Mission No One Vanishes Alone (Open to Jedi)

[Iriana Vael]

​

The message had been brief.

A Jedi has gone missing.

For many, it would have been another troubling report among countless others carried across the hyperspace lanes. For Iriana Vael, it was reason enough to change course.

The Wandering Light emerged from hyperspace above Chalacta only hours after fragmented reports reached her network. Underworld syndicates had struck the city with startling precision before vanishing just as quickly, leaving destruction, frightened witnesses... and rumors that one of the Jedi who had answered the violence had simply disappeared.

Rumors.

Most dismissed them until evidence surfaced. Iriana had learned long ago that by then it was often too late. It had already been weeks since the attack. The Jedi Enclave had mostly evacuated Chalacta. There was a lot that could have been missed.

Before descending through the atmosphere, she transmitted a simple encrypted message across trusted Jedi frequencies.

To any Jedi within reach of Chalacta. A Knight is unaccounted for following the recent attack. I will begin searching immediately. If you can lend your eyes, your judgment, or simply your presence, meet me within the affected district. No one should vanish alone.​

No signature beyond her name. Those who knew it would understand.

The district still bore fresh wounds. Collapsed market stalls lined cracked streets while maintenance droids worked beside exhausted volunteers clearing rubble and scorched speeders. The smell of smoke lingered stubbornly in the warm air despite the passing hours. Conversation came only in hushed voices, as though the city feared drawing the attackers back.

Iriana walked without hurry. Her weathered robes shifted gently over reinforced travel leathers, one hand resting loosely near the silver-white lightsaber at her hip. Amber-brown eyes moved from broken walls to discarded equipment, from frightened civilians to the subtle impressions left within the Force.

Violence always echoed. Fear. Desperation. Resolve. She let each feeling wash over her without allowing any single one to dominate. Somewhere within the tangled currents was the absence she sought.

Then something tugged gently at her awareness. Not through the Force alone. Memory. Loss. She turned into a narrow side street. There, leaning almost carefully against the edge of a battered building, rested a lightsaber. Untouched. No scavenger had claimed it. No curious passerby had dared disturb it.

Iriana slowed as though approaching an old friend. She knelt before the weapon, studying every scratch, every worn contour of the hilt before allowing herself to lift it with both hands. Its weight settled comfortably into her palms. Abandoned. Or left behind.

There was a difference. She silently offered a small prayer to the Force for whoever had carried it last. You are not forgotten. Movement at the edge of her vision drew her attention upward.

Several civilians had stopped to watch. A pair of laborers stood with tools hanging idly at their sides. An elderly woman lingered in the doorway of a damaged shop. A young boy peered cautiously from behind her skirts, unable to take his eyes off the weapon.

Iriana rose, keeping the inactive lightsaber visible but relaxed at her side. Her voice was low, calm, and carried without effort. "I'm looking for the Jedi who carried this."

She let her gaze move across the small gathering, never lingering long enough to make anyone uncomfortable. "I'm not here to question anyone's choices during the attack. Only to find someone who may still need help."

Silence settled. She had learned not to fear silence. People often found courage there. "If you remember anything..." she continued gently, "...a direction they ran, someone they spoke to, another face nearby, even something that seemed too small to matter..."

A faint, reassuring smile touched her lips. "...please tell me. Sometimes the smallest thread is enough to bring someone home." She hoped that the citizens would learn to trust her enough to give her a lead. And she hoped back up was coming. This looked like it might be a sizeable task.

IRIANA VAEL

• Location: Chalacta
• Objective: Investigate disappearance(s) after criminal attack.
• Outfit: Normal Robes
• Company: Villagers, LUMI-7
• Message sent to: Aiden Porte | All Jedi

NO LIGHT IS TRULY LOST

OOC: Open to any Jedi, but would like to keep the group pretty small. If there are already four Jedi involved please check with me before jumping in

 

[Braze]

Tags: Iriana Vael

​

Braze had been paying close attention to every notice concerning missing Jedi, pursuing as many scattered leads as he could possibly manage. Several of his Shadow contacts had gone silent in recent weeks, their usual reports replaced by unanswered transmissions and dead channels. As if they had just gone dark with out warning. Sleep had become a rare mercy for the young Echani; when it did come, it often brought with it uneasy visions that dragged him through unfamiliar streets,saturated in half-heard pleas, and blurry impressions that dissolved whenever he reached for them.

So, when he heard of another Jedi vanishing on Chalacta, Braze altered his course without hesitation.

The young Knight arrived dressed for travel rather than ceremony, pale hair drawn away from his face and a heavy fur lined cloak resting across his narrow shoulders. His somber jade green gaze moved over the districts as he advanced, cataloguing any scorched masonry, abandoned thresholds, and the wary faces watched from behind shattered windows. He kept his force signature suppressed and buried deep.

He did not rush to question those who lingered nearby or press them for answers. Their attention appeared to be fixed upon someone else… someone who looked far more traditionally like a Jedi than Braze did.

She was not anyone he recognized nor was familiar with... Braze decidedly allowed his presence to become known gradually, keeping his hands visible and his posture at ease as he followed the encrypted summons farther into the district. Beneath the hustle of passing bodies and the ceaseless noise of the city, he reached cautiously into the Force, searching for the same troubled current that had disturbed his sleep for weeks.

Too many Jedi had already disappeared into silence. He had no intention of allowing another to be forgotten…

"Hey…" he greeted lightly upon approaching Iriana Vael .

 

[Audren Sykes]

Audren didn't believe he'd ever been to Chaltaca before, but he'd definitely been in the area. The system was not far from Kashyyyk, astronomically speaking, and he'd spent a significant amount of time there as a senior member of the Silver Jedi Order. He'd since stepped back from that Order - from any Order as it happened - but maintained ties enough to have current encryption codes for frequencies in use by the various Orders.

To any Jedi within reach of Chalacta. A Knight is unaccounted for following the recent attack. I will begin searching immediately. If you can lend your eyes, your judgment, or simply your presence, meet me within the affected district. No one should vanish alone.

The Sephi frowned at the message floating onscreen. It was hardly world-shattering: being a Jedi was a dangerous proposition these days. Even in his short lifespan, he'd noticed that things were cyclical: governments would rise that were Jedi-friendly or even Jedi-neutral, others would rise to oppose them, and some would fall, only for a replacement to come hunting. He largely kept out of it; his companies would sell to whomever was buying, though the more dangerous equipment tended to be reserved for those he believed would use it more responsibly. But now a call went out due to a single Jedi missing after an attack. Curious.

A small survey crew was working through the Redhurne system to see if there was anything left worth mining. It was doubtful, but it was along the flight path and the resource consumption to check was minimal, compared to the potential profits if something were to be found. He wasn't actively doing anything, just a part of the convoy, so with a quick message to the rest of the ships his vessel peeled out of formation and made the short jump to Chaltaca. If he could help bring a Jedi back into the fold, he would. The nondescript yacht settled onto its landing struts and the sometimes-Jedi strode forth.

He didn't ask directions, didn't need to. A single, long blink and a head tilt were all it took for a direction; the echoes of battle and resonance of another Force user were unmistakable. Those who saw him would be left to draw their own conclusions...without the obvious armor attachments his chosen clothing was common enough in design to be a normal civilian or a Jedi, and the lightsaber and blaster he wore were just two more items on his belt. The purposeful stride would probably be the best indicator of what he was, should they pay that much attention.

The elfin being arrived just in time to see a woman - obviously a Jedi - lift a lightsaber from the ground. It seemed he was using the word curious often for this little adventure, but it once again fit. The weapon of a Jedi was no longer taboo, for it to be simply lying there meant the locals might be afraid of it, respect it, or that they thought it was a trap. It didn't explode when picked up, and no army sprang forth when the woman began asking questions of those watching, though neither did they jump to answer.

The Force was...tangled...here. The attack had been fast and violent, threads of the Force weaving every which way. Lightsabers, though, tended to be intensely personal objects. Even with his rusty skills, he might be able to get a hint should the information not come from a more reliable source.

Iriana Vael | Braze​

 

[Iriana Vael]

​

The silence held only a heartbeat longer. Then one of the laborers shifted uneasily, glancing toward the others before taking a cautious step forward. He was middle-aged, his work clothes stained with soot, his hands still trembling despite the attack having ended hours ago. "It... it wasn't just criminals," he said quietly. "Mercenaries. Organized. They came through fast."

Iriana inclined her head, giving him her full attention. "You saw them?"

He nodded. "Not all of them. Just enough." His gaze drifted toward the lightsaber in her hands. "There was a Jedi. Blue skin... a woman." His expression softened with remembered relief. "She saved people. Got children out of a collapsed café. Held off the shooters so the rest of our group could run."

A murmur of agreement passed through the small gathering. "She could've left," another citizen added. "Didn't."

The laborer swallowed. "They surrounded her." His voice grew quieter. "They... they didn't kill her." Iriana's amber-brown eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "They took her. Some of the other citizens too."

The words settled heavily. Not slain. Captured. That changed everything. Before she could ask another question, another presence entered the edge of the gathering. Young. Disciplined. Purposefully restrained beneath the surface. She turned as a white-haired Jedi approached with an easy posture and an almost disarming greeting.

"Hey..."

Despite the casual word, she could sense the vigilance beneath it. Fatigue lingered around him, threaded together with determination and concern. Someone who had been chasing the same kind of ghosts she had.

At nearly the same moment, another presence brushed against her awareness. Older. Measured. Watching rather than announcing itself. Her eyes flickered briefly toward the far side of the street where the currents of the Force quietly gathered around another arrival. He had not interrupted, nor attempted to influence the conversation. For now, that was enough.

She returned her attention to the younger Jedi. "You received my message, then." Her voice remained calm, carrying the warmth of welcome without sacrificing purpose. "I am Jedi Master Iriana Vael."

She shifted the inactive lightsaber into view, offering the hilt rather than presenting it as evidence. "I recovered this only moments ago." The shiny metal rested easily in her hands. "It appears to have been left behind during the attack."

She glanced briefly toward the citizens before returning her gaze to the young Knight. "I was just about to hear more." Her eyes moved between Braze and the gathering. "These people witnessed a blue-skinned Jedi defend civilians before a group of mercenaries took her alive."

She let that revelation settle. "If that account is accurate, then we are no longer searching for someone simply lost." A quiet resolve settled into her expression. "We are searching for someone who can still be brought home."

IRIANA VAEL

• Location: Chalacta
• Objective: Investigate disappearance(s) after criminal attack.
• Outfit: Normal Robes
• Company: Villagers, LUMI-7
• Message sent to:[/n] Aiden Porte | Braze | Audren Sykes

NO LIGHT IS TRULY LOST

 

[Aiden Porte]

Iriana Vael Braze Audren Sykes​

Anytime there was a Jedi in need, Aiden was always willing to assist. As often as he could, and as much as he could he support. Hope did not abandon anyone so lightly. It was a constant and ever true feeling that, if it lived long enough within someone, it could never dissappear. The Jedi Knight had received the message, and while he was caught off guard, he had arrived a bit late to the designated location.

"Forgive my tardiness, my friends. Aiden Porte here." He spoke just as Iriana began to speak more to Braze it seemed, one whom he had met and worked with on an occasion or two.

She let that revelation settle. "If that account is accurate, then we are no longer searching for someone simply lost." A quiet resolve settled into her expression. "We are searching for someone who can still be brought home."

"Then that is what we will do, take a moment to investigate where she was ambushed, see if the captors happened to leave anything behind, something they didn't intend. Or if our missing friend, left something behind for us to find."

Aiden took a deep breath, as he glanced between them, and towards the citizens close by. The force works in mysterious ways, there may be something there.

 

[Audren Sykes]

Iriana Vael | Braze | Aiden Porte​

For a moment he thought nobody would willingly answer. Then one of the men shuffled a bit and spoke. It had taken effort to do so; Audren both saw and sensed it, and approved. Not hours past a brutal attack on his home town and neighbors, yet he was willing to offer what he knew where most would be incoherently babbling or completely catatonic. Maybe he figured he owed the Jedi, but there were plenty who owed Jedi their lives and never did a thing about it.

Taken alone, the offered information was scant. In context though, it was a definite start. The Jedi was female, which cut out a significant percentage of the galaxy. Blue skin was itself fairly rare, limiting the field further still. Cross-reference that against the listed membership of the New Jedi Praxeum and he'd be shocked if the count of potential matches needed two hands. A name meant a holo meant a start.

It was more than that though: the information went beyond any spoken word. When the man had spoken he'd glanced at the others around him, not to the shadows, the rooftops, or the rubble. He wasn't afraid of the mercenaries still being there or returning in the near future. That meant long-haul speeder or interstellar ship. Given the blitz this attack was reported as, logic suggested a ship. It was possible that planetary records caught identification and recordings, but also not.

"What information of the ship they left on? Where was it, what description can you give of it?"

The Sephi felt no need to explain his logic at this point as doing so wouldn't get faster results. His voice was loud enough to be heard without being overbearing, and while his tone clearly showed that he expected an answer it was indeed a question rather than a command. The focus of this group of Jedi was the missing Jedi but that didn't negate the man's own state, nor his sacrifice in speaking up.

Counting Audren, the group of Jedi now totaled four. The woman had introduced herself as Master Iriana Vael, and the newest arrival named himself Aiden Porte. That drew a second glance: he knew the name Porte but associated it with Kahne, not Aiden. Must be coincidence. The other hadn't introduced himself yet and in fact had spoken only a single word, but the demeanor of both others suggested they knew him. No, in this group it would likely be Audren who was the unknown.

 

[Braze]

Tags: Iriana Vael | Aiden Porte | Audren Sykes

​

Braze bowed his head gently. "I'm known as Braze… or Knight Kai'el."

His jade-green gaze settled upon the saber that had been produced, though he did not immediately reach for it. He knew well that Jedi rarely surrendered something so personal without reason.

"I possess some skill in psychometry. Would you like me to see what I can glean from her saber? Perhaps I can catch a glimpse of who she was fighting last and what they look like or anything I can discern that we should be wary of..."

His attention shifted briefly toward the others.

"The vessel may not have been theirs," Braze offered softly. "Mercenaries expecting pursuit would likely use something disposable or stolen… We should identify her as well. Blue skin narrows the search, and I can compare her description against the missing-person reports gathered by other Shadows and the broader Jedi personnel databases."

 

[Iriana Vael]

​

Iriana inclined her head as another Jedi approached, the familiar calm of one accustomed to answering calls for aid evident in his bearing. "Knight Porte." A faint smile touched her lips. "There was no schedule to keep. Only a hope that someone would answer."

Her gaze briefly swept across the gathering of Jedi now standing together amidst the battered street. "I'm simply grateful that we were able to mobilize." No one had questioned whether the missing Jedi was worth the effort. They had simply come. For a fleeting moment, it eased an old ache she had carried for decades.

When Braze spoke of psychometry, Iriana looked once more to the weathered hilt resting in her hands before extending it toward him. "Then every skill should be brought to bear." She offered the lightsaber carefully. "I have already sought what the Force would reveal to me through it. If there were whispers to hear, they remained beyond my reach." A hint of self-aware amusement softened her otherwise measured expression. "Perhaps they were waiting for someone with a different ear."

As Braze accepted the saber, another figure finally stepped fully from the edge of the gathering. The Sephi had remained respectfully distant until now, watching more than speaking. Iriana met his eyes with a polite nod before allowing the conversation to continue naturally. There would be time enough for introductions.

Her attention drifted briefly to the villagers. Four Jedi now stood before them. To some, that many lightsabers might have been reassuring. To others, intimidating. On the surface, their expressions remained difficult to read. Worry still clouded every face. Yet through the Force, subtle truths surfaced.

The laborer who had first found the courage to speak relaxed... if only by the smallest degree. Not because there were more Jedi. Because they had listened. Audren's question drew the man's attention. He scratched absently at the back of his neck before offering an uncertain shrug.

"Big enough for cargo." He frowned as he searched his memory. "Nothing fancy. No weapons I noticed. Didn't look like a military ship." His brow furrowed. "Just... plain. The sort you'd never remember seeing." He looked apologetically toward the assembled Jedi. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Iriana replied gently. "You've already remembered more than many could after enduring what you did."

The laborer nodded gratefully before another memory surfaced. "Oh..." He looked up again. "The one giving orders..." He hesitated. "She was a woman." His expression tightened with frustration. "I couldn't get a good look at her. Too much smoke. Too many people running."

Iriana folded the new information carefully into the growing picture forming in her mind. A female commander. Mercenaries disciplined enough to extract a living Jedi. A plain cargo vessel chosen specifically because no one would remember it. None of it spoke of opportunistic criminals. It spoke of preparation.

She looked between Braze, Aiden, Audren, and the others gathered. "They came to take someone or, based on the size of the ship, many someones." Her voice remained quiet, but the certainty behind it was unmistakable. "The attack created chaos..."

Her amber-brown eyes drifted toward the scarred streets surrounding them. "...but I no longer believe the chaos was the objective."

IRIANA VAEL

• Location: Chalacta
• Objective: Investigate disappearance(s) after criminal attack.
• Outfit: Normal Robes
• Company: Villagers, LUMI-7 | Aiden Porte | Braze | Audren Sykes

NO LIGHT IS TRULY LOST

 

[Aiden Porte]

Iriana Vael Braze Audren Sykes​

Aiden showed an easy smile to the villagers, giving an expression of hope. But also, reading into them what he could, not intruding, but their stance, how they spoke. He didn't suspect these villagers were apart of this, but when you seen as much as he did during his time, and that's because he was only twenty-five.

So much, deception, death, darkness, and despair.

But luckily for him there was also hope and light, and that outshined all the rest.

"What are you thinking, Iriana?" Aiden inquired, as he looked briefly between her, Audren and Braze.

"What do you feel?"

 

[Braze]

Tags: Iriana Vael Audren Sykes Aiden Porte

​

Braze frowned as the remnants of what had transpired played before his mind's eye, drawing him briefly into a vision of the past. He let out an uneasy breath as he shook the lingering effects from his eyes, blinking rappidly... .

"She seems to have been a Pantoran lady... and the good news is, she seems to have been taken alive. She was shot with a stun bolt."

He frowned faintly as he relayed what he'd learned.

"If they were specifically looking for a Jedi, leaving her saber behind was sloppy hunters' work... It seems like there were other captives, or hostages, taken with her... Now what would the local thugs need captives for... It seems they desired only the most beautiful of the civilian populace ?" he murmured. Ransom crossed his mind along with several other concerning motives that reminded him of the history of Hapes... He'd never personally encountered Irulan Al-Zahir before but he'd gotten a fair look at the woman with purple eyes and knew that was enough to tell her apart rather easily. Never the less none of the possibilities behind what reason they must have had sat particularly well with him.

He reached for a small compact and flipped it open. What looked like an ordinary mirror shifted beneath his touch as a concealed keyboard illuminated along the lower edge. Braze tapped through several searches before his expression tightened with frustration.

"I'm guessing our missing Jedi Knight Miss Faelyra Vynn was an unexpected 'prize'... It seems there were other Jedi with her before she was taken but she was at the rear... "

He said as a note of disgust edged his words.

"We've precious little time. " He looked to the older jedi perhaps exspecting orders or instruction as he offered the saber back.

 

[Iriana Vael]

​

Iriana watched Braze carefully as the young Knight emerged from whatever impressions the abandoned weapon had surrendered to him. Psychometry was rarely pleasant work. Objects remembered differently than people did. They did not soften events with time or reshape them into something easier to endure. Sometimes they simply held fragments—fear, pain, faces, moments—and waited for someone unfortunate enough to listen.

Pantoran.

That fit the description. More importantly—"Alive," Iriana repeated softly. For the first time since finding the lightsaber, a small measure of tension left her shoulders. It was not relief. Not yet. Alive could change very quickly.

Braze continued, and Iriana's expression gradually hardened. Other captives. Civilians chosen deliberately. A woman with distinctive purple eyes. The Jedi apparently caught at the rear of the group after the others had escaped. And finally, a name.

Faelyra Vynn.

Iriana accepted the offered lightsaber from Braze, looking down at it for several quiet seconds. The hilt seemed different now that it belonged to someone rather than simply the missing Jedi. "Faelyra," she murmured. A name mattered. Names made people harder to forget.

Her gaze lifted when Aiden addressed her. "What are you thinking, Iriana? What do you feel?" Iriana's amber-brown eyes drifted toward the scarred street. "I think we are looking at two crimes that became one." She slowly hooked Faelyra's lightsaber to the opposite side of her belt from her own silver-bladed weapon. "The mercenaries came prepared to take civilians. They chose their captives rather than seizing whoever happened to be nearest. They brought a vessel suited to transporting them, and they had enough organization to execute an extraction in the middle of an attack."

Her attention shifted briefly toward Braze. "But I agree. Faelyra was probably not their intended target." She considered his point about the discarded weapon. "If they came here hunting Jedi, leaving her lightsaber in the street would be extraordinarily careless."

Iriana glanced toward where she had originally found the weapon. "If they came here for something else and suddenly found themselves with a stunned Jedi among their captives..." A slight narrowing of her eyes completed the thought. "...someone made a decision."

That concerned her considerably more. Iriana closed her eyes. Only briefly. She reached outward through the Force, not searching for a single voice within the confusion left by the battle, but allowing herself to feel the shape of what remained. Fear still stained the district. Pain. Anger. Gratitude from those who had survived. And beneath it all, absence.

When her eyes opened again, she looked toward Aiden. "What I feel is urgency." The words were calm rather than dramatic. "Not panic. We cannot afford that." Her fingers brushed lightly against Faelyra's lightsaber. "But whoever commanded these mercenaries may not yet understand what she has taken. Once she does, Faelyra ceases to be an unexpected prize and becomes something considerably more valuable."

A Jedi could be ransomed. Interrogated. Sold. Used. Iriana had spent too many years following trails that began exactly this way to voice every possibility. Braze did not need to tell her that their time was precious. She knew. Still, they had something now that they had not possessed minutes ago. A name. A face, through Braze's vision. A description of their captors. A vessel. Witnesses. A trail.

"There are several areas we need to investigate," Iriana decided. "Faelyra was not taken alone, so we search for all of them. Not only her." Her gaze moved between Aiden and Braze before briefly including the Sephi who had joined their investigation.

"First, we need to identify everything we can about Faelyra. Recent assignments, associates, anyone who knew she was on Chalacta.” she addressed Braze specifically. “See if any of your Shadow contacts have encountered mercenaries taking captives matching what you saw."

She continued. "Second, I would like to take another at the site where Faelyra made her stand,” She shifted her eyes towards Aiden. ”As has been stated—if she knew capture was imminent, the lightsaber may not have been the only thing she left for us."

Finally, Iriana looked back to the laborer. "And I would like to know where that cargo ship was." Her expression softened when she addressed him. "You do not need to remember its name. You do not need to remember markings. Just show us where you saw it."

From there, perhaps Chalacta itself could tell them the rest. Iriana rested one hand over the borrowed lightsaber at her hip. "We know Faelyra Vynn was alive when they took her." There was quiet conviction in the Master's low voice. "So until the Force tells us otherwise, that is how we proceed."

A faint smile appeared. "We are not investigating her disappearance anymore," Iriana said quietly, her hand tightening slightly on Faelyra’s lightsaber at her hip. A brief pause settled over her before she lifted her gaze. "We are going to find her."

IRIANA VAEL

• Location: Chalacta
• Objective: Investigate disappearance(s) after criminal attack.
• Outfit: Normal Robes
• Company: Villagers, LUMI-7 | Aiden Porte | Braze | Audren Sykes

NO LIGHT IS TRULY LOST

 

[Aiden Porte]

Iriana Vael Braze Audren Sykes
​

Aiden just stood and listened, paying close attention to anything and everything that was said by Iriana.

Something had to have been missed. If they hoped to get to the next step, that had to be the case. She directed a portion of her words toward him, and he nodded quickly, taking a glance around before his eyes fell in the direction she had indicated. The Jedi Knight didn't waste any time, giving them each a small nod before he moved away from them. His path led him closer to the scene where she was taken.

Typically, most people didn't just go willingly. They put up a fight, kicking, punching, something. Which meant there was definitely something that had been left behind here. Aiden knelt down in front of the alleyway, checking both corners of it, the angles, anything that might reveal what else had happened, something only a Jedi could see. Aiden's eyes traveled to the corner of the building, following up the edge were there was blaster fire residue on the building walls.

Recent...

They got shots off. There was more fighting here than what had been spoken of.

He continued to search, something would turn up.

 

[Braze]

Aiden Porte Iriana Vael
Braze nodded curtly and put out a few feelers, sending several messages through the system from his Compact. A few went toward his Shadow contacts, asking after similar disappearances or mercenaries known for taking captives alive, while another search began digging into Faelyra herself: recent assignments, known associates, and anyone who might have known she was on Chalacta.

He then made his contact information available to the Jedi present, giving them a direct line back to him should anyone uncover something useful.

“I’ll start looking around and see what I can find. If anything comes up, I’ll pass it along.”

His attention dipped back toward the Compact as the messages went out.

“Time is of the essence.”

 

[Iriana Vael]

​

Aiden's discovery drew Iriana's attention back toward the alley. More blaster fire than the witnesses remembered. That did not surprise her. People caught in violence rarely remembered events as orderly sequences. Memory preserved the moments that mattered most—the weapon pointed at them, the stranger who pulled them to safety, the instant they thought they were going to die. Everything between could become noise. Still, the evidence mattered.

"Keep following it," Iriana called to Aiden. "If Faelyra moved during the fight, find where she stopped. The place she was actually taken may tell us more than where her saber was left." Her hand brushed the borrowed weapon at her hip. That thought lingered. Perhaps left was the more important word. There would be time to consider that later.

Braze, meanwhile, had already disappeared into his Compact and the network beyond it. Iriana gave the young Knight an approving nod. "Expand your search beyond Jedi disappearances." Her expression grew thoughtful. "If Faelyra was incidental, then searching for people like her may lead nowhere. Look for civilian disappearances matching what you saw. Groups taken together. Similar victim profiles. Raids where valuables were left behind." That last detail had begun troubling her. There had been violence here. Yet very little about the aftermath resembled a robbery.

Iriana turned back toward the laborer. "The ship."

He nodded, seemingly understanding without further explanation. "This way."

The walk was not long. Two streets brought them away from the worst of the damage and toward one of the district's commercial service areas. Warehouses replaced shops and residences, loading bays opening onto broad lanes designed for cargo speeders rather than pedestrians. The laborer pointed ahead. "Over there." A loading apron sat between two squat warehouses. "That's where I saw it. Big cargo ship. They had it down before everything started."

Iriana stopped. "Before?"

The man nodded. "Yeah. Definitely before."

That was useful. "Thank you."

Iriana approached alone at first. The Force offered impressions, but she resisted the temptation to immediately reach for them. Her years as a Shadow had taught her that Jedi sometimes became so accustomed to possessing another sense that they neglected the five everyone else had. So she looked. The landing site itself offered little. Scorching from repulsors. Displaced grit. Fluid staining that could have come from any of a hundred aging freighters. Nothing that would identify the vessel.

That, she suspected, was intentional. She moved toward the edge of the apron. Something caught beneath a battered cargo barrier drew her eye. Iriana crouched. A length of polymer strap protruded from beneath it. She pulled. What came free was not ordinary cargo webbing. A restraint. Cheap. Industrial. Disposable. The sort designed less for prisoners than livestock.

Iriana's expression hardened. She examined the locking mechanism before noticing something else nearby: a small torn section of padded material. She reached beneath the barrier again and retrieved it. A hood. Or what remained of one. Light-blocking fabric. Internal padding. A draw fastener around the neck. Nothing particularly sophisticated. Nothing designed for interrogation either. She stood with both objects in hand.

The laborer had followed several paces behind her. His expression changed immediately upon recognizing what she held. Iriana spared him from having to say it. "They weren't expecting much of a battle." She looked across the empty landing apron. Nor had they been expecting to rob anyone.

Traditional mercenaries preparing for an assault would have brought ammunition, heavier weapons, breaching equipment, medical supplies. These people had certainly possessed weapons. But they had brought something else in quantity. Restraints. "They were prepared to take people."

Her low voice had lost none of its calm, but whatever warmth had been there moments before was gone. Iriana crouched again and searched more carefully. Scrapes crossed the loading surface. Parallel marks. Something heavy had been moved repeatedly between the warehouse lane and the ship. Cargo containers, perhaps. Except the cargo had been alive.

She activated her communicator, opening the channel Braze had established between them. "Braze. Aiden." She paused, looking down at the restraint in her hand. "I believe we can confirm Faelyra was not the purpose of this attack."

Iriana turned the restraint over. No manufacturer marking that mattered. No insignia. No mercenary crest. Nothing that gave her a name to hunt. Whoever these people were remained anonymous. For now.

"They left restraints and sensory hoods at their landing site. Cheap equipment. Disposable. The sort used when you intend to move unwilling people in numbers." A pause. "These weren't raiders who happened to take prisoners." Her eyes settled upon the empty place where the freighter had rested. "They came equipped for captives."

Iriana knew the galaxy well enough to recognize what that suggested. Slavers. Or mercenaries willing to provide muscle for them. She disliked making accusations before evidence supported them, but there were some patterns she had encountered too many times to mistake. "They weren't here for valuables. They weren't looking for a fight. The violence was simply what they were willing to do to get what they actually wanted."

People. Her jaw tightened. "And then Faelyra interfered." The Jedi had saved civilians. Drawn attention. Fought until someone managed to stun her. Perhaps the mercenaries had simply thrown an unexpected captive aboard with the others. Perhaps their commander had recognized an opportunity. Either way, somewhere between this loading pad and whatever destination awaited the captives, someone would realize they had acquired something considerably more complicated than another frightened civilian.

Iriana's gaze fell toward Faelyra's lightsaber. No. There would be no convenient trail through the Force stretching from the weapon to its owner. No registration number miraculously overlooked. No obvious destination waiting in the debris. Whoever had taken Faelyra had vanished into a galaxy filled with unremarkable cargo ships and people willing to sell other beings for credits.

For now, the trail ended here. But ended was not the same as lost. "I want every abduction matching this pattern that we can find," she continued over the channel. "Not merely Chalacta. Neighboring systems. Trade routes. Missing travelers. Raids where victims were taken but property was ignored." Her thumb ran across the cheap restraint. "Someone hired these people." That much she was increasingly certain of. "And mercenaries who do this kind of work rarely discover their conscience after one contract."

Iriana looked back toward the battered district. "Find me another place they've taken people." Her amber-brown eyes narrowed. "Then we'll start finding out who they are."

IRIANA VAEL

• Location: Chalacta
• Objective: Investigate disappearance(s) after criminal attack.
• Outfit: Normal Robes
• Company: Villagers, LUMI-7 | Aiden Porte | Braze | Audren Sykes

NO LIGHT IS TRULY LOST