[member="Solan Charr"] [member="Isley Verd"]
A communications tightbeam connected the cloaked ship and the freighter. The Keshiri hail went to the freighter and was rerouted to the cloaked vessel; the cloaked vessel's commander replied via the reverse of the same pattern, so the reply, for all intents and purposes, came from the freighter. The delay could be measured in miliseconds, and most conversations contained much greater gaps.
On the cramped bridge of the Defiance, Vesta's mind raced. Too many possibilities were at play here. The great question, of course, was what the feth a Keshiri cruiser was doing here, a hundred thousand light-years from its home base. Clan Rekali's significant Kathol presence had provided a bit of surface-level intel on the Keshiri Royal Navy, a frequent participant in local politics -- but only on the other side of the galaxy. This ship, the Skyborn, had been noted as a part of that navy, at Demonsgate. For reasons unknown, the descendants of the Lost Tribe of the Sith, and some representative of their reputed Dark Jedi king, were patrolling the capital system of the Mandalorian Empire.
Part of her, a large part of her, wanted to cut and run. An improbable connection between the historical Sith and the Mandalorian Empire was a tenuous link, but interesting enough to justify the trip. But coward at heart though she knew herself to be, the other part of her spoke up -- the part of her that could best be described as awful fascination. Clearly, the Mandalorian Empire had suffered, gotten in too deep with the eldritch ideas and influences that the Primeval had spread through this territory. That was the premise of this mission, this expedition: to find proof. No matter the cost to her mind and the minds of her crew.
The truth was out there.
She listened to the part of her that never could resist questioning the unknown. As she opened her mouth to play this through, though, another ship opened a channel but waited for whatever Vesta was about to say. She chewed her lip and pondered for a second.
"This is the Clan Rekali freighter Tsat'rap," she said, on a transmission that both ships could hear as coming from the freighter. "We're here to trade. With vode. Sith are another matter. Since when does the Lost Tribe speak for your Mand'alor?"