Searching for Answers

Tasha’Vel sat on the soft padded Matriarch chair in the throne room of her estate. She had gone through quite an ordeal with The Collective, but thankfully due to her House and Clan , she was extracted and brought back home. The Collective had tried to extract information from her, but she resisted. She had been tortured, beat up, and near death when they found her, however she still survived. She now had a jagged scar on the right side of her cheek that ran down her neck to remind her of how cruel The Collective could be to prisoners.

She was glad to be home and back to her daughter. Lynna’Vel was now two years old and walking. Tasha watched her stand up and walk towards her. She smiled and held out her arms to the toddler.

“You are getting so big now my sweet Lynna’Vel pretty soon you will be able to start learning how to fight.”

Lynna’Vel giggled and walked into Tasha’s arms. She scooped up the toddler and hugged her tight. The Maurader had missed her greatly and found a calmness to the recent chaos. Gently, she set her daughter down to play as she reached for the datapad on the right side of her chair. She picked it up and began to read a few local news articles. There was one in particular that caught her eye, apparently two older noble Twi’leks had been reported missing for two days and possibly kidnapped. As she looked at the picture of them, her smile began to disappear.

It was her parents.

She called one of the servants in the estate to take her child for a bit as she read the last whereabouts. They had last been seen preparing to board a transport to Nar Shadda for a charity fundraiser event when they were held at blaster-point and taken away. Angered and saddened, Tasha immediately turned on her communicator.

Goals:

1. Search around for information on the whereabouts of Tasha’s parents.

2. Find the kidnapper and bring him or her back dead or alive.

3. Recover Tasha’s parents.(Twa’kel and Rey’va Versea)

Finding the information is not going to be easy as there is not a lot to go on. You can start with the local authorities, people around when it occurred, also possibly slice into a computer(Bentre should be able to help with this) and find some files. Good luck!

Location: Arx (System), Arx (Planet)

Time: 2245 Hours (Arx Planetary Time)

Drae’lath floated motionless in his Bacta Tank. Being in this soundless state of suspended animation helped him to properly meditate. Due to his past combat engagements, they constantly tormented his mind, making it almost impossible to concentrate and clear his thoughts.

After some time, Drae’lath heard a faint tapping on the glass confines of the tank. A muffled voice followed as he snapped back into reality. From the white static background noise and the inability to feel, came the awareness of his surroundings, then the feeling of his body. Next was a slight twitch of his only flesh-and-blood arm to test his movements. Such was his limit, proved to him by the fact that he had been bound to a table build inside of the tank. As he continued, the sound of a steady heartbeat and regulated breathing followed shortly after. He had regained feeling of his body and moved to his surroundings. The mental imagine from the Force gave him the impression of his living quarters on Arx. He opened his eyes, revealing the most beautiful and somber aqua-cerulean blue field he had seen. Thin opal-white coloured bubbles rising in great numbers

From within the tank, he has saw a distorted figure standing outside waiting for Drae’lath. It was Katrea, his beloved wife. As his eyes fluttered open, he saw a look of concern on her face. He did not see her lips move, but could hear his wife’s message quite clearly in his mind.

“My Lord. You have a video message from Lady Versea. Marked as Alpha-Level Priority.”

Drae’lath gave her a slight nod in acceptance. Katrea then moved over towards the modified panel of the tank. After pressing a command order sequence, a dull, yet sharp hiss was heard from inside the tank. Drae’lath had began to sink onto the table as the Bacta began to drain from the tank. Drae’lath had laid motionless until a droid had came in with his cybernetics arm and legs. After it was done, Katrea approached the Lord with a datapad in hand.

“Good morning, my Lady. Play the message.” Drae’lath has told her, his usual monotone voice beared the slight sound of fatigue.

“Good evening, actually.” Katrea had replied with a smile.

The datapad was connected to a lectern from which the message was decrypted and its contents played.

“Hello, Tarkona’tel. I need your help.”

Drae’lath had remained motionless as the message played through. But his heart had grow heavy with sorrow for the Matriarch. Katrea had placed her hand upon Drae’lath’s shoulder. The loss of one’s parents was a feeling both Drae’lath and Katrea knew too well.

“Someone will be sent to pick you up. Please be ready.” And with that, the message ended. Drae’lath rose up and together they marched towards a wall locker on the other side of the room.

After some time, Drae’lath and Katrea donned their respective sets of armour and departed towards the space docks, rushing to their pickup point.

Versea Estate, Ryloth

The Twi’lek awaited for the arrival of Drae’lath and Katrea. As the pair headed into the reserved landing platform, Katrea noticed several heavily armed Twi’lek guards watching the area. Drae’lath pulled out the equipment from the storage compartment just as the main doors opened up. The Twi’lek guards didn’t need to even hurry the couple along.The two humans marched with purpose to the ship. Silence haunted the transport speeder and the occupants. Their visit was of more than dire circumstances and Drae’lath and Katrea couldn’t afford to waste any time with idle chatter. When they landed, Drae’lath and Katrea were greeted by another servant for the Versea Family. The deathly grip of silence was broken by the steady march of Drae’lath and Katrea’s footsteps. The servants had to do almost double time to keep up with Drae’lath and Katrea’s marching pace. The group passed through the corridor, between a long line of guards armed with vibrostaves and riot shields. The door leading into the main chamber had two Security Guards, flanked by security drones.

The doors opened to reveal the same large open half-circle throne room with two large chairs sitting very near towards the back wall. Flanked to either side of the chairs are two adult-sized Twi’lek statues, each holding a large blazer filled with flammable rocks used for ambient lighting. Sitting upon each throne was the venerated Matriarch and her husband, the respected, stern-eyed, and war-battered Human Male Patriarch. Drae’lath and Katrea approach the two lords, and much to Katrea’s surprise, Drae’lath presented himself before and kneeled. Katrea presented herself behind Drae’lath’s left side in a similar manner.

The Matriarch looked to her servant and gave a slight nod, ushering them away. She focused her attention to the two humans that knelt before her.

She smiled a bit as the two entered, but soon it faded as she spoke.

“Stand, I wish it were better circumstances we were meeting, but unfortunately it is not. I have called you here because I need you both to help me investigate and rescue my parents. Twa’kel and Rey’va were last seen about to board a transport to Nar Shadda when they were taken away at blaster point. You will have your work cut out for you as there is really no other information available. My suggestion is to head off to the crime scene and talk to the authorities, locals and any others around that may have information regarding the missing Twi’leks. I don’t care what methods you use to gather the information, but I want the perpetrator brought back alive if you can do that. I will be contacting a rather skilled slicer to assist me in gathering more information. If you come across anything please let me know.”

The Matriarch stood up and began to pace a bit. “I just am not sure why and what they want my parents for. I have not seen any ransom notes. It still puzzles me, because as far as I know there were no enemies at least for them. At any rate, I ask you please help me find them.”

Tasha then slowly wandered to the stand beside her chair and grabbed her glass of Tattooine Sunrise. She finished the drink and sat back down. It was still all a bit surreal to her. She had always know that it was bound to happen at some point, but she still was hoping it would never happen.

Nar Shaddaa (Above Orbit)

" Ateema doneha Te rosu. Doth chahse see kae an mee catau. Bu Yih Cartel nah doth han lohonka kae cahba see cahtana catau, phabeka, kacdy, ji muna bo, mo nem. Sonpa uba an panwa mee bidkana."

<<“Now entering Nar Shaddaa. Be mindful of yourself and your possessions. The Hutt Cartel will not be held responsible for any loss of personal belongings, credits, limbs, loved ones, or life. Thank you and enjoy your stay.”>>

The automated words droned over Drae’lath and Katrea, via loudspeakers as they sat amongst many forms of various sentient alien life. Drae’lath and Katrea huddled together in the very end of the shuttle; both were wrapped in their cloaks, but their hoods were left down, choosing not to draw attention to them, although the visible scarring and cybernetics were more than enough to render such attempts void to those either too curious for their safety or simply too stupid.

The shuttle landed and its occupants departed to their destinations. Drae’lath and Katrea walked on, each with an arm around the other, staying close. They headed through the docking port and into the open as they were presented with a full few of Nar Shaddaa. The two soon waited to be boarded into shuttle that directed people to the lower levels. Later on, after some time walking around in the lower levels, Katrea leaned into Drae’lath and whispered to him.

“We’re being followed.” They broke away from each other and sprinted in different directions.

Drae’lath sprinted past a group of aliens huddled near a fire. He slowed to a stop and scanned the area, trying to see if the one that was following them was after him or Katrea.

Drae’lath tapped his commlink and attempted to contact Katrea.

ACC Battle between Drae’lath and Kylex - https://www.darkjedibrotherhood.com/acc/acc_battles/1103

Drae’lath stood after a brief moment, gazing at his assailant as he grew ever smaller. Having grown tired of him, Drae’lath now slightly panting, stepped towards the edge of the vehicle. He scanned for a safe area to drop to and in the process of doing so, he had noticed a disturbance having formed in the crowds below. The Sadowan witnessed Katrea giving chase to a cloaked figure. Drae’lath smiled at the sight of Katrea chasing the figure, gracefully traversing through the crowd of aliens.

He calmed his breath and thought of a way as to help her. Drae’lath walked towards the driver side of the transport. He soon became aware of his apparent lack of a sidearm as his once holstered DL-44 blaster pistol was no longer amongst his possessions.

“Damn it,” he said under his breath. Drae’lath had lost his weapon during the surprise attack by the raving lunatic. Seeing this as a minor issue, Drae’lath calmly, yet steadily walked to the handrail above the driver side door and lowered himself to the railing below. The Sorcerer’s appearance had seemed to startle the driver. Drae’lath channeled the Force into his flesh-and-blood arm and shattered the window with a single strike. He clutched the alien by its shirt collar and pointed towards Katrea, demanding that he drive the speeder down to a point far ahead of Katrea. Fearing the wrath of the scarred stranger, the frightened driver had complied.

The cargo speeder veered off the sky lanes and towards the streets below.

Below

Katrea sprinted across the walkway, her eyes fixed on the fleeing figure whom had just crashed into another alien, revealing a Rodian male with a dark green skin tone. Much to the Rodian’s shock, Katrea had no trouble trying to effortlessly pass through. Onlookers gasped with surprise, with some others moving out of his and Katrea’s way. Off to the side was the approaching transport speeder, with Drae’lath holding on the railings, having sped past Katrea and the Rodian. Drae’lath jumped off and rolled into a kneeling position. As he did, he pulled his lightsaber and ignited it, much to the shock of the crowd.

Drae’lath rose up and intercepted the Rodian, holding him at saber point.

“Give up. Now.” He spoke with a menacing tone. The look in Drae’lath’s eyes spoke to the Rodian, telling him that the Human wasn’t one for bluffs.

Katrea caught up moments later, tackling the Rodian to the floor. As Katrea pulled out a pair of stun cuffs to restrain the Rodian, Drae’lath lowered his saber and scanned the area. He paused as a large number of onlookers stared at them. Drae’lath deactivated his saber, sheathing it onto his belt.

“Katrea, your pistol.” He spoke to his lover with a slight tone of embarrassment. While she held the Rodian’s cuffs with one hand, she drew her blaster and tossed it to Drae’lath. The crowd screamed and scattered away from the three as Drae’lath used the blaster and fired a pair of bolts into the sky.

“Speak, scum,” Katrea spoke with fierce hostility as she began to contort his arm.

The Rodian screamed, pleading for mercy. He groveled to Drae’lath but to no avail.

“ Mee hagwa setta huttese. Setta Basic? “ The Human replied with a soft, yet cold tone. The phrase was taken from a pamphlet he read on the way to Nar Shaddaa.

<<”I do not speak Huttese. Speak Basic?”>>

“Yes! Yes! I do,” the Rodian bellowed out.

Drae’lath said nothing as he raised his hand. Katrea relented her steely grip on the alien and relieved him of the torturous position.

“I will only say this once, so heed my words carefully. We are looking for two Twi’leks that were taken at blaster-point a day ago. What do you know of the incident?”

Drae’lath didn’t need to ask again, as the Rodian had feared Katrea, and so the alien spoke with haste. He spit out as much information as he could with each panting breath.

3 Months later

The next three months were a purposeful blur for the Sadowan and his lover. The information had led Drae’lath and Katrea on what seemed like a wild hunt through every part in the Undercity and in the Duros Sector. Some leads bore no truth to aid their mission, while others gave merely questions for the two to spend many a sleepless night in ponder.

The two were involved in a large number of unnecessary fights between gangsters that either wanted whatever was within their pockets or, for those lacking a measurable amount of intelligence, a few minutes alone with Katrea. Regardless of the reason, the outcome was the same: scores laid dead with countless more in fear.

Drae’lath saw how fustrated Katrea was becoming, as her past as an Imperial Agent drove her to achieve results. He knew that something or someone was needed to allow her to alleviate some of her aggression. The solution came in the form of a lowly gangster. He was simply in the wrong place at the right time; but wasn’t willing to part with the information, and that was enough for Drae’lath. After Katrea approached him, opening her coat and exposing a portion of her breast, she promised to indulge the man’s wildest fantasies for the information. The temptation alone was more than enough for the simple-minded thug to eagerly divulge what he knew. The two humans came to discover the location of the missing Twi’leks.

Being a man of his word, Drae’lath stepped away to contact Tasha’Vel. He leaned on a nearby railing, having pulled both a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket. He ignited a flame and lit the cigarette, taking a long and much needed drag. Drae’lath calmly exhaled the smoke as high-pitched screams began to ring out.

Katrea seems to be enjoying herself. Good. Drae’lath thought to himself.

The Journeymen tapped his wristlink and contacted Tasha’Vel, taking yet another drag.

Versea Estate, Ryloth

Having just finished tending to her Grandfather’s garden, Tasha heard her wrist communicator beeping. She saw it was Drae’lath’s contact information and pressed the button.

“Tasha here, what have you found for me?”

Drae’lath let out a puff of smoke as more screams emitted from the other room.
“We have found some information revealing what is to be the location of your parents.” He replied. “Seems we have a willing victim very eager to divulge information.”

Tasha smiled. “I can tell, those screams are almost like music to my ears. When you get the location send the coordinates to me. I will be waiting.” She switched off the communicator and stood up. Gardening could wait for a little while longer. Tasha walked back to the Estate and went inside. She turned to her most trusted butler Charles. He was a Devaronian male with purple eyes and red skin.

“Charles, I am going to be out for a bit on a mission. See to it that everything is in top shape, watch Lynna’Vel for a bit, and have some good wine ready for when I return.”

Charles nodded and bowed. “Of course Matriarch, I shall see to it personally.”

“Thank you Charles, I shall see you soon. Take care of my little Lynna’Vel. Some days I don’t know what I would do without you taking care of the little details of the Estate. My Grandfather made the best choice in hiring you.”

The Devaronian smiled. “I am flattered Matriarch. Do not worry, everything will be taken care of when you return.”

Tasha smiled back and went to her room. She donned her typical assassin gear, clipped her lightsaber to her side and went to Lynna’Vel’s room. The little twi’lek female was sleeping peacefully in her crib. “Such an innocent child. I hope you don’t have to go to war as much as I do little one.” She leaned over the crib, kissed her child’s forehead and stroked Lynna’Vel’s cheek lovingly. “Your mother has to go for a bit, but I will be back sweetheart. Charles will be watching you. He is a nice guy and has very pretty eyes, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Tasha smiled at her child still sleeping and rose, the smile slowly fading on her countenance as her eyes turned a blazing green. “I have some business to attend to.” Switching on her communicator she dialed Drae’lath as she made her way towards RavenStarBlood. “Send me your coords I will be there shortly.”

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