The Hunt

[Valkren Calderon]

Voss was about as close as one could get to the heavens, in Valkrens' eyes. He'd tap his fingers along the sleek railing of the bridge he stood on, his gaze directed to the ponds and streams that flowed beneath him and out into an open area at one of the facilities here run by the Silver Jedi. So peaceful here.

Yet he wouldn't be able to enjoy this peace, for he had much more weighing on his mind.

Just before his arrival on Voss, Valkren had sent a long-time ally a message. It was more a cry for help than anything. Valk' had reached out to [member="Arisa Yune"] in an attempt to recover his lost squadmates. Himself and the five other members of 'Saber Team' had completed several missions in the Galactic Republic alongside and even under the command of Arisa. He trusted her; in truth, the young man didn't have many people left from the Galactic Republic to trust.

The loyal soldier was a dying breed, and he was dying with it.

He wasn't going to go down easy though, he still had yet to reach his thirties, and was planning on using the last of young years to do something that mattered. Yet that couldn't be done without his team, whom doubled as his extended family.

Valkren took his eyes away from the water, glancing at his surroundings as he shifted his position. The peace was almost uncomfortable, like the calm before a storm.

He hoped Arisa would recognize him without his full-suit of armor or Republic uniform, instead he replaced those with a simple shirt, jacket, and combats. His beard had grown to a slight stubble, and his dirtied blonde hair was much darker, and shorter due to a new cut.

Honestly, he could hardly recall what Arisa looked like.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Arisa made it a point to go out to meet Valkren personally at the campus spaceport, eager to meet with another veteran of the Republic. She had never been officially integrated into the military, but she had fought and lived with them just like one of their own. She really didn't have anywhere else to turn to as her fellow Jedi kept abandoning the Republic one by one until she was alone.

Much like Valkren, she arrived in casual wear typical for an urbanite of the Core Regions, never one for robes even as she had trained at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

"Mr Calderon," she greeted with an outstretched hand as she walked up to him at the hub, recognizing his face from his service record she had studied ahead of time.

"I'm Arisa, I've been the one messaging you over the holonet the past few days. I'm so I glad that you could make it here to Voss. Normally, I would be up for giving you a campus tour as a new visitor, but due to the nature of your request, I wanted to get right into the discussion and figure out a plan of action. If that's alright with you?"

Valkren hadn't reached out to her to exchange pleasantries. He had a real problem on his hands with the rest of his team now missing. Honestly, as an investigator, she wasn't expecting their search would end well, but she would do what she could to help bring closure.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren heard Arisa's voice, causing the soldier to turn her way and spot the approaching Jedi. Seeing a somewhat familiar face again seemed to change his demeanor ever so slightly in a positive way. He met her hand with his own, offering a firm but welcoming handshake.

"Yes Ma'am, it's great to be somewhere of such peace. You'll just have to give me the short version of the tour after all this."

He'd nod at her request to cut right to the chase, and honestly appreciated the urgency she had for the situation. In a scenario like this, time was their enemy, the chances of his team living were getting lower and lower by the minute.

"Whatever it takes." He stated this as he took his hand away from the greeting. Calderon had every intention of retrieving the four remaining members of his team.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

While Valkren was polite in their exchange of greetings, she could feel his pain as the purpose of his arrival was quickly brought to the forefront. It was made abundantly clear that this meant a lot to him. She could sympathize with his loss, having gone through much the same during the fall of the Old Republic.

She simply nodded and motioned for him to follow. By a quick speeder run, they would from the spaceport to the Silver Temple, a series of buildings distinct from both the Ranger base and the hospital. The Temple was more or less her home now while she resided on Voss as the current Grandmaster of the Silver Order.

As they unloaded and entered the temple, Arisa would receive several greetings from her fellow Jedi and initiates. She would respond warmly in kind while keepingValkren in tow, still finding much elation from being recognized and accepted by her peers. Until she had been elected Grandmaster, she had still felt like an outsider to a degree, though her fellow Masters had seemed to trust her enough to lead the next generation of Silver Jedi forward.

Their journey would finally end at her office, which looked more like an indoor garden as every wall was lined with rows off plants. It was a bright, welcoming atmosphere modeled in the style so favored by her fellow Kiribians, a society very much committed to harmony with nature.

"Please, have a seat," she told Valkren, eying the chairs in front of her desk. "I'll put on some tea, then we can begin."

Since her time taking over the Grandmaster's office from Thurion, she had a little remodeling spree which had included the installation of a small kitchenette. There, she began to prepare Sapir tea with a UV-based electric boiler.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

"Congrats, by the way." Valkren stated as he sat down, admiring her office. "On the whole..Grandmaster thing, Ma'am."

He hadn't taken the time yet to actually congratulate her, as she had gained her new title and supposedly had made great progress with the Silver Jedi while Valkren and his team had been off the grid.

Tea sounded wonderful. At this point Valkren was 'hyrdrating' with nothing other than whiskey. It had been rough after the taking of his team, as the entire scenario as it happened was just the case of them being pulled away from the sergeant while he couldn't do a damn thing. He remembered everything. After the fall of the Directorate and the Republic, his team had returned to where the Cartel had once ruled, preforming as a sort of 'vigilante' group against acts of terrorism and new rising criminal organizations. Remaining off the grid, and away from the assistance of authorities, they made plenty of enemies.

Yet, the enemy that struck at his team was an old one, from his days in the Republic. He remembered everything: after a recent op in Hutt space, they had taken up too much heat. So the team split up, and made a meeting point on Nar Shadaa. He remembered the explosion, racing through the streets with O'Riley to find everyone else. He remembered his men being taken, trying to stop them.

He also remembered O'Riley taking two slugs. One in his right side, and one in his forehead. He needed to clear his head.

"This place, it reminds me of Alderaan."

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"Thanks, but you don't need to call me ma'am." Valkren was back to being a civilian as far as she knew, but old habits died hard. "Arisa will do, if I may call you Valkren."

The water would quickly come to a boil, then she would dump in the tea leaves seep for a few minutes before transferring the pot onto a tray with cups, honey, and spoons.

She came around her desk with the tray in hand, setting it before Valkren while offering a small smile. As the topic of his missing comrades had now become the focus of discussion, she could feel that he was feeling increasingly dejected. She understood his pain quite well, no stranger to the loss of friends and loved ones of the course of several intergalactic wars.

"Here you are," she told him, waving her hand over the tray as she took her seat behind her desk. "I'm not quite so fancy with how I fix my tea, so apologies for the limited options."

She filled both their cups with the amber liquid to the brim, then mixed in a generous helping of honey within her own cup before leaning back in her seat.

"Alderaan? That's a pretty apt description," she replied with a nod. "The architecture here is designed to mesh with the surrounding environment. Personally, it reminds me of Kiribi. The planet is much more urbanized than Alderaan, but follows a similar aesthetic."

"So, let's talk. What exactly happened with your team? How long have they been missing?"

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren took up his own cup, nodding in appreciation. He took a sip from the liquid, the soothing drink very appealing to him after his frequency with the devil in the bottle. The young commando then looked up during her response to his statement about Alderaan. It wasn't the atmosphere, or the structures they rested in that reminded him so much of it..It was the peace.

Like stated before it had been quite some time since he had been somewhere without the risk of being shot at. He enjoyed it here.

Her next question was one that he had expected to hear for quite some time, but still made him shudder when she asked it. His squad.

"It's been about six months." His posture changed once again when he stated this, sinking into the chair as guilt washed over him. It had been so long. The chances of his team still being alive and held in the same place were slim to none. He had felt like it was his fault they were still rotting if they were still alive, as Valkren had taking his time in hiding to assure the safety of his own family.

His gaze was on the remaining liquid in his cup, silent after his statement as his mind went over the entire scenario of his team's capture.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"Six months..."

She had expected to hear days or perhaps even a few weeks, but not six whole months. The only way that Arisa could see them being alive at this point is if they were being held captive for information. POWs were held for years at a time for that purpose, or to be used as a barganing chip.

"Valkren, I'm not going to lie. In your line of work, that sort of time frame means a very slim chance of survival. Why didn't you come to me sooner? I would have helped you in a heartbeat, you did so much for the Republic and the Directorate that I owe you a lot."

Arisa let out a heavy sigh, cracking her fingers as she considered the difficulty of the task now before her.

"So, do you have some leads?"

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

There wasn't a statement she had made that was wrong. In their line of work, an operator that went missing even for a month, was usually presumed KIA immediately. Paperwork gets done, families get informed, and funeral arrangements are made.

Yet he didn't do any of that..In fact he hadn't been in direct contact with any of their families..He had mainly watched from afar.

Hell, he had no idea if O'Riley's parents even knew he was dead. Valkren leaned forward, placing the tea on whatever he could. His hand was visibly shaking at this point. He'd pull back his hand to meet with his other, bringing both up to rub over his eyes and cover his face momentarily as he took a breath.

Six whole months..

"I was afraid, Arisa.." The words made his heart burn, it made him want to vomit. Guilt tugged at every one of his limbs, attempting to tear the young soldier apart. He had abandoned his team in their time of need, for the protection of his own family.

"I went to Alderaan directly afterwards..Besides a few trips to different locations to keep track of families..I hid. I hid and I waited." He took his hands away from his face, his gaze diverted from making any eye contact with the woman across from him, almost as if he was no longer worthy enough to speak with superiors. She asked about leads..He knew exactly who it was that took them.

His voice was hoarse, almost as if he was close to breaking down. He had never been like this, he hated the feeling. He despised it. He hated feeling helpless..

"Tessk..A transdoshan pirate. During my time with the Republic special forces, I was under the command of Gir Quee. Operation Torch..The file might still exists, I don't karkin' know." He bit his knuckle, looking at the way her office resembled a garden so easily.

"My team..Saber team, was deployed to take down him and his crew. We did just that." Valkren made eye contact with Arisa finally, a hollowness in his eyes that told a story of a thousand firefights and an even higher kill-count.

"He promised he would get back at us..Him and his twin brother. I don't know how the kark he got out, but he did and he got us back. Got us back good, Arisa."

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"I understand," she said with a nod. "Fear can lead us to do some funny things."

Guilt, too. It was clear that the other feeling that had prompted him to see her today. Arisa had been there too when she had first ventured to Voss. She didn't feel like her her respite was deserved while she knew there were people out there still suffering. Nothing had felt right until she had started striking out against on missions of her own design, much to the chagrin of certain peers within the Silver Order.

"So Tessk eh? I haven't heard of him before, but I'm sure we'll have some record. I personally have complete access to Republic and Directorate archives."

She unlocked her computer, fingers dancing along keys to bring up all relevant information, then flicking her wrist in a gesture to generate a series of holo windows above her desk, which included mugs shots of the Trandoshans in question.

"So then, where do we start?"

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren only smirked at this point, hearing her question about when they would start.

-Mos Eisley-​

​

The young commando stretched as much as he could in his sitting position in the back of a surveillance van in downtown Mos Eisley. He readjusted his black duty jacket before yawning. It was getting rather late and the night-life of the bars and clubs in the city were bumping. Valk' took a look over the mess of screens and monitors with several links to cameras and controls in one of the clubs a block away from their current position.

"You know it's killing me that you won't let me in there with you.." He stated, rotating on his chair to look at Arisa Yune, whom was also in the back of the van with him. They had come here after an old contact of his had come through during his time preforming 'recon' in many of the crimelords' networks..Which mainly consisted of the contact drinking and partying it up in the bars. Even with the constant inebriated state of the informant, he had made contact with Calderon, stating that one of the Twin transdoshans that had taken his team was actually on Tatooine somewhere. The contact sent the address of a club in downtown Mos Eisley that was selling out mercenaries and escort teams from the basement. With an entire party going on twenty-four-seven above them, no one would think about any noise coming from below the club-goers dancing feet. With the address came a promise of the informant being present in the club to drop more information about the place and who exactly might know the location of one of the brothers on the planet.

Valkren glanced back up at one of the screens again, before looking back to Arisa. He desperately wanted to go into the establishment to meet with the contact aswell, as he knew that the thugs that ran the darker face of the club most like wouldn't give up the information that easy.

But something about the Grandmaster's words made the soldier trust her.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

[SIZE=24pt]For [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]about the millionth time since hitting up Tatooine, while Arisa prepared her gear, Valkren would complain about her leaving him on observation duty while she handled the legwork. And for the millionth time, her answer would be just about the same. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]"This plan works best if I go in alone while you back me up from here. These gangsters and pirates won't know me or my MO."[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]That was only part of it. Valkren was too personally invested in the operation to be trusted to keep his cool at this juncture when she was trying to gather intel. Maybe she would let him loose at the end of it, but the seasoned investigator didn't want to have to worry about babysitting him while also in the midst of a sea of hardened criminals and killers. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]She gave him a tight smile before slipping out of the back of the van, unrecognizable in her current [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]masquer disguise[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]. It was now nighttime in Mos Eisley, but the air was still as toasty as it was during the day, all the streets and buildings radiating with the heat of the twin suns. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]From the van to the club, it was about a few streets over. As she came closer to the street of the club, the people around her appeared to become progressively shadier looking, if that was even possible in a crime den like Mos Eisely. In the Force, she could feel disturbances all around her, all sorts of violence unfolding under the cover of shadows. As a Jedi, it was frustrating that she couldn't respond to every occurrence, but at the end of the day, she was only one person with a limited amount of resources. Like it or not, she had to pick her battles.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]She found herself coming up on a small line as she came upon the club, the front operation incredibly popular in its own right. After several minutes, she came face to face with a sour faced [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Jilruan[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]. He gave her a once over, then waved her forward with a grunt. She was in.

[member="Valkren Calderon"][/SIZE]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

Valkren only nodded at her statement, knowing she was right..For him to stay. He'd take one last glance at the Jedi as she hopped out of the van. He'd simply shake his head before placing the headset back over his ears, his vision returning to several screens around his position that he'd soon set up to hopefully connect into the camera system around the block they were on and within the club Arisa was about to walk into.

"And here we go.." The young soldier spoke into his communication set, testing the connection to the earpiece that the grandmaster should have in her ear, if it was needed. He went to work on the console before him, using the connection he had set with one of his many contacts to work away at the firewall that prevented his access to the cameras. The screens displaying the street life around the club were the easiest, coming to life just in time to see his Jedi ally slip into line for the club. However, the cameras on the inside of the club were talking longer to access. Being blind for the moment, he could only watched as the bouncer eyed Arisa up, before letting her in.

Valkren cocked a brow and leaned back in his chair slightly as she was let in.

Impressive..

Within the bar, the grandmaster could already feel as if all eyes were on her. Perhaps not all of them were upon her, but many in the club had made a habit of shifting their stares to newcomers, just at the risk of rival gangs attempting to move onto others turfs, in their attempt to avoid being caught in the crossfire. The music was pulsating within the establishment, as people of all kinds were crowding the middle of the dance floor, overflowing with their dancing into different booths. After some focus from even the most simple investigator, it was more clear to see that many groups of dancers, male and female alike, would crowd toward the more shadier figures, almost giving away the fact that they were known to be quite wealthy and frivolous within bars and parties. With two bars on either ends of the dance floor, and booths all around, a different face was seen every moment due to the rapid movements.

Across the commotion, tucked around a corner where the flashing lights of the club didn't illuminate the darkness, another bouncer stood guard as a heavily reinforced door closed behind a human male in a rather dusty looking trench coat, weapons making the coat sit funny upon the obvious armor underneath. This had to be one of the soldiers hired out from beneath the massive party.

Seems like business was still active.

[member="Arisa Yune"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Past the door and she was greeted with the sight of a roaring nightclub. Assuming the persona of her alias as Nymeria, she slinked right across the crowded floor with an air of confidence. When up to trouble, it was good to act like you knew where you were going.

All along the way, she kept her mind open to threats, as she was now in enemy territory. She felt no hostility though, only a mix of curiosity to straight up attraction.

<Working my way to the second entrance.> She reported over her neural implant, complete with a wireless transceiver. <Things are about to get interesting.>

While she only had a vague idea of the internal layout, with a little pause to observe the scene, she quickly figured out where she needed to go to get to the real operations of the club.

A Gomorrean stood next to a heavy door, only shifting from his position against the wall to let in people, all looking pretty cut throat. That was it, she was sure.

She strolled up right to the door, smiling.

"What do you want?" the bouncer grunted.

"I'm here to see a friend," she answered, her voice like honey, infused with the Force to send her words right into his feeble mind to bend him to her will. "Is that alright?"

"...yeah." The bouncer stood straight, then opened the door to let her pass.

"Thank you," she nodded, then quickly passed, slipping into the depths of the basement level below.

[member="Valkren Calderon"]

 

[Valkren Calderon]

The young soldier couldn't be more surprised at the level of ease it took for Arisa to enter in the second level of the club. He was about as far back as he could lean in his chair, looking up at the mix of screens that rested about the rear of the van to observe the progress of his ally.

It had been quite some time since he had worked with a Jedi, and seeing one at work again in this kind of way seemed rather entertaining.

"Alright, I only have one connection to the network on that level of the club. Its a single camera over the bar at the far end of the room. Switching to it now." Valkren would state this as he adjusted his earpiece and moved his gaze to the screen directly infront of him as Arisa would descend a staircase covered in darkness.

Valkren's eyes went wide suddenly as the single camera view of the bar below the club scene came into focus, the single feed alone was full of mercenaries of all kinds of races and species. Strapped to the teeth with weapons and armor, there were plenty of soldiers of fortune around looking for a job their itchy trigger fingers could complete.

"Whoa.." There was no way to tell how many thugs were in the bottom level, as the camera feed alone only revealed one area. There seemed to be atleast seven in the immediate area.

"Right. My contact said he'd be in a blue vest. Human male, around sixty-five give or take a few years. Booth on the far end of the room..No idea if he's got friends or not, so be cautious."

Valkren shifted in his seat, leaning forward to get a good view on the camera.

"God I hope you didn't bring in anyone." He stated, this time without keying into their communications.

He knew who she was meeting, he had just hoped he wasn't as stubborn now as he had been in the past.

A towering figure would move by Arisa with the goal of getting to the stairs she had just came from, shouldering by her with no direct intention of making contact with her, but just the armored brute's sheer size caused him to knock shoulders with her.

"Watch it." The armored figure spoke out, staying on-course to the staircase.

[member="Arisa Yune"]