Private Shadows of the Fallen

[Caelan Valoren]

Too much had happened since the fall of his parents and reclamation of Lazerian IV from the forces of the Obsidian Syndicate. He'd barely had a chance to sit down and breath aside from a brief trip with his now wife to a tropical planet to get away from her father for a short time. The Queen was currently attending school over in Lazeria City, which meant he had, finally, a little bit of free time to actually see about doing something about the host of events regarding his parent's death and the attack on his Lazerian itself. The only problem was, he wasn't really an investigator, and he didn't know where to begin.

He asked around inside of the Order, and while some were willing to help, the majority pointed him towards a woman named Katarine Ryiah, who was a Jedi that specialized in investigation of crimes and similar situations. If anyone was going to be able to help him hunt down the Syndicate and who had put them up to everything, it seemed it was likely her. For that, he needed to get her to come to Lazerian IV and help. So, he crafted her a letter and sent it posthaste.

Dear Ms. Ryiah,

I am writing to request your assistance in a matter of great import to myself and my kingdom. As you may or may not be aware, my parents were, until recently, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Devit on Lazerian IV. They were subsequently murdered by the organization called the Obsidian Syndicate who then took over my world. The Alliance helped me to take it back, but this in turn left me with numerous questions as to the events that happened.

I also have discovered some things after the previous events that I dare not put in this letter. If you would assist me, please come to the City of Devit and visit me at the Manse located in the park at the center of the city. Please. I will pay any price.

Sincerely,

King Caelan Aereen Valoren

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Katarine Ryiah ​

 

[Kitty Kat]

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[Caelan Valoren]

While the Queen was away, Caelan made himself busy reviewing the Kingdoms financial situation. Not that they were in any sort of trouble. Between the regular commerce of the region, menial tax, and the input of sales of goods from both Lazerian BioTech and Lazerian Dynamics, there was no need to worry about things. Business was good to the people of Lazerian IV and their position on a prominent hyperlane certainly didn't hurt things. It wasn't hard to keep them in the black, which allowed him to keep tax levels very low and still keep the crown well-funded.

"Your grace?"

Caelan looked up, and so did Fate, who was perched on his desk and studying the reports along with him. "Yes?"

"Master Ryiah is here to speak with you."

"Oh good! Please show her in and then shut the door. I will need no distractions for the rest of the day at least. This is important crown business."

"Understood, your grace."

He hastily worked on cleaning up his desk with Fate's help. The little droid slid papers his way and he put them back into their respective folders before shoving them into a desk. No sense in troubling her with those things. It was far too obvious a thing, money. Plus they hadn't made any attempt to break into the crown's vault, so he knew that wasn't what they'd been after. In fact, he already knew what they were after, or, rather, what their payment was, but it was the person who'd paid them that had him perplexed.

When the Jedi Master entered, he stood and smiled at her.

"Welcome, Master Ryiah. Thank you for coming. I wish it were under better circumstances that we meet, but these are trying times. Before we start, would you like anything to drink? I have Icebrew available if you'd like. Non-alcoholic, I'm afraid. I'm not one to imbibe."

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Katarine Ryiah ​

 

[Kitty Kat]

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[Caelan Valoren]

"If you want me to call you Katerine, I insisted you only call me Caelan," he said in response.

He didn't like getting referred to as your grace, or your highness or anything of that nature as it was, but people liked formality and so he put up with it because he didn't want to offend the people that worked for him. They were all really nice, the ones that hadn't been traitors in disguise, infiltrators sent by the Obsidian Syndicate to make their attack easier. He liked the people who helped him and kept the place functioning, so he felt it best to do as they wished and allow them to refer to him by title.

When she declined his offer of a drink, he waited for her to sit, and then sat himself. Fate pranced over and peered at the Jedi Master, assessing her as he did everyone.

"That's Fate. He has a lot of bearing on everything so I figure you two should meet. He's recorded some of what I think might be important for you to see."

Fate beeped in acknowledgement of what Caelan said. He focused on the investigator, the Jedi Master, sitting across from him.

"Have you ever heard of the Obsidian Syndicate?"

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Katarine Ryiah ​

 

[Kitty Kat]

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[Caelan Valoren]

The news of them being child nappers was news to him. He didn't know anything of that nature about them. But then, he really didn't know much about them at all, which was the entire purpose of having brought in someone with investigative experience and skills. He needed someone to investigate them and find out more information about them and who was behind what they'd done on Lazerian IV.

"I didn't know that about them," he admitted, frowning. "But that would explain why they might have wanted the empeth crystals."

He cleared his throat and sat back in his chair.

"Sorry, getting ahead of myself. The Obsidian Syndicate embedded itself into various aspects of our worlds government and armed forces and orchestrated an attack which resulted in the murder of my parents, my being forced to flee the world, and the disappearance of my twin sister, Kita. It took some time, but I was able to get the Alliance to help me return and reclaim the planet from them. It's worth noting they really only attacked the three continents controlled by the Kingdom of Devit. Doxeti was left alone. Other than terrorizing the populace, all they did was harvest the mature empeth crystals in the crystal valley. Those crystals allow people to detect individuals with Force sensitivity. I believe someone put them up to this and I'd like to find out who and why."

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Katarine Ryiah ​

 

[Kitty Kat]

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[Caelan Valoren]

"I have my suspicions of where to start looking, yes," he said, nodding.

That was part of the reason he was glad to be doing this when he knew his wife wasn't there. He didn't want to hurt her, but he honestly believed her father, and possibly the entire family, were somehow involved with the organization. Maybe not in the sense that they were members of it, but possibly in another way. He still strongly suspected that his arranged marriage to Anavi was orchestrated as another attempt to control him by the hooded figure that he had met in that room beneath the manse.

"I need to show you one more thing before I divulge where I think you should begin looking, though. It's something that happened to me a few months ago. A few months ago when I was only fourteen." He let that sink in for a moment. "I need you to know this information cannot leave this room or it will cause a lot of fallout. There are a few people in the order who know, two Council members and my master." He looked to his droid. "Fate, play the recording you made."

"Bwee-dwoop beep. Bwoo-dweet dwooo-beep!"

Fate played a recording he made of the events in question for her to view and digest.

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Katarine Ryiah ​

 

[Kitty Kat]

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[Caelan Valoren]

He smiled, just a little bit, at her quip about aging weirdly, but then was silent as she reviewed the recording. His eyes watched it again as well, looking for anything he hadn't picked up on when he'd been there, and the first time he'd reviewed the recording. Nothing stood out as new, though. Just the same as before. A hologram of a man in a cloak, the real Caelan attacking him, him killing him, and the death of all but one of the other clones. It was a morbid scene to watch and he hated to view it.

When it was over, Fate turned off the projector and went back to watching the Jedi Master with curiosity. Perhaps he was gauging her response to what she had just been shown the same as Caelan was. Her response caused him to shrug just slightly.

"In this galaxy there are strange things that happen to people all the time," he said, his hands fidgeting slightly in his lap despite his calm facade. "Everything for me has been odd since my parents were killed. I've learned to make do with it. Besides, having four years to spend alone with nothing but my thoughts kind of helped me come to grips with everything. I don't like it, but it is the way things are, and I must continue to be what my people and the galaxy need me to be."

He tapped Fate on the head and the droid looked at him quizzically.

"Show the planet."

Fate complied and put up a hologram of the planet Kashir.

"It's just a suspicion, but my wife is a princess from the world of Kashir. Her father, Tor-Mak, is the King and arranged for me to marry her. He was extremely insistent even though he honestly didn't get anything from marrying her to me. I'm suspicious this is another attempt at controlling me by the hooded figure. The leadership of Kashir is known to have connections to criminal syndicates, and I'm wondering of the Obsidian Syndicate is one of them. Seems a likely place to start an investigation."

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Katarine Ryiah ​

 

[Kitty Kat]

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[Caelan Valoren]

"I think it best that I don't go to Kashir with you," he said, sitting back in his seat. "I am too recognizable there and it will hinder your investigation. Tor-Mak and I don't get along well, either, so he'd be agitated if we were to meet with him."

He didn't want anything to interfere with her ability to research the issue at hand. While he certainly did want to be involved, going to Kashir would be fun, he didn't want to show up and draw attention. She'd never be able to get anything done if he was with her. Though he could see how he could be used as a distraction, he also was certain this group was smart enough not to let him or anyone that traveled with him out of their sight. She'd never be able to get anything done with him there.

"I won't be far, though, if you need assistance. I'll take our personal transport and we'll sit outside of the system in case you need assistance."

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Katarine Ryiah ​

 

[Kitty Kat]

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[Caelan Valoren]

He nodded at what she said and watched as she left, and then sat back in his chair. It was a good feeling, having someone finally looking into the situation behind his marriage to his wife, but mainly behind any potential connection to the people who had killed his parents and tried to kill him. That was the second most important task to him behind finding his sister. Knowing that the people responsible for the deaths of his parents and nearly his own were still out there made it difficult for him to govern effectively.

After she departed, he did the same. The royal transport would take him to deep space not too far away from Kashir. He'd promised her that he wouldn't be far away if she needed his help and he intended to keep his promises. A contingent of fighters would make sure that he was well protected, and they would be ready to head in if she ended up needing them for any reason. He could always call for other support to if they needed it.

She was going alone, but she wasn't truly alone.

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ATTIRE: Link | WEAPON: Lightsaber | COMPANION: BD-F8 | OTHER: Sigil Bead (Necklace), Prosthetic Left Arm

TAGS: Katarine Ryiah ​

 

[Kitty Kat]

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