Private All's Well That Ends Well (old version)

[Jacen Nimdok]

Eternally short on funds, Arimanes still didn't have his own ship and had no choice but to use the tedious, uncomfortable, and easily tracked public transportation available to him. He and Miri had traveled to Lao-mon on what amounted to a galactic express train, and then to the Hooles' house in the Shi'ido equivalent of a Greyhound bus. But since they were already out here, it shouldn't be too difficult to reach the nearest SJC planet, which was... hmmm, well, he'd have to check. The borders were always changing.

"Yes, yes. I'm perfectly fine with a few routine checkups, just not with the idea of having to live with you day in and day out," Arimanes replied. "Your Padawan friend may even already know my Padawan friend."

At the question of where the Lord of Doubt was made, Arimanes sighed then answered, "Kiva."

Tammuz immediately reacted with undisguised revulsion. "You stubborn, misguided fool..."

Ignoring him, Arimanes continued to speak. "I doubt you'll be able to find it on any modern galactic maps. It was not terraformed, mostly because the planet was never a major population center like Alderaan or Malachor V, though it was thriving when it was destroyed by the Galactic Empire over eight centuries ago. The scientists responsible for wiping out all life on the planet were Shi'ido."

"My grandfather and his colleague," Tammuz added bitterly. "Kiva is the site of a travesty, a black mark on the history of our people. And you built your lab on the ruins of it. Arimanes, how could you?"

Arimanes faced him. "I don't know anymore. It was fifty years ago. I'm not the same person I was then." He turned back to Red. "The laboratory is probably long since abandoned, if not destroyed. I was the first of the scientists to leave the project after the Sith came along. I don't know what became of the others, but... I can give you a few of the names I remember." He shut his eyes, recalling the past. "Dr. Raehith Daanruano worked with us—he was a Bothan male, and an expert at using the cell substructure splicer... then there was a female Twi'lek nurse named Zinnia Julep, but everyone called her 'Peach'. She took care of the newborns, and I suspect she may be the reason Messala is alive today... If those two are still around and you can find them, they may know what became of the Lord of Doubt after the experiments ended."

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Jacen Nimdok

Red raised an eyebrow as Arimanes replied saying that the planet where the experiments were conducted was Kiva, and Tammuz seemed horrified by that. Red had never heard of that planet before, and he had heard of a lot of them, having to learn about them and their terrain and environments back in the labs, but Kiva was one apparently left out.

Then, Arimanes started explaining about the planet. Red listened as Arimanes spoke, and Tammuz added the part in of who was responsible for wiping it out. No wonder Tammuz was bitter about that planet, his own ancestors had wiped out the planet, and Arimanes had done experiments there. So of course it was a touchy subject for Tammuz.

Then, Arimanes said the names of two of the people he had worked with. Red pulled out a datapad and typed them down. If he could locate these people, and if he could somehow locate Kiva, perhaps it could give him an idea on the location of the Lord of Doubt. He would also contact Inanna Harth , and see what she had found out. "Alright, I'll be sure to look into them, and see what I can find. It'll be best if you leave the planet in the next few days. The sooner you leave, the harder it will be for your enemies to track you. I'll then contact Inanna, and update her on the situation. Then I will see if I can locate these two people, and see if I can find out where Kiva is." Red told him.

"Is that all? Is there anything else you can think of before we wrap up here?" Red asked him.

 

[Jacen Nimdok]

"Kiva should be somewhere in the Mid Rim. Oh, and if you do pay it a visit, be mindful of the wraiths. They're still there after eight hundred years."

Tammuz looked like he wanted to rip Arimanes' head off, but he didn't say anything. Even Lilith seemed weary and drained. Arimanes himself was exhausted, both due to his injuries and the turmoil of emotions he had experienced just talking about all this stuff. He needed to put himself in a healing trance now if he was going to recover enough to travel within a few days.

"Don't worry, I promise I won't stay any longer than I have to." Arimanes shrugged, lying back against the pillows. "You must understand, up until about a year ago, I had never even heard of the Lord of Doubt. I thought Arrius Messala must have died, or perhaps found a new life somewhere out there. I never imagined that he might have become a Sith Lord..."

Miri, sensing that she would soon have to leave him alone so he could sleep, leaned over and kissed her father's cheek. Arimanes' expression flickered as Nimdok briefly resurfaced to accept the gesture. The girl hopped down off the bed and went to stand over by Lilith.

Arimanes splayed his empty hands. "That's all I have. I'm sorry."

Subject 73 Red

 

[Subject 73 Red]

Jacen Nimdok

Red raised an eyebrow at Arimanes' mention of wraiths, but nodded nevertheless. "Noted." He said. He would check any maps he could of the Mid Rim to see if he could locate Kiva. Luckily, there were many maps of the galaxy made over the various years by many different empires, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Plus, Red traveled through the Mid Rim often, so he was likely to find it.

Arimanes then apologized, saying that was all he had. "Don't worry, it's enough information to get started with. If I find anything, either I or my Padawan friend will let you know and update you on my current status. Until then, stay safe, stay out of trouble, and don't get yourself killed, or I might travel to the Neatherworld myself and slap your ghost many times." Red said with a light smile, making a vague attempt at a joke.

He turned to Miri. "Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble, alright? He's honestly hopeless without you, so stay safe yourself." He told her. Turning to the Hooles, he said, "Make sure that nobody comes after them. If anything happens while they are here, contact me." He told them.

Red then exited the room. Walking down the halls of the hospital, he pulled out his datapad, and started typing up a message on a private Holonet channel to Inanna Harth .

Unread Transmission, from Ȩ̶̧̧͓͇̭̙̳͔̮̗̦̱̫̖̜̫̤̯̀͐̉̽̾͛̊̂̏̽̈̏̉̓̒̾͗͆́̓͑̅̓͒͂̆̊̃̿̌͊͘͜͠͝ͅͅn̶̺̩̺͕͍̻͎͙̞̯̪̹̮̭̜̞̝̱̫͎̯͒͐̿̾̅̓̊̂̆̐̽̿̄͗̀̓͆́͋̐͘͘͜c̶̣̝̯̹̦̣͔̀̈́̈̀̂̾͘r̸̢̧̢̖̭̩͍͍̰̘͓̜̝͈̗̥͌̀͗̏̇̓̃́̀͒̊͛̓͂̀͊̇̀y̶̨̢̛̞̜̙̜͙͈̹͇͚̏́̈́̋̽̓͑́̒͗̂͘̚ͅp̷̢̜̬̣͍̝̥͍̤͎̰̺͋̊̉̍̈͑͒̇̈́̋͗͂̃̓̿̽͊̃͘̕͘̕͝͝ţ̵̧̨̢̜͙̹̳̻͎̲̪̖̩̩̗̜͇͎̩̗̲͙̻͙̦͔͈͍͓̗̗̩́̈́̈́͛̎̿̅̉̈̅͂͐̋̇͌͂̊͗̿̀̈́̇̈́͂̊͆̍͂̚͠͝͠͝ͅȩ̶̢̨̧͚̫̞̙͎̮͔̭͖̫̥̼̫͍͓͓͓̜͙͔̞̙͚͚͙̓̑͋̀̍̅͌͆̊̋̋͌͋̔̀͛͆͘͜͠͝͝ď̸̛̪͎͚̅̍̏͗͋̾̊̑͑́̐͋͌̎͒́͝͠ ̶̧̨̡̙͓̦͕̥̱̯̣̩̥̳̮͕̠̱̫̬̤̤̫̪̬͍̪͉̬͋̏͗͐͌̃̌̈́͛͘̕͝ͅS̷̢̨̢͍̼̦͉̹̹̬̝͈͙͚͚̘̖͖̮̻̣̺̤̯̣͕̺͐̀̃̓͛̓̃͋̆̆̚͜͠͝ͅo̸̧̡͓̠͚̥̭̳͕͙͍͖̩̩̥̻͖͖̥̫͇͑͐̾̽́̅̉̒̄̾̅̒́̽̓̄́̇̌͌͆͋͘̕͘͝͝͠ṷ̷̡̡̢̢͔̙̹̠̺̭͖̭̟̥̝̬̪̭̹͉͎̩̝̥̤̯̤̰̫͙̏̋̀͊̐̐͛̂̎̍̾͗̉͜͠͠ͅͅr̵̢̢̧̨̯͎̼̹̦͉͖̬̟̰͕̲̖̞͉̣̮̹͈̤̘̝͋͛͌̿́͌́̀͋̄̌͐͒̄̈͊̓͆͊̋̈́͐̚̚͘̕͜͜͜c̶̨̨͖̮̗̱͆̋̓̎̃̔͛̀̂͑́̍͐̒̓́̊̒́͂͊̚̕͠͠͝e̵̜̦͎͓̬̞̞̞͊̏͆͊̽͊̀͒̊̾͐̏͋̍̋̓̀̀̀͌̄́͝:

Hey, Inanna, it's me, your correspondent. I met with our mutual friend. Found him staying with your parents. He seems okay, though he was injured in an accident, he seems fine now. He's still healing in the hospital. His daughter seems fine. Spoke with him for a bit: once he heals he'll be taking a trip all the way down near where you are, to rest and relax. He mentioned some people I should find and speak with about our problem, and a place in the Mid Rim that I should visit. I'll get you updated, and I'll send more information in the file that will arrive with this message. If you have any news, contact me right away.

Hope you're doing alright and not dead,

Your best Correspondent

End Transmission.

Red sent that to Inanna through the Holonet, making sure that if this was, on the off-chance, intercepted, that anybody who had no background information reading this would have no idea what Red was talking about. He then continued walking down the hall towards the exit. First he would locate Kiva, and the two people Arimanes mentioned, then visit them one after another, to see if they have any information that might help him find the Lord of Doubt.