Private The Family Man

[Romano Shamalain]

.::. The Family Man .::.

((ooc: Perhaps a simple search and rescue operation, perhaps not.
Who knows, this may reveal a much deeper threat. PM to join.))
​

Lear stepped through the rubble of the front entrance to his childhood home. His hand wiped away the smoke drifting in the air. Pulling a handkerchief from his suit jacket’s breast pocket, Lear covered his nose and mouth as he stepped further into the home. One foot carefully passed over a dead Noghri, while another pushed one of his Father’s ‘Twelve’. The sound of a light moan was heard which meant the human was not dead. Not yet at least. Instead of focusing on the woman whose name he had never bothered to learn, why would he? They served his father; not him. The only reason he checked on her, and shortly thereafter the others was because they were important to his father.

“The attack was aimed to be quick. A smash and grab.” Lear said as he looked around. His mind, already putting the pieces of the puzzle to what happened. That was what his Father had always taught him to do. Study and research before responding. It was his Mother that drilled home the intellect. The two traits combined made for a very dangerous man.

“They came in hard. Heavy explosives to catch everyone off guard. That’s the initial sound we heard at the Temple of the Mal’Ary’Ush. Once they made this breach, the did not expect immediate resistance. Noghri had already responded within seconds and several fell before others fell back.” Romano said as he stared down at the motionless bodies of the every faithful species to the Shamalain Family. Romano had not been speaking to himself. His word only emerged as his assistant, whom recently returned from delivering a thank you note to Dissero Company walked through.

“Where’s your Father?” The Assistant asked as he began to check on another of Jake’s Twelve.

“Not here.” Romano said as his nostrils flared.

The smell of Jake’s blood was present but the presence on the force, albeit weaker than most, was missing. He was not dead; everyone in the family would have felt it. It seemed he was the target of whomever came for him.

Outside Noghri had begun to gather which most likely meant that Ereza knew of the attack on the home. The question was whether she knew he was missing or not. There was a story there; Jake having broken his vow as the Guardian of the Mal’ary’ush much to the surprise of everyone. He had secluded himself here, refusing to leave and most shockingly limiting his interaction with almost everyone. What exactly had happened between the two or was it just another one of his Father’s mood swings?

It seemed as though someone was hell bent on taking the turtle out of his shell.

“Go back to the temple and alert the Mal’ary’ush that my Father has been taken.” Romano instructed as they worked their way up towards the Master suite.

It was here that the scent of his fathers blood was most prominent. It was splattered across the floor and one wall which meant he took a hell of a beating. What was also evident was the deep gashes in the wall from a Vibrosword and Knife; both of which lay harmlessly on the floor. Jake had put up his own fight with two of his twelve at his side. It just appeared that whomever came for him was aware of his abilities as not a single attackers body was present. Either he killed them and the attackers fled with their dead or they were well prepared, suffered injury, but survived. Romano assumed the latter.

“Wait.” Romano said as he knelt down next to Anahita La’Fey who was gurgling from a chest wound she sustained.

Shoving her body away with a wave of his hand, to which his Assistant aided in sitting her up against the wall, Romano looked at a small golden coin on the floor. Lifting it up he used his handkerchief to clean off the blood present to see the insignia of a Hutt with the name ‘Star Cluster Casino’. A Nar Shaddas Resort.

“Bring in a crew to begin cleanup. Get treatment for his Twelve and the surviving Noghri. It looks like the search for my Mother is going to be delayed. I need to go to Nar’ Shadda. Alert the Mal’Ary’Ush. Also send word to my brother that I will be leaving Honoghr.” Romano ordered.

Gripping the coin in a clenched fist, Romano began to make his leave from the home. The one thing no one did with the Shamalains was mess with one of their own.

 

[Rune Shamalain]

They need not go far to find the aforementioned brother. One who found himself returned to Honoghr in a state of bitter retreat from the new life Ereza had afforded him. Rune had not been here long - a day or two at most, but his troubled mind had reaped the benefits of his distracted soul. He felt like he'd been here for years now.

I wasn't ready.

Honoghr had always been home but it had rarely been his place of choice. Now, in the uncertainty of this first year of his new life, he found he didn't want to be anywhere else. Didn't want to be out in the great unknown, alone and without tether to the familiar, the familial. The ones he remembered of his previous life ... some of them were here, like Dissero, but he wasn't the same man he remembered. The face was wrong, the voice was wrong, the scent - wrong. Nothing but his lifeforce felt right, but twisting shades of doubt wrinkled an otherwise clean impression.

Skinwalker.

The return was less than he'd hoped for. His brother and father, both absent the temple, the only two remaining anchors of remembrance he had.

Then there was Ereza. Lovely, beautiful, strange Ereza. A woman with whom he had no familiarity and yet felt as though he'd known her ten lifetimes. The sensation made his mind crawl, searching for memories of her he knew weren't there.

It was all exceptionally unsettling. This didn't feel like home anymore.

[My Lord,] a Noghri Priestess had arrived at the meditation chamber, drawing him from his failing muse, [Lord Lear is leaving. Your father has gone missing.]

"What do you mean missing..." Rune intoned, his voice gentle, quiet.

[Taken by force. Lord Lear means to find him.]

Perhaps everything did, indeed, happen for a reason. With nothing compelling him to stay and everything instinctively leaping towards action within him, he smoothly rose from his seat on the floor and moved to take up his robe from a hook nearby, "Take me to him."

 

[Romano Shamalain]

The residence around the Daniels Homestead; his childhood home was abuzz with activity already. Noghri were removing and honoring their dead while others tended to the twelve human guards that had failed to protect his father. As far as Romano was concerned they could all rot for this travesty. His attention was mainly focused on his ship which had several crates of various sizes being unloaded by Noghri. There were necessary items needed to search for and in the event of finding her, subduing his Mother and whatever fool she was with.

Outside of the ship, Romano had already begun to pull up schematics of the Star Cluster Casino. Based on public records there weren’t many places to hide someone but of course Casino’s always had their little secrets. It was too early to deem Casino leadership as behind the attack. For one, Jake was not a gambler. Two it could have been a simple drop of a coin one of the attackers had on him. Either way it was at the very least a decent enough lead.

How would he approach this though? He flipped the coin in his fingers as he looked over his equipment. Romano had taken up using blaster pistols over his lightsaber for no other reason than shits and giggles. It caught people off guard that a force users first reaction was a blaster over a saber and given his enhanced speed and agility; his draw earned him the name ‘Quick Trigger’.

[‘MiLord, your Brother approaches.’]

“What?”

[‘Over there, MiLord, he is awaiting you.’]

Romano fastened his holster belt around his waist and made his way to his brother, who Romano often joked looked like a suped-up sex symbol for women with his posture and physique. People had no issue challenging Romano to a fist fight. Rune would queen-slap them across the planet if he so chose.

“As you can see it was a simple but very well planned attack.” Romano said as he approached Rune.

“Single breach. Take out the Noghri first, humans second, then corner Father. They left behind his weapons though; all of his sabers, his vibrosword, and knife are accounted fore. Nothing else of value was taken.” Romano explained.

Looking to Rune, it was hard to study his Brother’s face. Rune unfortunately had their Mother’s knack for hiding emotion extremely well.

“You know you don’t have to be here. He rebuilt our home only for this to happen. His way of trying to bring back the past. I can handle this; the repairs and finding our father.” This was where Romano was treading carefully.

Rune was not some robot. He had feelings, thoughts, emotions, and expressions of his own. Romano would never speak for him but he did not want to assume nor speak for his Brother. Rune was here for a reason and that was what Romano was fishing for.

Did he just want to see what happened or did he want to get his hands dirty? Dear God, wouldn’t the women fawn over Rune even more then.

Rune Shamalain​

 

[Rune Shamalain]

The tactical recount of the event was expected and taken with an open and listening ear. Despite their differences in personality and approach, both brothers had received full military training from the missing man of the hour. Rune needn't even offer his own skills of Flow Walking to see the break in first-hand, it seemed his brother had everything figured out. Just as well, in cases of abduction such as this, wasted time didn't work in anyone's favor but the guilty party's.

For the moment his own troubles were miniscule in comparison. The fact that Romano even bothered to dismiss his involvement was enough to draw a frown over his otherwise stoic facade.

"I am here and I am helping," he replied gently but firmly, "the repairs can wait. Do you have any leads?"

 

[Romano Shamalain]

“This seems as good a place as any to start.” Romano said as he flipped the casino coin to his older brother.

“I’ve been to a few casino’s in my time since awakening. Cannot say I am familiar with that one but given that it’s Nar Shaddaa we’d better be ready for anything.” Romano continued as he returned to fidgeting with his equipment.

“Drug dealers, mercenary’s, bounty hunters, and low lives are what I expect to find there. Dad doesn’t do drugs, he has no modern bounty’s out on him and I doubt any low life he might have pissed off would have the funds to pull this off. Most likely mercenary’s but whom and why. The only thing I’ve never encountered before is a golden coin like that. It doesn’t seem like a standard Casino chip; more like a pass of sorts. A show-me card so to speak.” Romano explained.

“Some Casino’s use them to allow high rollers into the deeper rooms of the buildings. Perhaps it was meant to allow the attackers to get their catch to the buyer?” Romano shrugged.

“Your ship, or mine?” Romano asked as Noghri continued to remove supplies he had needed for Cerusia’s hunt.

Rune Shamalain​

 

[Rune Shamalain]

He turned the coin over in his fingers, inspecting it with a narrowed gaze. It wasn't one he was familiar with either.

"Places like these usually have a who's-who list of what hands these end up into." And it would seem amiss for a complete stranger to show up with one, but he had a thought about how to work around that. Ereza had been working her way into the Casino need-to-know list with rare vintage wines crafted on Honoghr, among other product that may or may not have been offered over the table.

"We'll take my ship. Get what you need transferred over, I'll meet you there."

An idea was formulating behind his gaze, wheels and cogs turning, mental pistons firing on all cylinders. He wouldn't speak of it yet - no, he needed more time to mull it over and do some research. So without any further ado, the elder of the Shamalain brothers turned and headed off.

 

[Romano Shamalain]

Lear was not simply impressed by the vessel that Rune claimed. He was astonished. His brother had been busy. This was a vessel that rivaled Ereza’s in class and style. Was the man resentful? Absolutely not? Shamalains always looked out for one another. Rune’s intellect and his charisma made him highly successful. Lear on the other hand was, well, different to some degree. If it were to look like a sitcom, he would be a pain in ass younger brother that often gets in over his head. This time though? Lear felt comfortable. Pistols and lightsaber, now decidingly taken, rested on one of the tables in the social area of the ship while the man stretched his arms.

Where was Ereza? Maybe she was still on Honoghr now helping with repairs? Hmm.

That momentary thought slipped away as Lear noticed a Noghri carrying his fathers weapons.

“Wait. Where are you taking those?”

[‘To be cleaned and stored.’] The Noghri replied.

Why his father resorted to Vibroswords and a knife now was beyond comprehension. Why change? Why stop using Grandmothers saber or the ones he made while he was marr… Lear shook his head as that was another thought he did not want to think about.

Walking through the ship, Romano had snagged his datapad to pull up information on the Casino. While he was more action paced, Rune was often able to anticipate things better than him. He had been silent; well he always had been. Short on words while Lear did not know how to shut up at times.

“Hey.” Lear said as he approached his Brother. “You and Ereza have been busy. I can only wonder what other little toys you've got hidden up your sleeves.” Lear said in reference to the ship. He would wait to talk about what they would do when they arrived at the Casino as Lears idea was walk in and start demanding things; hence why he relied on Rune’s guidance.

“I know you and Dad always had a unique relationship. I did not mean to offend you by being surprised that you wanted to come so I am sorry for that. Can I ask when was the last time you spoke to him? Personally for me its been many months.” Lear said with a compassion to his voice he didn’t show to anyone who was not family.

Rune Shamalain​

 

[Rune Shamalain]

The ship was a new prototype gem out of CETO shipyards - a stealth vessel of sleek and alien aesthetic. Not so out of the ordinary for CETO - the company had a long history of producing unique and exclusive styles of ships, starting all the way back from their origins with Moross Crusade. Rune had spent the better part of four months getting his hands dirty on the R&D floor, learning new skills and gaining new knowledge. Now he was making an effort to add yet another skillset to his growing repertoire: flying ships.

He could have chosen something far less ... complicated to get his hours in, but the entire point was to jump into the deep end feet first. Lear might've found him in the forward cockpit, but Rune left the flying to the professional pilot. He was far too distracted with his father's disappearance now.

Silent as he always was, Rune had busied himself with his own research on the Casino and formulating a list of who's-who regulars. Plenty of them were simply wealthy business owners. A good chance some of them were actually good people who liked a bit of gambling and a decent whiskey on the weekends. The better chance of running into black market criminals, however, sat looming over the list of faces presented to him. Ereza had been to the casino once before on a business meeting, which worked well in their favor. She, also, had a chip for entry into their VIP section.

Of course she did.

But it had been some time since her initial visit and, unfortunately, the business talks didn't pan out well. Turns out some people didn't like hearing the word 'no' spoken in regards to them, and Ereza had no problem saying it when the ends didn't justify the means.

"Hey," Lear found him in the lounge and he looked up, rubbing at his eyes from the the strain of staring at the holoscreen. He offered his brother a wane smile that faded as the man continued speaking. There had never been many, if any, problems between himself and Lear, but Rune had a vastly different relationship with Jake Daniels. He wasn't Jake's son by blood - rather, the son of the man that had abused, cheated on, and neglected his mother. The personality difference also stood as a stark hill of challenge. The calm to his father's errant storm of emotions and sometimes wild choices.

Rune pressed his lips together in thought, sighing at the weight of distance he'd place between himself and their father, "Directly? Not since I left." It had been nearly a year, hadn't it? One month into his new body, new life, and Rune couldn't stand to stay on Honoghr where the memories of his former life refused to leave him be. If it had affected him this deeply he couldn't imagine how it did for Jake. "Too long," he concluded, if not with a bit of shame.

"We spoke briefly a few times over comm ... but we both suffered from ... distractions." He'd never been capable of understanding his father's stark emotional swings. At length, Rune had left it to their mother's death, but Jake had been this way for as long as he could remember.

"I should have stayed. I knew he was troubled but I just ..." Rune lightly flexed his fingers where they rested on his lap, brow pinching as he looked away from his brother, "I could have done better. I can't leave this go now."

 

[Romano Shamalain]

Lear was quiet as his hands began to fidget. A trait of his fathers. He needed something in them when he listened to someone talk that was about a subject which was about to become uncomfortable. He fiddled with the buckle on his belt. He could sense the brief shame in his Brother for leaving Honoghr. He was not the only one though, yet Lear did not interrupt. He did not exactly “move” off the planet - he just was not around it as much. Pushing aside his own thoughts, he focused on every word Rune spoke.

Rune had a way with words. He could tell you a four hour speech in a matter of mere simple sentences. That was not an insult but a complete complement. He was eloquent and concise with his words. He said what needed to be said and nothing more. It was a fantastic trait. One that Lear could show from time to time but their father? Get him going and the man would not shut up.

When distractions came up, Lear was curious because of the emphasis he put on it. The younger Brother had a sense of what his father’s distractions were but what were Rune’s? The company he ran? Something else? He wanted desperately to poke and prod for information but now was not the time. What Rune needed was his Brother, his equal. He did not need his annoying little brother who always asked “Why?” after every statement. Lear would pester later.

“You aren’t the only one that left Honoghr. I may have residence there but I don’t stay long for any prolonged period. Usually to rest, recover, and go on his adventure around the galaxy.” Lear said in Rune’s earlier response about leaving the planet.

Leaning against the wall, Lear allowed his body to slide down so he was sitting on the floor; completely being an arse and blocking the doorway though not intentionally.

“I’ve heard some of the things that happened after he woke. He was obsessed, still obsessed,” Lear’s brows furrowed as he could not come up with a solid decision on that, “with finding Mother. He rebuilt our home from ruins, helped bring us back but then he began losing everything again. Grandmothers passing - his Master, his Mentor, the person who had always been there for him was no more. Then he learns that Quietus and Dissero all while helping to bring us back. During all of this he was searching for our Mother. Yet he remained on Honoghr. Lear said with his own bit of shame.

This was a testament to the difference between the brothers. Rune could say everything Lear was about too with so much ease and yet Lears throat was starting to tighten from the emotions he felt.

“Imagine that kind of love. Even after centuries, even after knowing the woman she was is not the woman she currently is, the man still burnt a path across the galaxy. Then he stopped. Something happened.” Lear looked up to Rune with eyes that threatened to water; as though Lear could actually feel what his father felt.

“I don’t know what it was. I think he found her or for a brief moment knew where she was or had been and then lost her again. Father’s never been the most stable man; I think that’s what made him so dangerous for a Sith. Can I ask you - why do you think Grandmother tolerated him? I’m not talking about as the husband to her daughter or father of her grandchildren, but just in general. As an Apprentice, as her hand? His emotional state is just so… abnormally obsessive and unstable to such an extreme,” the next part was said in silent telepathy between Brothers.

‘It scares me. What are we going to discover when we find him? What man will see?’ Lear eyes held so many questions as he cleared his throat and pushed himself to a stand.

“Would you mind following me for a moment?” Lear asked.

He never demanded of Rune. Always asked. Always.

They reached a more private portion of the ship where Romano pulled his data pad, “Its been bugging me. Why would dad just suddenly stop his search for mother. Did something happen to her? She can’t be dead, we’d feel it. Did something happen to him? So I did some digging. Father was not just searching for Mother; there’s something else going on with him. Let me ask you before I continue, do you know if Ereza has been keeping track of his movements?” Lear asked.

Rune Shamalain​

 

[Rune Shamalain]

That was ... a lot.

A lot of family history and troubles to offload. Things they didn't often talk about for the sake of not talking about things they couldn't fix or change. Father would always be what he was, their grandmother - Mette Masenre - was gone, and their mother, too. Unlike Jake, Rune had taken Ereza's words to heart. To leave better off alone. The Cerusia Shamalain that walked and talked and breathed and spoke in this galaxy was not the woman that had been his mother. She never would be. She couldn't be. It was impossible.

He, too, was not the same man he was before. Not in this changed body. At times he felt like his mind was stuck in the corporeal form of a stranger. A monster he'd never been before, not even during his darker days with the Sith. Rune's expression flattened into disquiet on the topic of choice. Lear's ever persistent and insatiable curiosity had always amused him. Now it troubled him.

What had happened to their father? Why did Lorelei tolerate him? What manifestation of Jake Daniels and Darth Gravis or something in between would they find if they found him?

His expression darkened like a storm cloud over a quiet sea. "I don't know." It was the only answer he could offer. Rune was the older brother but only by a few years. He'd never felt particularly obligated to be protective or mentoring to Lear, but not out of any dislike for his sibling. It just wasn't in his nature and, as Lear had proven time and again, he could take care of himself.

Would you mind following me a moment?

A welcome distraction from his thoughts. Rune pushed himself out of his seat and silently followed after his brother, eyeing the datapad presented with some amount of weariness. Mother. Always about mother. He just wished Jake could let it go. Let her be. Let her memory rest in his mind as comfortably as it did in his own. But that wasn't Jake - his brother was right, the man was obsessive.

Rune frowned, deciding not to remark on Lear's concerns for Cerusia and fixed on that of Ereza. A much easier subject to speak on.

"I do not presume to know anything about what Ereza does. I haven't been here," he passed the datapad back if only to get the weight of his father's hunt for their dead mother out of his hands, "but Ereza is thorough. I wouldn't be surprised if she did. Why?"

 

[Romano Shamalain]

“So I wanted to look into fathers recent travels and I noticed an anomaly among them. He owns a residence on Chandrila and a home on Dantella IV. Nothing out of the ordinary as he travels to Chandrila once every Honoghrian month and Dantella IV once every two months. Now here is where the anomaly appears.” Lear showed his brother a very basic layout of the galaxy on the datapad; with a bright yellow line.

“The yellow line is his usual routine.” Lear said.

He pressed a button, “This is the shift I’ve noticed.”

A red line appeared that showed Jake venturing to two planets; Dantooine and Coruscant.

“I discovered his trips to Dantooine were to visit a medical facility he was in after awakening and on Coruscant it was to a neurologist.” Lear explained.

“I can’t figure out why. I also cannot get through to the physicians tending him and apparently there are multiple.” Lear continued, “You know that man is good at hiding things from us. I wonder what he’s hiding now? You say Ereza is thorough, if something is wrong, why would she not step in even forcefully?”

Regardless of what Jake ‘wanted’, Lear had no doubt if Ereza called Jake would answer. This did also explain something else.

“If something is wrong with him, it would make sense how he was taken so easily by the attackers.” Lear paused when the comm in the ship indicated they were approaching Nar’ Shaddaa.

“When we arrive do you have a plan already or should you allow me to go in like dad and start shooting?” Lear smirked.

Rune Shamalain​

 

[Rune Shamalain]

This was ... troubling news if ever there was any. Repeated hospital visits were one thing, but visits to Specialists of this nature was another. Rune couldn't help but agree that something was amiss. Even the lack of Ereza's intervention - a woman of great power and skill who could likely offer Jake any manner of assistance should he need it. She had money, resources, and nothing but time and a sworn promise to this family.

"We can't get distracted by this," the elder sibling broke the silence of his ruminations by placed a hand over that of his brother's that had pinpointed the routes on-screen, "we don't have the time. Our objective is to find father."

With a slow and steadying breath, Rune centered himself and his thoughts, withdrawing from his brother in order to head off back down the hall with methodical purpose, "I have a plan. You're my body guard, do not make a move on anyone until I say so."

Mostly because the last thing they needed was more of a mess. This had to be done cleanly, efficiently, and that wasn't exactly in Lear's wheelhouse.