Well, it's useful to know that the Order has its finger on the pulse. Tal might, in fact, report to the Council that I showed up here. Then again, why "might"? She will report that she ran into me, even though I asked her not to. Not that it changes anything. The Order could issue me orders on what to do here. Sometimes it's useful to have a defined goal... Though not in this situation. It's entirely possible I've boxed myself in. Or maybe I haven't. Either way, my plans haven't changed. I need to find Nira Aldair, a Zeltron and one of Gaven Hornly's commanders. While Gaven himself was off-planet and his exact coordinates were unknown, Nira was definitely here.
And I intended to get acquainted with her by infiltrating her residence — or rather, her base. They're having trouble with the Black Sun right now, so security might be heightened. But nothing I couldn't handle. I could have gone to her openly, but... it could, in theory, take too long for a decision to be made about granting me access. This way, I'd immediately get to see the Zeltron and have a nice little chat with her about her boss Gaven, and ask about Alexi Garyn's actions — couldn't leave him out. The Black Sun had already started moving; according to rumors, their forces were advancing along the Corellian Way.
They were passing through as mercenaries, though everyone knew perfectly well who they really were and who they were going to. The conflict between the Black Sun on one side and Luna and the Hutts on the other threatened to engulf several sectors at once. I personally predicted the main clashes in the Gaulas sector, where the Ryloth system is located, the homeworld of the Twi'leks. It's currently serving as a resource base for the Hutts. There, the Hutts extract the famous Twi'lek dancers and other slaves, and they also export rill from there to the Corporate Sector and beyond. The Hutts also compete with the Pykes, who are known for their criminal organization: the Pyke Syndicate. I honestly feared the Pykes would join the Black Sun and start a real bloodbath. But it turned out the Pykes have roughly the same grievances against the Black Sun Syndicate as they do against the Hutts, who backed Gaven Hornly's organization. So, according to the information I got, the Pykes decided to remain neutral. Though that doesn't rule out the Pykes showing up at the last moment and trying to finish off the survivors. That's a logical move, actually — I would have done the same. But let's get back to Ryloth. It's deep in Hutt territory; the Hutts will only participate in a limited way, and it's generally logical to knock them out of the conflict.
The Hutts are backing Gaven only to weaken the Black Sun; they definitely won't fight to the end. If it works out and Gaven can deal serious damage to the Black Sun — good. If not — also good; the Black Sun will be weakened in the conflict. On the way to the Gaulas sector lie the Deimor, Savarin, and Arkanis sectors. In the Savarin sector is Christophsis, which acts as a sort of buffer and a place to smuggle criminal goods further into the Republic's core.
Christophsis is a wealthy planet for these parts, but that doesn't change the fact that it's close to Tatooine, where Jabba the Hutt rules. Or rather — Jabba Desilijic Tiure, to use his full name. It's through Christophsis and the nearby systems and planets that Jabba's criminal Empire exports everything illegal. The flow of "contracted workers," given Tatooine's proximity to Ryloth — consisting of the well-known Twi'lek girls — the export of the narcotic rill, weapons smuggling, some useful minerals, and much more. Also in the Savarin sector is Rodia. The goal isn't entirely obvious — the Rodians, as mercenaries, could support anyone. But they lean more toward the Hutts due to their proximity to Tatooine, the capital of Jabba's criminal Empire. The Arkanis sector, in this case, is represented by Tatooine itself. There's also another notorious planet there — Geonosis — but that's an adventure for another time. On Tatooine is the main estate of Jabba the Hutt, who, among all the Hutts, is the most actively backing Gaven and his organization.
There was even information floating around that Gaven personally flew to Jabba to form an alliance. Decapitating Gaven's support is a very interesting idea. Still, Alexi clearly understands that the root of the problem is Gaven Hornly himself, not Jabba the Hutt. Remove Gaven, and the whole conflict resolves itself. So, most likely, the main blow will fall on this sector — the Abrion sector — where Rishi is located. Even though the Black Sun's forces are moving along the Corellian Way, they could easily turn around and strike Rishi. Moving along such a hyperlane is more about disorientation, because one of the five main galactic hyperlanes has a huge number of branches, and you never know where the enemy will turn at the very last moment. Given the current speed of ships in hyperspace, it's not always possible to prepare your forces in time and concentrate them at the point of the strike.
In such a situation, the key becomes the ability to predict the strike by reading the character and logic of the enemy commander, or the ability to properly organize reconnaissance that will quickly relay information about the enemy's maneuver to you. Which of these does Gaven Hornly possess? It doesn't matter to me... It would matter if the Republic decided to intervene in the conflict, sending Judicial Forces under the command of a Jedi Knight, Master, or even a Grand Master. Then I'd give it my all to achieve what I consider the best outcome. Ideally, in my opinion, I'd gather all this criminal scum on one planet, preferably in one location, and conduct a full Base Delta Zero. The galaxy would be no worse off for it.
Unfortunately, I don't have the resources for that yet. And the Republic has no intention of playing in this conflict. So I'll play for my own purposes. Ideally, I'd capture Alexi Garyn and squeeze every bit of information out of him. To figure out where Alexi is now, or to lure him out — the one rumored to be the new leader of the Black Sun — I have to find out his location. Gaven Hornly might have that information; his commanders are a little less likely. But most likely, the info is with Gaven. And to find Gaven's coordinates, I don't have to scour the entire Abrion sector. Any one of his commanders could point me to him, and then I'm sure I can come to an arrangement with Hornly. Nira's base was a three-story building surrounded by Luna PMC troops. I noticed now that they were wearing identical uniforms with a white circle emblem on a black background. Does resemble a moon, yes... The soldiers patrolled in pairs or threes. Textbook stuff. I'd started reading literature on ground combat, and there was an "instruction on guard duty." According to Revan, that document was older than him, but the logic was roughly this: you don't go on guard duty alone.
This truth is understood by all. While an enemy is killing your comrade, you can either kill the enemy distracted by your comrade, run, or call for reinforcements. A guard patrolling alone is a failure of the officer, and ideally that officer should be punished themselves. The base was located in the Barrens, not far from a city whose lights flickered behind me. It was placed very advantageously, situated in an empty area — an unprepared squad or individual would find it very difficult to approach. However, there were downsides. If an enemy fleet was in orbit, they could easily target the energy concentration in the deserted area. They wouldn't even have to touch the city — though, when did criminals ever care about the lives of other sentients?
Getting in by jumping over the base wall wasn't difficult. Moving through the base grounds was another matter, where patrols prowled and the beams of searchlights and security lights cut through the darkness. I sensed at least fifty sentients patrolling the yard and perimeter of the base. And at least as many more were inside the building, on various floors. I also noticed automated turrets, shield projectors, and Planetary Defense systems, represented by both cannons and missiles. They had fortified themselves thoroughly… An unpleasant surprise was that the windows were electrified, what they called power lines, which ruled out any chance of entering through them.
And so… I spotted a patrol of two men moving away. The patrols could enter the building once every ten to twenty minutes. Either for shift change or to receive new orders. The patrol I'd noticed was walking right next to the tank I was hiding behind. Seeing that the cameras were pointed their way but had turned to another part of the building for the moment, I attacked them both at once. They had very convenient uniforms. Laying them both out with telekinesis, I examined my "clients." One of them wore a sort of cap that could, ideally, conceal his face. Interesting… Using Force Concealment, I could mess with other sentients' minds, distracting them, but I couldn't distract a camera that way, and using ionization on the eve of a conflict… Could trigger an alarm. At the same time, I wanted to have a private chat with Nira Aldair, without any stupid rumors or middlemen. Which meant it was better to slip in unnoticed. So I hid one of the sentients under the tank, having thoroughly messed with his mind using Force Persuasion with the command: want to sleep for a couple of hours. Before that, taking cover, I changed into his uniform, which was a bit big on me, but my ability to divert attention would help neutralize any awkward questions from his comrades. And all this while the camera hanging to the right of the armored vehicle made a full rotation.
The armored vehicle itself was tracked and manufactured by a little-known company. It seemed to be used in local conflicts. Not exactly a popular or widespread model. But its impressive size allowed me to pull off my little scheme. Having rifled through the mind of Reco — that was the name of the partner of the guy whose clothes I'd taken — I started absorbing information.
"So are we going to start the war with Garyn soon?"
"There you go again, Boler," the man sighed. "It all depends on the bosses, but I figure Commander Nira will give the order to assemble soon. And you'll finally get to take part in something more serious than raids on merchants — that's how you dream of proving yourself, right? Just don't die on the road to heroics. Maybe Commander Nira will even notice you, like you dream about on those lonely, cold evenings. But don't count on it too much; she's with Commander Leyden." That was the Twi'lek commander who handled the PMC's business in the west. Quite possible he was here too. "Where are you going?" he asked, as I started walking toward the building. "We've still got an hour of duty left."
So I'd miscalculated their patrol routes after all. I should have studied everything more carefully. On the other hand…
"I think I'm having trouble with my power cells," I said, looking at Reco, putting the Force into my words, using persuasion. "Should I report it to the armory?"
"Probably," Reco agreed with a sigh. "Probably from that batch those stupid Hutt slugs sent us. Well, at least we've got something; to be honest, the Supreme Commander underestimated how many people wanted to fight against those bastards from the Black Sun and Garyn."
Yes, there was something like that. Beyond the original PMC forces, other people had rallied to their banner. Even Boler himself, whom I'd knocked out and whose uniform I was now wearing, hiding his face from the cameras with the cap, was one of those. Boler was a rookie pirate who'd tried to raid a Black Sun caravan with his crew… And he knew whose caravan it was, but as a captain, having gotten the ship from his father, a once-successful pirate, he went after the syndicate… And got what was coming to him, losing almost all his comrades. Then he tried to "get revenge," finally finishing off what was left of his crew, eventually joining the PMC Luna alone, when he'd started with a crew of fifty men. Yeah, a textbook case… Treatable, but incurable.
We approached the console at a nondescript entrance.
"Reco," a Rodian face appeared on the holoterminal, "what are you doing here? You and Boler still have an hour of duty. Or do you have problems again?"
"Yeah," I took the word, showing the holoterminal camera a G8 blaster rifle. It wasn't bad, but fragile. Its reliability was questionable, yet it was affordable, though a bit pricey for some.
"Boler," the Rodian said sternly, "this isn't the first time you've had problems with your blaster."
"I know, but it's a G8. Its frame isn't exactly a gift…"
"Shut up. Use what you've got. I'll let you through now; go see Tod, let him take a look at what you've done to the weapon. But keep this in mind: besides the G8, we've got nothing right now, so either you learn to use it without breaking it, or your services to Luna are no longer needed. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," I said contritely.
"Reco, take this idiot to Tod, let him check out the rifle."
The door opened, and we headed inside, into a brightly lit corridor.
"If I were you, I'd be more careful, Boler," Reco said. "Antko knows what he's talking about. I get that you don't like the G8; I'm not thrilled with it myself, but we don't have a choice. Or do you want to go storm one of Garyn's ships unarmed? You've run into Jedi before — maybe you picked up something?"
"Very funny. Hilarious." We approached the checkpoint, where there was a line of sentients. It was at the end of the corridor, in front of the doors.
"Reco, Boler, Antko said you're to go to the armory," said a Rodian woman.
"Yes, Brentka," Reco replied. "Boler has a problem with his blaster."
"Hah, Boler and no problems," came an arrogant voice from nearby. It was a tall human male. "He breaks everything he touches."
Yeah, for instance, every bone in your body, if I wanted to. I noted the cameras. They were really serious about security here… Boler was human, and I was a Sephi. My pointed ears could give me away if the camera operator looked closely.
"Right," the Rodian woman said. "Reco and Boler — put your hands on the scanner. And you, Sairo — be quiet. It's time for your patrol." She sent the man off. The guy snorted, tried to bump me with his shoulder, but I dodged and walked past. How rude. He and Boler must be at odds, but I didn't know him, and I had no time to play the part.
A fingerprint scanner? For criminals — that was an awful lot of precautions! But regardless — there was no time to back out. I put my hand on the scanner, while simultaneously focusing on Brentka. The system would show that I wasn't Boler, but — I could make it give me the answer I needed. And it did — it let us through.
"The armory is that way," Reco said, heading right. Let him go. I walked into the huge hall that opened up beyond the corridor toward one of the other sentients and persuaded him that Boler had asked him to take his blaster to Tod for repairs, while I headed for the elevators. They definitely led to the third floor, where, according to the information I'd gotten from Boler and Reco, Nira's quarters were. That was where I needed to go. Stepping into the elevator, after hitting the two guards standing nearby with Force Persuasion, I selected the third floor. Unlike the first floor — the corridor here was dark and gloomy. I barely sensed any guards. I'd copied the base schematic from Boler's datapad, but he didn't have a map of the third floor. Careful, so no one could get to the boss. Nevertheless, hiding from the camera that would have spotted me, I ran to a computer terminal and jacked into it.
The slicer program started its work, but — I couldn't immediately crack the data of Gaven Hornly's organization. Apparently, the best thing to do was upload a virus into their system; it would feed me information about Hornly's actions, maybe even help me track down Gaven's location… After uploading the viruses, bypassing their security, I also downloaded the plan of the third floor, and then headed for Nira's quarters. There were two sentients in her room. One aura belonged to a Force-sensitive — Nira Aldair herself — and the other? Maybe Leyden Urton, the Twi'lek and Nira's lover, according to the intel? And that turned out to be the case… Opening the door to her quarters, I absorbed a blaster bolt.
"I asked not to be disturbed!" came a woman's angry voice. And it was easy to see why. The Zeltron, Nira, was naked and alluring. Her body was pink, like her hair. The beauty was in excellent physical shape. Behind her, the arms of a green-skinned Twi'lek were wrapped around her. The man, judging by his emotions and expression, was slightly taken aback, either by the interruption or by the fact that his lady had shot at the first person who walked through the door.
"I'm not on your list of subordinates, so I can do whatever I want here," I said, using telekinesis to knock the blaster from the woman's hand and pull it toward myself. "Or do you want to contest that?" I released the Force, stopping my concealment.
"Who are you?" Leyden asked. Vibro-knives appeared in his hands. "And how dare you intrude here? Answer," his face twisted into a sneer of anger, "or I'll skin you alive!"
"Stop, Leyd," Nira stopped him. "This… This is a monster." Her blue eyes stared at me in terror. Well, of course — since she was weak but Force-sensitive, she could feel my power. "I… I've never felt anyone so strong in the Force."
"So he's a Jedi?" Leyden asked, tensing up.
"Yes, more or less. And rest assured — if I wanted you dead, you'd already be dead. You understand that, don't you, Nira Aldair?"
"Yes," she said dryly, covering her upper body with a blanket, "I understand. Neither I nor he can match you. But you didn't kill us. You didn't even disable us or knock us out. Which means," she blinked, smiling a seductive smile, "you want something from us."
"And, of course, we'll give it to you," Leyden Urton said, grasping the situation. "What do you want from us, Jedi?"
"Well then, to business," I said, pulling a nearby chair toward me, sitting down in front of them, crossing my right leg over my left, and closing the door. Nira swallowed and glanced at the window, which was quite large and covered by curtains. "I wouldn't advise it," I said calmly, reading her thoughts. "The windows are rigged with power lines. One touch and you'll be fried to a crisp, without any Force techniques. That would be a great loss — to lose such a beautiful woman… You I wouldn't miss," I said, looking at Leyden.
"I'm flattered that you're concerned for my life, Jedi. You are a Jedi, aren't you? Very strong in the Force… And you've clearly received formal training in its use; it's far too orderly."
"Yes," I sighed. This information gave her no real advantage anyway.
"Would you like a drink?" Nira asked. "I feel like a bad hostess. You went to all this trouble, infiltrated my base… I hope you didn't kill any of my people?"
"Well… Under the tank, in Sector D-2, Boler is lying fast asleep. I borrowed… certain elements from him. As for deaths — I didn't kill any of your people."
"And that's good," the Twi'lek said. "Our PMC's code requires us to avenge our subordinates. We're not just some gang." The look I gave him would have made even the God of Skepticism, as a concept, proud. "But to business."
"Well, let's just say that this conflict is of little interest to me," I said, crossing my arms on my chest. "The Republic, as you know, will prefer to remain neutral in the upcoming event. But you — the Hutts on one side and the Black Sun on the other — will clearly be spilling each other's blood."
"And judging by the fact that you came to us, you don't want to go to the Black Sun, or to the Hutts."
"Correct," I praised Leyden. "I'm interested in Alexi Garyn. You know he's being groomed as the next leader of that syndicate." Nira and Leyden nodded in unison. "As the heir, he might have a lot of useful information on him. And if he were removed from the gang… It's possible the Black Sun would weaken considerably. Unfortunately, even all the power of my organization doesn't guarantee I can get to Alexi Garyn. Besides, we're, shall we say, neutral."
"So this is your own initiative," Nira concluded.
"Correct," I agreed, "and that's your advantage in an alliance with me. If I were acting on behalf of my organization, I'd be somewhat limited in certain methods." Though, besides Force polarity, the Jedi don't have many serious restrictions. "But this way, I can 'go all out.' As enemies of Alexi and the Black Sun, you should see the benefit of my intervention on your side."
"Hmm," Nira mused.
"And what do you want?" Leyden asked. "You clearly intend to go after Alexi, but you don't know where he is."
"But you can find out where Garyn's fleet and his allies are. You have a war brewing here. You, or your Supreme Commander, Gaven Hornly, or his ally Jabba. If I intervene and, with your help, track down Alexi Garyn and then take him out of the game — it'll be better for you, won't it?"
"You're right about that," Nira said. "We don't know where Garyn is now. He supposedly arrived in the Savarin sector — at least, our scouts reported that Alexi's fleet jumped from Follin, further along the Corellian Run, toward the Savarin sector. But the information about him appearing in the Savarin sector is fragmentary. Where Garyn himself is right now, nobody knows."
"But your intelligence network will be useful one way or another, so I still intend to make an… alliance with you."
"We'll inform you if anything comes up…" Leyden began.
"No, no, no," I shook my head. "I want to speak with Gaven Hornly. The trouble is, I'm, well, an outside force. Not on your level. So I want to deal directly with Gaven. That would be a sign of trust between us."
"Aren't you taking on a bit too much?" Leyden asked.
"No, not too much. Good question," I shook my head. "Listen, I'm taking a risk too. Me — intervening in your squabbles without the proper authorization from the relevant structures within the Order… I need to see that you're making… stakes equivalent to mine. Or are you so afraid that I'll try to destroy Gaven Hornly somehow?"
The Twi'lek and the Zeltron looked at each other.
"Alright," the woman finally said. "I'll talk to Gaven. If he's interested, he'll meet with you."
"You can also add that I helped your colleague, Lora, with Jarko Itari."
"Oh, so you're that Jedi who 'took advantage of her'?" Nira smiled. A smile crossed Leyden's face as well.
"'He took advantage of me! Used me for a 'strategic ploy'! How dare he! I'll show him!'" Leyden said with a laugh. "For a year after crushing Jarko's forces, Lora kept coming up with ideas to find you and punish you in every sense of the word."
"That's for sure," Nira laughed. "She was always too emotional for a mercenary, especially in situations where she felt she'd been tricked. By the way, Lora is currently with Gaven and Zelmen."
She took off the blanket and was naked again. Standing up, the woman calmly walked to a closet, took out some clothes, and began to dress. Leyden followed her example. I watched Nira in particular. She managed to strike sexy poses even while pulling on her boots. Then she walked to the holoterminal and dialed a number. After a couple of seconds, the voice channel was established. A human male with hair black as pitch appeared before her.
"Gaven," she said. Leyden stood beside her.
"What is it, Nira, Leyden?" Gaven's voice was gruff and cold. "I thought we'd already discussed everything… Hmm… Who's that next to you? I feel someone's presence to your right."
"It's a Jedi, Gaven," Leyden said. "He showed up at Nira's base and expressed a desire to… 'participate' in our venture."
"A Jedi," Hornly turned to me. "What do you want?"
"Access to your intelligence network, Gaven Hornly." I stepped closer. "I'm interested in someone in the Black Sun."
"And you want to use my PMC's data to get to this someone. I don't deny I'm useful to you. But are you useful to me?"
"We're useful to each other, Gaven. You're planning a frontal war against who? The Black Sun. You have the Hutts as allies. You have every chance of winning, inflicting heavy damage on the Black Sun. But the Hutts could crush you afterward." The channel, judging by the data my virus — which I'd used to infect the PMC Luna's system — had sent me, was secure, thank the Force.
"I know that. So what? Will you convince the Republic and your Order not to let the Hutts do that?"
"No, but if I get information about Alexi Garyn, I can make sure you spend far fewer resources fighting him…"
"Thus preserving my resources and soldiers for a confrontation with the Hutts, if they decide to take advantage of my victory. I see the benefit," he nodded with satisfaction. "You managed to infiltrate Nira and Leyden's base undetected, which means infiltration and elimination are among your skills. I don't know where Alexi is right now, that's the truth. But if I find out and tell you — will you go after him?"
"You need to eliminate Alexi Garyn to disorganize the Black Sun and easily crush their forces. I need certain information he might possess. We have the same goal, Gaven…"
"Which currently comes down to us not knowing where Garyn is… However, that's fixable," he nodded. "Alright. Cooperation is beneficial; I agree. But I can't trust you right away. I think you'll need to prove your skills."
"I'm not in your PMC, Gaven," I reminded him coldly. "And I don't look like someone you can give orders to."
"Oh no, I understood that immediately, Jedi. You're too powerful to follow my orders. I say 'cooperation is beneficial.' For you as well. We're equal partners, I'd call it. Now, the point of the test: to make sure you weren't sent by the Order to sabotage my upcoming campaign, or worse, by the Black Sun. We really don't know where Alexi Garyn is now. On the way to the Savarin sector, his fleet vanished, despite us preparing powerful traps along his approach vector — you might have stumbled upon them, or rather their remnants, since we're currently moving the fleet to strategic defense nodes." Gaven brought up a map before us. "Meanwhile, my intelligence has discovered that there's a Black Sun spy cell on Radnor. That's in the Deimor sector," he indicated. "Lora has already gone to check the intel. If you help her expose the cell, there's a good chance — a very good chance — that you'll find Alexi Garyn's location and be able to track him down."
Hmm… He was being honest. So, Radnor… And Lora was there now? If I could really find out everything I needed, deal with Garyn — then I could start dismantling Luna too. That organization didn't inspire any positive feelings in me either. Essentially, that PMC was also criminals, just hiding behind "pretty words." And the virus I'd managed to plant in their system would help me with that.
"Alright," I said, closing my eyes. "I'll help Lora, and you'll share everything you know about the Black Sun and Alexi Garyn."
"Agreed. And after that — you'll go to Garyn's fleet and do whatever you deem necessary with him and his subordinates," Gaven Hornly concurred. He disconnected, leaving me alone with Leyden and Nira.
"I'm glad you came to an agreement with him," Nira smiled.
"I would have preferred to speak privately," I said with some regret, "but this is good too. In that case, I'll head to Radnor."
"Say 'hi' to Lora from her best friend," Nira smirked sardonically, her eyes gleaming with mischief.
"And yes, remember — the only rule when dealing with our Mandalorian is: first, use telekinesis to take her blaster, then talk," Leyden said.
"Thanks for the advice… I'll keep that in mind," I promised, leaving the quarters. I didn't have to reinvent the wheel on the way back; the guards let me through without much trouble. Except for the pair I ran into — Reco and Boler — who cursed me out a bit. But overall, everything went smoothly… Radnor, then. It looked like I'd have to work with that Mandalorian again…