:: At the time a livestream, this recording was received by a deep space Republic communications array. :: The practiced voice of the news anchor with it specific tone filled the research office. :: It captures the harrowing scene on the Core world after what appears to have been a planet-wide engagement, evidenced by piecing together other sources. ::
The visual broadcast transitioned from the newsroom to an animated frame of a galactic map. A yellow transparent yellow overlay delineated all of the Sith Covenant's undisputed territory before zooming in on Humbarine's system. The purple outline of High Republic's influence extended out past the map's lower peripheries. Finally, a handful of blue triangles blinked onto screen to represent starships under the Iron Covenant's flag. :: Though many details are unknown, it seems like the Sith Covenant has defended Humbarine against a would-be invasion by the Iron Covenant, a faction of Mandalorian separate from the empire of the same name. ::
The broadcast switched again, the map fading out to a moving scene of the aftermath of urban warfare. Piles of fractured duracrete. Beings, mostly human, covered in degrees of ash and powder wandering aimlessly. The associated sounds had been muted as the unseen anchor continued her commentary. :: The videographer identifies himself in the full recording, playing in the background currently, as one Drice Tane. He says that he is a junior at the local Academy of Advanced Studies and the host of student radio show HAAS, named after the academy. The video's setting is the same campus, primarily its central courtyard, after a reported orbital bombardment.
It is unclear yet if this recording was a projected off world on purpose or the result of a signal mishandled by Humbarine's orbital satellites, many of which can be assumed inoperable at this time if not destroyed. . . . ::
"Force," Miona breathed from where she sat in front of the thin monitor held up on one side by a maneuverable arm. The spreadsheet of data from a recent archaeological expedition another knight had sent to the Rest sat forgotten behind the live feed's window. She had invited Rix to help review it, thinking that it might help him reintegrate into research, but that wouldn't happen today. "Caught between Imperial remnants, Mandalorians, and the Sith... Those poor people."
They stayed quiet for about a minute longer, listening to the anchor's voice give way to the sounds of recovery.
Until Rix squinted at the monitor. "Did you see that?" he asked.
"N-no," Miona stammered, glancing back over her shoulder and upwards shortly before returning her focus front. She leaned slightly forward, scanning the tiny pixels. "See what?"
"I thought I saw Master Farr," he said. "A few frames back. Near that splintered tree. Can I drive?"
"Yeah, sure," she mumbled, scooting her chair back enough to give him less awkward access to the keyboard.
He leaned down a bit into her space and booted up a program that could rewind live programs like this one. With it, he backed up the news broadcast quickly at first, then slowing to a frame-by-frame pace. The hologram's image flicker pattern differed each moment, offset image bands shifting vertically and horizontally, as well as growing and shrinking in depth.
Each still was distorted in its own way, but still he managed to find what he had glimpsed before: a hooded humanoid figure talking to either the tall, shattered tree trunk beside her or someone behind it. Even through such obscured digital data, he could sense Efret's presence. It wasn't sure as such, but it sure felt likely. "There," he announced, pausing his key work for just a moment before resuming. "Hold on."
The figure, while undeniably a being of some bipedal variety, smoke from the settling combat zone obscured their features. Fortunately, their face was at a good angle to the camera.
Running another digital tool, Rix went about cleaning up the hologram by filtering out the smoke and extrapolating what was underneath. First, though, he zoomed into the targeted area: a circle centered on the figure's mostly hidden face.
The image, while still displaying some slicing, smoothed into a familiar face.
Rix barely stepped back in time to allow the back of Miona's chair to swing around.
She stood and immediately broke towards the door leading into the offices' common area. "I'm gonna be sick..."
A similar feeling settled in his stomach as he moved back towards the desk and fixed his eyes again on the screen. At least they knew in which direction she had gone now: northward to ingratiate herself to the Sith Covenant.
"Why them, Efret?" he asked her flickering miniature, volume hovering below his breath. If she had fled into the southern systems to join the Sith that dwelled mostly there, he might have found her turning more acceptable—if only barely. He knew that she had much more personal history within the Core, so to return to it like this?
She wasn't just betraying herself; she was betraying every Jedi and non-Force sensitive that had lived and died for the Core's unrealized promise.
