Pirate Prince
The following short story is derived from the thread "All's Well That Ends Well", which I wrote with
Subject 73 Red
. Following a retcon of Nimdok's and Messala's backstories, I rewrote it here so that the events which occur in that thread would align with the new canon and lore.
Subject 73 Red
. Following a retcon of Nimdok's and Messala's backstories, I rewrote it here so that the events which occur in that thread would align with the new canon and lore.Goshen, Lao-mon
Arimanes slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on his back looking up at a white ceiling lit by bright lights.
His first deep breath upon reaching consciousness caused a violent coughing fit. Someone laid a hand on his shoulder to steady him as he turned on his side, still hacking up a lung. When at last he could breathe normally again, he forced himself into a sitting position. The person who had touched him was a nurse (or at least, she was dressed like one) and she was quick to press a flimsy paper cup of water into his trembling hand. He downed the contents, though much of the cool water missed his mouth and dripped down his chin.
Still mildly disoriented, he looked around, trying to get his bearings. For the second time in two months, he found himself waking up in a hospital bed. His current injuries were obviously far more severe than the stabbing he received on Jerrilek at the hands of a Mandalorian mercenary. Now his entire body ached, as if he had been beaten from all angles with a variety of blunt instruments. The pain was sharpest in his upper back and left shoulder, which were covered in bandages—rather unusual for a Shi’ido, whose ability to regenerate themselves was remarkable. If he couldn't regenerate at all and his wounds had to be bandaged, then he must be in pretty bad shape.
A familiar little girl’s voice piped up nearby, only to be hushed by an adult. Turning, he saw Miri standing in the doorway, held back by Lilith Hoole. Not caring if it hurt him, he beckoned to her with both arms. Lilith reluctantly released the girl; she bounded over and clutched his trembling hands with her smaller fingers. He was too weak to lift her up onto the bed, so she climbed aboard by herself and hugged him.
“I’m all right,” he reassured her, returning her embrace.
“No, you’re not.”
Arimanes looked up to find Tammuz Hoole standing at the foot of the bed. The old robed patriarch was peering down at him, his hands clasped behind his back. Lilith crossed the room, standing at his side.
“You’ve been unconscious for nearly five days,” Lilith said. “You’ve lost most of your hidden flesh, as well as sustaining serious wounds. Not to mention the effects of the neurotoxin…”
“You behaved with reckless abandon,” Tammuz scolded. “I’m surprised you didn’t get yourself killed. In fact, if I hadn’t been there to aid you, you’d probably be dead by now.”
Arimanes shook his head. “I was trying to protect you all. There was a… a thing that had broken into the house. It was looking for Pygar. It came after Miri—”
“We know,” Lilith said, her tone gentle. “You killed the Doppelganger. Everyone is safe. You’re the only one who was really hurt, Ari.”
Before Arimanes could say another word, Tammuz held up his hand, his expression distracted. “Someone here is looking for you,” he murmured, frowning.
“More Sith?” Lilith asked quietly, her eyes widening.
“No.” Tammuz’s brow furrowed. “A Jedi. Or at least, he has the aura of one.” He frowned. “We registered you anonymously in a private room. How does he know you’re here?...”
Right on cue, there was a knock on the door to the room. Lilith jumped slightly, startled. Tammuz squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, then crossed the room and opened the door. Arimanes caught a glimpse of unnaturally red hair before Tammuz stepped outside into the hallway and shut the door behind him. Shock and dismay flashed through him. Red.
“That’s the Jedi who saved me from the bad people,” Miri announced, pointing at Red as the door slid closed.
Arimanes felt Lilith’s eyes upon him, her gaze questioning. As far as she and Tammuz knew, he had simply adopted Miri from an orphanage. The complicated, convoluted true story remained hidden from them.
But now, the arrival of Red almost certainly meant he would have to tell them everything.
Less than a minute passed before Tammuz opened the door again, stepping aside to let Red through. “It seems you have a visitor,” he announced. "Someone who wishes to discuss business with you."
Arimanes remained sitting on the bed as Red entered. He wished he could get up and face the Jedi on equal footing, but he was too weak to stand. Red tracking him down could mean any number of things, but he sensed a certain degree of antipathy and distrust between them now. The Jedi could see right through him as if he were a pane of glass.
"Hey Miri, long time no see,” Red greeted. Miri waved to Red. Though she had no fear of the Jedi, she picked up on her father’s anxiety and began to fidget by his side.
"Hello Red," Arimanes greeted. His voice, normally strong and deep, sounded frail and raspy. "As you can see, I'm in less than ideal circumstances at the moment. But if you came all this way to find me, it must be important."
Red glanced over at Arimanes, his expression briefly betraying pity at the sorry state he was in. Then he raised his chin and set his jaw. "Hello, Nimdok. Or do you prefer Arimanes? Yes, I know who you really are, and what you really are.”
Arimanes shut his eyes. He didn’t think Red meant to be cruel or malicious necessarily, but his words landed like a slap to the face. No matter how hard he had tried to cover it all up, he had been exposed.
“I don’t care what you call me,” he replied, opening his eyes again. “I’m all that Arimanes ever was, and as Nimdok as Nimdok will ever be.”
Red turned to the Hooles. "You're Inanna's parents, right? I'm Red. I met your daughter a while back. She would be here, but she's following up on some leads."
Lilith brightened at the mention of Inanna. “Yes, we’re her parents. I’m Lilith, this is my husband Tammuz. What do you mean she’s ‘following some leads’? Where is she now? Is she safe?”
Tammuz kept his gaze trained on Red. His arms were crossed over his chest, one hand reaching up to stroke his chin thoughtfully. Though he didn’t say anything, he was clearly just as eager for an answer as his wife.
"We are working together to find the Sith who kidnapped Miri and bring them to justice,” Red replied. "The last time I saw her, we were on Alderaan. We met on a dating show, there, and when she realized who I was, we decided to work together. Don't worry, she should be safe. I have her contact information, and she has mine. If something went wrong, I'm sure she would find a way to reach me."
Lilith’s expression showed relief at the news. She was so glad just to hear that her daughter was okay that the details of how she met Red barely registered as remarkable to her. If anything, she’d be sure to hunt through old Holonet footage to try and find the dating show in which Inanna had appeared. Tammuz at least raised an eyebrow at the story.
Red turned back to Arimanes. "You're not an easy man to find. You hide your tracks well, but rare is the man that can hide from me." He shook his head. "We have a lot of business to discuss, but first, what happened to you? Why are you sitting here in a hospital?"
“I came here to visit,” Arimanes explained. “What I didn’t realize was that the Hooles already had another guest staying with them, a fugitive who had defected from the Sith Empire.” He sighed. “The Sith found him regardless. They sent this creature after him—what did you call it, a Doppelganger?”
“It was some sort of Sith experiment, a vampiric monster with a Shi’ido’s shapeshifting abilities,” Tammuz replied coolly. But his revulsion with the creature was plain. He seemed to take the mere existence of the Doppelganger personally. “We managed to kill it, but only with great difficulty, and by banding together to fight it.” He pointed to Arimanes. “He attacked it by himself, without telling anyone what he had found. This is the price he paid for his actions.”
Chastened, Arimanes ran a hand through his hair. “It… well, it came after Miri. I found her in her bed with blood streaming from her nose, and I guess I got carried away…” His hands clenched into fists. “I smashed it through the bedroom veranda, dragged it up to the deck, and fought it there until it bit me and left me paralyzed by a neurotoxin...”
He trailed off, his brow furrowing. His memory of what happened after that was understandably missing.
“Tammuz rushed to the rescue at that point,” Lilith added for Red’s benefit. “He helped Arimanes to burn the creature with fire until it was dead. But the fight and the neurotoxin did a great deal of damage—it will take some time for him to fully recover.”
Arimanes sighed. “I apologize for the damage done to the house,” he said sincerely. “I’ll pay for repairs, if you’ll let me—”
“There’s no need for that. Besides, I know you don’t have the money,” Tammuz deadpanned.
Red glared at Arimanes. "Well, at least you're still alive,” he muttered. “Now, you're probably wondering what I'm doing here. I'm here to protect you and Miri, and to stop the Sith that want you both. Inanna told me about the assassins on Coruscant. We need to have a chat about that, and her Force powers. But before that, do you remember the man that was working with the Sith that had Miri? Fenton, was his name. He told me some interesting things. Something about the planet Telos, and about a Sith Lord called the Lord of Doubt. Ever heard of anything like that? I believe this Sith is the mastermind behind it all. There might even be more children like Miri, experiments."
“What exactly happened to Miri?” Tammuz asked, frowning.
Arimanes, who was becoming increasingly miserable after learning that Inanna had revealed everything to Red, sighed heavily. “I’ll try to answer everyone’s questions, but it’s a long story. Let’s see if I can make it quick…”
Running through a general explanation of the events leading up to his first meeting with Red, Arimanes bluntly admitted that he had stolen Nimdok’s identity and used the dead man’s reputation and credibility to grant himself access to various archaeological opportunities. The nature of his quest for Jedi and Sith artifacts led to several brushes with the Sith. He had robbed a tomb ahead of a planned Imperial excavation, battled a Dark Lord on Odessen, and even claimed a Sith holocron.
The Samovar holocron incident in particular had drawn the Sith’s ire because he had deceived them into believing he had destroyed the artifact in question. He hadn’t—though he had been forced to damage it in order to trick his pursuers. One of the Sith had seen the hollow shell of the holocron fall and shatter on the ground right before his eyes… oh, the look on that arrogant boy’s face had been a sight to behold. He assumed the holocron had been destroyed and more or less gave up the chase as soon as things became too difficult. Arimanes meanwhile had kept the extracted crystal matrix in his pocket and was able to escape the planet with it.
Seeking revenge for all his crimes against them, the Sith had dug into “Nimdok'''s records, discovering that he had a wife and daughter living on Alderaan. Bithia and Miri were promptly abducted, initially with the intent being to use them as bait and draw him out of hiding. When “Nimdok” failed to even notice that they were gone, their captors realized something more was at play. The incident at Samovar was probably what gave them their first clue.
“In order to save the life of an innocent young Samovaran woman, I had no choice but to change form,” he confessed. “She promised me that she would keep my secret, but the Sith have no qualms against extracting information from people’s minds by force. If I had to guess who could have betrayed my true identity to the Sith, it was probably her. Lady Anesha Astapova is her name—but I don’t recommend you interrogate her about it. She and her family have suffered enough.”
“I find it rather ironic that you cared so much about this Samovaran girl to risk discovery in order to save her, yet you weren’t even aware that the Sith had kidnapped Bithia and Miri,” Lilith snapped. Her tone was icy with barely controlled fury. “When you decided to steal Nimdok’s identity, did you consider his family’s wellbeing at all?”
Miri, still sitting beside her father on the bed but unable to follow the confusing conversation, perked up at the mention of her name. Her father closed his eyes as if it physically pained him to admit it aloud as he replied, “No. I didn’t.”
Lilith put her hands on her hips. “Yet now you do care about her? When the Doppelganger attacked her, you reacted as if your own child was being threatened!"
“She is my child.”
“Arimanes—” she began, exasperated and frustrated.
But Tammuz had already figured it out. “So that’s it,” he murmured.
Lilith cast a puzzled glance at her husband. “What do you mean?”
“The moment you arrived in this system, I sensed something different about you,” Tammuz said, still looking at Arimanes. “Your aura in the Force is different. I didn’t understand what it was at first, but now I see.” He glanced briefly at Red. “You are a Jedi, surely you can sense it as well. There’s a seam running through him, like when two different types of fabric are sewn together into one garment.” His gaze flicked back to Arimanes. “It’s why I feel as if I’m talking to two different people right now. Because you are two different people.”
“How is that possible?” Lilith asked, bewildered.
Arimanes shook his head. “I’ll get to that part eventually…”
"Yes, Inanna told me about that,” Red piped up. “Apparently, Arimanes here went to the Netherworld and met Nimdok's ghost. The two then joined together, somehow, and now both live together within one body." He shrugged. "Yeah, it's kind of confusing. I don't really get it either."
“It was a willing conjoinment,” Arimanes replied irritably, abandoning all pretense. He didn't change shape, but he sounded very different compared to when he was pretending to be Nimdok. His tone was more remote and aloof. “After everything that happened at the spaceport with Thetis, Fenton, Miri and Red, I was called to Anaxes… Without making this too complicated, suffice to say that before I began posing as Nimdok, I had previously posed as a Jedi Master named Casimir Heliobas. The Galactic Alliance was really calling for Heliobas’ help, but I couldn’t be there as him because of Miri. So I went as Nimdok instead, claiming to be a friend of Heliobas sent on his behalf. It worked out surprisingly well—they were planning on traveling to the Netherworld in order to retrieve a fragment of the Dagger of Mortis. It was, for all intents and purposes, an archaeological mission.” He sighed. “But once we passed through the portal, our team was attacked. I became separated from the others, and Nimdok's spirit found me. The mission would have failed if I hadn’t let him possess me—he knew where the fragment was and agreed to lead me to it if I let him stay in my body. It was clear that all he cared about was Miri...”
“...She’s still all that I care about,” Nimdok added.
Arimanes pursed his lips, a bit perturbed that Nimdok had briefly taken over to say his piece. This was difficult enough without the ghost acting like a creep and making it seem as if they were… well, a split personality. Which was more or less the truth at this point. But neither one of them were crazy. They were just in a nigh-constant internal conflict of interests, a perpetual battle of wills.
“Beyond leading me to the fragment, Nimdok knew more than I did about what had happened to Miri,” Arimanes continued, getting back on track. “Being dead gives you an excellent vantage point from which to watch events unfold. But without a living body, he could do nothing to help her.” He spread his hands. “He saw that the events at the spaceport were all a setup. Thetis wanted me to find her and give chase. She assumed I would be the one who confronted her at the spaceport. When Red got there first, she had to change her plans.”
“All of this cloak-and-dagger stuff,” Nimdok interrupted again, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “It can really get out of hand if you’re not careful. Thetis isn’t as smart as she thinks she is. For one, she lied to Fenton because she saw him as disposable, a quick means to an end. That proved to be a mistake, because he made things more difficult for her due to his ignorance. After he was captured, he acted out of fear and admitted his suspicions. She told him they were taking Miri to Telos, but that wasn't true. She had been ordered to follow Arimanes around, tracking him until she could use Miri as bait to corner him. That was what she tried to do at the spaceport, where they "stopped for fuel". Really she made him pull over because she sensed Arimanes was there—and she was determined to corner, confront, and capture him. As stupid as it sounds, I think she may have even thought he would come along willingly, consumed by guilt over what had happened to Miri—”
“Which I did feel guilty about despite what all of you seem to assume,” Arimanes snapped. “I tricked the authorities into letting me take her and refused to let her out of my sight from then on, even when it proved inconvenient. I broke the law in order to make sure she didn't wind up in another orphanage. Hell, I even tried to take her with me to the Netherworld—”
“Where she would certainly have been killed, or worse!”
“—and when that didn’t work out, I arranged for a babysitter. She was there waiting when we came back, completely safe,” Arimanes growled between his teeth. “I also tried to find a Jedi Master who could train her and help her control her powers, but the escalating tensions between the Jedi and the Sith meant all the good teachers were heading off to battle. Not to mention that the Sith never stopped chasing us—I would have enrolled her in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant if we hadn’t been forced to flee the planet to escape the Sith.” He gestured to Tammuz and Lilith. “I left her in the care of friends whenever possible to avoid placing her in danger, but even when I came to Lao-mon, hoping I could leave her with you two for a while, the Sith followed me here!”
“Because you insist upon hunting for relics all the time rather than letting me take care of Miri. You have a much longer lifespan than mine—can’t you wait another eleven years for Miri to come of age, at least? Then I can leave you to your insane quest for artifacts, and Miri will be safe on her own!”
“Enough of this,” Tammuz said, tired of listening to Arimanes/Nimdok argue. “I’m sure Red here has heard all this before. You mentioned that this Thetis Suzerain woman was acting on orders. Who ordered her?”
“The Lord of Doubt,” Nimdok replied. “I was able to learn a little about him when I was… in the Nether. He’s a Half-Bothan Sith Lord who operates within the Sith Empire. His real name is Messala.” He lowered his head. “That’s all I know.”
Looking a bit overwhelmed, Red sat down in a chair. "Miri? What do you think of all this? You got drawn into this, against your will. How do you feel?"
Nimdok’s gaze flicked to Miri as Red addressed her. The girl was still sitting on the bed beside him. Though she had largely tuned out the conversation, her eyes now darted from Red to Nimdok and her brow furrowed, not quite understanding what they wanted from her. Finally, she turned to her father. “I want you to get better,” she said. “‘Cause I don’t like being stuck in the hospital again.”
Again. Nimdok hesitated, feeling Red’s questioning gaze upon him. “I spent some time in a hospital on Jerrilek a couple of months ago,” he admitted. “It was a very brief stay, lasting only a day or two. My injury then was nowhere near as severe as this.” He gestured to himself. “This will take more time to heal, Miri. I’ll have to stay in the hospital for longer. But if you want to leave and go stay with Mr. and Mrs. Hoole, you may.”
She shook her head vigorously. “I wanna stay with you.”
“And what if it’s too dangerous to stay with me?” Nimdok asked softly. “What if I go somewhere you can’t follow?”
“You’ll come back,” she replied with the blind certainty only a child can espouse. “Like all the other times. You always came back and took me with you. Even if I had to wait a long time. The longest time was when I was little and everybody said you were dead. That time it felt like forever until you came back...” She paused, alarmed. “Why are you crying? Are you hurting? Do you need medicine?”
Nimdok had bowed his head, hiding his face behind his folded arms, but he couldn’t disguise the trembling sobs that wracked his body or the occasional muffled gasping breath. Miri crawled closer to him and sat up on her knees, wrapping her small arms around her father.
Now that Nimdok was falling apart emotionally, Arimanes started to make a begrudging comeback, wanting to spare him the embarrassment of weeping in public. His body stilled, his breathing returned to normal, and at last he raised his head.
“I’m all right,” he reassured Miri, wiping his tears away. Then he looked at Red. “What exactly do you intend to do now? Inanna has already tried to track down Thetis—she even used Miri’s memories to refine the search. Now I hear she’s gone undercover in the Sith Empire, posing as an Imperial diplomat. What are the two of you up to?”
"Well, my main objective is to first ensure your safety,” Red replied, clearing his throat. “You seem to attract a lot of trouble and danger, so I will try and make sure you don't get in any possible life-threatening situations again. Next, as you already know, I am cooperating with Inanna to hunt down the Lord of Doubt and Thetis, and make sure they can't harm you or anyone else ever again, whether that be capturing them, or putting a more permanent end to their ways. It was you guys and your incredibly strange problems that got me into this mess, and I sure as hell am going to make sure that I see it through. Thetis still owes me a rematch, and I want to meet the Lord of Doubt. But for now I will be sure to stay close to both you and Miri, make sure you guys stay safe, until Inanna reports back with a lead.”
Arimanes shook his head. “We can’t stay on Lao-mon for much longer. The Sith know we’re here.” Hesitating, he added, “It’s not just the Lord of Doubt chasing me. I’ve made other enemies among the Sith. Adrian Vandiir is one of them—he's the one who sent soldiers here to terrorize the Hooles, along with the Sithspawn creature who did this to me.” He gestured to his bandages. “No doubt he’ll send reinforcements as soon as he finds out all his troops are dead.”
"You apparently don't know how to keep a low profile, huh? You really should stop making so many enemies, it's bad for your health, especially when they hospitalize you."
“I keep a low profile when I’m able,” Arimanes replied, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. “As for Vandiir, I wasn’t his original target—I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He didn’t send his troops here for me—”
“He sent them here to hunt down one of his fleeing Sithspawn,” Tammuz interrupted. “The boy stole files from Vandiir’s computer, data which reveals the weaknesses of all his creations, as well as the locations of the laboratories where they are being created.”
Arimanes blinked. He knew there was stolen data involved, but he hadn’t known the full extent of it. Before he could ask questions, Red started talking again.
"In that case, leaving soon is the best possible choice.” Turning to the Hooles, Red added, “You’ll most likely need to also go into hiding, now that you’ve gotten tangled up in all this. If you’ll let me, I can help you get somewhere safe and plant evidence to lead the trail in a different direction. I have quite a few contacts and friends who can help too."
“There’s no need for you to worry about us,” Tammuz replied. “We’ve already taken steps to deal with the situation. Everything is under control.”
"I have no doubt that you will be able to handle the situation,” Red agreed. “if all Hooles have the same resourcefulness as Inanna, you should be fine."
“Rest assured, as soon as I’m well enough to travel I intend to leave this planet." Arimanes sighed. "To be perfectly honest, Red, I’d rather you didn’t come with me… but I will answer any questions I can. I suppose I owe you that much in exchange for your help.” He wasn't sure how much assistance he could be to the Jedi in his quest to find Thetis, but he could certainly try.
Red snorted. "Do you honestly think that I am going to let you get away again? You dragged me into this, and now I want to see it through. Besides, you need all the help you can get, and I am probably one of the few people that actually can help you.” He paused, then added, "Plus, Inanna will probably want to have a couple of words with you. She seemed pretty mad at you, and yet she is still trying to help you. You owe her."
“Fine,” Arimanes snapped. “If you and her want to paint targets on your backs by throwing your lots in with mine, be my guest. But I won’t allow you to stop me from traveling, I have too many people counting on me and too many ongoing affairs to just drop everything at once—"
“He’s lying,” Nimdok cut in. Having had time to recover his composure, his tone had become bitter, almost venomous. “All of the people who are counting on us will understand if we have to disappear for a while. Arimanes just can’t bring himself to stop, even when his life is in danger. He’ll kill himself before he ever takes a break from artifact-hunting—”
A seething Arimanes regained control over his body and expelled his breath between clenched teeth. “As for Inanna,” he growled. “I never asked for her help. In fact, I advised against it.”
“Arimanes, please,” Lilith said. “Everyone here only wants to help you. Why are you being so combative?”
Arimanes wouldn’t answer. Perhaps he was being too hard on Red, but the archaeologist was set in his ways. It was enough that he had to deal with Nimdok opposing him at every turn; in Red he saw one more nagging voice of defiance, someone who wouldn’t mind their own business and leave him alone.
With a groan of frustration, Arimanes shook his head—but the defeated slant of his shoulders said otherwise. “Change of plans. I won’t leave Miri with the Hooles. Nimdok can’t bear being away from her again, that much is clear, and she wants to stay with her father anyway.”
"I think that would be wise," Tammuz agreed. He seemed relieved that the option was now off the table. "Things are sure to get... hectic around here now that we've drawn Vandiir's attention to ourselves. But you needn't worry about us. Take care of yourselves first."
Giving his old mentor a long lingering look, Arimanes sighed and turned to face Red. “Where exactly would you be taking us? I don't want to hear about your contacts and how you know a guy who knows a guy who might be able to help us. I need a clear answer—the name of a planet, a space station, a ship, a pocket dimension, whatever. Where in the galaxy is safe from the Sith?”
"The best places that I can get you into would be the Silver Jedi Concord, the Hutt Cartel, and probably the Zweihander Union. The Silver Jedi Concord and the Zweihander Union would be the safest for you. The Silver Jedi are at war with the Sith, and I am the Chief of Secret Police in the ISB in the Zweihander Union. I also have multiple friends, coworkers, subordinates, acquaintances, and contacts in the Zweihander Union. I'm a Jedi in the Silver Jedi, and a high ranking officer in the ISB for the Zweihander Union. I can most likely protect you better in Zweihander Union space, with my wide range of power. There are even other genetic experiments there, from my homeworld." Red told him.
"Of course, I could always send you to my homeworld, where me and the other experiments were made. There are still at least a couple thousand of us on planet, and when they hear I sent you, under my protection, they would protect you and Miri with their lives. Plus, it's in a secluded section of the Unknown Regions, and it is very far away from the Sith Empire."
“The Silver Jedi Concord?” Arimanes echoed in bewilderment. “You mean the Silver Jedi Order?” Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Tammuz smirking wryly at him.
“They changed their name while you were out.”
“Great.” Arimanes rolled his eyes. It wasn’t enough that star empires rose and fell with each passing day; the various galactic factions were always changing their names for no apparent reason. “Well, my research assistant should be a Silver Jedi Padawan by now. I’m sure he would also be eager to help.”
He was of course referring to the one and only Starlin Rand , whom he had sent to gather old texts from an ancient library on Zeffo, knowing full well that it would place him in the path of a certain Silver Jedi named Syd Celsius who was in need of an apprentice. He was planning on visiting the boy after this was all over anyway, and it looked like he wouldn’t have to change that part of his plans after all.
The prospect of going anywhere near Red’s homeworld was incredibly off-putting to Arimanes, who didn’t like the idea of being stuck on a planet full of Reds. There was no way in hell he was hiding behind the voluminous skirts of the Hutt Cartel, and compared to the SJC the Zweihander Union simply couldn’t compete. SJC was bigger, had been around for longer, and Arimanes already had an established connection to them through Starlin.
<And Miri can receive training,> Nimdok's ghost reminded him. Yes, that too was a possibility.
"Alright, I can get you inside Silver Jedi space, as I am a Jedi within their ranks myself,” Red said.
“The Silver Jedi Concord it is,” Arimanes agreed, glaring pointedly at Red. “I trust I won’t have you breathing down my neck once I’m safely within their borders?”
Yes, they would find safety among the Silvers… and Arimanes could still go on the hunt for relics inside the boundaries of their space.
"Don't worry, you'll be mostly left to your own devices within their space. I will check on you from time to time, but you probably won't even know it. If we run into each other, it will probably be entirely coincidental. You have to remember I'm a Jedi myself, so I have work to do within their space. Of course, I might send someone else to check on you. If you meet a green-haired Padawan with seemingly infinite depths of anxiety, that's him. Plus, I told him about you and Miri, and he seemed very excited to meet you."
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."
"I do have a question, though. I need a lead if I'm to be able to find the Lord of Doubt. I think I have an idea on where to start, but I'll need some information first. Is there any particular planet you know of that’s associated with the Lord of Doubt? It might help me follow a trail to his location."
Arimanes considered the question for a few moments, then answered, "Kiva."
Tammuz held his head in his hands, muttering an oath in Shi’idese. "Cais ned’jin..."
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’re saying this Sith Lord who steals children has ties to that ruined world?"
“If my… dreams are any indication, it’s his homeworld,” Arimanes replied. "In my dream, there was a laboratory on Kiva—a new one, recently built. I think that was where he was born… I can even give you a few of the names of the scientists." He shut his eyes, recalling the vision. "Dr. Raehith Daanruano—he was a Bothan scientist... then there was a Twi'lek nurse named Zinnia Julep... If those two are still around and you can find them, they may know where the Lord of Doubt is."
Red raised an eyebrow, but seemed to accept that this information had come from a dream. "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 contact Inanna and update her on the situation. Then I’ll see if I can locate these two people and find out where Kiva is." He paused. "Is that all? Is there anything else you can think of before we wrap up here?"
"Don't worry, I promise I won't stay any longer than I have to." Arimanes shrugged, lying back against the pillows. He felt exhausted, both physically and emotionally. "Oh, and if you do go to Kiva, be mindful of the wraiths. I saw them in my dream."
Red raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Noted.”
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.
“If I find anything, either I or my Padawan friend will let you know and update you on my current status.” Red stood up. “Until then, stay safe, stay out of trouble, and don't get yourself killed, or I might travel to the Netherworld myself and slap your ghost many times."
Arimanes waved his hand dismissively. “Yeah yeah, I don’t doubt it. Please go away now.”
Smirking, Red turned to Miri. "Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble, alright? He's honestly hopeless without you, so stay safe yourself." Turning to the Hooles, he added, "Make sure that nobody comes after them. If anything happens while they are here, contact me."
With his eyes closed, Arimanes heard Red’s footsteps leave the room. Tammuz then approached his bedside.
“I’m putting you in a healing trance,” the old patriarch said. “It will speed things up…”