Mysterious Disappearances

[Kyi Wavestrider]

SERENNO
SERENNO SYSTEM
OUTER RIM TERRITORIES

Kyi just had a new Padawan learner assigned to him and a new assignment on Serenno - he'd never anticipated this to be honest, he figured he would get an assignment from the Order, that was to be expected. But to have a Padawan abruptly placed under his tutelage was jarring, he wasn't experienced in teaching others. However, upon meeting the one assigned to him - a Nautolan by the name of Umara Thum'la, he took an immediate liking to her.

The two were on a public transport en route to Serenno. There had been various reports of missing locals from Carannia floating around the galaxy, to which it eventually came to the attention of the Jedi and resulted in the deployment of both Kyi and Umbara.

During the trip, Kyi couldn't help but have his thoughts jump back and forth between the massacre on Jedha and how he wasn't there to help and then to the thoughts of his recent discover that he was going to be a father - although this would remain a secret for now.

In an attempt to take his mind off things, the freckled Knight turned his attention onto his new Padawan and with a smile and a shoulder nudge, he asked her "How're you feeling about this assignment, Umara? If you're concerned about anything, feel free to tell me okay?" in a reassuring tone of voice, hoping to establish some trust and comfort between the two, despite only having met recently.
​

@Tetsu

 

[Umara]

She had been quiet for the most part as she contemplated her future. She was pleased that the order had thought to provide her an instructor to learn from, as it indicated that she was approaching the next steps of becoming a jedi. Her usual chipper attitude was a bit dulled by the weight of attack on Jedha and her participation in that conflict. She had originally lived there at the temple, working to collect data, and during the attack she had managed to retrieve and deleted the temples hard drives before they could fall to any enemy manipulation. Her head tentacles on the left side where a few centimeters shorter than those in the right, expressing the damage she had taken in that effort. She had even broken her code of non violence then...something that still haunted her as they rode the public transport to Serenno.

She could sense her master’s contemplation, the force connecting them despite having only met recently. Kyi seemed like a genuine individual, and she was very taken by that. He spoke to her and she nodded, tying her squid noodles back with some leather straps that she had taken with her to help hide her choppy battle scars. “I’m feeling alright...I’m a little concerned as to why there isn’t more data on what’s taking these people, but I think we can handle this,” She expressed now kicking back into a happier tone. She was not going to get anywhere by moping about her past. They had a job to do here on the planet.

Umara had done some research prior to their deployment on the landscape of the planet and the kind of people that lived there. It was interesting to her that the planet was currently part of neutral space. She had hoped that they would get a chance to work closer to a temple; however this was the duty of a Jedi, to help the people of the galaxy with no regard for self.

She thought about Bask and their little home on Ifrane, where she had decided to keep the boy until it was safe to present him to the order. He was probably tinkering with some toys are messing with some of her stuff while she was away...classic six year old stuff. She refrained from telling her master about the boy, as the time was not right. She checked her belt under her cloak, feeling for both of her lightsaber handles as they began to make their descent.

“Master? Where exactly are we going on the planet’s surface?” She asked, wondering about the city or location they intended to search first.

@AfroBandit20

 

[Kyi Wavestrider]

The Knight smiled, his Padawan was an intuitive one - "Well, I guess that's what we'll have to find out." he answered, it was a simple response but Kyi hoped it would be a sufficient enough answer for Umara. Silence resumed for a brief moment, it was a comfortable silence however, the Jedi Knight's mind travelled back to his unborn twins and he smiled at the thought that maybe having a Padawan assigned to him was the Force's way of preparing him for parenthood.

This time it was the Nautolan who broke the silence, it was another question - referring to him as 'Master', which was strange to hear in its own right, she continued with her question and asked where exactly they were going. Before answering however, the transport's pilot announced that they would be landing shortly. Returning his attention to his Padawan, "We're going to start our investigation in Carannia and see where our leads take us." he answered, mind travelling back to five years ago when he and Sakadi were investigating a Force-sensitive child's kidnapping, and how Sakadi taught him everything he knew now about tracking. He was confident that they'd be able to solve this mystery.

Around ten minutes later, the transport docked in Carannia Spaceport and the Knight and his Padawan stepped off of the loading ramp. Since they were in neutral space, Kyi decided to wear his Jedi robes and cloak and has Exdee resting on his back, who was uncharacteristically silent for the trip. Turning to his apprentice and interlocking his fingers together, "Now we're here, what do you suggest we do first?" he asked, wanting to see how she would answer and witness her intuitive mind work.

@Tetsu

 

[Umara]

Her master had taken to asking her to figure out what to do, rather than commanding her. While unexpected, the liberty was welcomed. “Well master, I suppose we would need to investigate the crime scene, talk to witnesses, and maybe try to pin a motive that connects all of the disappearances.” She offered as she pulled her cloak over her head. She pulled out a data pad from her waist belt and began to look though some of the assigned reports that the Jedi had compiled for them. “It says here that all the disappearances happened mysteriously overnight, witnesses also seem to be reluctant to come forward, as there have not been any statements taking from any except…” She paused as she moved some of the evidence aside to pull out the line file that had a picture, name, and statement.

“It looks like Savita Kylee reported her son missing just the other night, here statement is here if you would like to read it,” She offered Kyi the pad as they made their departure. She had been sure that there was some sort of logical culprit hanging about; however, Umara did not know if they would be able to recover the missing people. The scary thing about kidnappings is that the taken people were not always recovered alive. She hoped dearly that this would not be the case.

“Master, her address was listed there on the pad in Carannia…perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pay her a visit?” The padawan offered as they were now walking onto the landing dock of the ship port. Umara always appreciated the harmonious skill it took pilots to coordinate their flights with that of others to make everything work. How wonderful, she thought quietly to herself. When she had first heard of the crimes happening here, she could hardly believe that such a pleasant place could be home to such malintent. Regardless there were there on a mission. She waited to hear her master’s response. He was of course the teacher, and she was but the learner. She was glad that Kyi was seemingly such an amiable teacher.

@AfroBandit20

 

[Umara]

Her master had taken to asking her to figure out what to do, rather than commanding her. While unexpected, the liberty was welcomed. “Well master, I suppose we would need to investigate the crime scene, talk to witnesses, and maybe try to pin a motive that connects all of the disappearances.” She offered as she pulled her cloak over her head. She pulled out a data pad from her waist belt and began to look though some of the assigned reports that the Jedi had compiled for them. “It says here that all the disappearances happened mysteriously overnight, witnesses also seem to be reluctant to come forward, as there have not been any statements taking from any except…” She paused as she moved some of the evidence aside to pull out the line file that had a picture, name, and statement.

“It looks like Savita Kylee reported her son missing just the other night, here statement is here if you would like to read it,” She offered Kyi the pad as they made their departure. She had been sure that there was some sort of logical culprit hanging about; however, Umara did not know if they would be able to recover the missing people. The scary thing about kidnappings is that the taken people were not always recovered alive. She hoped dearly that this would not be the case.

“Master, her address was listed there on the pad in Carannia…perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea to pay her a visit?” The padawan offered as they were now walking onto the landing dock of the ship port. Umara always appreciated the harmonious skill it took pilots to coordinate their flights with that of others to make everything work. How wonderful, she thought quietly to herself. When she had first heard of the crimes happening here, she could hardly believe that such a pleasant place could be home to such malintent. Regardless there were there on a mission. She waited to hear her master’s response. He was of course the teacher, and she was but the learner. She was glad that Kyi was seemingly such an amiable teacher.

@AfroBandit20

 

[Kyi Wavestrider]

The freckled Knight smiled at his Padawan’s response, she was an intuitive one indeed. He analysed Umara’s datapad, searching through the information, his eyes then focused on Umara “I agree, nice work.” he said with a smile and a wink - Kyi handed the datapad back to her after he had found the address “Come on, we can rent a speeder and head to Savita’s home.” he informed his Padawan, gesturing for her to follow him. Kyi interlocked his fingers once more as the two Jedi travelled through Carannia’s streets and headed to the speeder rental shop.


After arriving at the shop, Kyi would enter and rent an air speeder from the salesman. The salesman would go on to show Kyi and Umara the speeder they would be renting and after that, the two were on their way. During the drive through Carannia’s skylanes, Kyi opted for stay silen and focus on his piloting - he didn’t want to talk her ear off as she probably had her own things going on.


The drive was short and after about ten minutes, the freckled Knight parked the airspeeder outside Savita’s home address on the datapad. Remaining in the pilot’s seat, he rotated his head and locked eyes with his Nautolan Padawan and informed her “I’ll start off talks with Savita but feel free to add anything if you feel it’s important” after saying this, Kyi and Umara exited the parked speeder and made their way to Savita’s home. Her home seemed to be located in a wealthy part of town - a nice change of pace, although he hoped Savita wasn’t a stuck up rich person.


Kyi raised his arm and pressed the bell to Savita’s home. As it rang, it took a few moments for the blast door to open with a tall woman with greying hair standing at the entrance. “Can I help you?” she asked in a shaky voice, it sounded like as if she’d been crying - which didn’t surprise him at all, she’d lost her son. The Jedi Knight interlaced his fingers again and spoke in a calm voice “Greeting Ms. Kylee, I am Jedi Knight Kyi Wavestrider and this is my Padawan Umara Thum’la” he said, gesturing to his Padawan before continuing “We’re here to investigate the disappearances of citizens from Carannia, including the disappearance of your son. We’re wondering if there was anything you could tell us?” he asked with his voice remaining calm and gentle.


Savita took a brief moment to answer before stuttering in her response “O-oh! Y-yes! Of course!” she answered excitedly while gesturing for the two Jedi to enter her home and with that, they went inside ready to question the woman.

@Tetsu

 

[Umara]

She was glad that her master agreed her initiative. She was unsure of what he was going to think of her doing so much research preemptively; however, she was a librarian by nature and truly loved spending time shifting over data. She followed her master to the speeder, hoping on the back without any question or instruction to do so. She didn’t mind being the passenger, as it meant more time to think. She gripped onto the Jedi’s robes as the sped towards their destination. It was not the worst ride she had ever had, but she certainly didn’t think it was wonderful either.

the house they pulled up to seemed to match the address that they had been given on the data pad. “this is it.” She commented as her master expressed their game plan. He was to talk to Savita, while she would interject if something felt pressing. She nodded her head in compliance as they maintained some eye contact. She was agreeable to whatever her master wanted her to do.

The house they pulled up on was nice. The exterior was well painted, the durasteel seemed clean, and the exterior garden seemed trimmed. This was the home of an upper classman to be sure. The home looked to be in good condition, and she wondered if this had been the site of the abduction. She noted that the building still looked livable and there seemed to be no initial signs of a break-in such as a busted door or window that she could see on the house’s façade.

Kyi rang the doorbell, waiting for the blast doors to answer the call. An older woman opened the door, her appearance was that of someone under extreme emotional distress. Her cheeks seemed puffy from crying and she could sense her sadness, if only weakly. She remained silent as her master spoke to the woman. She felt no need to interject as he gained them access to the house. She did nod to the woman curtly when Kyi introduced her to the lady, hoping that she would be less off put by their good manners.

They were allowed into the dwelling, and Umara was awestruck by the wonderful decorum of the main living space they walked into. Two comfortable looking chairs and a sofa that were modern in style with a coffee table between them. A holo player was at the front of the room while there seemed to be holo tapes and data tapes stored on a shelf on the far side of the room. The space was open to the kitchen which looked to be a clean space, free of grime or anything that would indicate wear. Umara kept an alert eye on the surroundings, looking for anything that might help them uncover what was going on in town. For now, she left the questions to her master.

@AfroBandit20

 

[Kyi Wavestrider]

The distraught mother directed the Knight and his Padawan to sit on the two chairs while she sat on the couch. The chair was quite comfortable, the seat's cushioning must have been made from some fine and expensive materials - well, that was his guess at least. Savita offered the two some beverages to which the freckled Knight denied any for himself. Kyi leaned into his seat but remained in an elegant posture, he crossed his arms and engaged in eye contact with Savita.

"Well, my first question is what exactly do you remember on the day your son was kidnapped?" he asked in a soft tone of voice, conveying a non-hostile demeanour, as to make Savita as comfortable as possible. The distraught mother took a few moments to form her answer, her facial expression showed that she was recollecting the past events - then she finally answered "Uh... it was a normal day. Risk, my son, went to school and I went to work - everything transpired as usual. When we went to bed, Risk was still in his room but when I woke up in the morning to wake him up for school... he was... he...." she answered, struggling to finish her words. Kyi placed both hands in the air to halt her speaking, he sensed that talking about it was troubling for her and didn't want her to relive the memories any more than she already had to - "Thank you, Ms. Kylee." he said in his usual calm tone.

Taking a moment to think of his next question, "Was there any sign of forced entry?" he asked, this time Savita's response was swift "No! Not at all - no slicing, no damage to the blast doors... nothing." Kyi then hooked his index and thumb onto his chin, it was strange that their was no sign of forced entry - maybe these kidnappers they were dealing with weren't average criminals. "Do you mind if we check Risk's room?" two Force-sensitives may be able to pick up on something that the Carannian law enforcement may have missed. Savita nodded in agreement, allowing the two Jedi to investigate the boy's room "It's upstairs on the left." she said, using her arms to direct them.

Kyi tilted his head for his Padawan to follow him. As the two made their way upstairs and to Risk's bedroom, he turned to his Umara "What are your thoughts, Umara?" he asked, genuinely wanting to hear her take on the answers they had received downstairs.

@Tetsu

 

[Umara]

Umara remained silent, though attentive. Her solid black eyes hid her thoughts of contemplation as the woman explained that there had not been any sort of gradual or sudden change that would have indicated something was wrong before hand. Usually crimes like this required lots of time, getting to know the family and their routines. Often times, there is a relative, neighbor, or associate involved that allows for such an easy access to the home. The thing that struck Umara as strange was the fact that there didn’t seem to be any signs of struggle, at least in the living room.

She knew that if there had been any sort of struggle the mother would have heard it in the home, which made Umara question if this was a kidnapping or if it was a case of a runaway child. “Ma’am, do you have a good relationship with your son?” Umara asked, wondering if perhaps a fight between parent and child might have caused their current situation. “Of course, Risk and I always talk...though not as much lately, he has seemed a little more aloof but with their exams at school passing this cycle I didn’t think anything of it.” She expressed honestly. Umara nodded in response. The woman had been very open to their investigation and she was thankful for that.

Kyi gained the pair access to the boy’s room, which Umara agreed with as far as their next move inside the house. Umara followed her master up the stairs as he asked her analysis of the situation. “This is a strange case Master, I feel as if there is a possibility that this disappearance might have been voluntary rather than forced.” She expressed as the reached the top landing. There was no way that intruders could enter a home leaving no evidence or without some sort of assistance from the inside. They came to the room’s metal blast door on the left as the mother had said and she waved her hand gently to reach out to the force, asking it to open the door politely for her master. The metal door obliged revealing a fairly spacious room filled with what looked like art drawings and assorted posters of what was presumably populate on the planet. The bed was neat and made and nothing really looked out of place. The one window on the exterior wall of the home was closed and the doors magnetic bolt lock was fastened shut.

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s giving me a bad feeling.” She said as the neatness of the room, under the circumstances, was unsettling to say the least. It looked as if everything was put together, looking too clean for a crime scene, though the mother could have been the culprit in this matter. “Master, this room seems to neat for a kidnapping crime scene,” She vocalized to Kyi as they searched the room diligently.

@AfroBandit20

 

[Kyi Wavestrider]

Umara's theories were sound - the tidy room and negative signs of a forced entry all pointed toward a voluntary disappearance, and maybe she was partly right... but Kyi's gut, or the Force, was informing him it wasn't as cut and dry as that. Although, he neglected to reveal his own theories to his Padawan yet - with that, Kyi and Umara continued their search. The freckled Knight, judging by the contents of the boy's room, gathered that Risk was in his pre-teens and checked around for anything that may be of interest. Kyi approached Risk's tidied bed and proceeded to crouch, lifting up the blankets to view under it - nothing, he guessed there wouldn't be anything there as the previous investigators would have already picked it out. Returning to his feet, he returned to the search.

Turning his head, his attention was caught by Risk's slide open wardrobe. The young Jedi made his way toward the wardrobe's door and then realised why it had caught his attention - he had sensed an echo, an echo within the Force, meaning he can use psychometry to access this echo. Kyi placed his palm on the wardrobe's door and closed his eyes, opening himself up the Force and allowing it to pass through him, allowing him to see the echo of the past.

Since his ability with psychometry had greatly improved from when he first learned it as a Padawan - the echo came more willingly and he was allowed to see, hear and feel the events of the past. The young Jedi witnessed a recent memory of Risk sliding open his wardrobe and accessing a secret compartment at the back of the wardrobe - Risk activated the secret compartment with a key card but... something felt strange, off, usually he would feel the emotions of an individual during a vision of the past but this was different... he felt nothing from Risk, no emotions at all. Opening his eyes swiftly, the vision ended and Kyi had returned to the present.

Finally, a lead, although he realised there would be no way to access it without a key card. He guessed that the secret compartment wouldn't be too heavily secure and so he turned to Exdee - "Little help, bud?" and with an enthusiastic chirp, the small XD-unit leapt off of Kyi's back and made his way to the secret compartment, hacking it open. Beeping confidently, the orange droid returned to Kyi's back and went back into standby mode. The freckled Knight then proceeded to crouch down and reached inside the compartment, he pulled out a small holoprojector that fit into his palm.

Standing up, he turned to look at his Padawan, who was still searching around - "Hey, Umara. I found something." he called out to her. They were one step closer to solving this mystery.

@Tetsu