Private A Broken Relic

[Acaadi]

The rain rarely let up in the city of Iolade. The nights were long and the days were short. Even at high noon, the sun rarely broke through the layers of clouds. At night only one shadow was assigned to watch the gate of the Emberlene embassy. Two remained out of the rain, watching whilst never being seen.

They drew straws to decide who remained in the cold. As always with the Mistryls it was less of a game of chance and more a matter of subversion and mental manipulation.

A figure emerged from the shadows beyond the compound. He shuffled towards. He wore no protection from the elements, his long matted white hair plastered to his face. He ignored any warnings, continuing on only to collapse in a heap just yards from the gate. The rain, feeling no sympathy, continued to pelt his curled up form.

---

"He is, or he was, a jedi master of the Silver Order," Acaadi confirmed. He felt rather uncomfortable sat at the end of a large table in a briefing room at the Emberlene embassy.

Embassies were full of diplomats and it seemed Emberlene had taken that word - much as many worlds did - to mean spies. A wall of impassive, female faces looked back at him. Even the one he knew so well, Phalsi Drynchen gave little away when she was sat with her peers.

"When did he go missing?"

Acaadi straightened and nodded at the prompt. "Joakim Faal was...as I'm sure you know...an Emberlene citizen and left home around twelve to join the..."

"We know. When did you lose track of him?" The question was phrased as if Acaadi had personally lost one of their people, rather than the Silver Jedi Order.

"Six years, eight months, 2 days. He went with his padawan to the moon of Jedha, just a few systems over from here, and they never came back."

Acaadi was trying not to think too hard about what he had seen downstairs. The former jedi master had collapsed outside the embassy gates. Unseen for nearly seven years and he returns, barely able to speak a coherent word, his body covered by the signs of torture. Scars laid upon scars. Whoever had capture him, they had not stopped in all that time.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

It was a matter of training that found her sitting opposite of the Mirialan she had grown close to. A concern from those higher up the chain that she would not separate emotion from duty as she felt herself withdraw from everything. Felt herself lose interest to avoid displaying confusion or concern as the women around her began with the questions.

Or acquisitions.

Some of the Shadow's enjoyed their work a bit too much in her opinion, but she wouldn't speak at the moment. Pale blue eyes watched Acaadi speak, face devoid of reaction as the information came forward. She wanted to touch his shoulder, stand beside and let him know she supported him

She had seen the master in only a glimpse. Had only a passing sight of the man's body, but it had raised the alarm in her mind and brought the cold electricity to the fine hairs of her neck and arms. Something was very wrong, the problem was understanding what that was exactly.

"We must trace his path before-"

"If we heal him, get him speaking we can-"

"Send for the Silvers. This is their-"

"He is Emberlenian. We take care of our own."

"He's alone. Alive, if just so. Where is his padawan, then?" Phalsi finally asked between the Sisters going back and forth. She quietly looked to Acaadi her eyes the only betrayal of her concern and interest.

 

[Acaadi]

His expression revealed his fears on the matter. Not just for Phalsi, but obvious to all. If he could have been confident that none of the shadows could feel the Force, he might have reached out to her. They could talk when they were alone.

If - he thought to himself - they would ever be properly alone when they were dealing with Mistryl business. He didn't know quite how unlikely that was, given the situation.

"I got no response at all when I mentioned his name. And I know he wasn't talking anything really at all but..."

Having the entire group stop their discussion so suddenly to focus on him was definitely unnerving.

"...but I didn't even feel a reaction. I don't know if he's forgotten or just been...desensitised to it."

"There was no record of him coming here on a transport."

"He had enough sense to make it here."

"Was the padawan an Emberlene citizen?

A moment of silence followed that question before Caadi answered: "No. Corellian. Also..."

They had turned in on themselves again before Acaadi continued. All eyes back on him again.

"...There is...a sense of the dark side of the Force about him."

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

(OOC. -"This is."- Mistryl battle language)
("Normal speech.")

The ponderous nature of the experience sisters seemed to miss Phalsi as she kept her eyes on Acaadi. She read his expression, giving the faintest smile that switched back to a bland look before speaking in the Mistryl tongue.

-"This would be an opportune chance for us to secure our relationship with the Silver Shadows."- She interjected to those above her. A sharp look from her handler found her puckering as though she suddenly had something sour in her mouth.

They spoke briefly in their language, eyes darting between the pair before a sigh cut through the chatter.

"As this involves more than Emeberlene, we would ask for you to join Farsi and a small team of ours to investigate. It would do well for us to...work together." Her handler spoke before placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Do be mindful. This involves more than just people it sounds. The force is new to us, and we ask you both be careful. You may leave when you have gathered supplies and informed those necessary." There was a wave of the woman's hand as Phalsi led the way out.

"Fun. We'll be getting a squad of Mistryl's to help us if need be." She snorted, holding a hand out for him. "Are you alright?"

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi fell into silence as they talked amongst themselves. He might have shot Phalsi a quizzical expression, but for the fact that the Mistryls would pick up on every single expression.

Taking the offered hand as they stepped away from the room, Acaadi breathed out a little more than he had since before the meeting began.

"Yeah, bit..."

He glanced over his shoulder.

"...intimidating. But more than that this feels like it could be big. Just have this sense of something hiding in my future."

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

There was a grin she couldn't help as he mentioned the intimidation. A small squeeze of his hand to offer reassurance before she spoke.

"They are still working on their insular mindset." She offered, glancing back before adding more. "Doesn't help that...well, us."


Her eyes moved back to him before shifting back and forth between them. Her gaze settled ahead of them as her mind went to the task at hand.

"But yeah. Feels a bit bigger than just find someone. You get anything from him other than that wierd feeling? Dark side doesn't just...hang on people does it?" She asked quietly. She guided them through the inner sanctum of the building, headed for a place she knew well enough already.

Sisters passed them by, all quiet but giving them enough space to pass. Most didn't spare them a second glance. A few lingered in the hall as they passed, eyes lingering on them before moving along without challenge.

 

[Acaadi]

"It doesn't, no," he replied. "You can't normally just tell someone has been stood next to a sith. If you spent years somewhere steeped in the dark side I could tell. Maybe, just being tortured for years lets the dark side take hold."

Acaadi had been tortured once. Not for long. He couldn't imagine that stretched out for years. Despite every mental trick, despite his discipline, every single he had been silently begging for the agony to end. There was a darkening of his expression as he tried, and failed, to imagine living in such pain for so long.

"We might have to start with just retracing his steps. The Jedi were a bit light on details with me. Maybe that's nothing."

Us. There was pressure from both sides. Members of his order were allowed to form attachments but those attachments could not come before their responsibilities. There was always going to br a risk in crossing professional and personal. Especially with the weight of the Mistryls and Silver Jedi behind them.

"We both could end up working to different agendas here," Acaadi said. "We should, you know, face up to that. Doesn't have to affect us."

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

There was a frown at his explanation. She had thought as much. especially given the change in presence she had witnessed from another of the Silver Shadows. The agent had gone from light to dark side in a matter of seconds, and more than anything that deception had played a bit of havoc with trusting the force to determine things.

"Might have. It's difficult to say though without directly seeing." She led them down another hallway, before long leading into a central hangar that held a single Dingo patrol craft inside. The hangar was longer than it was wide and was open on both sides, allowing entry and exit with ease in one direction. It had given her time to formulate her words properly rather than be sarcastic and catty.

"Maybe, maybe not, but it doesn't have to affect us, no. So long as we remember we are working for two groups, and not make this personal." There was solid belief behind the words. Her eyes meeting his before nodding to the ship ahead of them.

"This is what will be helping us. More for recon than assault, but the sensor buoys and scanners come in handy." She informed him with a renewed smile. "We can take our own craft but I don't think introductions in the air by surprise are quite as pleasant."

A woman was quick to approach after noticing them, having been addressing persons in and out of the craft already as she nodded to the pair.

"Good evening, D'almon. And I presume you are Acaadi Tam. A pleasure. I am Frea D'hula. Do you prefer first or last names? I don't want to figure out semantics over the radio." Frea spoke quickly, already deciding their mission had started as Phalsi smirked.

"Call me Phalsi please, Ms. Frea." There was a measured look at the distinction, but a nod no less as she looked to Acaadi.

 

[Acaadi]

He felt more than a little reassurance by her agreement. This wasn't personal. If there turned out to be competing interests and there was a pressure on him he wasn't comfortable he could step away.

He did not have to work with Phalsi if it could compromise what they had. There was a difference between secrets that they didn't have to share, and secrets they were specifically guarding from one another.

"Acaadi is absolutely fine," he said with a nod. His gaze drifted away from Frea to the ship. It looked fast for its size, with a lot of its mass dedicated to the engines.

"The first thing we're going to need is eyes on the ground. Try and find out if anyone saw Faal on his way to the embassy."

Acaadi turned towards Phalsi and smiled from the corner of his mouth. "I hope you brought a good coat."

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

Frea nodded, looking to Phalsi with a raised brow. A silent question that had the girl grinning.

"We'll see about the finding a few leads, get things ready here and we'll contact you before we set out anywhere. I think we'll be taking a separate ship from you." Frea nodded to Phalsi before the woman strode off to the ship, seeming to frustrate a pair of helping hands with a crate between them.

"They said he didn't come through the port, or at least there wasn't a log of him entering." She pondered openly, eyes narrowing a bit before she shrugged. "You think maybe he snuck onto a freighter? Holed up in the cargo and snuck off when he got here?"

That led into a whole other series of questions from the first, but they'd cross that bridge when they got to it. She addressed his mention of coats with a proper raspberry before smirking.

"I can get us a few. Come on." She led the way out, following another series of corridors before they found themselves standing before a reception looking area, a screened off desk behind thick shock-proof glass as a woman watched them before Phalsi spoke.

"Rain jackets please, large and...large." She glanced at him, not judging. Though it might have seemed like it. She was sincerely trying to recall if that had been what she remembered seeing on his other tags or not. "Farsi D'Almon."

The woman behind the counter spared a glance his way at correcting the size as she rasped out a reminder. "You've yet to return those training sticks, D'almon."

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi raised an eyebrow. He was desperate to comment on the matter, which manifested as a bubbling energy through the Force.

"Large will be fine," was what he said instead, keeping a straight face.

It didn't look like somewhere you picked up coats. The thick glass was much more reminiscent of the weapons lockups at local police HQs. He imagined there might be all kinds of nefarious equipment back there: night vision goggles, slicing kits, poison dart guns.

That was possibly just his imagination. She knew much more about his current line of work than he of hers.

"The state he was in...it's hard to say. Maybe determination carried him on. The other possibility is that he was being held somewhere in the city, or on world. The locals aren't offering us much help at all."

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

The woman nodded, opening a locker door beside her and grabbing out the jackets, sliding them beneath the slots before the commenting once more. "T'hila sanction this?" Phalsi nodded with abruptness as the woman looked over them once more, opening a drawer from beneath the cabinet and presenting them each with a commlink.

There was the sound of people moving and working further in the room, but only the woman could be seen currently.

"Bring 'em back. Or it's out of pocket." She informed them quietly as Phalsi led the way out.

"So what did you want to say, hmm?" She finally asked, side-eyeing him as they walked out of the building and towards the front gate. The guards nodded after they were noticed, one more miserable than the others.

"They might be under your protection, but that won't rid them of pride." She offered, looking around before looking to him.

"Alright, probably start at the port and work in. If the port workers didn't see him, we can move to docks, warehouses...so on and so forth. Or we can move towards the city center and lurk around there...see if we pick up something?" She was offering two options, trying to work with him rather than just head off absent-mindedly and expecting him to follow.

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi tried and failed to suppress a smile as they walked away from the compound.

"I was merely wondering, from their tone, if that was the first time you have been late returning equipment," he said. He hoped she wasn't too irritated with his amusement at her own misfortune.

They were in a place where they understood one another well, but he was still constantly a little anxious about how Phalsi would perceive him.

"I think we try the docks," Acaadi said. "But maybe we should try and be a bit discrete about it?"

He didn't know what that practically meant. He hoped she did.

"If he did escape from somewhere then we might not be the only people looking for him."

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She felt that strange bubble in the force around her, mind slowly tracing it back to Acaadi before he seemed to pin the tail on the womp rat. She sucked on her lip for a moment, the clicking sound small but sharp as she carefully worded her response.

"When training with well used gear...there is an expectation of wear and tear. And perhaps a few times...I found myself needing to discreetly replace certain worn out gear...that met an untimely end." She managed, with a small bubble of guilt staining the force around her. There wasn't irritation in the words, but it was plain enough it had definitely not been the first instance of untimely returns.

"Oh...hey. I saw the other day there is a mini-droid series for starships if you hadn't found something yet for your twin tail." She gave him a sideways look at the topic before moving back to the job at hand. She was teasing him back, keeping her tone light.

She hadn't thought about others looking for the man when he brought it up. And it was more concerning that the sisters hadn't considered it either when deligating the task. Or they had and simply believed two jedi could handle themselves.

"Well, feth." She scrunched her brow, now considering the possibility of stumbling into some rando with a chip on their shoulder. Her expression slowly shifted from concerned to considering as she looked at him.

"If anyone is looking...it might be easier to bait and switch than ask about the old man." She thought aloud, glancing at him with an arched brow.

"Do a bit of grumbling about some scuffed up old man pushing past us if we can't get a lead. See who bites. Cover your gear up." Instructions given, she hid her own saber before checking the zenji needles in her pockets.

Still in their sheaths, she twisted a few of the sticks into a quick bun before glancing at his head and frowning.

"How good are you at throwing darts?" She finally asked, tone pointedly curious as the gems on each stick shone a little in the lights around them.

She was taking them along an open path, down larger streets and busy areas as umbrellas and harried faces passed them by. When she wasn't looking at him, he would see her gaze never truly settled on one spot as they walked. It was subtle, but she was watching the people around them as they moved.

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi smiled openly at her explanation of broken equipment. Even among the secretive order of Mistryls, some very mundane shenanigans went on. For some reason that amused him.

Phalsi swiftly moved the topic on.

"I had not looked at the droids...no. Haven't really found, or dedicated, the time to getting that fixed up." Acaadi was entirely certain that Phalsi knew that too.

Acaadi put his lightsabers out of sight. He was used to wearing them so openly. They were often taken as a symbol of authority, even if they were meant to mark him as a guardian of the peace.

He drew back some of his presence in the Force. He had no clue who could keep a jedi master captive for some many years, but his instincts leaned towards the sith. Even if they tried to bait someone else on the trail, there was no need to be careless and let someone sense his presence in the Force.

"Darts? Is that a challenge so we can look natural at a bar? And am I allowed to cheat?"

Acaadi was actually very good at manipulating small objects with the Force. He hadn't tried applying that skill to a game of darts. Phalsi's true meaning went gliding over his head, undisturbed by his thoughts.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

He hid the blatant sign of being a jedi, and made it more likely for them to snag an intrigued passerby. Though his explanation of not looking at droids didn't escape her attention. Something that would be brought up later as he asked about the darts.

There was a grin as she realized the intent had missed its mark.

It didn't fail to make her laugh though.

"That'd be good, and yeah. Just don't make it obvious." She chuckled, enjoying the thought of surprising her with her latest practice habits.

She hadn't put her usual mask on, feeling comfortable with her face being shown. Silver tinged hair bobbing as they went along.

"I'd hazard a guess we ought to start with private ships that have come in recently. More likely than cargo freighters. After we do some peeking around we can hit a bar and see about some likely candidates." She offered, looking for a canopy to hide under as she pointed out an overhang on a building to move towards.

When they reached it, she'd pull out her datapad and begin typing away.

"Still new to the system, but gimme a minute and I can get a log of private ships." The screen was shifting slightly from the usual civilian stuff. The Mistryl system visible to his eyes since she didn't hide the screen from his eyes.

For a shady group, it was surprisingly simple and user friendly. No glaringly obvious signs of it being an organization for spies as she sent a request for dock logs for administrative records.

"Request sent. Fhila will get back to us in a second. Your coat working alright?" She filled time with a gear check. Her hands idly rubbing against her hidden pockets as though she was trying to warm them.

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi had missed something. Fortunately, whilst he stuck to the belief that he had someone tricked Phalsi into failing to realise that she was better than him, he was over the worst anxiety between them.

Why anyone even went outside in this city was beyond him. The city was an island in stormy seas and it was said that just a single day without rain was a blessing. That it had fallen straight rather than being blown straight underneath his hood was lucky.

"I think I'm mostly dry in here," Acaadi said. She was taking the risk seriously. He wondered just how much she had tucked away. In contrast he just had his lightsaber and a single blaster. He only brought the blaster because it had a stun setting, something that was frequently useful.

"They might not be too talkative about smuggling a passenger on world so I'll try and pick up any liars. We should probably be specific on the description," he added with a grin. "I bet half those ships brought passengers they didn't declare on the way down."

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She smiled at the comment of being mostly dry. If anything the Sisters had become accustomed to the weather, having made their gear mostly waterproof after a few runs out in the city. Wasn't to say certain parts of their gear didn't still fail, but they had trimmed down on most uneccesary gear in the learning curve.

Information they passed on quickly to the new recruits with care.

"The group's pretty good at their waterproofing. Only had a bit of practice with it. I think the aquatic born groups are the only ones readily better at it." She mused as she kept a mental clock rolling.

Her tongue clicked at the mention of everyone being tight lipped. While definitely a common thing for extra, and forgetful last minute logs of passengers, the Mistryl's were fair decent about sniffing out those they didn't want in their realm.

Though those were mostly the beings with bounties or poor reputation that they sought out.

A ping sounded through the rain, almost unnoticed if not for the small light that signaled a reply.

"Looks like three solid leads. Two potentials and a final one that is mostly legit. Save for the special shipping compartment beneath the cockpit." She informed him, showing him the datapad with the five total suspicious leads.

"Torus and his ship has been docked a day an a half. Crew have only just finished with unload and are starting with loading things up." She pointed to the smaller freighter listed. Nothing extraordinary about it other than a large crew roster.

"Reekli and his ship have been in for near a week waiting for something. Cargo or passenger is hard to tell without seeing the ship." She scrolled past the listing for the slightly larger vessel.

"Not even trying that name. Ithorian maybe? Matching time with Reekli. Looks like they are hanging out for a while. Listed as shore leave for their crew." She pondered openly. The rain continued to come down as bodies passed them by, seeming like a couple hunting for a restaurant rather than a vessel of kidnappers.

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi hadn't thought about where all the information went after it was provided to get a landing permit. Places. It looked like it went places. He didn't have as much of a moral issue as much as a passing interest in how such things were tied together to put that information in front of Phalsi.

"I don't see much to pick between them. Start at their ships and see if they're in before we go looking for them?" he suggested.

He reminded himself that he was supposed to be a full Jedi Knight now. Immersing himself in his training and developing his abilities in isolation did little for his field experience. He was no longer out in the Galaxy following a master around. There was someone from the order shadowing his activities from afar, but decisions were with himself and Phalsi.

"If we know Torus or someone from his crew are at the ship now, go there? How...are we approaching this. Like, are we officially stopping them to ask questions or trying something more subtle?"

The way that he asked the question gave away that he had no suggestions whatsoever for what 'more subtle' could involve.

 

[Phalsi Drynchen]

She visibly weighed the option of stopping by the ships before hand. Seeing if some of the crew were around was the best bet. Plus she already had an idea about how to approach the whole scene.

If it played out right, might nab two birds with one stone.

"Docking information doesn't give a great idea for leads other than a place to start but worth looking. And captains tend to be tighter lipped than crew usually. Well...thats how it seems in the vids anyway." She chuckled to herself.

She'd watched a few murder mysteries in her life, and it always played on the crew being embittered in some way for the detective to work with. So she worked on the assumption that the real world was the same.

"We'll try the subtle route first. Or at least see what we are dealing with before trying official." She offered before looking over the information once more and stashing the datapad.

"Play on being a concerned boyfriend and I'll be annoyed girlfriend." She informed him before wrapping an arm under his, laying her other hand over his before ducking them into the rain once more.

The trip to the docking areas wasn't the best, busy bodies growing in numbers as they approached. Dock hands and warehouse workers watching them briefly before setting about their work as they drew near to the first docking bay.

A smaller corellian vessel was settled in the bay, large enough to ferry passengers or cargo depending on the job as a few bodies milled around the communal area.

A wookie and a rodian watched them before the rodian approached them with a wave.

<"We are not taking passengers. Cargo run, no room."> It informed them with a beleaguered buzz to its tone.

"Tsk. No. Not looking for a ship. Complaining about a passenger someone brought in. Old guy, bumped into us and tried to grope me. You bring any old folks in because you all need to vet your passengers better I-" She began a tirade as the wookie perked up and waved its arms in front of it as if to placate her.

The rodian was suddenly lost, glancing between her and Acaadi with a pleading look as she let her tone rise in feigned irritation.