Private Free Them

[Helen Lupercal]

Helen strode through the halls of the Jedi temple toward one of the numerous gathering spaces contained therein. She had just been informed that there was an assignment she'd been selected for, and that she was uniquely qualified for this mission in particular. She'd been summoned by a Jedi Master Kargori to be briefed on the assignment, where she would meet the Jedi she would be working with on this task. She didn't know much about this Master Kargori or her soon to be partner Jedi Knight Seo Linn , but she looked forward to meeting them and getting this show on the road.

She'd been cooped up in the temple for far too long, and she needed to get out, stretch her legs and flex her newfound skills. She wasn't one for sitting down and meditating the day away like some of those she'd met here. She was a woman of action, field work, boots on the ground, actually getting things done. That was what she was meant for. And she was now getting the chance to do exactly that.

Helen would approach the door to the room she was told was where she was meant to be briefed, and tapped the panel next to it, opening the door in question with a hiss. Admitting the tall woman into the small room. She'd step in to find Master Kargori already there.

"Ah, Jedi Knight Helen. Good to meet you. Please have a seat, Jedi Knight Seo has yet to arrive, so just make yourself comfortable. We will get started once she's here."

"As you say Master." Helen said easily, taking a seat and leaning back in it. Crossing one leg over her knee and settling in comfortably as she waited.

 

[Seo Linn]

The door hissed open again a few minutes later, and Seo Linn stepped quietly into the briefing room, her presence calm and composed, dressed in practical tan and gold-threaded travel attire rather than formal robes, boots marked faintly with dust from patrol, her veil resting at her collar, and her lightsaber worn openly at her hip.

Her gold eyes swept the room in a single, practiced glance, taking in Master Kargori, Helen, and the layout of the space before she inclined her head respectfully.

"My apologies for the delay, Master," Seo said evenly. "I was finishing a report."

Kargori dismissed it with a brief smile and gestured for her to sit, and Seo moved to the empty chair opposite Helen, settling into it with composed ease before turning her full attention to the other Knight.

"Jedi Knight Helen Lupercal," she said calmly, her tone warm but professional. "It is good to finally meet you. I have heard positive things about your field work, and I am glad we will be working together."

At Kargori's signal, a small holoprojector activated, casting a blue image of a remote system and several marked locations into the air between them.

"We have confirmed reports of a slaver cell operating along this corridor," the Master explained. "They have been targeting isolated settlements and refugee transports and moving captives through unregistered ports."

Seo's posture stiffened almost imperceptibly as she leaned forward, her gaze locking onto the projection with an intensity that had nothing to do with strategy alone. Slaver routes. Unregistered ports. Refugee transports. The language was clinical, but the reality behind it was not. She had lived the other side of those words.

"Do we have confirmed holding sites?" she asked, her voice controlled and level, though there was a sharpened edge beneath it that had not been there before.

"Two possible facilities and a mobile transport," Kargori replied. "We are still verifying numbers."

Seo absorbed that in silence for a beat, calculating distances, response times, likelihood of relocation, and the narrow window between interception and disappearance.

"Then we move quickly," she said at last, her tone calm but decisive. "If they are rotating transports, hesitation will cost lives. Every hour matters, especially if captives are being processed or redistributed."

She straightened slightly, then turned her attention back to Helen, her expression steady and resolute rather than heated.

"This will not be a simple investigation," Seo continued, speaking plainly. "Slavers rarely operate without layered security, false manifests, and hired protection, and once they realize they are being tracked, they will not hesitate to relocate or eliminate evidence."

Her gold eyes met Helen's directly.

"There will be confrontation," she said. "There will be risk. And there will be people who have already been stripped of choice and dignity, depending on us to restore both."

A quiet breath passed through her before she finished.

"I intend to bring them home," she said, not as a boast, but as a promise.

Helen Lupercal

 

[Helen Lupercal]

Helen took all this in with a thoughtful expression. And then something occurred to her. She glanced over the map more closely to get an idea of where exactly this operation was taking place in relation to Republic space, whether it was inside of it or outside of it. If it was inside of it then it would be a lot tougher to deal with. But if it was outside of Republic space, then things might prove easier for a number of reasons. Not least of which would be lowered alertness, if there was no law to be found in the spaces they operated under, then they wouldn't need security to be as tight as they would within Republic Space proper.

This wasn't all to consider however. Most importantly would be intelligence. She and her new partner would need to perform some serious reconnaisance and quite a few clandestine acts to get enough actionable intelligence to actually do something worthwhile to bring the operation down. That would be tough, but doable.

"Slow down Knight Seo." Helen advised. "Expedience is needed but if we're hasty it could cost more lives. We can't just go galavanting off like we're on a crusade with just this much. Master Kargori, is there anything else that we know? Or will we need to gather intelligence in the field?"

She was already running through possibilities. She had a few contacts in the criminal world she could call on. She knew a few people she could ask. A few other people she could bribe. Maybe some favors she could call in. It was a good place to start at the very least. And could certainly prove helpful if this were outside the jurisdiction of the Republic proper.

Seo Linn

 

[Seo Linn]

Seo did not bristle at Helen's caution.

If anything, she seemed to ease slightly when it was voiced.

She listened without interrupting, her posture still forward, hands loosely clasped now rather than tense, gold eyes shifting briefly back to the holomap as Helen spoke through her reasoning. When Helen finished, Seo drew in a slow, steady breath, grounding herself before answering.

"You are right," she said quietly. "Speed without preparation becomes recklessness. And recklessness costs the very people we are trying to protect."

There was no defensiveness in her tone, only acknowledgment.

She glanced briefly toward Master Kargori, then back to Helen. "My reaction comes from experience," Seo continued, measured and honest. "Slaver networks move quickly when they sense pressure. I have seen captives disappear between one report and the next." A pause. "But that does not mean we abandon method."

Her gaze sharpened slightly, shifting from emotion to analysis.

"We will need intelligence," she agreed. "Routes. Schedules. Front companies. Security patterns. Buyers. Any weaknesses in their structure?" Her voice remained calm, but every word was deliberate.

She then turned her attention fully to Master Kargori.

"Master," Seo asked evenly, "do we know where this operation is based in relation to Republic space, or is that something we will need to determine in the field?"

She straightened slightly after speaking, returning her gaze to Helen.

"I do not intend to charge in blindly," Seo said. "I intend to move decisively when we know where to strike."

Then, more quietly, she added, "Urgency should not override judgment."

There was respect in her expression now.

"Your caution is not slowing us down," Seo finished. "It is making sure we bring people home alive."

Helen Lupercal

 

[Helen Lupercal]

Helen listened politely to everything that was said. Kargori in turn informed the two of them as they requested.

“There is little to go on beyond what I’ve already told you.” The Jedi Master told them. “We know of a few auctions that have taken place, and where. Though the specific location seems to change with each event. They are operating on the fringes of Republic territory. Presumably bringing citizens out of Republic space to sell them in the more lawless places beyond our border. Though nothing is confirmed. You will need to do most of the leg work yourselves.”

Helen mulled this over. “I have a few old friends I can ask about this.” She said hesitantly, weighing what such favors would cost in turn. She was on good terms with her informants but nothing was ever free in the underground. “They should be able to get us started. If there’s nothing else to get us started we might as well take off. Discuss a plan of action en route. Knight Seo?”

Helen thought to ask Seo if she had anything else to ask before they left. As Helen had pointed out haste was not always one’s best friend in such cases, but they couldn’t lollygag either. So a discussion while they were in hyperspace was preferred.

Seo Linn

 

[Seo Linn]

Seo had been listening in silence as Master Kargori spoke, her attention fixed on the shifting holomap, committing every uncertain detail to memory with the precision of someone who had lived through patterns like this far too many times. Fringes of Republic space. Mobile auctions. Lawless borders where oversight thinned, and cruelty flourished. It was a familiar pattern, and an infuriating one, the kind that settled into her chest like an old bruise.

When Helen spoke again, Seo did not answer immediately.

Instead, she slowly reached up and tugged back the sleeve of her tunic.

The movement was deliberate, unhurried, and unmistakably intentional.

Revealing.

On the inside of her forearm, faint but impossible to mistake, was an old slave mark. A branded identifier, partially faded by time and healing, but still visible enough to be recognized by anyone who knew what to look for. A symbol of ownership that had once defined her entire existence, carved into her skin as if it were meant to outlast her.

Her expression did not change as she exposed it, not even a flicker of discomfort crossing her features.

"I have… a way in," Seo said quietly, her voice steady in a way that made the words land heavier.

She let Helen see it fully, let her take in the shape, the meaning, the history, before lowering her arm slightly, though she did not pull the sleeve back into place. She left the mark visible, as if acknowledging it openly gave her more control over it than hiding ever had.

"If they are moving people through auctions and private buyers," she continued, her tone even and measured, "then they will be watching for familiarity. For patterns. For people who look like they belong in those spaces, who fit into the roles they expect to see."

Her gold eyes lifted to meet Helen's, steady and unflinching.

"We could pose as a slaver and a slave," she said plainly, without softening the words. "It would not require forged histories or fabricated identities. Mine already exists in their networks. Marks like this are recorded. Shared. Remembered."

There was no bitterness in her tone, no tremor of old pain rising to the surface.

Only resolve.

"It is not my first choice," Seo added softly, the admission quiet but honest. "But it is effective. It would allow us to reach buyers, sellers, and holding sites without alerting them to who we truly are."

She finally let her sleeve fall back into place, the fabric sliding over her forearm with a quiet finality.

"If you have contacts who can help us locate an entry point," Seo finished, her voice returning to its calm, tactical cadence, "this would give us a way to exploit it."

Her gaze was steady now. Clear, unwavering, and entirely committed.

"I am willing."

Helen Lupercal

 

[Helen Lupercal]

"It's not your first choice nor mine." Helen told her. "Nor do we know if it's necessary. Hold off on these plans until we're both in the region and have more information to go on. We can't just waltz onto the planet's surface and expect to blunder into this auction while pretending like we belong. This isn't the place where slaves would be used, this is where they are collected or sold. Meaning in large quantities. Chances are we'd only be able to make it in as buyers if we were to go that route without thinking it through first."

Helen stood up and thought for a few moments, then she dropped her hands to her waist.

"let's get aboard the ship and underway. I have a few contacts I can talk to in order to get us started. We can discuss specific strategies once we have more information. Sound fair?"

Helen tapped the panel to open the door and let them step out. And she began to lead the way to the ship they'd been assigned to use. Walking down the corridors and hallways of the temple, their destination the hangar where they would find their transport. In the meanwhile Helen was already deep in thought, considering possibilities and angles they could lean into.

She had to shake her head clear of these thoughts. It wouldn't serve them at all to think too far ahead, relying on speculation and conjecture to consider what might happen when they had next to no information. Really all the planning that could be done was to determine what sort of reconnaisance they could actually utilize.

Seo Linn

 

[Seo Linn]

Seo did not argue. She listened.

As Helen spoke through the flaws in the plan, Seo's expression shifted from resolve to consideration, her gaze steady and thoughtful rather than defensive. When Helen finished, Seo nodded once, slow and deliberate, acknowledging the logic without hesitation.

"You are right," she said quietly. "Assuming access before we understand the structure would be reckless. Especially with something this organized."

She fell into step beside Helen as they began walking, her boots echoing softly against the polished stone of the corridor. For a moment, she was silent, processing, recalibrating.

"My past makes certain options feel… closer at hand," Seo admitted calmly. "But that does not mean they are always the right ones." A brief pause. "You are right to slow that instinct."

They passed beneath an archway, the distant hum of the hangar growing more audible with every step.

"I agree with gathering intelligence first," she continued. "Patterns. Schedules. Who moves people. Who pays. Who protects them? Once we understand that, then we decide how to enter." Her gold eyes lifted briefly to Helen. "Not before."

When Helen suggested departing immediately, Seo inclined her head.

"That sounds fair," she replied evenly. "Your contacts may give us the foundation we need. And hyperspace will give us time to think without pressure."

She walked in silence for a few more steps, then added more quietly, "Thank you… for not dismissing the idea outright, but also for not letting emotion drive it."

There was quiet respect in her tone.

"This is personal for me," Seo admitted, without apology. "That can be a strength. Or a weakness. I trust you to help me keep it the former."

As the hangar doors came into view, her posture straightened slightly, focus returning in full.

"Let us find them," she said softly. "And end this properly."

Helen Lupercal

 

[Helen Lupercal]

Helen listened to her fellow knight speak, and she understood precisely where she was coming from. Helen had, technically, been a slave once herself. It didn't last long, thankfully she'd been scooped up by pirates long before things could get bad. But she knew how terrified she'd been when she was loaded onto that vessel, not knowing what would happen to her, if she would be sold to some hutt or syndicate or worse. She imagined this woman next to her saw far worse than she had. She could hardly blame her eagerness or her desire to see this done decisively. It was only natural.

Helen glanced at her partner. "There's no need to explain your feelings to me. I know that such a world is vile and repulsive, doubly so for those who lived it. So please, don't think that you need to justify yourself."

They stepped up the ramp and into the ship, Helen took her seat in the cockpit and began to warm up the engines.

"You wouldn't happen to know the region of space we're going to do you? I didn't spend too much time there myself." She began as she went over the warmup procedures for the ship. "I know some of the main planets in that sector. Even came through there once or twice, but not enough to actually know it."

The ramp closed with a hiss and the engines began to whine. Some minutes later they would lift off the ground and began making their way out of the hangar and into the skies of coruscant above the Jedi temple. And from there into space, and finally after plotting the correct course they entered hyperspace. Where they would spend the next several hours in transit to their destination so their mission could continue.

Seo Linn

 

[Seo Linn]

Seo followed Helen up the ramp in silence, her earlier tension easing slightly at the other woman's words. She did not respond immediately, but the faint nod she gave carried quiet appreciation.

Once inside, she moved past the cockpit toward the co-pilot's seat and settled into it with practiced ease, securing the harness as Helen brought the systems online. The hum of the engines filled the small cabin, steady and reassuring.

"I appreciate that," Seo said after a moment, her voice calm but sincere. "It helps to know I am not the only one in this fight who understands what it means."

As the ship lifted from the temple hangar and rose into the traffic lanes of Coruscant, Seo pulled up a star chart on the console beside her. Her fingers moved across the display, highlighting the edge of Republic space where several trade routes bled into less regulated territory.

"If the auctions are happening along the frontier, then Denon would make sense," she said thoughtfully. "It sits close enough to major trade lanes to move cargo quickly, but it also has enough underworld presence to hide operations like this." She zoomed in slightly, tracing a line outward. "And if captives are being moved beyond Republic jurisdiction, Denon is a convenient stepping stone before ships disappear into the Outer Rim."

She leaned back slightly as the stars stretched into the blue tunnel of hyperspace.

"I have been there once," Seo added. "Briefly. Long enough to learn that the city never truly sleeps, and that there are plenty of places where questions are not asked."

Her gold eyes shifted toward Helen.

"If slavers wanted a place to stage auctions without drawing too much official attention," she said quietly, "Denon would be a good place to start looking."

Helen Lupercal