a nosy Trodatome drew the Mandalorian's infuriation.

"Out of my way, slime."

Maud

 

[Maud]

Often had assignments to the Hutt territories yielded little in the way of results, and so Maud expected the same mindless and idle chatter of criminals and their kind that floated about Kwenn Station. But his ears, antenna and eyes all settled on the newly remarked information about a holocron that once belonged to Darth Solipsis.

And in no time at all, had the intelligence agencies in service to both Jedi and Sith become aware of the holocrons emergence in the wider Galaxy.

Darth Solipsis Maestus Gnost Zym Khamul Kryze Kyrel Ren Darth Tennacus Darth Mori Darth Ptolemis Darth Maliden Lord Odion Valery Noble Dagon Kaze Zark San Tekka Asmundr Varobalder Aaran Tafo Ishida Ashina Caltin Vanagor Aeris Lashiec Iris Arani Jax Thio Auteme Romi Jade Coren Starchaser Cotan Sar'andor

 

[Maestus]

Word filtered back to Maestus, as is often the case. She received updates on many things, happenings through out the galaxy. Most she waved aside as inconsequential. But this, well this she would have to see for herself.

She knew a little of Hutt Space. She had made tidy profits off the sale of slaves there. Especially Twi'lek slaves, whom many considered natural slaves.

As she boarded her shuttle, she sneered at that thought. She, herself a Twi'lek, lethan at that, was no slave. Only the weak of mind allowed themselves to be subjugated, humiliated anf sold into slavery.

She settled into her chair on the shuttle as the ramp closed and the pilot ascended. In mere moments, they would dock on her ship, the Praedo Mundus. As soon as the shuttle landed, the Praedo Mundus jumped to hyperspace, course set for Hutt Space.

 

[Auteme]

Coruscant | Senate Building​

"Solipsis's holocron?" she said, a little too loud, and found herself being hushed by a nervous glance from the intelligence officer in front of her.

"Please, Senator-"

"Yes. Sorry, er- shall we head to my office, Agent Veril?"

The Rodian frowned. "I'm- I should go. I'm not supposed to be..."

"Yes. Yes, that's alright."

Veril straightened, and gave a half nod. "Well, I'll be taking my leave now. Thank you, Senator."

"Of course, Agent Veril." She paused a moment, thinking, but as they started to leave she stopped them. "One more- ah, if you, had to 'guess', who else might know of this?"

Veril thought for a moment. "Our... contact... is untrustworthy at best. Talks to a great many people -- Jedi, Sith, Imperials. But, most people don't pay him for bad information," they said, shrugging. "The timeline will be tight, though, if more people try to go for it."

Auteme nodded. "Thank you."

They nodded, and strode off. Auteme began to walk back to her office, finding her pace quickening.

Solipsis's holocron was a dangerous thing. His knowledge of the dark side seemed unparalleled; his rituals and spells were more oppressive than even the time she'd faced Darth Carnifex. If the holocron fell into the wrong hands -- and there were many kinds of wrong hands -- it could do catastrophic damage. But if she managed to get it...

She burst into her office, and was almost surprise to find it abuzz with activity. A shock compared to the muted seriousness of the intelligence committee meeting. Since she'd committed to running for Chancellor, her staff had expanded along with her office. Now it wasn't simply a large greeting room, but rather a few rows of desks filled with aides and staff working, past the initial front desk. The room was flanked by two meeting rooms separated by glass. Both her comms and policy teams seemed hard at work inside.

Perav, who was at the front desk, rose immediately to greet Auteme. The Zabrak was as young as she was, but far more camera-averse. It made her very effective at keeping out the press that came to Auteme's door. They both had an eye for organization, too; Perav had been entrusted with keeping Auteme's schedule up to date. In the few months she'd spent working as Auteme's aide, the office had never run smoother.

"Ah, Senator- I've put your lunch on your desk. Is there anything-"

"Is Qharn here?"

"He's on his break right now. Lieutenant Themlir is on duty." Perav paused a moment, sensing the urgency in Auteme's tone. "But, I can call him, and send him to your office as soon as he's here."

"Yes. Thank you." Auteme gave a half smile, but was quickly off to the door at the back, where she would be able to speak with her head of security privately, giving only short waves and greetings to those she passed. Not that she didn't trust her staff to hear what she was saying -- her vetting process had been as rigorous as the SIA's -- but simply that she didn't want to worry them with anything new at the moment. After all, they didn't have the holocron yet.

Also, she was hungry.

---

Twelve hours later
Kwenn Station
Hakon Fett | Maestus
​

Soven took a long draw from his cigarra.

"Telling you, man, these people will try to sell you anything. The other day- okay, not as weird as some stupid red triangle- but some Falleen kid came up to me- he had this little bear pet, had a cute little hood. They had this yellow rock, told me it was some powerful Force artifact. Sunstar, they called it. Y'know, they say you can like, feel the Force, and that shit felt like a rock. Stupid kids." Vark sniffled, then put his hand out. Soven tilted the salt shaker, pouring some into the Arcona's hand. He licked it up eagerly. "They were all sad when I told them their rock was worthless. Can't fool me. My brother would've bought it, I bet you. Well, maybe not. At least he had the good sense not to get ripped off last night."

"Well, least your brother isn't as dumb as he used to be," Soven offered. "What'd you tell me? Some girl sold him-"

"The 'Fell Star'," Vark snickered, before rolling his massive eyes. "You know- it's a whole thing these days. Arcona are getting indoctrinated by your big ole' humanocentrist beauty standards. My nephew's got a body pillow, you know, of some Alliance Senator. Says he loves her show. Fuckin' gross. Any Zeltron or near-human blinks their pretty eyes and the young'uns fall over."

"Yeah. Well, least we got good salt."

"Ha!" Vark stuck his hand out, and Soven poured him another bit. "You got that right."

"Maybe your bro's still a bit dumb. But, hard to be attracted to- who'd you say they were again?"

"Hm?" The Arcona sniffed the salt.

"The ones trying to sell the fake holocron," Soven said, leaning forward slightly.

"A Mando. And a droid." He gave his hand a tentative lick.

"Really? You don't see those types hanging out together too often."

"Yeah. The droid -- protocol, he said, but painted all black, all Sith-like." He took another huff of salt, the substance seeming to distract him from making any connection between the droid and holocron. "Friend'o mine told me they have a wacky ship, too, docked down wherever. Big corvette. Crusader-class? A Mando design."

"Huh. Honestly you've got me curious, now. What dock?"

"Uhhhh... don't remember. B-something, I think."

"Cool. I'm gonna go check that shit out. Last bit," he said, holding out the shaker. Vark stuck his hands out. Soven poured a little extra this time.

"A little more?"

"Oh, fine." A little more.

"Aha, you're a generous man. Come back soon -- Nark and Vark's fine wares is open to you, anytime, friend!"

"'Course." Soven gave a hollow smile, but Vark was too distracted with his salt to notice. He walked off, heading back to the docking bays on the levels below.

 

[Kyrel Ren]

As the Devourer roamed through the edges of known space, always seeking to fill the void that was the Wrath of the Maw, it didn’t take long for those that served the dread lord to uncover information which was of the utmost importance. One of the barbaric officers of the Crimson Hands had approached the Wrath as he stood, his towering figure held his gaze on the darkness of space. The officer seemed frightened, apprehensive to say the information. “M-My Wrath… We found something that would catch your interest.” He said and soon the silence was broken, Kyrel responding in kind, seeking to silence any hints of his irritation. “Speak, what have our birds found this time?” Kyrel remained as still as a stone while he kept his gaze fixated out the window.

The Officer hesitated once more, as if he was afraid to even speak of the information. “It would seem the location of Solipsis’s Holocron has leaked…” He paused as if he didn’t want to continue. Taking his officer’s cap and holding it tightly to his chest. “Yes, I feel there is more to this, enlighten me Commander..” The officer swallowed his throat, bracing himself for the words that he would say next. “We we’re not the only ones to know, Jedi, Sith, other intelligence sources… They have all gone after it my Wrath….” He said cowering his head as the Wrath slowly turned around, his very stance held his rage, as he gazed deep into the man’s soul. “So, everyone is after it and I’m the last to know is that it?” He said raising an eyebrow, the officer started to shake quickly, the barbaric man did not dare anger Kyrel. “M-My Wrath… Please forgive me… I didn’t know that we were one of the last ones to receive such a transmission.” As soon as he finished the man was sent flying up to the ceiling, the corrupted bridge crew turned from the monotony of their duties to watch Kyrel’s anger. “Set course for the Holocrons location at once!! Perhaps we may yet prevent anyone from leaving the system without it..” His voice boomed as he suddenly dropped the officer to the ground.

His voice was directed to all the bridge crew. “Y-Yes my Wrath at once..” The frightened officer had scurried away as fast as he could. The corrupted bridge crew of the massive star destroyer went back to work. Soon Kyrel gave one last look of his scowl. His dark form going back to gaze the viewport full of darkness. Soon the darkness faded, and was replaced with the blue wormhole of hyperspace. The Devourer disappeared, and soon the Wrath was on his way, determined to take hold of Solipsis final secrets before anyone else could.

Maestus Auteme Maud Hakon Fett