[SW-TOR] Indirect Service of the Republic [Finished]

[Eshen]

"It seems like you've endeared yourself to the General and his men," Eshen smirked with a slight curl on his lips in the dark alley. He gave her a once over to make sure she's not hurt then peeked around the corner to see where the general's troopers were concentrating their fire. "Is this Val the same person from last night?"

He tried to get a count of the positions of the thugs as well as the general's form on the ground. "I guess he's going to need some help to pull the fire from him..." he muttered and pulled his lightsaber into his empty hand when the fire stopped simultaneously and something rolled on the ground. Eshen turned away quickly and fumbled poor cover his ears just as the loud bang and bright flash blinded the poor fools. He blinked a few times and was mildly relieved that his eyes weren't affected but his ears were still ringing.

"Where is he?" he semi-shouted at Shandra.

[Catri]

Shandra sensed Eshen's attempt to take cover, and ducked back into the alley. She covered her ears against the noise of the grenade, but it still left a sharp ringing in her ears. She used the soldiers' distraction as an opportunity to pull her lightsaber through the air toward her. Then she focused her senses in the Force. To her surprise, General Thorn was no longer among his men. She could feel from them that he had simply disappeared into thin air. They were panicking and thinking about things like superstitious tales, ghosts, and Sith tricks. A few seconds later, she felt Eshen's question more than she heard it.

"Where is he?"

Shandra probed the Force for General Thorn. She could not feel him. Then she noticed that she couldn't really feel Val anymore either. She strained her Force sense to feel the slightest trace of either of them. Then she felt the same faint, hazy slivers of aura she felt in the hanger bay. That told her what she needed to know.

"I believe Val took General Thorn, and they are cloaked against that wall over there. We had best take this opportunity to incapacitate the soldiers."

With that Shandra used the Force to propel her lightsaber hilt into the crowd and knock the nearest two soldiers unconscious before pulling it back to her hand.

[Gith]

Val watched from his spot lying on the ground with the unconscious General. Seeing two of the remaining 5 drop to the ground in rapid succession, he saw that his guess that two Jedi who were far better at melee fighting than he is could easily take down 5 men gently enough. Taking the General out of their midst had the desired effect of sewing some chaos and disorder in their ranks.

Val lay there waiting for the fight to end. While waiting Val mused over how much his little smuggling investigation had turned up. And apparently this was all linked to another Jedi serving the order on a completely different investigation. So many planets, so many people, but a common thread of corruption was present wherever Val traveled.

As Shandra and Eshen mopped up the remaining 3 conscious men, Val dropped his cloak and sat up. "Fancy meeting you here Shandra. I do hope you took a copy of that evidence I gave you before turning it over to our friend here." Val indicated the unconscious General lying on the ground beside him. "And where is our friend Lt. Hunt? I do hope he didn't get away." Val stood up and dusted his duster off, the irony of that not escaping him. "I guess the real question now is, who do we turn these guys into given that the entire Republic base deserves a thorough investigation from an outside source. And I need to get off after Azel and so does this Jedi," Val indicated Eshen, having still not gotten his name.

"Who can you contact in the Order to get the necessary people here to get this mess sorted out while I am on my way doing what I do best? I am more of an investigator, not crisis management. I leave that to the authorities like you good Jedi." Val smiled and gave a respectful half bow and a wave of his hand toward the two Jedi.

[Catri]

"Lieutentant Hunt is lying in that alley over there. Eshen was kind enough to knock him unconscious." Shandra said pointing to a nearby alley. Then she removed a datapad from her bag and handed it to Val."I did in fact make copies of the evidence. I sent one of them to Master Avin Naa of the Jedi council, excluding any mention of you of course. He was not very pleased with my new found interest in local law enforcement. He seems to feel that it would be advantageous to the Republic if we left the state of affairs on Ord Mantell as they are. He has ordered me to cease diplomatic negotiations at once,discontinue my pursuit of this issue, and return to Tython. I have no intention of obliging him, and I was on my way to tell you I would like to accompany you on your investigation when the General informed me that he and his men wanted a word with me. It was hard to detect their thoughts in all of the chaos, but I believe they intended to kill me in such a way that would implicate one of the brigands who frequent this world with involvement in my death."

[Eshen]

He nodded to Shandra, "Nicely done." He gives the similar nod to Val when he approaches. "I do need to track down Azel but other matters are pulling me from this pursuit. My name is Eshen. Eshen Virol. Perhaps our paths will cross again. And Shandra, I will keep the evidence and pursue other avenues of corruption in the Republic. This treaty takes a larger toll than anticipated. Let me know if you need someone to testify against the general." Eshen surveys the area and makes sure there aren't anymore nasty surprises before turning back to the two, "Be safe and may the Force be with you." He bows and makes his way back to his ship.

[Gith]

Val nodded to the two of then. "Let's get these men off the street and into custody Shandra"

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

Val and Shandra got Republic security to help them get the General, Lt. Hunt, and the other five men into a Republic holding facility while task forces were sent out to arrest the smugglers Val had previously identified and confiscate all smuggled goods. However, this was just the beginning. Shandra had a big job ahead of herself to get the proper people to bring the corrupt to justice so that Ord Mantell could see a little less rebellion and war. Val made sure that the men were in custody before he aimed to move on.

*****     *****     *****     *****     *****

Val bowed to Shandra. "Although this is not the easy road to take, I believe we have started something good with all of this. However, more corruption lies elsewhere and I must pursue Azel before his trail goes cold. Hopefully he has not already left Nar Shaddaa and I can pick up his trail there. With the appearance of Eshen and that Darth I would imagine I will run into far more trouble before this comes to an end. Thanks for all the help and I would imagine we will see each other again someday. Perhaps on Coruscant or Tython if I ever visit that planet again." Val smiled.

[Catri]

Shandra did have a lot of work ahead of her. After Val left she once again contacted the Jedi council with news of the situation. Master Naa had told them nothing of the information she sent him, but their reactions were only slightly better than his. They requested that the Republic government send troops to arrest and replace the weapons dealers, but they refused to do anything about the corruption in the local government.

A few weeks later Shandra was ready to turn the rest of the investigation over to the new soldiers. When she approached the Ord Mantell shipping yard for what she hoped to be the last time she sensed the smugglers and corrupt troopers being led onto a Republic military ship. The Republic government felt it was best to prosecute them off world. Shandra felt a familiar Zabrak female approaching her. Lieutenannt Nelani Olan had grown up near the Jedi Temple on Coruscant where her father was stationed as a guard.

"You really made some waves here, Shandra. This case will be tied up in court for months." Nelani said. "It sounds like it was about frakkin time someone stepped in, though. I met General Thorn when I was in training. Don't know how the mother kriffin son of a sith harlot stayed in the army so long let alone got promoted."

"This still doesn't fix the corruption in the government here, Nel. How can you stay here and fight the sepratists knowing that they may have valid complaints?"

"It's not easy, Shandra, but it comes down to this. They're ways of expressing those valid complaints are endangering Republic citizens. It's my job to protect Republic citizens." Nelani replied. There was a moment of silence between the two women. A crowd had formed to watch the former Republic soldiers as they were led away in shame.

"Headed back to Tython?" Nelani asked.

"Yes. I'm going there until my next assignment, or until...well, until I decide how I feel about the political situation."

"Thinking of leaving like Master Kraylo did, are you?" Nelani chuckled. "Well, I'd better get back to work. Take care, and remember this isn't Coruscant ."

" May the Force be with you, Friend."

Shandra walked toward the transport that would take her to Tyhton. She thought about the stance the Order had taken about the situation on Ord Mantell. Perhaps Val was right and politics were getting in the way of their effectiveness.Either way, she had done everything that could be done on Ord Mantell for the time being. As she left the area she could hear Nelani talking to the crowd of onlookers who had gathered.

"Move along people, nothing more to see here."

[Gith]

fin