Ask The Wayward Navigator

[Jonathen Baize]

Jonathen Baize had not been initially thrilled with his transfer. He was a soldier through and through, and while his new work helping to oversee the Empire's defenses and logistic networks was important work, there was no doubt he was being sidelined and likely forgotten. He was not one to sit idly by. The Commander had quickly set to work correctly laxness of those in his Command. He had even investigated corruption that had worked its way in. All of this was unacceptable, but it did give rise to the new project he had started working on.

An established Hyperlane between the two halves of the Empire would serve to make travel safer and more efficient. It would also serve as the perfect avenue for spreading the Empire's influence along it.

He had received initial approval and had begun work immediately. The project had hit a snag pretty early on. The Navigator, one of the best the Empire had to offer, had come up missing two days prior. After some investigation, it was discovered she was likely kidnapped by criminals from Hutt-controlled space to force her husband, an Imperial Officer with a horrific gambling problem, to pay his debt.

The officer had been dealt with; his actions were shady at best and downright criminal at worst. Now they just needed to find their Navigator, Talisha Rayn, before this group of thugs released her husband wasn't going to pay up, and she was killed or worse.

They wouldn't be able to take a large team into Hutt Space, so Jon had invited one other from the Imperial Knights to join him. This had been a conscious effort. He was trying to incorporate them more and more into their work. He wasn't sure which Knight was being assigned to this mission. He sat behind his desk at Garrison Command, waiting for his would-be partner for this excursion to show up.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

Merian walked in with purpose and prepared, as was her habit. Not early but not one minute late, she knocked on Jon’s office door and only came in when she was invited. She’d read up on the mission and its importance, of course, as well as the planet, the navigator, the opposition, and Jonathen himself.

Impressive service record for one so young, which explained why he’d made Commander before age thirty despite a disciplinary hiccup. But it had left Merian with one question. Why her? Between Endor, Entralla, Ord Biniir, it seemed like whenever Commander Baize needed a Knight, he went to Kalique Demici. Why not this time?

“Commander,” Merian opened after a quick salute, short but impeccable. “Knight Sere, reporting. I noticed you intend to take part in this mission personally?”

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

"Enter" he said when she was at the door, looking up from his paperwork. Something seemed familiar about the Knight, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

She entered the room and saluted; he returned the gesture and retook his seat, gesturing to a seat on the other side of the desk for her to take. "Thank you for coming, Knight," he said. He raised an eyebrow, a slight grin appearing on his face. "I do. I am not quite ready to resign myself to a life of desk work," he said. "Any objections?" he asked. Some people didn't like higher-ranking officers coming on missions; most thought it more of a hassle to babysit, which made the job more difficult. Jon understood this all too well; he had been in the situation before but was not so removed from the action to be a liability.

"I trust you have had time to review our little problem?" he asked; if not, he could review whatever information was needed so she would be up to speed. "I was just about to go pay our gambling soldier a visit and see what he was to say, he was brought it this morning," he said, pushing himself up.

"Care to join me?" he asked.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

“No objection, Sir,” she said immediately. “Just to make sure. Your service record speaks for itself.”

It wasn’t Commander Baize’s skill Merian had doubted, but the Empire’s willingness to send him out into Hutt space. New officers especially were always willing to take the field, strong off a string of successful campaigns that had earned them their promotion, but eventually they’d all face the higher-ups reminding them they weren’t as expendable as they’d once been.

“Extensively,” she confirmed regarding his second question. “And with pleasure. I’ll only observe if so you wish. I should disclose my sympathy for the man is slim to none.”

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

"If we are going to be working in the field together, we can let go of some of the formalities for the time being. Jon is fine." he said. He could appreciate the need for such language, but they were going to end up in Hutt space eventually; they would need to be a bit more casual with one another on this one.

"Good," he replied with a nod. He certainly liked that she had come prepared. He pushed himself to stand as she agreed to go along with him. He raised an eyebrow at her comment.

"You and I have that in common, then," he said. He couldn't stand corrupt or morally corrupt officers in the IAF. It gave them all a bad name. They were all trying to be better than their history; it was men like him that dimmed that dream. "That sounds personal, though. Do you have ties to him?" he asked. He welcomed any insight into the man; perhaps she knew how to get to him. "Regardless, I think it would be good for you to join me on this," he said.

He wanted to see how she worked, and you could get a pretty good grasp on someone watching them interrogate someone. They stepped into the interrogation room, Jon closing the door behind him. "Sergeant Morales," he said, addressing their prisoner. "I am Commander Baize, and this is Knight Sere. We have a few questions to ask you." he said, his voice even for the moment.

"I'm not answering any more questions! I didn't do anything wrong! Let me out of here!" the man shouted.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

“No ties, Sir. Jon,” she rectified. “Save that we’re both agents of the Empire held to higher standards than this.”

She followed him inside the room. Sergeant Morales was in good shape still. Merian could sense his emotions radiating off of him, a hint of fear, some despair, but most of all, sickeningly: indignation. After his outburst, she sat across from him, casually. Inside she was fuming, but for him her tone was even, matter-of-fact.

“Your wife was abducted because of the multiple loans you took from criminals, and you didn’t do anything wrong,” she repeated, slow and incredulous to lay bare the absurdity of the words. “Does that not give you pause? You think this is fine?”

Do you even like her?

Merian stopped a moment to let him stew. Before he spoke up, she continued. She wasn’t interested in whatever excuse he’d made up after the fact.

“Know I have nothing to do with criminal procedures headed your way. Neither does Commander Baize. We’re the ones who’ll risk our lives to retrieve Talisha from Hutt space. With any luck, we’ll deal with your creditors while we’re at it. So for both your sakes, you’ll answer our questions. Names, times, places, organizations, connections, messages, amounts. Anything you remember. Even if it doesn’t seem important. Understood?”

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He nodded at the sentiment, especially coming from her Imperial Knight position. They all represented the Empire, and their worst actors often judged them.

They walked into the room, and the man immediately began arguing to be freed. Merian immediately took charge, so Jon stepped aside and let her take a shot at him. "Look." the man said, eyes darting between them. "I may have some information that could help you, but I need certain...assurances," he said, looking towards Jon.

His wife was in danger, and this man was worried about his own skin. It disgusted Jon, causing a hand to curl into a fist. "I didn't even know they were bad guys when I borrowed money from them; I thought it was totally legit, I swear!" he pleaded.

His eyes fixed on Merian when she mentioned taking care of his creditors. "Really?" he stammered. He thought for a moment, weighing his options before deflating slightly.

"The crew is called the Blue Novas, led by some guy named Frankie. I..." the man paused, looking back and forth between them. "..got in a little financial situation, I needed help with. I thought he was legit, but when I couldn't pay him, he started asking for favors." the man continued. "BUT I DIDN'T DO ANY OF IT!" he quickly added. "That's when they took Talisha." he said, looking down at the table.

"They probably didn't even know she had left me last month." he finally added.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

Merian wanted to hit him. Yes, because of course legitimate lenders were all lining up to extend outrageous sums to bums like him with gambling debts, perhaps the least likely group in the whole galaxy to pay back a loan. Then again, gamblers weren’t exactly known for their sound decision-making. Merian supposed if people like Sergeant Morales had even an ounce of sense, they wouldn’t find themselves in such situations to begin with.

“Surely you understand this isn’t about Talisha having left you or not,” she replied. “They went after her because they believed you’d do anything to pay them back once they did, nothing more. If you don’t, they’ll move on to the next thing. Something much less pleasant for you, I’d wager. Even if you land in an imperial jail, they’re bound to have contacts inside desperate enough to do their dirty work. I’m afraid that’s the only… assurance I can make. Isn’t that right, Commander?”

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

This guy clearly didn't care about his wife, ex-wife, or whatever she was. He was about as slimy as they came, and Jon was ashamed to share the same uniform as him.

"Yeah," the guy scoffed. "Well, they messed up on that one; she took the damn dog and everything..." he thought about Merian's next words. "Wait...I am not going to jail, am I? This isn't my fault!" he started up again.

Jon leaned forward after the Knight finished. "I can assure you that if you send me on a wild goose chase, I will personally see that you rot on the coldest, most remote planet in the Empire. Dont. Test. Me." he said as he scowled. "You have one more opportunity to tell us where to find this "Frankie"." Jon stood up straight again, his scowl deepening.

The man weighed his options. If he sold out the gang and the Imperial Pair didn't kill this thug, he was surely going to be a goner. Finally, the man broke. "The last thing I know is they hang out at some shit bar in Sector 37 on Nar Shaddaa. It's called The Swamp or something like that. That's all I know; I swear!" the man finished.

Jon stared at him for a moment longer before motioning to the guard. "Take this scum to a holding cell until I get back. You better hope we find her..." Jon threatened before looking at Merian as the man was escorted out.

"Guess we are going to need some street clothes for this mission. Have you ever been to Nar Shaddaa?" he asked as he turned to leave. They would need a non-Imperial ship and need to look as "normal" as possible. If they got sniffed out as Imperials before they were ready to leave, they were going to be in for some trouble.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

“Once, actually.” With Maros. “ISB.”

Their lead seemed awfully thin, though. Merian would have wanted to know more about the favors that had been asked of Morales, see if anything identifiable came up. Force knew if the man’s memory was reliable at all, assuming he even intended to tell the truth. Threats were their only leverage to keep him honest, but putting them to execution would be a poor consolation prize for a hyperspace lane if he really had misled them.

“We don’t have much to go off of,” Merian remarked. “Even less reliably. And I suppose time is of the essence.” In normal circumstances, Intelligence would have pulled every record on this bar, the Blue Novas, and ‘Frankie’, scrutinized the connections to see if the intel checked out. Somehow that felt unlikely to happen.

“I’m hoping we can at least have some verifications done during the travel time. If the bar even exists in the sector he mentioned, or the Blue Novas. Talisha Rayn’s last known location.” Nothing to help once in the field, but at least make sure they weren’t wasting time after a pure fabrication. “Should we regroup somewhere once we’ve changed?”

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

"That's it!" he said, finally recognizing where he remembered her from. "The ISB! You trained with my squad when I was fresh out of boot camp. I think it was...Serenno?" he asked, tilting his head. That had been nagging him since she walked into his office. "The lightsaber threw me off the trail!" he shook his head, relieved he had pieced it together. "Has it really been ten years already..." he said, shaking his head.

This had worked out even better; if she had trained with the ISB, this type of mission would be right up her alley. He was curious how she ended up in the Knights when she would have had a lot of years in the ISB at this point, but that would be something for another time.

He nodded his head. "Unfortunately. We could have interrogated him more, but we are on the clock for sure. If they realize she is no good to them, or worse, that he got arrested, Talisha would be nothing but a loose end." his face was somber. They would need to charge in blind a bit if they were going to have any chance of getting to her in time.

"Maybe this gang has hit ISB's radar if they are operating at least partially in Imperial Space. It looks like it will be a busy trip," he said as they left the interrogation room.

"Meet me at the hangar in 30 minutes. I'll arrange for a ship." they would then part ways to prepare for their mission.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

“That’s possible,” said Merian dismissively, though she knew full well it was more than possible. It had happened like he’d told. But bringing up her ISB past still hurt. Especially now that she was preparing to undergo a mission such as this one, it felt like a taunt. They’d stripped her of the title; they still wanted her to do the work.

She nodded gravely at the rest of his words. “It may already be too late,” she agreed. “I’ll make some verifications. I won’t need all this time.”

Then they left the station and went their separate ways.

---

Merian returned to the hangar changed in checkered dress pants and a white button-down shirt neatly tucked in. It stretched the definition of ’street clothes’ on Nar Shaddaa, but even there she could pass for a bookkeeper or a consultant of some kind. Her hair was tied in a high ponytail that freed her face, and the outfit was complete with the DC-17 at her hip. No point hiding. Everyone was armed on Nar Shaddaa, even accountants.

Her eyes scoured the hangar for Jon, though she was a bit early. He’d arranged the ship, and she had early findings to share.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He felt a slight chill at her response, getting the feeling she didn't want to do much reminiscing about the old days, so he quickly let it go, his face only showing a slight hint of a frown.

"Maybe so.." his tone grim as they prepared to go their own ways. Without knowing, all they could do was rush as fast as they could and hope for the best. He gave her one last nod as she began making verifications.

Jon showed up to the hangar early, but not before the Knight beat him. He wore fairly non-descript clothes, a blaster slid into a thigh holster and his knife tucked into his back waistband. "Now I feel underdressed..." he joked. There were all types of people on Nar Shaddaa, and both of them could fit in. It wasn't so much what they wore but how they wore it.

He gestured towards the small transport ship he had arranged for them to take. It wasn't identifiable as an Imperial vessel, so they would be able to come in under the radar. "Find anything else out about our missing navigator?" he asked as he climbed the ship to begin preparations for their departure.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

“Yes, actually,” she answered, her tone loaded, judgmental eyebrow at the ready. She handed Jon a datapad. “Get this. As it turns out, Talisha Rayn had debts of her own. This may be unrelated to Sergeant Morales entirely after all.”

“Which... may be positive for us, actually,” she continued after a pause. “If she owed them money, they won’t kill her save as a very last resort. And no concern of a loose end even if they find out the sergeant was arrested.”

They took place in the transport as Merian presented her findings. It was a small thing, but comfortable enough. The Knight wasn’t exactly difficult regarding accommodations, and Jonathen didn’t seem like the type, either. “Oh, and it goes without saying the gang exists,” she added. “We didn’t have a name, but I believe certain locations and activities give us a match. Are you flying or should I?”

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

Jon took the data pad and swiped through the report as she spoke. "These two are a mess.." he shook his head. He had only known this navigator by reputation, but now he was second-guessing whether she was worth the time. Regardless, she held a lot of Imperial secrets and knowledge. They couldn't just walk away from this.

"At least there is that." he agreed. If they needed money from her, it meant that she was likely alive, but it also meant it was even more imperative that they get to her before she could sell off government secrets, either willingly or unwillingly.

"I suppose it would have been awkward to show up and there actually be no gang..." he mused with a chuckle. "By all means.." he gestured her towards the pilot's chair. If she pushed back, he would take over, but he preferred vehicles of the ground variety. Regardless, they would be in the skies over Raxus, heading toward space in minutes.

Part of him wanted to ask about the shared past, finding the all too common soldier's urge to remissness the "old days" powerful, but he refrained from directly bringing it up, noting this slight discomfort from before. He coughed before asking. "So, how long have been with the Imperial Knights?" he asked as they jumped into hyperspace.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

Merian sat at the controls when he offered. She didn’t particularly enjoy piloting, certainly not enough to make it a hobby, but she didn’t mind it enough to insist. Her flying was much in her image: straightforward, efficient, unpretentious.

She brought the ship online, handled takeoff, guided them in orbit, then out of it and prepared the hyperspace jump. And all the while she stayed quiet, leaving Jon to wonder if she’d heard the question.

“Not quite two years,” she finally said after long minutes. Since the split, she didn’t add, but the Commander could likely put two and two together. “How long have you been with the IAF?”

The transport surged forward, and the blue corridor of hyperspace took shape around them.

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

There was a blanket of silence between them. Jon didn't press the matter, but the sociable soldier felt somewhat awkward all the same. He pulled out his phone, scrolling through how his various sports teams were doing.

He turned his head slightly as she spoke minutes later. Two years would have put her joining the Knights after the split, which made him feel somewhat more comfortable. There was something that put him on edge when working with those who had been Sith previously. It was something he could certainly overcome with people who earned his trust, but it was a more difficult bias to overcome.

"A decade, next year," he said. Had it really been that long? There were days it felt like longer, but most days, time seemed to fly by. He knew was almost sure he remembered her being in the ISB, but she didn't seem much interested in chatting about the past, so he left it alone.

He checked a display, everything reading normal as the cockpit slid back into silence. The only noise came from the slight hum of the hyperdrive engine as they flew.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

“Impressive.” It was genuine, but that hadn’t made it any easier to keep the bitterness out of her voice. A decade. They’d robbed her of the same.

She had been Sith. Most Knights had. She still was, and she always would be; she couldn’t change her nature. Never would Merian draw upon the light side of the Force for power, use it to heal wounds, leave a trace of herself behind after death. She doubted someone like Jonathen could ever truly understand just how much Force sensitivity shaped every aspect of a person, their perceptions, their feelings, their life. No, she could never stop being Sith. The dark side would always be her wellspring. But she hadn’t been a lunatic. Even on Korriban she’d scoffed at their religious zeal. She’d rolled her eyes at the kind of Sith wasteful with life and generous with wrath. And she hadn’t been alone, the Imperial Knights were proof of that. Some Sith still believed in collective strength over individual one. Merian had served the Empire with her own kind of zeal: ordered, ruthless, invisible. She’d been proud of her place in it.

It hadn’t mattered.

Something on the transport beeped. Course calculations complete: all set. ETA: 24 hours. Merian wondered how long she’d stayed frozen in thought. Jonathen didn’t seem to mind. With a final look over the console, the knight rose. There wouldn’t be need for much more input until they arrived.

“I’m going to make caf, then resume my research,” she announced. “Won’t be better use of this time.”

@Raydo

 

[Jonathen Baize]

He gave her a half shrug. "Time flies, I guess..." It hadn't seemed all that long ago when he had enlisted, still remembering those days pretty vividly.

He was not one to shy away from silence. His world was often too noisy, too busy. A younger version of himself would have likely forced small talk, anything to fill that silence, but he instead relaxed back and watched the blur of hyperspace.

"You want help?" he asked genuinely. Some people preferred to work alone, and that was fine. He knew she had at least some ISB training; those lot tended to keep to themselves.

If she requested it, he would certainly help in whatever way he could. If not, he would take the time to close his eyes.

Twenty-four hours was a lot of downtime, much more than he was usually afforded.

@Volene

 

[Merian Sere]

She considered it. The research she had in mind implied casting a wide net; they knew next to nothing about the Blue Novas or whatever other name the gang could operate under. All they had was a bar, an alias... and two suckers they’d preyed on. One of them valuable. No numbers, no weapons they used, no connections, no previous deeds, no safehouses, no MO. The more data they scoured through, the higher their chance of finding something actionable, anything to help them walk into the nexu’s den just a little less blind. And at this type of research, Merian couldn’t deny two heads essentially doubled their output.

“Only if you’d like,” she answered. “You want caf?”

The ugly truth was that Jon likely had higher ISB clearance than she did. Despite everything. Access to more records, fewer authorizations to request which would eat up precious time. Merian tried a sip of caf. It was less bitter than she was.

Before long, she’d bring back a cup, along with one for him if he asked for one. Space was limited in the cockpit, so she found her way back to the pilot’s seat and powered her datapad.

“Let’s see...” she mumbled. “Bar was bought in 152 ABY. See if we have anything on the owner...”

@Raydo